Why Understanding Spoken English Is Harder Than Reading—and How to Fix It

When people speak English, they pronounce the words together, they shorten some of the sounds, they change the pronunciation of some sounds, they do not make pauses between sentences, etc. If you are not used to these things, you will not be able to understand English words you already know.

Connected speech is a big problem. English speakers often connect words, omit some sounds, and change the pronunciation of some sounds, depending on the rhythm and the stress. For example, sometimes you see some sentences written, and you think you understand them. But when you hear those same sentences, you don’t recognize them. If you have learned English mostly with books, you are used to a slow, careful pronunciation. But when you listen to English, you need to process the information very fast, because there are no pauses between sentences. You don’t give your brain time enough to separate the words, so you don’t understand what you hear.

Another problem is that there are many accents and ways of speaking. English is spoken all around the world, and if you are not used to different accents, you will have problems to understand English speakers. The speed, the intonation, and the pronunciation of some sounds changes a lot, and our brain needs to adjust to all these changes. If you do not listen to different English accents frequently, your ears will be tuned to your usual accent, and you will struggle to understand people with different accents, even if you know the words they are using.

To improve your listening skills, you need to practice, and not only be exposed to the language. You need to listen to English for short periods of time many times, and try to anticipate and complete the information. You can practice shadowing, which consists on repeating what you hear, like an actor. Little by little, your brain will get used to English pronunciation and speed, and you will be able to distinguish the words you hear.

With time, listening to English will change from an effort to understand the language to something natural. You will not need to translate the language to your own anymore, and you will not need to repeat the sentences in your mind. And this is a key point in the process of learning a language, because then you will be able to react in the moment. So do not get frustrated if you do not understand English when you hear it. With some practice, you will get better little by little, and eventually you will be able to understand English in a natural way, like a native speaker.