Introduction

The best definition of listening that I have come about is ‘ Listening is Wanting to hear’. Once you adopt this attitude, listening becomes a natural process.

However till such time as you get around to wanting to hear, you have to make special efforts to LISTEN.

The following are some of my suggestions:

Listen with all your senses 

Obviously the ears are used to hearing and hence we believe we listen only with our ears. It is not just the spoken word we listen to; we listen to the speaker with our eyes  we judge his / her personality, dress sense etc. with our nose ( do we not notice a good fragrance or bad breath which influences our communication with the individual concerned?) through touch (good touch / bad touch / firm hand shake) and our sense of taste comes into play rarely but surely ( if a fellow traveler offers you something to eat perhaps our sense of taste could alert us ). Make full use of all your senses to help you listen well.

Become a Gluttonous Passive Listener

Okay, I know I said earlier these were active ways to improve your listening… so what’s this about being passive? Well, by consuming lots of radio, music, films and TV, you’re proactively immersing yourself in a Russian-speaking environment.

Even while you’re passively listening tuning in and out while exercising, cooking or relaxing you’re getting exposure to new Russian vocabulary, grammar concepts and pronunciations. It’s a low-key but important complement to the more focused listening practice we’ll cover in the rest of this list.

Making notes is a good way to ensure you listen.

 However, making extensive notes is a sure way to miss out listening to vital points. The art of making notes is in jotting down the key points / cues/clues / examples / illustrations that will enable you to recap the crux of the message.

Develop the skill of wanting to hear. 

You will be never short of company once you are a good listener because there is always a dearth of people who are willing to listen. Find a motivation to listen. Find something interesting and relevant in what the speaker is articulating.

Be All Ears

We learn best when we’re focused, and we listen best when we’re relaxed and open. You need to be listening with your whole self and giving it all your attention. Sometimes—and this is going to sound a little silly, but it helps, especially when I’m nervous—I imagine I’m literally all ears, listening even with my skin.

Make Russian listening part of your routine

Now that you’ve started practicing active listening and pronunciation, make it a part of your regular Russian learning! I recommend that you allot a specific amount of time for each of your listening activities. For example: you might practice 10 minutes of active listening, followed by 10 minutes of practicing Russian vowels, and then 10 minutes of imitation practice with a Russian podcast.

Now, you don’t have to use this schedule exactly. Tailor it to your own needs and availability. The point is that you should make a conscious and decisive effort to practice your Russian listening skills on a regular basis. It could be 30 minutes a day or it might be 10. What matters most is that you practice consistently.

Diversify!

Don’t just stick to one type of input. Branch out! Have fun with podcasts for learners, podcasts for native speakers, films, TV shows and real conversations with language partners, online or offline. Enjoy information and entertainment, pre-recorded and live speech, learner-directed and authentic materials.