How to Improve Spanish Listening Skills

You're sitting in Spanish class and understand everything the teacher is saying. A rush of confidence goes through you, "I'm so good at this," you think to yourself. The same day, you go to a Mexican restaurant with your friends. They tell the waiter, "She can speak Spanish!" The waiter says something to you, and you look like a deer caught in headlights.

This scene is a common problem with Spanish learners. You can understand Spanish when you read it and listen in class. Somehow, when you're around native speakers you're lost. Listening to native speakers is nothing like your favorite teacher. Spanish speakers have different accents, they use slang, and talk fast.

It's frustrating when you're learning a language to not understand it when it's spoken. But don't let all your efforts go to waste. With anything, you need to practice to be good at it. There are no shortcuts to learning a language. Now, let's look at some exciting ways to improve your Spanish listening skills.

Movies and TV Shows

Watching movies and shows are a great way to improve your Spanish listening skills. It's a fun activity and doesn't feel like you're studying. There are a couple of ways that you can go about this. The first is to watch something that you're already familiar with. That way. you already know what going on. You can also search for Spanish shows and movies on the internet. Try it without the subtitles first to get used to the rhythm and tones of Spanish. if it's a little too hard you can always start out with the subtitles on. The end goal is to turn them off, but remember, you have to start from somewhere.

Youtube is another great place for improving your Spanish listening. The platform has so many engaging videos to fine-tune your skills. You can watch a variety of things such as vlogs, makeup tutorials, fashion videos, really anything that piques your interest.

Podcasts

If you don't like listening to music, there are a ton of great podcasts for beginner to advanced learners. Don't passively listen to it. If you start with that approach, the words go in one ear, and right out of the other. Instead, try these 3 easy steps:

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1. Play it once to get used to the speed and rhythm of Spanish

2. Listen again, and focus on the gist of the dialogue

3. Play it again and pause every sentence to further your understanding

*Extra practice: transcribe (write down) the audio sentence by sentence. This will help you make a connection between what you hear and what is written down.

Learn Spanish with Justlearn

The best way to improve your Spanish listening is through immersion. You can get that experience with the language platform, Justlearn. The site offers live lessons with real native speakers. You can do this by yourself or with other Spanish learners. If you don't have time for the life lessons, there are hundreds of structured videos on every topic to practice with. The best part is, you can customize what you watch whether you're a beginner or advanced learner.

There will be forks in the road during your Spanish journey. For beginners, the point isn't to understand a native speaker word for word. Instead, focus on the gist of the conversation. Build on that and you will see progress over time.