Tips for Beginners: How to Practice Listening

Hello everyone! I'm really excited to write the first article on my website's blog! I spent a few days thinking about what to write and which topic to cover, and I finally think I’ve found it. The other day, a student of mine who's a beginner, asked me at the end of our lesson: "Luca, how can I improve my listening skills?"

He told me he had bought a couple of Italian movies on a streaming platform, but he found them difficult to understand, even with English subtitles, his native language. So, I want to share with you the same advice I gave him for understanding audiovisual material, but first, I want to explain what I believe are the issues with my student’s approach.

TOO MUCH EFFORT! Watching an entire movie is an activity that requires a lot of mental energy, even when we watch it in our native language. How demanding can it be to do so in a foreign language? You must consider that while watching a movie, your brain is processing a massive amount of information, and language is just one of them.

TOO DIFFICULT...? Are you sure that the vocabulary used in the material you chose is appropriate for your level? Certainly, the plot of Inception, where the protagonists move within people’s dreams, can be fascinating, but following its storyline in another language might turn out to be more of a nightmare than a dream!

STANDARD ITALIAN? As some of you may know, Italian is a language with many dialects and numerous variations of the same dialect! When writing a movie script, screenwriters often decide to use dialectal variants to make the characters’ language more authentic. There are many examples—just think of Romanzo Criminale, not to mention Gomorrah, which even has subtitles for Italians unfamiliar with the Neapolitan dialect.

IS IT INTERESTING ENOUGH? A movie includes many moments where events might not capture our attention. There may be long scenes with sports events from a sport we’ve always found utterly boring. At that moment, our attention drops, and refocusing can be challenging. If you also have your smartphone within reach, you can guess what happens next!

WILL YOU FINISH IT? Watching a medium or long-duration product like a movie or documentary can be interrupted even when we watch it in our native language. However, stopping a foreign-language movie—perhaps out of frustration—can create a dangerous trend. You might start doubting your abilities, and even worse, in the long run, your brain might begin associating unpleasant feelings with listening practice.

ITALIAN MOVIE OR DUBBED MOVIE? Here, I urge you to be very, very careful. You might think that rewatching a movie you’ve seen in your native language is a good idea. I agree—it’s also a good strategy for reading. However, there are some issues with dubbed films made before the 2000s, especially those from Hollywood. In the past, many translators, dealing with American or English scripts, translated certain expressions too literally. Some of these phrases still make people of my generation laugh today and are often the subject of jokes. A few examples:"Hey champ!" translated as "Ehi campione!""Hi babe!" translated as "Ciao bambina!""Damn it!" translated as "Diavolo! Dannazione!"The risk is that you might learn unnatural phrases or expressions that are simply no longer in use. If you choose a dubbed film, pick a recent one!

I believe these five points are enough to encourage you to take a different approach to listening comprehension. So let’s cut to the chase and go straight to the tips.

CHOOSE SHORT VIDEOS There are at least two reasons for this choice. Think of your brain as a muscle: you wouldn’t start training for a marathon by running 30 km! Start by watching 2-3 minute videos and gradually increase their length—you’ll be surprised by your progress! Additionally, achieving results is vital! The satisfaction of finishing a video and understanding it should be the motivation to watch more.

CHOOSE A VIDEO ON A TOPIC YOUR PASSIONATE ABOUT Today, both YouTube and platforms like Netflix offer such a vast selection that it’s practically impossible not to find something you like. YouTube, in particular, has videos on literally any topic, often created by ordinary people, perhaps your age. Are you passionate about perfumes? Look for videos of someone reviewing them! Do you love music? You have endless choices, from teachers and enthusiasts to die-hard fans of various bands.

TAKE NOTES, BUT... Keep a notebook or simply your phone handy to jot down anything that catches your attention. However, if you want to note down words to remember and learn their meaning, make sure to write the whole sentence, not just the word. You might copy a word that has more than one meaning in Italian or one that slightly changes meaning when combined with different prepositions (di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra, fra). Here’s a small example with a very simple word: penna

Il corpo degli alpini porta una penna sul proprio cappello. (The Alpini Corps wears a feather on their hat.)

Porto sempre una penna nella tasca interna del cappotto. (I always carry a pen in the inner pocket of my coat.)

As you can see even a simple word as pen might present some challenges!

TECHNOLOGY IS YOUR FRIEND To wrap things up, I want to recommend an app and two free browser plugins. Plugins (or extensions) are programs that integrate into your web browser and can be found in the store.

The first one I recommend is YouTube Transcriber: this plugin provides a full transcript of the YouTube video you’re watching, with timestamps to help you find the section you need. The transcriptions are usually accurate, which is not always the case when dealing with Italian. Thanks to the transcript, you can analyze sentence structures more closely or even practice pronunciation by repeating what’s being said in real time.

The second plugin is Language Reactor: this plugin offers automatic subtitles—so far, nothing new, right? But from the plugin’s homepage, you can select a list of subtitled videos reviewed by real people, which is a big plus. You can also enable dual subtitles, displaying both your native language and Italian at the same time. Lastly, if you’re using a PC, you can activate a sidebar to see the full original text. Hovering over any word with your mouse will show its meaning. Amazing, right?

Both plugins can be enabled or disabled at any time, so they won’t interfere with your YouTube or Netflix experience when watching other content.

The app I recommend is Anki: this isn’t an app that helps with listening, but it can make reviewing what you’ve listened to more effective. Anki is available for computers and mobile devices (as Ankidroid). It’s a flashcard manager that lets you practice daily with a customizable number of cards. You can search for existing decks in Anki’s database or create your own with words and phrases to integrate into your everyday vocabulary.

These were my tips for improving listening through audiovisual material—I hope they help you improve quickly! If you’d like to share your experience, feel free to leave a comment or email me; you’ll find my contact details in the "Contacts" section of my website.

I wish you the best of luck with your practice—until next time!

Luca