<![CDATA[How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)?]]>If you really want to accelerate your http://www.hanbridgemandarin.com/news/improve-chinese-listening-comprehension-skills skills: Put yourself in high stakes active listening situations. Spend more time actively engaged with software tools and apps, or podcasts and movies with pen and paper in hand. Use non-listening activities like reading to boost your vocabulary.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/83584/how-to-improve-listening-comprehension-engRSS for NodeSat, 25 Apr 2026 01:12:02 GMTTue, 03 Nov 2015 03:06:21 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Mon, 07 Sep 2015 14:26:05 GMT]]>

faithfuldad123:
Joy of Learning 111:

No offence taken and no offence intended. I simply meant that if you had supplied this information earlier when I first invited you to test your son's short-term memory then that approach to diagnosis would have been promptly eliminated in the discussion. In the absence of this information, I thought you were premature in dismissing short-term memory.


OK......

The way DS prepares listening comprehension is looking at those comprehension open ended questions that needed critical thinking and inferential. I initially wanted to purchase listening comprehension book but DS said that it hardly helps. Also, I make sure DS sleeps early and consume a bottle of chicken essence to focus so he doesnt miss out any information. Also, look at the picture and questions first before answering so your child knows what to look out for. Being meticulous and writing down notes in the question paper help too. All the best!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1574305https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1574305Mon, 07 Sep 2015 14:26:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Thu, 27 Aug 2015 22:45:30 GMT]]>

Joy of Learning 111:
No offence taken and no offence intended. I simply meant that if you had supplied this information earlier when I first invited you to test your son's short-term memory then that approach to diagnosis would have been promptly eliminated in the discussion. In the absence of this information, I thought you were premature in dismissing short-term memory.

OK......

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1567520https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1567520Thu, 27 Aug 2015 22:45:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Thu, 27 Aug 2015 02:24:07 GMT]]>No offence taken and no offence intended. I simply meant that if you had supplied this information earlier when I first invited you to test your son’s short-term memory then that approach to diagnosis would have been promptly eliminated in the discussion. In the absence of this information, I thought you were premature in dismissing short-term memory.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1566743https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1566743Thu, 27 Aug 2015 02:24:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Wed, 26 Aug 2015 22:55:14 GMT]]>

Joy of Learning 111:
[quote]:offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: actually, I have done thus exercise many times with him including spelling 'degenerative' or 'quiddity' backwards in less than 15 seconds and asked him to say the 13 times table backwards in 2s. He struggled, but only for a little. After that he could do withiut mistakes in just his second try.

And did you inform us that you had done this exercise to test working memory? In good faith I, and other forumers, have tried to help you based on the information you have provided.[/quote]No offense, really, but is this a question, an interrogation or r an insult? I did not say that all of you have done nothing to help at all. I do try out all ur methods, just that I did not say it. Again, no offense. Are you telling me that because you think I am trying to show off? I am not arguing with you, but I need to find out what is causing this misunderstanding. Actually, I am not trying to show off how gd my son is, I am just telling u his experience. No offense once more, but sometimes you cannot insist it's on short term memory. I tried to reply back because I want to let u know it is not shirt term memory, not because I want to argue. Let me know if you feel mad at me. :udawoman: :udaman:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1566513https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1566513Wed, 26 Aug 2015 22:55:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:36:30 GMT]]>[quote]Is this something also similar to auditory attention problem or auditory cohesion problem ? My son has no problem with memorizing, dictation, Mo xie, reading, but seeing him painfully trying to recall the rhythm and/or tone that his Piano teacher just played few seconds ago, I see he lost focus at the second bar. He also tends to not focus or didn't listen the full instructions from me. It has been so since quite young and I thought he outgrow them, but seems like a relapse. I have to get his eye contact, make him lift up three fingers if I have three points to make, and emphasize on key words so he can remember. But if I wrote it down, he can see, understandand remember with a glance. Sigh.[/quote]
Hi jedamum.

