The Benefits of Buying Algebra 2 For Your Students

The Benefits of Buying Algebra 2 For Your StudentsThe common core math test may have been a factor in your decision to purchase algebra 2 for your students. However, it should not be the only factor. Before you decide that all students must take the same tests and they should therefore also take algebra 2, think again.One of the issues that are sure to arise during the process of choosing the right math software or unit that is going to satisfy both your needs and those of your students is what the best grade of algebra for every student really is. This can be a daunting task as there are so many options that you will want to consider when you are doing your search. Fortunately, there are several features and elements to choose from that can make this process easier.First of all, you must realize that each individual student might not be going to need a high level of math skills as will be required in this class. That said, that does not mean that you should force them to take a test that is specifically designed for them. Instead, when you are doing your search you can look at how many other students in your class are taking a similar type of test. This can give you an idea of how much the curriculum or this specific class will include problems that you might not otherwise be looking at.Another factor to consider when you are looking at the common core testing is the range of questions that are available on the test. While algebra 2 may not be as high a level as algebra 1, it does not mean that the range of questions available is not extensive.By doing your homework in advance, you can set up a schedule for yourself that will allow you to complete your homework before you begin any of the common core tests. This way, you can assess your students' strengths and weaknesses and be prepared to meet any questions that they may have during the course of the test. That way, you will know exactly what you need to do to help your students maximize their learning experi ences during this challenging process.Once you have picked out the tests that you will be using, you will want to know which test is the best to use on a daily basis. Obviously, you need to make sure that the test is going to test all of the skills that you need it to test. This means that it is important to use a test that tests everything that your students need to know in order to learn math.When you are doing your homework, you will find that the common core will provide you with numerous options that you will need to consider before making your choice. This can make the process of choosing the best math test or units easier than if you were to go about it in a blind fashion. There are options for you and your students that can provide the results that you need.

Is Chemistry Knowledge Wanted in Career Prospects

Is Chemistry Knowledge Wanted in Career Prospects 0SHARESShare Chemistry is the central Science that links other subjects like Physics, Biology, Environmental Science and Geology. Many people who wish to become doctors, environmental scientists, nurses, nutritionists, physicists and chemists should know the basics of Chemistry to shine in their subjects. Importance of learning Chemistry Chemistry helps us know the chemicals used in our cooking and cleaning. It throws an idea about household chemicals and the way we have to handle them. Which chemicals to keep close to us and which ones to keep far away, what to mix and what not to mix. Students who know the value of chemicals used in our day to day life turn out to be good cooks, nutritionists and doctors. Chemistry opens up various career options as its usage is found in many fields. In fields like food industry, transportation, art, home making, retail sales etc. Having knowledge of Chemistry helps you understand product labels and also you can make informed decisions. Decisions about how a product works, whether it is worth buying and whether  the advertisement about the product is valid or not . You are able to understand the environmental issues better and know how to protect our earth from pollution. Chemistry instills many good life skills like analytical skills, problem solving abilities in you. Thus, it can be understood that forms our lifeline in our various day today activities. Activities with its chemical actions and uses. Learning the subject with interest makes us realize the utmost fun of doing it. The immense value it renders to our life therefore. Still, learning is a tough matter for many since they are not exposed to the subject in the right spirit. It is only an online Chemistry tutor who can compensate this lacuna in learning for students. Chemistry homework help-you need it for intense subject understanding Chemistry symbols are many and they lead you in the wrong way when you handle them at random for solving equations. The result is the cumbersome homework on your part with incomplete answers. Forgetting the symbols on time is also a basic issue while sitting for exams. Chemistry Homework help is the right choice for students while solving difficult sums and equations. Assignments are yet another issue for which students can seek best assignment help from reputed tutoring sites like Tutor Pace and burst their mysteries in the air. Online help for doing Chemistry is the way to ace the subject and enjoy its fun aspect with interesting activities. [starbox id=admin]

5 Steps to Mastering the LSAT Logical Reasoning

