English Listening Practice: What’s Your Level?

How well do you understand English? Why is it easy right now to understand me and not other American English speakers? Hi. I'm Jennifer. In this video, I'll tell you the answer and I'll share tips for understanding fast speech. You can test your listening with five quizzes that become increasingly more difficult. English teachers like me are easier to understand because we generally speak clearly and not too fast. We're also careful about grammar and vocabulary. We know that too many advanced words and structures make speech difficult. We can speak simply when we need to. Here's the first tip. Repetition is the act of repeating. When you repeat, you do it again and again. You must train your ears to understand fast speech. Watch a video or part of a video at least three times. You can use my Oral Reading Fluency series, for example. There are short texts and there are slow and fast readings. Listen to the fast readings more than once. Okay, here's your first quiz. Listen and write what you hear. I will say a sentence three times. Two times fast and one time slow. 1. I like the winter. I like the winter. 2. A box of cookies makes me happy. A box of cookies makes me happy. 3. I enjoy going to the movies. I enjoy going to the movies. If the fast English is difficult for you, your level is probably A1. If the fast English was okay, your level is A2 or higher. Second tip. Learn to hear contractions. Contractions are short forms. For example, I am becomes I'm. Does not becomes doesn't. We use contractions in spoken English all the time. The full forms are used in more formal English. You can review contractions in my full lesson on contractions. I'll put the link in the video description. Here's the second quiz. Again, listen and write what you hear. I'll say each sentence three times. Two times fast. One time slow. 1. I don't pick flowers often, but I'd like to do it more. I don't pick flowers often, but I'd like to do it more. 2. I've been to Florida a few times, but before this trip I hadn't seen Tampa. I've been to Florida a few times, but before this trip I hadn't seen Tampa. 3. I didn't pack any shorts, but thankfully it wasn't too hot. I didn't pack any shorts, but thankfully it wasn't too hot. If your level is A1 or A2, contractions in fast speech may be difficult for you to understand. You'll learn with practice. If it was easy to understand the contractions when I spoke fast, your level is B1 or higher. Contractions can be hard to catch in fast speech. Let's practice more. I'll show you a group of short sentences with contractions. See how fast you can find the contraction I'm using. I shouldn't go. I can't go. I'd never go. I won't go. I didn't go. I couldn't go. How was that? Try another group. Ready? I might have gone. I would have gone. I should have gone. I could have gone. One last group, okay? They're here. She's here. He's here. We're here. I'm here. It's here. Again, if contractions in fast English are difficult for you to understand, watch my full lesson on these short forms to review and practice more. Tip 3. Learn to understand linked sounds. We link or connect our sounds to create smooth speech. Some common examples are consonant to vowel, in a minute, on a Friday, like a video. We can also link consonant to consonant, especially when it's the same sound, hot topic, same meaning, fried dough. These connections can be hard to understand in fast speech, but you can learn the patterns and train your ears. Please watch my fast speech playlist for more practice. Right now, let's try quiz number 3. Again, listen and write what you hear. I'll say sentences three times. Two times fast and one time slow. 1. I was at a hockey game about a year or so ago. I was at a hockey game about a year or so ago. 2. The line to get in wrapped all the way around the building. The line to get in wrapped all the way around the building. 3. My team won the game, but not by a lot. My team won the game, but not by a lot. If the fast English was difficult for you, your level is probably B1 or lower. If you understood well without any problems, your level is probably B2 or higher. Tip 4. Listen for key words, but you must also learn to understand the unstressed words that help create the grammar of a sentence. We speak in thought groups. You can watch my videos on fast speech and practice with my oral reading fluency series to become more familiar with thought groups. These are grammatical units or chunks of language. Every thought group has at least one key word. For example, at a hockey game, around the building, I've been to Florida. The key words carry the content. These content words are the ones you really need to hear, and it's easier because they're stressed. The content words are said a bit louder, and the stressed vowel sounds within are a bit longer. But you still have to hear the little words, the unstressed words that we call function words, like articles and prepositions, helping verbs. Can you catch them? Here's quiz 4. Listen and fill in the missing words. I play the accordion, but not nearly as well as my cousin. Gina and I have played together many times. This was a photo we took a few years ago. Can you imagine being over 90 years old and still playing the accordion while in a standing position? If the fast English was difficult for you, your level is probably B2 or lower. If you understood well, your level is probably C1 or even C2. If your level is A1 to B1, listen to this final text for key ideas. It's okay if you do not catch or understand every single word. Again, listen for key ideas. If your level is B2 or higher, pay attention to the details. I'm going to ask some questions. If you'd like more practice listening for details, then check out my fast speech playlist. There are several lessons on American culture. They are audio lessons. You get to listen to my fast speech. My advice with those kinds of audio lessons is to listen once without captions. Then listen again and turn on the captions. Pay attention to the words you did not understand the first time. Then turn the captions off and listen for a third time. How much more can you understand? Okay, here's the fifth and final quiz. Listen as I tell you about my youth or a part of my youth. You will not see the text. Just listen and try to understand as best you can. When I think back to my cheerleading days, I'm truly grateful. I could have spent my time doing other activities, and actually I did participate in different clubs, but I was a cheerleader for eight years. Performing in front of a large crowd taught me genuinely useful skills. Do you know how much courage it takes to stand in front of your peers in a short skirt and yell or dance? I built confidence doing that. I learned how to project my voice. I also gained leadership skills because I had the honor of being a captain twice. Just as important, I learned how to be a team player and coordinate my moves with others on the squad. We had to perform in unison. It wasn't about standing out as an individual. We knew that we could only have an impact if we worked together. Out of all the school activities I participated in, I'm probably most thankful that I was a cheerleader. Let's check your comprehension. For how many years was I a cheerleader? Eight. Did I participate in other school activities? Yes. How many times was I a captain? Twice. Which skills did I specifically mention? I mentioned leadership skills, building confidence, being a team player, and projecting my voice. Why did I say it took courage? See, I had to stand in front of a crowd of my peers in a short skirt and yell and dance. If the fast speech was challenging, it's okay. Go back and listen again. Turn on the captions. If you need to, slow down the speed of the video. Which words did you miss the first time? Then, turn the captions off and listen again. When you're ready, turn up the speed back to normal. Can you understand more? That's all for now. I hope you found the practice useful. If you'd like more interaction and feedback, please join the English with Jennifer community on Patreon, where we practice all skills for confident, effective communication. The link is in the video description. Thanks for watching and happy studies!