I notice you say that it has been so since quite young and you thought he had outgrown them but seems like a relapse. This is suggestive of an underlying auditory cohesion problem, for the brain undergoes changes towards adolescence and some earlier issues can resurface. I presume he passed his normal paediatric developmental checks in the early years. To be on the safe side, I would recommend seeing a professional clinician.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565749https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565749Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:36:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:18:44 GMT]]>[quote]:offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: actually, I have done thus exercise many times with him including spelling 'degenerative' or 'quiddity' backwards in less than 15 seconds and asked him to say the 13 times table backwards in 2s. He struggled, but only for a little. After that he could do withiut mistakes in just his second try.[/quote]
And did you inform us that you had done this exercise to test working memory? In good faith I, and other forumers, have tried to help you based on the information you have provided.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565745https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565745Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:18:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 22:49:52 GMT]]>

jedamum:
Faithfuldad123,

Hope you find your solution real soon, or if not, focus on doing the best for the rest of the components.

Off topic to faithfuldad's issue,
Is this something also similar to auditory attention problem or auditory cohesion problem ? My son has no problem with memorizing, dictation, Mo xie, reading, but seeing him painfully trying to recall the rhythm and/or tone that his Piano teacher just played few seconds ago, I see he lost focus at the second bar. He also tends to not focus or didn't listen the full instructions from me. It has been so since quite young and I thought he outgrow them, but seems like a relapse. I have to get his eye contact, make him lift up three fingers if I have three points to make, and emphasize on key words so he can remember. But if I wrote it down, he can see, understandand remember with a glance. Sigh.

Personally, my own problem is similar. When I listen to lectures , I need to write out to understand what the teacher was saying. Else, they were meaningless words. And, I can't watch English movies with no subtitles as I get lost most of the time or drifted away among the language noise and dunno what they saying.
that would be a problem of short term memory.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565719https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565719Tue, 25 Aug 2015 22:49:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 22:46:14 GMT]]>

Joy of Learning 111:
[quote]He can basically tell me a whole English passage, write it down and after a few weeks still remembers it.

But this is long-term memory, not short-term memory. If you look carefully at my suggested ideas of counting backwards etc, what you will see is that short-term memory is working memory. The issue will be whether he can take information into short-term memory and manipulate it. This would be an essential skill for listening comprehension. Simply being able to recall from memory verbatim only shows that, eh, he can recall from memory verbatim.

Anyway, I have no further suggestions.[/quote] :offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic: actually, I have done thus exercise many times with him including spelling 'degenerative' or 'quiddity' backwards in less than 15 seconds and asked him to say the 13 times table backwards in 2s. He struggled, but only for a little. After that he could do withiut mistakes in just his second try.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565716https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565716Tue, 25 Aug 2015 22:46:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:42:16 GMT]]>Faithfuldad123,

Hope you find your solution real soon, or if not, focus on doing the best for the rest of the components.

Off topic to faithfuldad’s issue,
Is this something also similar to auditory attention problem or auditory cohesion problem ? My son has no problem with memorizing, dictation, Mo xie, reading, but seeing him painfully trying to recall the rhythm and/or tone that his Piano teacher just played few seconds ago, I see he lost focus at the second bar. He also tends to not focus or didn’t listen the full instructions from me. It has been so since quite young and I thought he outgrow them, but seems like a relapse. I have to get his eye contact, make him lift up three fingers if I have three points to make, and emphasize on key words so he can remember. But if I wrote it down, he can see, understandand remember with a glance. Sigh.

Personally, my own problem is similar. When I listen to lectures , I need to write out to understand what the teacher was saying. Else, they were meaningless words. And, I can’t watch English movies with no subtitles as I get lost most of the time or drifted away among the language noise and dunno what they saying.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565399https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565399Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:42:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:29:52 GMT]]>Yes, fully agree with jettsetter


like in a meeting, people discuss many different things, some even like to argue loudly their different view points across. Last time saw 1 fierce woman FC slam her palm on the table inside corporate board room, to bring her point across. But what are the main key, salient points to summarize or take home, after so much discussion at meeting ? Can be quite distracting at times, when people raise their voice, argue their view.

Still need to fall back on fundamental listening, comprehension skill, and the ability to visualize, conceptualize, compartmentalize key points in our brain, involve listening (input), & brain processing information synapse, the ability to "gel" the hearing input info. Is that part of the brain, that involve hearing input, then processing of info. Throw out irrelevant info, retain key, important salient points, inference part.

Whereas reading a passage is slightly different : because the words, the image are static right in front of u, info placed right in front of u, to absorb & to digest instantly.

