Listening is paramount. As babies, we learned our native language by actively listening to the people around us, and then imitating them.
As adults, we can further develop our language skills by practicing active listening. This skill involves paying close attention to what is being said, asking pertinent questions and clarifying information when necessary.
It also requires the ability to recognize nonverbal communication, such as body language and facial expressions, to better understand the message being conveyed. It is important to practice active listening to improve our communication skills.
Listen to material a little above your level
Listening to content in Portuguese, which is a little more advanced than our current level, is great for exercising our ear. We can also rely on transcripts or subtitles for better understanding.
Generate a context for the conversation
All conversations are placed on a context, if we manage to catch the main idea of the situation we are witnessing, we will be able to understand in a general way what is being said.
Guide yourself with keywords
Key words are those few words that if we could understand in a conversation we could understand to a great extent the message that is being transmitted, without the need to know the meaning of all the words used.
Use subtitles
Subtitles are a great tool to improve the understanding of the plot, to relate words with sounds, but sometimes we must try without subtitles, so as not to depend on them.
Language characteristics
When listening to Portuguese content it is a good exercise to focus on a language feature, either: * Rhythm * Tones * Nuances * Adjectives * Tenses * Melodies.
Resources
The different contents that we can consume in our initial stage with Portuguese are the following: * Programs for girls or boys * Foreign movies * Songs * News * Interviews * Podcasts
Challenge
Listen to one lesson of the Portuguese for Travel Course, once you have succeeded, come back to this lesson and share in the comments section what you understood.
conclusion
By way of conclusion, we can say that listening is the first skill to interact with a language and mastering it will be crucial to develop all the others.
Contribution created with the contributions of: Ismael H (Platzi Contributor).
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