You don't understand what you hear.

你無法理解你所聽到的東西。

And this is not because you don't know the vocabulary.

不是因為你不認識那些字彙。

If you read the transcript or the subtitles, you will understand the material just fine.

當你在看文字檔或是字幕的時候，你會發現那些其實很簡單。

So you already know the words being used.

你早就知道那些字。

You just don't recognize them when listening.

只是聽的時候沒聽出來而已。

So, what should you do?

所以你該怎麼辦呢？

According to many research studies, an effective way to deal with this problem is to practice listening through easy-to-hard training.

根據許多實驗研究，解決這個問題最有效的方法是進行由淺入深的聽力訓練。

In one study, participants were trained to perform a task related to hearing.

其中一個實驗，受試者必須完成與聽力相關、難易程度分為三級的測驗。

And there were three levels of difficulty: easy, normal, and difficult.

分別為簡單、一般、困難。

The participants were divided into two groups.

受試者被分為兩組。

The first group was trained to perform only the difficult version of that task.

第一組只進行難度最高的訓練。

The second group, however, started with the easy and normal versions first before performing the difficult version.

第二組則從簡單、一般的版本開始再進展到困難的版本。

The researchers wanted to know which group would perform the difficult version better.

研究人員想知道在難度最高的測驗中，哪一組表現得比較好。

So what was the result?

結果呢？

Well, despite having less training with the difficult version, the second group actually performed better.

僅管第二組接受困難程度的訓練次數比較少，但他們的表現的確較佳。

Practically speaking, this finding suggests that if you have difficulty doing something, instead of just keep doing that, it's more effective to start with something easy and then slowly increase the difficulty as you improve.

事實上，這份研究指出當你遇到困難時，與其持續努力不懈，改從簡單的部分開始，待實力提升再慢慢增加難度，反而是比較有效的作法。

So how can you apply this knowledge to improve your listening?

那該如何運用這個原理來改善聽力呢？

I'll tell you.

讓我來告訴你！

First, you have to make it easy in the beginning.

首先在剛開始的階段得把素材弄得很簡單。

For example, if you listen to podcasts in English on your smartphone, find an app that lets you change playback speed so that you can slow down or speed up what you're listening to.

比方說用手機聽 podcast 的時候，找一個能調整播放速度的軟體。如此一來，你就可以放慢或加快你的聽力素材。

If you listen on your computer, there are programs that can do that as well.

如果你是用電腦練習，也有一些軟體提供相同的功能。

Then, whenever you have trouble understanding, use the app to slow down the audio like this.

接著，每當聽不懂時就像這樣放慢你的音頻。

I told my mom that I was going to win first place and she just laughed at me.

我跟媽媽說我會贏得第一名，她只是取笑了我一下。

To be honest, she had no real reason to believe me because I wasn't a particularly great speller and I hadn't even placed in the previous year's contest.

老實說，她也沒有理由去相信我，因為我在拼寫方面並不是特別出色，甚至說我也沒有參加過上年度的比賽。

But for some reason, I was so sure of myself so I said, "okay mom."

但某程度來說，我對自己有信心，所以我說「好！」。

So now it gets easier, right?

這樣變得容易多了吧？

You have more time to think.

你可以有更多時間思考。

You have more time to make out words that aren't pronounced clearly.

也有更多時間辨認那些發音含糊的字。

You have more time to guess the meanings of new words and phrases.

亦有時間推測陌生字彙或片語的含意。

The idea here is to make it easy in the beginning.

這麼做的目的是為了在一開始能上手。

Listen at slower speeds.

放慢速度聽。

Listen to speakers that are easy to understand.

選擇咬字清晰的講者。

Listen to easy stuff like podcasts and interviews as opposed to movies.

聆聽 podcast 或訪談這種簡單的內容，而不是先選擇看電影。

Start small.

從小處著手。

But you're not done yet.

但是這還沒結束。

Easy-to-hard training requires you to go from easy to difficult.

由淺入深的訓練意味著從簡單到困難的練習。

So once your listening skills improve, you have to gradually increase the difficulty.

所以當聽力技巧進步後，你必須慢慢增加難度。

For example, if you're listening to a speaker that speaks slowly, and you can understand everything, instead of listening at the normal speed, speed it up like this.

舉個例子，如果你完全聽懂某個說話速度慢的講者說話，與其以正常速度聽，可以加快速度。

Let's think about, imagine you are going to a party.

試想想，想像你去參加一個派對。

You go to a party and you are meeting some people that you have never met before.

你參加一個派對，你會遇到不認識的人。

And at that party, you get a certain feeling of each person you are connecting with.

在派對裡，你會對在接觸的每一個人都有某些特別的感覺。

You go, okay, over here, here's a woman like very gregarious, and outgoing and fun-loving and oh yeah I would love to connect with her, she... she seems...

比如說，這個女人看起來很喜歡與人交際、外向且很愛玩…

Now, after you speed it up, you must still be able to understand the content, but you should feel a little uncomfortable.

速度加快後，你一定還是能完全理解內容但應該會感到有點不適應。

This will help you become more familiar with listening to fast speakers.

這麼做能幫助你更熟悉說話速度快的講者。

The idea here is to keep pushing yourself.

重點是要持續刺激自己學習。

[Step out of your comfort zone!] If you keep listening to something easy, your listening skills will stop improving.

[跨出你的舒適圈！] 如果只是一直聽簡單的東西，你的聽力技巧不會進步。

So you have to keep challenging yourself.

所以必須不斷挑戰自己。

So listen at faster speeds.

嘗試以快一點的速度聽。

Also, don't keep listening to the same person.

另外，別只聽同一位講者。

Listen to different people with different speaking styles.

要聆聽各種不同說話風格的人。

And then, start watching movies without subtitles.

接下來，可以開始看沒有字幕的電影。

If it's still difficult, you can slow down the movie by 5 percent or 10 percent.

如果還是覺得有難度，可以將速度稍微放慢 5% 或 10%。

Or you can slow it down even more if you don't mind the slowness.

若不介意鈍鈍的感覺甚至可以放得更慢。

Once you get used to it, you can then start watching movies at normal speed.

適應之後，就可以開始以正常速度看電影了！

All right, that concludes this video.

好了，影片要到此結束！

To help you get started, I have created a resource page where you can download English listening material for free.

為了幫助大家踏出第一步，我架設了一個學習網站你可以免費下載聽力訓練教材。

Click here to go to that page.

點擊這裡前往學習網站！