But not sure how to go about improve the listening, hearing input part

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565394https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565394Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:29:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:16:11 GMT]]>

faithfuldad123:
slmkhoo:

[quote=\"faithfuldad123\"]Yes. I drill him with many such questions and explained them. However they don't work


Is his comprehension of such questions OK when he sees the passage and questions in writing? If so, then it's not a comprehension issue. In that case, you may want to investigate if he has some auditory processing or hearing issue?

:gloomy: No if that is the case why can he score in simple referral questions? I am very worried PSLE is in september 19 and he can still give me a score of 8 for prelim when his friends are getting full mark. As I said before he is very good in paper 2 and composition. I need help. Know any tutors experienced in teaching specially for PSLE English listening?[/quote]I don't think it's to do with short or long term memory. It's probably he lacks inferential ability? The use of the \"wrong\" part of his brain cortex? Or the over-use of the \"wrong part\" or the inability to interchange between the right and wrong part of his brain to decode meanings?

There are many ESL learners who can only decode surface level meaning in isolated units, say a few sentences - word for word. That's why simple questions were ok for him/these nonnative learners.

However, when the passage is read to them as a whole, i.e. the entire context, they cannot distill the gist and decode the illocutionary meaning/nuances which could be determined by the tone, pitch, volume of speaker, or diction used by the speaker like certain Western jargon he's unfamiliar with (but the latter isn't a problem in Singapore, compared to China, Korea and Japan).

It seems to me his brain's been wired to focus too intently on the micro, not the macro which requires lots of practice and early intervention.

Dictation requires good visual, not auditory skills, because the person would have seen the passage and contextualising isn't required for the Dictation task. Comprehension too taps on the visual. But Listening Compre is diff, so he's encumbered by his weak auditory skills.

Can you let him listen to some BBC radio broadcasts (sometimes they have short stories), and ask him some inferential questions? Tell him to distance himself from the individual sentences uttered by speaker and take a step back to digest the whole broadcast?

Play back some YouTube news broadcasts without letting him WATCH it using his eyes and test him by asking inferential questions?

This is an impt skill to sharpen as when he grows up, he needs to be able to distill and decode long speeches or questions uttered by his boss or colleagues, but if he cannot mentally summarise the key messages, he will be in trouble.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565383https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565383Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:16:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 01:00:33 GMT]]>[quote]He can basically tell me a whole English passage, write it down and after a few weeks still remembers it.[/quote]
But this is long-term memory, not short-term memory. If you look carefully at my suggested ideas of counting backwards etc, what you will see is that short-term memory is working memory. The issue will be whether he can take information into short-term memory and manipulate it. This would be an essential skill for listening comprehension. Simply being able to recall from memory verbatim only shows that, eh, he can recall from memory verbatim.

Anyway, I have no further suggestions.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565274https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565274Tue, 25 Aug 2015 01:00:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Mon, 24 Aug 2015 22:56:29 GMT]]>

Blokus:
I've read a curriculum book that recommends dictation exercises to help the child with short term memory- or something like that. Basically, you read a couple of sentences and have the child recite to you first, before having them to write it down on paper. This way, you train them to register the sentences or passages into their short term memory bank. I'm not sure it this helps.


But I think it makes sense that it could be a short term memory issue. On paper he can do well because he can still refer back to the passage visually ie he does not need to put in the details in his memory. But listening compre is required.

The other way is to read a very short passage with him, close the book andwww have him repeat back to you what the passage was about?

I'm no expert just throwing out some ideas! Hope you find your solution soon!
Guys, I think you're mistaken. By 默写 I meant that he has gd short term memory, regardless of language. He can basically tell me a whole English passage, write it down and after a few weeks still remembers it. As I said before, the comprehension ofability us the true problem. Not becauseno he forgets it. :offtopic:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565173https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1565173Mon, 24 Aug 2015 22:56:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Mon, 24 Aug 2015 01:24:12 GMT]]>I’ve read a curriculum book that recommends dictation exercises to help the child with short term memory- or something like that. Basically, you read a couple of sentences and have the child recite to you first, before having them to write it down on paper. This way, you train them to register the sentences or passages into their short term memory bank. I’m not sure it this helps.


But I think it makes sense that it could be a short term memory issue. On paper he can do well because he can still refer back to the passage visually ie he does not need to put in the details in his memory. But listening compre is required.

The other way is to read a very short passage with him, close the book and have him repeat back to you what the passage was about?

