VOSCREEN

How can I improve my listening skills?

This is probably one of the most often asked questions by students.

My answer is always the same: Practice. There is no other secret to it, there's no magic formula.

So the point is to practice as much as you can while you enjoy.

I've found a nice application which might help you improve little by little while having fun.

Its name is VOSCREEN and it is free, although you need to sign up. This app allows you to test your listening skills while you listen to short video clips from films, series, songs ...

You will be asked to choose the best translation (if you set the language to Spanish) or the best rephrasing (if you set the language to English) of the phrase/extract you hear in the short clip to check your comprehension.

You will listen to real English in all the videos but you can choose the level of difficulty, the grammar structure you want to appear in the clip or even the number of words of the phrase you will hear.

You can use it on your computer, your tablet or even on your mobile phone.

I hope you find it useful. If you try it, let me know how it went.

Dear students,

Next week we'll be revising the use of present perfect, so it might be a good idea to brush up on your knowledge of irregular verbs.

I'm posting a link to an older post on the blog to help you:

LEARNING IRREGULAR VERBS

Apart from the ideas suggested in the post you can also use QUIZLET to test yourself. Here's a link to a sample study set:

IRREGULAR VERBS QUIZLET STUDY SET

Quizlet can also be a great tool for you to learn about other topics.  As well as having access to the hundreds of word sets which have been created by learners and teachers around the world, you can also create your own sets.

Make using Quizlet part of your daily routine to keep your English vocabulary fresh. For example, it’s easy to use the app when you’re commuting – just a few minutes every day on the bus or train will help you learn new vocabulary.

Check it out!