Listening Strategies

Listening strategies are actions you can take while listening that can improve your comprehension. Strategies begin as intentional decisions on how you will listen. This often starts off as a challenging task. However, with consistent practice of these strategies in different contexts, they can become natural and automatic. When a strategy becomes an instinct, we refer to that as a skill.

In this section, you will practice the following strategies:

Background knowledge
Inferring main ideas
Vocabulary in context
Listening for grammar

As you apply these strategies, you will notice improvement in your comprehension and an increase in your confidence when responding to others. Your communication will feel more comfortable, and you will feel more successful using English in more situations and to discuss more topics.