5 Steps to Mastering the LSAT Logical Reasoning LSAT Law School Blog There are three basic parts to the LSAT Logical Reasoning question: argument question (what the test writers want you to figure out about the argument) answer choices Mastering the LSAT Logical Reasoning questions requires becoming comfortable with each of the three parts of the Logical Reasoning question. The best way to do this is to break up the question and address each part separately. 1. Read the question. Starting with the question helps you get in the right frame of mind for what you will need to do answer this question. It helps to focus on what you should be focusing on when reading the argument. Note: Does the question have the word “EXCEPT” in it? Don’t forget that! Underline, highlight, or circle it. Do whatever works best for you to draw your attention back to this word after you are done reading the argument. It is a common mistake to miss questions with “EXCEPT.” Students get tunnel vision when reading the argument and forget that the question wants them to find the answer that does not fit with the argument. So, reminding yourself of what you are really being asked to do will help you avoid making this mistake and help you get valuable points. 2. Read the argument. Read the argument carefully. Underline or highlight key words. Pay special attention to anything related to the question. For example, did the question ask about the conclusion? If so, pay extra attention to what the conclusion of the argument is. 3. Put the argument in your own words. What is the writer really trying to say? Put in plain English. Write a 1-2 line summary for yourself next to the question. This way you have a quick reference that makes sense to you, and you do not have to waste time rereading the argument. Also, the majority of questions focus on the conclusion or main point, so having a good handle on this part of the argument will always benefit you. 4. Put the answer the question in your own words. Before looking at the answer choices, answer the question yourself. A lot of the answer choices are lengthy or complicated. Putting the answer in your own words first helps you stay on the right track and not get confused. It can be difficult to put answers in your own words at first, especially for questions that ask you to weaken or strengthen the argument. The temptation is to think: “How could I possibly come up with everything that could weaken/strengthen this argument?” But don’t get overwhelmed. The point is not to come up with every possible answer. The point is to just get you thinking about the right things, so all you need to do is come up with one plausible answer. 5. Find the answer choice closest to your own answer. It is unlikely that your exact answer is in the choices, but chances are, something similar is. Use your own answer to help eliminate answer choices and help you select the right answer. The key to the LSAT Logical Reasoning questions is PRACTICE! The more you do, the more comfortable you will become with these questions. If possible, designate some time on a regular basis to do practice problems. It is better to do 5-10 problems every day than 50 problems in one sitting once a week. Your brain needs time to process what it is learning. You will get more out of your studying if you practice in small amounts on a regular basis than if you have cram sessions on weekends. Jayeeta is a private LSAT tutor in Chicago and Boston. She holds a JD from the University of Chicago, a M.S. from MIT, and degrees in Physics and Economics from Reed College. She’s worked with several major test prep companies in addition to MyGuru and has been providing private LSAT tutoring for several years. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, '6baac2ae-05a3-4610-9d1f-265c8cbd809f', {});

Simple Academic Strategies Part One

Simple Academic Strategies Part One Improving Academic Performance Acting strategically is a key to success in education, business, and, really life in general. Before starting MyGuru I was a business strategy consultant, so I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the process of developing strategies. For a business, a typical strategy development process consists of something like: Agree on a specific goal, for example, to double profit Gather a bunch of facts on your company, your competitors, your markets, and your customers Summarize your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, etc. Create some alternative courses of action which take all of the above into consideration Evaluate those courses of action using agreed upon criteria, such as: what would it cost, how risky is it, how long would it take, etc. Choose the best alternative course of action Develop a specific plan with a timeline and clear understanding of who’s accountable for performing each item in the plan Students, like businesses, need to employ strategies to be successful. It may seem obvious, but if you don’t set specific goals, understand exactly what is required to reach them, and develop clear plans for what you will and will not do to achieve the goal, you’ll be much less successful than people that do these things. Setting goals, researching what is required to reach those goals, and developing specific plans that lay out what you will or will not do, is the essence of developing a strategy. As we’ve discussed before on this blog in articles on the growth mindset and on deliberate practice, research shows that successful people aren’t smarter, or even harder workers. They tend to focus on the ability to improve (growth mindset), which makes them grittier, and when they practice, they do so deliberately. However, what they also tend to do is think more strategically about what they’re doing and