In today's lesson, we're going to look at 5 ways to improve your English listening skills.

今天的課堂中，我們會探討 5 個改善英文聽力的方法。

The first thing to do is expand your vocabulary.

第一件要做的事是，增加你的詞彙量。

Now, expanding your vocabulary might not seem like it's strictly related to listening, 

增加詞彙量嚴格來說不像是跟聽力有關，

but hear me out⏤"hear me out" means "listen to what I have to say before making a judgement".

但 hear me out（聽我說）——hear me out 表示「下定論之前，請聽聽我要說的話」。

A lot of students have problems with listening because they don't know the words that the person is saying.

許多學生聽力都會有問題，因為他們不知道對方正在說什麼字。

Studies show that students need to first understand the words in the text that's being spoken to understand what's being said.

研究顯示，學生要理解話語內容前，必須先了解對話情境中使用的文字。

So, expanding your vocabulary only gives you a better chance of knowing more words in the listening piece, and this will help your understanding of the overall piece,

所以說，提升詞彙量只會讓你更可能認識聽力內容中更多的文字，而這會幫助你理解整體內容，

which is especially useful in standardized tests such as the IELTS exam. 

這在像雅思這種標準化測驗的情境中特別有用。

Remember that knowing the word means understanding the meaning, but also knowing the word class⏤is it a noun, a verb, or an adjective, for example⏤

記得，認識一個字表示了解其意義，但也包括其詞性（像是名詞、動詞或形容詞）、

the register, collocations, and pronunciation.

其風格、搭配詞以及發音。

This brings me on to number two.

這讓我來到第二點。

Number two, improve your pronunciation.

第二、改善你的發音。

By improving your pronunciation, you give yourself a better chance of understanding a word when someone says it.

透過改善你的發音，你會讓自己在某人講出一個字時，更容易了解。

I have often had students who understand the majority of English when it's written down, but don't understand words when they're spoken.

我時常遇到一些學生，他們了解書寫的多數英文，但在口說時卻不了解。

That's sometimes because they think the word will sound different, because they haven't learned the correct pronunciation of the word.

那有時是因為他們覺得那個字聽起來會不一樣，因為他們沒學會正確的發音。

For example, in many English words that have two vowels in a row, learners expect there to be two sounds, but there's often just one.

舉例而言，許多英文字有連續兩個母音，學習者就會預期有兩個音，但通常只有一個。

So, they don't recognize a word like "cousin" when they would easily understand that word written down.

所以他們認不出像是 cousin 這樣的字，卻在書寫下的時候簡單地理解。

There's just one vowel sound in the first syllable of "cousin"; /ˈkʌ/, /ˈkʌ/, /ˈkʌzən/.

Cousin 這個字的第一個音節只有一個母音：/ˈkʌ/、/ˈkʌ/、/ˈkʌzən/。

Say it with me: /ˈkʌzən/, /ˈkʌzən/.

跟我一起說：/ˈkʌ/、/ˈkʌzən/。

Now, English pronunciation is one of my specialist subjects and something I can really help you with.

英文發音是我專門的科目，也是我可以真的幫到各位的地方。

If you're keen to improve your pronunciation, then hit that subscribe button and write "Help me, Anna" in the comments.

如果你想要改善你的發音，請點擊訂閱並在評論區寫下：Anna，幫幫我。

Number three.

第三。

So, the third strategy for improving your listening is to become familiar with the rules of connected speech.

改善聽力的第三個策略是熟悉連音的規則。

Learning how to say individual words is really important, but you should dedicate some time to learning about full phrases, too.

學習怎麼發單獨字的音很重要，但你也應該貢獻一點時間學習完整片語。

If you want to check out my tips for connected speech in more detail, you can watch my video, "How to Sound Like a Native English Speaker: Connected Speech".

如果各位想要更仔細地了解連音的訣竅，可以觀看我的影片：How to Sound Like a Native English Speaker: Connected Speech。

But, basically, when we speak at a natural speed in English, sounds often disappear or change, get mixed together, or sometimes, sounds appear out of nowhere!

但基本上，當我們用自然語速講英文時，音通常會消失或改變、混在一起或有時會突然出現某些音！

For example, let's take the sentence, "Can you tell me what you're looking for?"

舉例而言，我們看看 Can you tell me what you’re looking for?（可以跟我說你在找什麼嗎？）這個句子。

Can you tell me what you're looking for?

Can you tell me what you’re looking for?

When we say this sentence quickly, you may be confused by the "what you're" part.

當我們快速唸過這個句子時，你可能會被 what you're 這個部分搞混。

That's because when we have a /t/ and a /j/ sound together, they mix together to make a /tʃ/ sound⏤/wɒtʃʊr/, /wɒtʃʊr/.

那是因為當 /t/ 和 /j/ 同時出現時，會混在一起生成 /tʃ/ 的音：/wɒtʃʊr/、/wɒtʃʊr/。

The next thing to notice in this sentence is the sound in the word "you" is shorter than a lot of people expect.

