It is undeniable that English is an international communication lanaguage. As such, many people around the world strive to improve their English listening skills in order to participate more effectively in the global economy. There are a number of reasons why English listening is so difficult for international students. However, many international students are able to improve their English listening skills through practice and patience. Indeed, with time and effort, anyone can learn to understand English spoken at native speeds and with any accent.

To start with, listening also shows you how people actually talk in conversational English, which can be somewhat different from written English or the English you learn in textbooks. If you go strictly by traditional grammar rules when speaking, you may sound strange to a native speaker, because conversations often break grammar and other rules of English. Inneed, fragments – as opposed to complete sentences – slang words, words mashed together, and phrasal verbs are common in spoken English. 

Second, listening is a skill that is often taken for granted, but it is actually vitally important. In many ways, it is even more important than speaking. After all, if you are unable to listen properly, you will not be able to understand what others are saying. This can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings. Furthermore, listening requires you to process information quickly and accurately. As a result, you will be better equipped to communicate effectively with others.

Also, listening is also the only real way that you can improve your English pronunciation. In fact, that’s the way you can catch your mispronunciations, which are where you are pronouncing words differently than a native speaker. Besides unearthing your mispronunciations, listening can help reinforce pronunciations you’ve recently learned through repeated exposure. Specifically, hearing someone say the word the first time after you learned its pronunciation can be very reassuring.

In conclusion, many students simply don’t get enough practice listening to English. In order to become better listeners, they need to have regular opportunities to listen to conversations and lectures on a variety of topics. However, finding such material can often be a challenge.