how it will help them accomplish their goals. Let’s look at what this could mean for a typical college student on two different levels: #1 choosing your classes and #2 performing well in any given class. In this post, we’ll focus on choosing classes. In our next post, we’ll dive into acting strategically within the context of doing well in a specific class. #1 Choosing What Classes to Take Many high school and college students pick classes based on the requirements of their current major, even though they may not be 100% sure they really want to major in that area. They assume they have to choose a path, and then follow it. The decision to change paths later, which perhaps they could see coming had they really laid out their options, comes with a lot of stress and inefficiencies (i.e., another semester or year in college, etc.). They probably also tend to care a little too much about things like timing of the classes, how interesting the class seems to them, and what they’ve heard about it from friends. These seem like natural, and common, criteria. But, they aren’t that strategic or fact-based. A more strategic approach might be to recognize that you have a few goals you’re trying to meet when choosing classes: meeting the requirements of your major, meeting the requirements of another major you might decide to pursue, communicating that you have certain skills to potential future employers so you are an attractive candidate, and perhaps getting exposed to new ideas across multiple disciplines (after all, you only go to college once), as well as graduating in four years. And, perhaps timing of the classes, general interest, and recommendations also play a role. If you know you need to meet the requirements for your major, but also aren’t sure if you’re even going to keep your current major, then that presents an additional, special challenge. As you lay out your class options, you may notice, having thought fully about the goals you have in mind when choosing classes, that there are some classes which meet many of these goals: they fulfill requirements for multiple majors that interest you, they seem interesting, they make your resume more interesting to future employers, the timing isn’t too bad, etc. The way to notice this is to, like a business might, layout your goals, and perhaps prioritize them. Then, gather all the relevant facts. In this case, the facts that most students sometimes don’t gather are hidden in the course descriptions and literature about major requirements. By digging into these documents, you often find courses that fulfill requirements across multiple majors. You could imagine that a classed called “The Economic Role of Individual Governments in the European Union” might meet a requirement for a major or minor in History, Political Science, and Economics. But, you won’t know this without dong some research and gathering facts. Some simple online research about what types of classes impress certain types of employers is another area in which to gather some facts. If you have a hunch you might be interested in a career in consulting or finance, taking some math or statistics classes, at the margin, will demonstrate analytical ability. If you are considering a career in Marketing, psychology classes will demonstrate an interest in an area of knowledge that’s highly relevant for that career. Of course, there will always be tradeoffs. You could image there being a class which seems like a perfect fit for several majors, actually seems interesting to you, and is taught be a well-like professor. But, it’s only available at 8AM on Fridays. All things considered, you might want to take that class. Ultimately, you can just write down on a piece of paper a long list of potential classes, and then across the top of the piece of paper, write out a list of goals you’re trying to accomplish. If the class helps meet that goal, give it a check. To be able to do this, you will need to gather and reflect on the right facts. By simply thinking strategically about your goals and all of the reasons you might choose one set of classes over another, you can create options for yourself around choosing a different major in the future without needing to stay in school an extra year, or perhaps even earning an extra minor or major degree, while also positioning yourself to look good in front of future employers with specific class experiences that they value. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, '6baac2ae-05a3-4610-9d1f-265c8cbd809f', {});

Kumon Student Uses Pageant Platform to Spread Awareness of the Environment

Kumon Student Uses Pageant Platform to Spread Awareness of the Environment Kumon Student Uses Pageant Platform to Spread Awareness of the Environment To everyone who has a dream, follow it. It is possible.” -Magdalena Cohendet, Miss. Uruguay Miss. World Canada, and all beauty pageants alike, are more than just glitz and glamour. Each year, women across the world compete for their chance to be crowned and wait for the moment the emcee utters those highly anticipated words, “Here’s your new Miss. Teen Canada…” Once that crown is placed on the winner’s head, that’s when their journey begins. Historically, pageants have empowered women of all ages to become advocates for issues that are near and dear to their heart. It’s not always easy to talk about world issues and what needs to be done in order to fight for their cause, but the pageant stage is a platform for their voice to be heard and ultimately gain their confidence. For 17-year-old Khushi, being a Miss. World Canada representative for British Columbia has empowered her