在個句子裡要注意到的另一件事是，you 這個字裡面的音比許多人預期的短。

We normally say /jə/ instead of /ju:/, and the auxiliary verb "are" almost disappears.

我們通常會說 /jə/ 而不是 /ju:/，而助動詞 are 幾乎會消失。

Additionally, the sound at the end of "looking" changes.

此外，looking 這個字的尾音會改變。

So, the last part of the sentence isn't "what you're looking for", but "what ya lookin' for".

所以說，這個句子的最後一個部分不是 what you’re looking for，而是 what ya lookin’ for。

At the beginning of the sentence, the "you" becomes /jə/, too, and we find that same vowel sound in "can" (/kən/).

在句首，you 也會成為 /jə/，然後也會在 can 這個字裡發現同樣的母音 /kən/。

So, the whole sentence is, "Can you tell me what you're looking for?"

所以整個句子是：Can you tell me what you’re looking for?。

Can you tell me what you're looking for?

Can you tell me what you’re looking for?

That's a lot of changes in just this one example.

光是一個例子就有很多的改變。

Don't worry about learning all the rules together, but if you can learn them bit by bit, it will really help you understand natural speech when you listen to it.

別擔心一次要學會所有規則，但如果可以一點一點地學，就真的會幫你在聆聽時了解自然口說。

Number four.

第四。

My next tip is to be realistic about what you can listen to and how long you can listen for.

我下一個訣竅是，對於你可以聆聽的內容以及長度要實際一點。

If you're an intermediate student, watching a whole film without subtitles is just, perhaps, a bit too much.

如果你是中級學習者，無字幕地觀看電影或許太過頭了。

Start out small⏤maybe ten minutes a day⏤using materials that are made for language learners, like videos or podcasts.

從小地方開始，或許一天十分鐘，然後使用為學習者設計的影片或播客。

The internet is full of great resources.

網路上充斥著許多很棒的資源。

It's better to start small and do good-quality work then build it up bit by bit than start too big and be discouraged.

最好是從小地方開始，然後產出高品質成果，然後慢慢累積，而不是一開始野心太大然後之後失望。

That would be the worst thing.

那會是最糟糕的事。

I'll leave a link to my podcast in the description if you haven't yet discovered it.

我會在敘述欄放上我播客的連結，如果你們還沒找到它的話。

Number five.

第五。

When you find a video or podcast you like, my next tip is to listen to it again and again.

當你發現喜歡的影片或播客時，我下一個訣竅是重複地聆聽。

You won't understand everything you hear the first time, and that's totally normal.

你不會在第一次聽的時候就了解一切，而那完全正常。

Even in our native languages, we don't hear everything all the time.

連在母語中，我們也不會每次都聽到所有內容。

We have to fill in some gaps.

我們必須填補空白。

In a language we're still learning, filling in the gaps is extremely difficult because we just don't have the vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation knowledge to do that. 

在我們仍在學習的語言中，填補空白非常地困難，因為我們沒有足夠的詞彙、文法或發音知識。

So, listening again and again, even if it's only to specific parts you found difficult, this will help you to fill in those gaps.

所以說，反覆聆聽，即便你認為困難的只有一部分，而這會幫你填補空白。

You may need to listen more than five times, and that's ok.

你可以會需要聽超過五次，那也沒關係。

The effort you make now will help you in the future.

你現在的努力會在未來幫上你。

Also, identifying the parts you don't understand and keeping a record of the problem areas will help you build up your own personal bank of common problems to overcome.

此外，辨識你不了解的部分並記錄有問題的地方會幫你建構個人需要克服的常見問題。

Then, you'll know what to listen out for the next time you're trying some listening practice.

然後你下次嘗試聽力練習時，就會知道需要留意什麼了。

Bonus Tip.

額外的訣竅。

After listening multiple times, check the transcription, listen back again, and repeat.

聽了幾次後，看看逐字稿、重聽，然後重複。

This will help you to develop your understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds, especially when a native speaker talks naturally and quickly.

這會幫你發展文字與語音之間關係的理解，尤其當母語人士自然且快速地說話時。

Listening and reading at the same time is a really useful trick for training your ear.

同時聆聽和閱讀是訓練你聽力的有用訣竅。

And going back again and shadowing the piece you're finding particularly difficult, that will just be phenomenal.

再次聆聽並跟讀你認為特別困難的部分會很了不起。

So, why not give it a go right now?

所以何不現在就試試看？

There's a link for you because you stayed all the way to the end of the video.

因為你聽到最後，我提供了一個連結給你。

There's a link for you to download a free transcript to one of my popular podcast episodes.

這個連結可以讓你免費下載我熱門播客的逐字稿。

There you go, that was five, or rather six, with the bonus, ways to improve your English listening skills.

好了，以上就是五條（加上額外的就是六條）改善聽力的技巧。

Until next time, take care and goodbye.

下次見面前，保重、再見！