I’m no expert just throwing out some ideas! Hope you find your solution soon!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564491https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564491Mon, 24 Aug 2015 01:24:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Mon, 24 Aug 2015 01:11:56 GMT]]>Thanks, phtthp. That supports my case then. Being good at memorising Chinese spellings does not in my experience correlate to being skilled at English spelling and English listening comprehension, for the reasons I stated concerning the two languages.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564482https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564482Mon, 24 Aug 2015 01:11:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Sun, 23 Aug 2015 15:53:56 GMT]]>默写 is memorized Chinese spelling, word by word

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564402https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564402Sun, 23 Aug 2015 15:53:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Sun, 23 Aug 2015 14:08:31 GMT]]>I do not read Chinese so I do not know what 默写 means, but I presume it means listening comprehension. English is a sound-based alphabetical language whereas Chinese is a stroke based visual language. Consequently, for certain aspects of language use different areas of the brain are involved. One can be dyslexic, for instance, in one but not the other.


It could be an attention issue. Perhaps he has an antipathy towards listening to English and so switches off.

Anyway, I was just offering some ideas in good faith based on my teaching experience and knowledge of psychology. If my ideas are useful, then all is good. If not, then ignore.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564320https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564320Sun, 23 Aug 2015 14:08:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Sun, 23 Aug 2015 03:57:23 GMT]]>

Joy of Learning 111:
Practise exercises like counting backwards in three's from thirty; reciting the days of the week backwards; and memorising an eight-digit phone number. Think of muscle memory like physical muscle: need to exercise.

That is not the problem. He gets straight A's for 默写 and he can remember science concepts easily.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564080https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1564080Sun, 23 Aug 2015 03:57:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Thu, 20 Aug 2015 07:22:23 GMT]]>Practise exercises like counting backwards in three’s from thirty; reciting the days of the week backwards; and memorising an eight-digit phone number. Think of muscle memory like physical muscle: need to exercise.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1562709https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1562709Thu, 20 Aug 2015 07:22:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Thu, 20 Aug 2015 04:53:45 GMT]]>if short term memory is the issue, any way to train child to overcome problem ?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1562635https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1562635Thu, 20 Aug 2015 04:53:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Thu, 20 Aug 2015 00:54:16 GMT]]>faithfuldad123


Some children struggle with listening comprehension because of relatively poor short-term memory. You might want to investigate whether your son can readily hold information in short-term memory. For instance, ask him to count backwards in three’s from thirty; recite the days of the week backwards; memorise an eight-digit phone number.

If short-term memory is the issue, then the most immediate way to help ameliorate it is to train your son to be relaxed yet highly attentive during listening comprehension exercises. As the teacher speaks, your son should try to visualise what is going on.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1562530https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1562530Thu, 20 Aug 2015 00:54:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Sun, 16 Aug 2015 23:40:59 GMT]]>

faithfuldad123:
slmkhoo:

[quote=\"faithfuldad123\"]Yes. I drill him with many such questions and explained them. However they don't work


Is his comprehension of such questions OK when he sees the passage and questions in writing? If so, then it's not a comprehension issue. In that case, you may want to investigate if he has some auditory processing or hearing issue?

:gloomy: No if that is the case why can he score in simple referral questions? I am very worried PSLE is in september 19 and he can still give me a score of 8 for prelim when his friends are getting full mark. As I said before he is very good in paper 2 and composition. I need help. Know any tutors experienced in teaching specially for PSLE English listening?[/quote]Have you spoken to his school teacher? I don't know about tutors - maybe someone else can help you.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1560594https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1560594Sun, 16 Aug 2015 23:40:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to improve listening comprehension (ENG)? on Sun, 16 Aug 2015 13:52:55 GMT]]>

slmkhoo:
faithfuldad123:

Yes. I drill him with many such questions and explained them. However they don't work


Is his comprehension of such questions OK when he sees the passage and questions in writing? If so, then it's not a comprehension issue. In that case, you may want to investigate if he has some auditory processing or hearing issue?

:gloomy: No if that is the case why can he score in simple referral questions? I am very worried PSLE is in september 19 and he can still give me a score of 8 for prelim when his friends are getting full mark. As I said before he is very good in paper 2 and composition. I need help. Know any tutors experienced in teaching specially for PSLE English listening?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1560531https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1560531Sun, 16 Aug 2015 13:52:55 GMT