to find her voice and advocate for the environment â€" a cause she’s passionate about. “I’ve always strived to bring more awareness about the degrading environment,” said Khushi. “Living in a place filled with nature, I appreciate its delicacy and beauty. As an avid environmentalist, I want to promote sustainable lifestyles.” As a 2019 Miss. World Canada representative, Khushi wants to continue her fight and spread her voice. Her advocacy efforts and volunteer time have been recognized as she is often sought out for numerous speaking engagements. Khushi’s philanthropic efforts don’t stop there. Previously holding the title as Miss. Teen Greater Vancouver, she worked with other various charities such as the Canadian Cancer Society’s Cops for Cancer. This fundraiser event is held in various regions throughout the year, where law enforcement and emergency personnel cycle along set routes and engage with communities along their ride to raise money for childhood cancer research and support. Khushi is in her final year of the International Baccalaureate diploma and will be attending the University of British Columbia to pursue a degree in medicine to ultimately become a doctor. “My passion for helping those who need it the most inspired me to want to pursue a degree in medicine,” said Khushi. “My goal is to join Doctors without Borders, in order to provide healthcare to those in need.” Discover even more student success stories. You might also be interested in: A Love for Learning Fueled this Students Passion for Protecting the Environment Discipline is the Key to this Students Success SUCCESS IN KUMON INSPIRED THIS YOUNG STUDENT TO EXCEL IN THE POOL One Students Journey from Kumon to Top University Kumon Student Uses Pageant Platform to Spread Awareness of the Environment Kumon Student Uses Pageant Platform to Spread Awareness of the Environment To everyone who has a dream, follow it. It is possible.” -Magdalena Cohendet, Miss. Uruguay Miss. World Canada, and all beauty pageants alike, are more than just glitz and glamour. Each year, women across the world compete for their chance to be crowned and wait for the moment the emcee utters those highly anticipated words, “Here’s your new Miss. Teen Canada…” Once that crown is placed on the winner’s head, that’s when their journey begins. Historically, pageants have empowered women of all ages to become advocates for issues that are near and dear to their heart. It’s not always easy to talk about world issues and what needs to be done in order to fight for their cause, but the pageant stage is a platform for their voice to be heard and ultimately gain their confidence. For 17-year-old Khushi, being a Miss. World Canada representative for British Columbia has empowered her to find her voice and advocate for the environment â€" a cause she’s passionate about. “I’ve always strived to bring more awareness about the degrading environment,” said Khushi. “Living in a place filled with nature, I appreciate its delicacy and beauty. As an avid environmentalist, I want to promote sustainable lifestyles.” As a 2019 Miss. World Canada representative, Khushi wants to continue her fight and spread her voice. Her advocacy efforts and volunteer time have been recognized as she is often sought out for numerous speaking engagements. Khushi’s philanthropic efforts don’t stop there. Previously holding the title as Miss. Teen Greater Vancouver, she worked with other various charities such as the Canadian Cancer Society’s Cops for Cancer. This fundraiser event is held in various regions throughout the year, where law enforcement and emergency personnel cycle along set routes and engage with communities along their ride to raise money for childhood cancer research and support. Khushi is in her final year of the International Baccalaureate diploma and will be attending the University of British Columbia to pursue a degree in medicine to ultimately become a doctor. “My passion for helping those who need it the most inspired me to want to pursue a degree in medicine,” said Khushi. “My goal is to join Doctors without Borders, in order to provide healthcare to those in need.” Discover even more student success stories. You might also be interested in: A Love for Learning Fueled this Students Passion for Protecting the Environment Discipline is the Key to this Students Success SUCCESS IN KUMON INSPIRED THIS YOUNG STUDENT TO EXCEL IN THE POOL One Students Journey from Kumon to Top University

Yabla Review A Look at the Programs Video-based Learning System

Yabla Review A Look at the Programs Video-based Learning System Yabla Review: A Look at the Programs Video-based Learning System If there’s one thing we know, it’s that videos make great language-learning tools.You can listen to your target language being spoken.You can stop, rewind and slow down.You can add subtitles for reading practice.Plus, videos allow you to see a huge range of different scripted and authentic situations.And since everythings online these days, it’s all available at the click of a button!FluentU is all about making the most of video content to help you learn or improve a language. But of course, we’re not the only ones to see the value in this amazing tool.In this post, we’ll be looking at another platform:  Yabla.Yabla is an online language-learning tool that focuses on video content.The philosophy is simple: By using a range of original and authentic videos at all levels, language learners can practice their listening and learn new vocabulary in context.Yabla also features language games and written lessons to make the experience even richer.So, is this program