10 ways to strengthen you listening skills
1 ) Select listening materials that you can understand
2 ) Focus on sounds
3 ) Repeat listening
4 ) Summarise what you have listened
5 ) Listen, Read and Listen
6 ) Watch movies without subtitles
7 ) Learn with your iPod
8 ) Listen attentively and pleasantly
9) Listen one language at a time
10) Relax with music
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1 ) Select listening materials that you can understand
It is very important to understand what you listen. If you cannot realize the content of what you listen, you will learn slowly. Therefore, you should choose some English listening materials that you understand at least 70%.
Some free online listening materials:
ESL Lab – English listening exercises
2 ) Focus on sounds
To strengthen your listening ability, you should not only focus on understanding. Also, you should understand “the sounds” as well. Sometimes, we don’t understand what the native speaker talks to us. It is not because s/he uses a lot of words that we do not know, but because we are not used to the way of speaking.
Case in point, there is a movie called “As it is in heaven”. When a Hongkonger speaks the words to a Hongkonger, s/he can understand well as they speak English in a very similar way. However, when a Briton speaks the words to a Hongkonger, s/he might not be able to understand. It is because the sounds of the first four words will be linked in a native speaking fashion whereas discrete in a Cantonese speaking fashion. I will further discuss the difference between English and Cantonese later.
3 ) Repeat listening
When you repeat listening to the same audio tracks, you will internalize the language in your mind. It is a very important and effective learning process.
Never struggle to listen to the same English audio track again and again. As time goes by, your sense of language will be better. When you come across some sentences you cannot understand, pause, go back, and listen again.
4 ) Summarise what you have listened
After listening to the audio track, try to recall the content in your mind and ask yourself some questions. Typically, you may ask yourself “What, When, Where, Who, and How.” This recalling exercise can consolidate your understanding and enhance your response to the language. You may also jot down some points of the track AFTER listening to help yourself understand better.
5 ) Listen, Read and Listen
Now you have a audio script and an English audio track. Go listen the audio track once without reading the script. Then, go read the script and look up your dictionary when you find some words unsure. Finally, listen the track again with or without reading the script depending on how well you understand the track.
Do this 6 days a week and give yourself a one-day break. After 3 months, you will improve your listening comprehension remarkably.
6 ) Watch movies without subtitles
When watching an English movie, your focus will be on the subtitles rather than the conversations of the actors as you might not understand them well in English. If you just pay attention to the subtitles, you will only improve your listening very slowly.
I understand that without reading subtitles, you may find it difficult to understand English conversations in movies as they are very colloquial. Be patient and stay on! Soon you will find that most words and sentence structures are used over and over again. And of course you will be get used to them.
7 ) Learn with your iPod
Work with your iPod closely! There are numerous interesting English podcasts. Listen to them and make English listening as part of your life. You will not only learn language itself, but culture, knowledge, the world as well.
English Learning
Media
Health
Reasonable Diet’s 6 Minutes of Sanity
Science and Technology
8 ) Listen attentively and pleasantly
If you cannot concentrate well, choose a quiet and bright place and stay away from your bed. Focus closely on what you listen. You don’t have to speak when listening. A research indicates that speaking along with listening might not necessarily mean to an improvement on both areas. So, focus on one skill at a time. Of course, choose topics that interest you. Make listening a pleasant habit not a routine! 
9 ) Listen one language at a time
Learning a language is not just reciting the words and getting some words together. It is about learning a different way of thinking. However, some English learners focus only on translating. They don’t learn the different way of thinking. Therefore, when speaking English, they struggle to translate their mother-tongue language into English. The translation slows down their speech. The only way to do to improve is to think in English way. To think in English way, we need to be used to the language and listen to it very often. Multi-languages at a time will only make you away from being comfortable with the language. So, avoid those learning materials with mix of languages.
10 ) Relax with classical music
If you feel stressed out in learning and listening to English, you may try to listen to some classical music first. Some research shows that classical music aids stress relief and promotes positive focus. Also, playing classical music in the background can enhance learning progress.
Yet, don’t fall asleep when listening to classical music. I know most people find it extremely bored. Perhaps, you may try some New Age music which you might find interesting.
