“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Intermediate Listening Practice.

Watch the video and answer the quesitons below.

B1 Listening Practice.

Watch the video and answer the quesitons below.

1. What Does Sam say about being lonely in a crowd?

A. That you must go to Scotland to feel lonely and happy.

B. That you can feel lonely in a crowd if nobody understand you and you are disconnected.

C. That being lonely is about physical isolation.

2. What do they say about people aged between 16 and  24?

A. That they don't experience loneliness at all.

B. That they think that old people experience loneliness the most.

C. That they experience loneliness more often and intensely.

3. What stereotype of British people is metioned in the listening?

A.They can't cook, have bad teeth and are very reserved.

B. They can cook, have bad teeth and are very reserved.

C. They can't cook, have bad teens and are very reserved.

4. What is "to be plagued" with something according to Sam?

A. To be disturbed by something only once.

B. To be continuously disturbed by something.

C. To change your identity.

5. What is the population of the most isolated place on earth?

A. 3.000

B. 30

C. 300

Listening techniques for students

 There are a few skills or 'strategies' that English learners can use to help them along listening activities.

1. Predicting content

If you see a politician in the news you don't expect him to be talking about sports or gossips, you expect that person to be talking about national issues and because of that using vocabulary related to this topic (healthcare system, autonomous communities, unemployment...). Depending on the context – a news report, a university lecture, an exchange in a supermarket – you can often predict the kind of words and style of language the speaker will use. Our knowledge of the world helps us anticipate the kind of information we are likely to hear. Moreover, when we predict the topic of a talk or a conversation, all the related vocabulary stored in our brains is 'activated' to help us better understand what we're listening to.

So, when doing an exam you MUST first read all the questions you'll have to answer and try to predict what kind of information you need to listen out for.

2. Listening for gist

This is to listen to content words, the words that are going to let us picture the stituation in our brains. For example, the words 'food', 'friends', 'fun', 'park' and 'sunny day' have their own meanings, but when you hear the words in sequence, they help form the context of a picnic.

3. Detecting signpostsJust  as when you are going by car  there are traffic lights on roads, there are signposts in language that help us follow what we're listening to. If you are listening to a dialogue or an interview you must be aware of words such as "however", "but", "luckily", "fortunately" and so on, because they are telling you information about the speaker, if he/se agrees with something, if there was some kind of problem in the story he/she os telling.

4. Listening for details

This is very important when you are trying to guess numbers, dates, etc. You can ignore anything that does not sound relevant. In this way, you are able to narrow down your search and get the detail you need.
If you are taking a test, as soon as you get the question paper, skim through the questions, underline the important words and decide what kind of detail you need to identify in the listening text.

5. Inferring meaning

 Imagine that you listen to this conversation, and only this part:

A. "Have you done your homework Mark?"

B. "Yes, I have Sir, but I forgot my notebook at home."

Without any prevuious knowledge we can infer that this is a conversation between a teacher and a student, can't we? By using contextual clues and our knowledge of the world, we can work out what's being said, who is speaking and what's taking place.
The next time you hear a word you don't understand, try to guess its meaning using the context or situation to help you. But don't worry if you don't get it the first time. As with everything in life, the more you practise, the better you will get.