right for you? Check out our Yabla review below to find out! Yabla Review: A Look at the Programs Video-based Learning SystemKey FeaturesVideosThe main feature of Yabla is its video content, currently available in six languages. In order to provide a rich and varied experience, theres a mixture of original content commissioned by Yabla and licensed content from other sources, including popular TV shows and films. All the videos contain native speakers, giving you a real authentic experience.For example, if you’re learning Italian, you might start off by watching two real people talking about their families. This could then be followed by a clip of an Italian detective drama  or a scenario that teaches you some useful business vocabulary.Each video is accompanied by subtitles in your language and your target language. You can switch these on and off as you wish. You can also click individual words that are new to you and see them translated into English.Lessons, games and vocabulary materialsW hile Yabla is centered on video content as a learning mechanism, there are also other features. What features you have access to depends on the language you’re learning.For instance, if you’re studying French, you can add to your learning by clicking on the “Lessons” tab. This brings up lots of short articles that focus on a particular aspect of the language, like different ways of translating the word when into French, depending on the situation. The written explanations are supplemented with clips from Yabla’s video library to help you see how the language is used in context.You can also play a series of fun language games and get yourself on the leaderboard for your chosen language. While you’re watching a video, simply click the Games button to access enjoyable activities like Missing Word to test your comprehension.Learners of Chinese, on the other hand, are given a different set of tools. These include a pinyin chart to help you understand the different sounds used in Mandarin, as well as a flashcard utility so you can memorize vocabulary.So how good is Yabla, really? Let’s take a look at some of the things it does really well, as well as some of the drawbacks.The Strengths of the Yabla ProgramRange of videosSome people think that watching authentic video content is only useful at higher levels, but thats simply not true! Theres a great variety of videos on Yabla, featuring natural language at every level. The videos come with a simple rating system from one to five, which means that you can see at a glance how difficult the content is.I also love how you can see a mixture of language-focused original videosâ€"both in acted scenarios and explanations to the cameraâ€"with videos taken from TV and film. This means you can still get the explanations you need as a student of the language but you can also feel like you’re watching the same kind of thing as a native speaker would watch!As mentioned in the introduction, Yabla isnt the only learn ing program to effectively harness videos for teaching a language. FluentU also strives to make authentic videos like music videos, movie clips and inspirational talks approachable to learners at any level.Seeing your target language as its actually used by native speakers is a powerful way to learn the nuances, rhythm and word usage in a way that you just cant get with content made for learners.SubtitlesThere are a lot of different views out there on the best way to use subtitles when you’re watching videos in a language you’re trying to learn or improve.Some people say that the writing draws your eye, distracts you from the spoken language  and prevents you from improving your listening comprehension, especially when you have the translation. Others, however, believe that seeing the subtitles can help you connect their sounds of the words with their spellings and meanings.The great thing about the subtitles on Yabla is that you can choose to have them in your target language, in English, in both or in neither. This option for customization is also present in FluentU and other video-based learning programs because it puts the learning decisions in the hands of the learner.You might find, for example, that the first time you watch the video you want to try to understand it without subtitles and then add them the second time so you can check how well you understood. Or you can do it the other way aroundâ€"the choice is yours!The other really useful thing about the subtitles on Yabla is that you can click on a word to bring up the dictionary definition and translation. You can also add it to your flashcard list for later revision.Video controlsWhile testing out this program, I was watching a clip from the TV series Il Comissario Manara  (Commissioner Manara) in Italian on Yabla. The main character speaks so fast! Luckily, I was able to use Yabla’s video controls to turn the speed down to 75% or even 50% of the full speed in order to comprehend it better.Th is is so useful when listening to authentic clips of native speakers. You can get into the rhythms of the language without worrying about losing the thread due to the pace being too fast.Embedded video clips in lessonsAlthough they’re not available in every language, the lesson-style articles are brilliant. By showing short clips of specific grammar or vocabulary, explaining them and comparing their usage, Yabla really gives you a feel for some of the nuances of your target language.You can take a look at these even if you’re not subscribed to the service. For instance, check out this lesson on German expressions of enthusiasm. The examples are given in English and