It happens often that I have students who are very good at grammar, writing and speaking. However, when it comes to doing a listening task, they panic. Why is this?

The problem is that they expect to hear each and every word spoken clearly. The truth is, a native speaker doesn’t talk this way. Learners of English hear one, strange-sounding word but in reality it is three common words linked together. Let me give you some examples.

She would have come to the party => She’d’ve come to the party
We are going to travel by train => We’re gonna travel by train
They will have time to talk about it => They’ll’ve time to talk about it

This is the way be speak, folks, and that is why you must expose yourselves to the sounds of the language. Keep a radio station playing in the background while doing housework or spend 15 minutes every day listening to a YouTube clip. However you do it, make time to hear native speakers talk.

By the way, it’s also acceptable to write this way but not in formal situations, such as reports, applying for jobs, etc.

Use the language

If I had to learn your language, would I have similar problems with listening? Can you give a couple of examples?