How to Improve your English Listening

1: Try a mini-dictation

Find an audio file which also has a written transcription. The BBC's six minute English podcast, for example, has both audio of native speakers and a written transcript (they speak slightly more slowly than usual, but this is a great place to start). Play the first few words of the recording and try to write down exactly what you hear. Play the same words again and again until you have written as much as you can. Then move to the next part. When you have finished, check your work against the written transcript, and listen again to any parts which you missed. This is hard, but it really works.

2: Understand weak forms

When we're talking quickly, native speakers of English use weak or short pronunciations of many common words. (We use strong pronunciation when we say the word on its own or when we want to emphasise it). For example, the word 'have' has a strong pronunciation /hæv/, but normally when we're talking we use one of its weak pronunciations: /həv/ or /əv/ or /v/. You can check the pronunciations by looking it up in a learner's dictionary. I got this example in the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary here. (Look at the top line. The sound you can play is usually the strong pronunciation).

Here is a list of words that have weak forms (download the PDF here):

(You can hear me say the examples by clicking the arrow. Remember, this is me speaking quickly and not being careful. This is how I talk with English-speaking friends.)

a	I've got a new dress.
am	I'm not going home, am I?
an	That's an apple.
and	We need some salt and pepper.
any	Do you have any money?
are	They are at school just now.
as	It was as big as an elephant.
at	She works at night.
be	He's going to be late.
been	Have you been here long?
but	The food is good but the service is terrible.
can	Can you come early?
could	I think he could pass the exam.
do	Do you need any help?
does	He doesn't live in London, does he?
for	It's a present for my dad.
from	That book's from Julia.
had	I had a car when I was at university.
has	He has been here for years.
have	I've had lunch already.
he	She thinks he's handsome.
her	Tom told her that the meeting had been cancelled.
him	I've bought him some chocolate.
his	That's his last chance.
I	I wish I had gone to bed earlier.
me	John called me last night.
must	You really must take your umbrella.
of	That's part of the problem.
our	She dropped her coffee on our rug.
shall	Shall we go out for dinner?
she	I think she's gone to the library.
should	You really should get a haircut.
some	They bought some bread this morning.
than	This part of London is much busier than where I live.
the	Have you seen the front door keys?
them	We dropped them off at the airport.
there	The restaurant is over there.
to	Are you going to the party tonight?
us	Lucy gave us one of her kittens.
was	It was a beautiful day.
we	I wonder when we should leave.
were	They were late again!
who	Do you know who that girl is?
will	He'll arrive later.
would	If I were you, I would study a bit more.
you	Do you like chocolate?
your	Is that your coat?

Download this list in PDF here

3: Be aware that many set phrases and things we say often have special or different pronunciations in fast speech

For example:

do you	Do you know what I mean?
don't you	You want coffee, don't you?
want to	I want to leave now.
all right	It's all right.
excuse me	Excuse me.
got to	Got to go!
I don't know	I don't know