German, and you just need to click on Play Caption to watch the clips.Yabla Features That Could Be BetterSelection of languagesWhile this is sure to develop in the future, at the moment Yabla only offers six languages to learnâ€"French, German, Italian, Chinese, Spanish and English.If youre learning Korean, Russian or Japanese and want to get a similar video-based experience, you can get that on FluentU. (FluentU also offers the languages on Yabla, in case you want a double-dose of video-based learning.)Other language learners are out of luckâ€"for now. Keep an eye out for new language offerings on both platforms!Cost of new languagesYabla requires a new subscription for each language. If youre signed up to learn French and then you think you want to take up Chinese, youll need to pay a second fee.This isnt a problem if you only want to learn one language at a time, but it’s a bit of a shame not to be able to explore alternatives without committing to them.You can always try out the language on another platform like FluentU, firstâ€"which does allow you to access all of its languages with a single subscriptionâ€"before you decide to sign up for another language on Yabla.Mobile accessibilityAt present, Yabla doesn’t have a downloadable app.  This means you have to rely on having an internet c onnection to practice.However, the upside of this is that the website is mobile responsive, so as long as you do have that connection then you can use your tablet or smartphone to study.  (If you really want a dedicated app, you can find FluentUs apps on Android and iOS and simply use Yabla at home and FluentU on the go!)What do you think? Has our review of Yabla made you want to try it out?All in all, despite a few drawbacks, the videos, games and lessons on offer make Yabla a really interesting way to use video content to drive your language learning in a fun and engaging way!

Keep Your Ears Open! The Ultimate Guide to Language Listening

Keep Your Ears Open! The Ultimate Guide to Language Listening Keep Your Ears Open! The Ultimate Guide to Language Listening Shhh.Quiet your mind and listen to your surroundings for a second.What do you hear?Are you on a crowded airplane or in a public place? Have you got any music playing? Is someone talking nearby?Your ears are incredibly sensitive organs that end up telling you a lot more about your environment than you might expect.And when it comes to language, the ears and the brain work together with shocking efficiency to make sense of even the most jumbled words in the worst acoustic environments.Of course, that doesnt always seem to be the case. Most of the time it takes me a few listens before I can get all the words of a song, even in English.And lets not forget the massive vocabulary that exists in every language purely to express miscommunication. Huh? Wie bitte?  Apa?But although these are good words or phrases to know, and although everyone needs them sometimes, wouldnt it be great to only have to pull them out in a foreign language as often as you would need to in your native language?A lo t of people say that listening is the hardest thing in learning a foreign language.But Ive never felt that way.For me, building listening skills  has just taken the right amount of time and practice.In this post, were going to look at why working on your listening skills is crucial, and how you can use certain strategies to get your own listening where you want it. Why Its So Important to Spend Time Building Your Listening SkillsConversational competence is essentialEver gotten lost in a conversation?Its happened to me too many times to count.Its tough to keep up with a conversation that you cant participate much in, but its much worse if you cant even understand whats being said.If youre able to understand the other person but your own vocabulary is failing you, the entire conversation and all those missed opportunities become a huge, flashing neon sign telling you where your speaking problems are.Couldnt say when I went to the store last Tuesday? Work on time expressions.Couldnt come up with the word for ukulele? Check the dictionary.By contrast, its infinitely harder to know what to improve when you cant even understand the other persons speech at all.A lack of listening skills will keep you from understanding how you need to improve.And thats just in the realm of conversation. Imagine youre using your language as a tourist. Most tourists just use a simple stock of phrases.When you ask, Whats in this soup? you just need to remember how to say one sentence. But you have to be prepared to understand the answer, whether its chicken, rice or pig brain.You need to develop the ability to recognize vocabularyWithout a base of vocabulary, you have almost no chance of understanding the content of the message that the other person is trying to get across. Its true, you can pick up a lot from context, and in fact, plenty of people learn best from conversations.But if youre in over your head in a conversation, its stressful to try and juggle all the new words youre h earing in order to be able to respond.And conversely, if you have the vocabulary but you cant parse out the individual words you hear, youll be just as lost.Listening practice  and the skills that are gained from it bring your knowledge together with usage to make understanding language a completely automatic experience.Advanced language learners barely even recognize that theyre hearing another languageâ€"it just sounds like someones talking to them.Building listening skills takes time!It takes a massive amount of time for your brain to acquire strong listening