WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO LISTEN TO NATURAL ENGLISH?
CREDITS TO PERFECT ENGLISH GRAMMAR
When we listen to the news, or podcasts, or (especially!) listening exercises in English class, there are usually no 'thinking sounds'.
Of course, sometimes when we speak naturally, we need time to think!
Native speakers use little sounds when they're thinking, like 'ummm' or 'err', and sometimes they even use words, like 'well' or 'like'.
Of course, some of these little words have other meanings. If you're not used to hearing them in this way, they can be very confusing!
For example, let's look at 'like' in this sentence. 'Like' is the extra thinking sound.
• I think that he's, like, a bit angry.
This person pauses and says 'like' to have time to think.
Normally we use 'like' to talk about a preference or maybe a similarity. In this example, we aren't talking about that at all!
The 'like' is just there to give the person a moment to think. The normal sentence is just 'I think that he's a bit angry.'
In my opinion, these little words are often the reason why we don't understand someone well.
In our listening challenges, we help you learn about this! We have real, natural English, with thinking words and full transcripts.
Here's an example from our listening challenges!
In this mini audio, I'm talking with my husband, Robert.
Robert uses the word 'like' to give himself time to think – can you hear it?
Click here to hear the audio.
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