ability.Listening is about decoding the sound patterns of spoken language so that you can match it up with the vocabulary and syntax youre already familiar with.In a regular college-level course, youre only being exposed to the language for a handful of hours every week.The reality is, youre never going to be able to teach your brain to decode fast native speech unless you give it a lot of practiceâ€"and that means a mix of intensive and extensive listening exercises. Below, well explain what this means and make it clear exactly how you can build up this crucial skill.Keep Your Ears Open! The Ultimate Guide to Language ListeningIntensive Listening PracticeWhat is intensive listening, and why do it?Intensive listening means spending the time to really break down some challenging native content.Its a lot of effortâ€"thats why its called intensive, after all.But the rewards are huge because youre spending all your energy on actually experiencing and understanding the language as its spoken.Heres how to do it.1. Choose a short clip and listen to it a couple of times.Take a short section of a podcast or video with somewhat challenging speechâ€"no longer than 20 seconds.It should be the kind of thing thats hard to understand the first time, but becomes clearer as you listen to it more.In other words, it should be fairly easy to understand as long as you have a transcript.But learning to understand without  a transcript is what this exercise is all about.The first few times you sit down to do intensive listening, choose something about a topic youre already familiar with.That way, youll likely already know most of the vocabulary used and just need to get your ear tuned to the way the language sounds.For instance, most language enthusiasts are very used to hearing or reading about how people learn languages.For that reason, listening to someone talk about words, language or linguistics in your target language might be a lot easier for you than listening to someone talk about ancient history or modern dance.Or you might like something relatively predictable, like product unboxing videos, recipes or makeup tutorials. If youve seen these in English, youll know they tend to follow the same simple structure.FluentU is ideal for finding content for intensive listening, as it takes real-world videos in a variety of formatsâ€"like commercials, mini-movies, music videos and moreâ€"and on a variet y of topics, and turns them into personalized language lessons. Every video comes with interactive captions (that you can turn off for the purpose of this exercise).In general, at first, youll want to stay away from content that might include a lot of names and dates.Theres a time and place for learning to quickly understand names, dates and times, but its pretty frustrating to be stuck on a word for hours only to eventually realize that its the name of some obscure comedian or politicianâ€"Ive been there.Once youve chosen a clip, youll first want to listen to it twice in a row simply to see what you can pick up.2. Create a transcript of what you hear.Your goal now is to create a word-for-word transcript of everything you hear.So youll need to listen several more times.The best way to do this is actually to start from the very end and work your way back. Listen to the last two seconds, the last three seconds, the last four seconds and  so on.Write down what you can every time.This r epetition will burn the sound patterns into your brain and youll realize you can actually understand a lot more than you thoughtâ€"before you even look anything up.Its like listening to rap music. You dont always pay attention to all the lyrics until you intentionally start trying to understand them.And, by the way, when youre finished for the day, those repeated sections might still be ringing in your ears.3. Check your guesses.At this point, you should have managed to write down most of the transcript.Youll also probably have figured out some words that you dont even know, just from hearing them over and over. This is tricky, and you should be proud of yourself if you managed it!Go ahead and look up whatever word meanings youre not sure about to see if your guesses were correct.After this, if there are still words you cant figure out, let them be for a while and do some reading or vocabulary practice.If you cant recognize the word on seeing it or hearing it, you wont be able to fi gure it out when you hear it at fast native speed.Intensive listening practice is most effective when you know most of the words used but just need to get used to the way natives pronounce them in natural speech.It sounds simple, but this really is something lots of people have trouble with, especially in languages with a big perceived difference between the written and spoken word.This intensive practice really does pay dividends. Its astounding what a difference it can make in your overall ability.But the reason people dont do it all the time is that it burns you out. Youre running your brain at full power for that exercise, and you need time to recharge.Enter extensive listening.Extensive ListeningIts important to balance your intensive practice with extensive practice to give your brain a chance to get comfortable with what you’re learning.And dont worryâ€"extensive practice is a lot less intense.For a change of pace, youre going to listen without looking anything up, just fol lowing what you can and guessing the context.Dont tune out, and dont try to multitask while youre listening. You want to keep paying attention to the content, but not necessarily forcing yourself to understand every word.This is much less mentally taxing and a crucial part of building your listening skills.Extensive listening is also very important for learning cultural nuances and references in your target language.Because any language has so many obscure words and phrases, you simply need an enormous amount of listening exposure in order to get familiar with them.Generally, a two-hour movie will have about 9,000 words of dialogueâ€"roughly the same as a novella or short story.That means youll need to watch four or five movies, or 10 sitcom episodes before you expose yourself to the amount of language you’d get from reading a novel.1. Choose some short episodes of material to listen to.Again, you should be understanding the majority of what you hear, with only a handful of unknow n words every few minutes.If you still feel that your vocabulary isnt large enough, spend just a few minutes of each listening session writing down new words, or do separate vocabulary work at another time.As you consume more and more target language media, youll naturally pick up new words through repetition.Watching a long-running sitcom or cartoon will usually expose you to the same type of language over and over. Boring for ordinary viewers, perfect for the language learner!Of course, if youre not interested in TV, you can substitute podcasts or radio shows.However, be aware that audio-only resources require even more attention because you dont get any of the body language, lip movements or environmental cues that video provides.Just be prepared to compensate for that difficulty by choosing slightly easier material or listening more times to pick up what you need.To start, you could try watching some short comedy sketches, sitcoms or cartoons with familiar plots.An animated show like Doraemon, Peppa Pig or SpongeBob is perfect because the cast of characters is relatively small and the situations are often very familiar.If you miss what happens in one scene, chances are that same scene is going to play out again with only a slight variation later on.You can also look for dubbed versions of movies or shows that you know well from your native language.Even smaller countries usually produce dubbed versions of kids movies to show on TV.And languages like French, German and Japanese are treasure troves of dubbed media from all over the world.At the early stages of extensive listening, you should try to avoid lengthy, involved material like speeches or news broadcasts.Also, I recommend you try not to jump between genres or topicsâ€"get used to a handful of speakers and situations first.2. Listen during a few spaced-out sessions.Once youve familiarized yourself with a TV episode or video, listen to just the audio.Dont pause or take down notes for now. Listen to it a few times spaced out throughout a day or week.Remember or imagine what the characters are doing and how theyre feeling, even if you cant understand every word.This gets your mind more attuned to the emotional context and delivery of the words and phrases you hear.When you see the episode again with the video attached, youll be able to understand much more clearly whats going onâ€"and it wont even feel like you did any studying at all!3. Rack up those listening hours.It takes a lot of time to perfect your listening skills, but did you know that the average American watches over five hours of television every day?If you can turn that television watching time into target-language watching time, youll rack up listening hours incredibly quickly.Plus, theres another secret weapon you can usually count on: dead time.4. Integrate extensive listening into dead time.Five hours of television every day is a nice statistic, but it doesnt help if you personally have a busy, unpredictable life. I know I cant fit that in.If thats the case for you, see what you can do about fitting listening practice into dead time.That means when youre on the go, waiting for a bus, waiting in line, waiting for files to upload, waiting for your dinner to cook… daily life has a lot of waiting!All that time can add up to an hour or more of potential listening time during your day if you just remember to bring your headphones.And what about times when youre doing something else?Its true that true passive listeningâ€"just having your language on in the backgroundâ€"doesnt go very far in improving your listening ability.What it does give you is immediacy.If you can, try simply leaving radio, music, videos or podcasts on in the background as you do other tasks. Its only natural that youll tune out to focus on whatever else youre doing.But when you tune back in, the language is already going and you have the opportunity to immediately catch a few words or phrases.And when that opportunity is han ded to you, its perfectly natural to listen. Compare that with making the mental effort to pull out your phone, put in your earbuds, find the right podcast… what a pain!Basically, by having your target language surrounding you whenever possible, you make it easier to practice listening than to do anything else.After just a few days of really focusing on listening, chances are youll start to see a big leap in your comprehension.As I said above, though, it takes a lot of time for those leaps to add up to the point where you can easily understand pretty much everything you hear.For all my talk about finding short videos with predictable plots and the other advice above, the most important thing is to be interested in what youre watching or listening to.Once youre able to dive into the material you see without having to think about how much you understandâ€"thats when youre on the path to listening success.