If you think about it, babies listen for a long time before they start speaking.
I’m not saying that listening is not important. In fact, I think it’s the most important skill to be able to have a genuine conversation. But there’s a difference between listening for fun and focused listening to improve your listening ability.
What are listening skills?
Vietnamese listening skills can be defined as your ability to comprehend, respond and communicate in Vietnamese. This is essential for a good conversation!
What do you mean by “practising listening”?
Practising Vietnamese listening is fun listening activities – watching movies, listening to music, chatting to friends. We do these things because we enjoy them, and they also help to attune our ears to the sounds of Vietnamese.
To be able to understand Vietnamese of course you have to listen a lot to get used to the sounds of a language. However, you often “hear” what you want to hear, you skip over words you don’t know or you’re having a conversation and your main focus is thinking about what you’ll say next!
Think of song lyrics in your native language – sometimes you mishear certain words (like Taylor Swift’s “star-crossed lovers” sounds like “starbucks lovers”).
Listening for fun is great, but simply listening may not result in increased comprehension.
What do you mean by “improving your Vietnamese listening skills”?
If you struggle with listening, you need to figure out why.
Only then can you make a targetted plan to improve your listening.
#1 common listening problem – lack of vocabulary
Often you’ll find vocabulary is your main problem, so you can turn to podcasts for learners like VPod101* or YouTube mini lessons. Beginners can try an audio course like Pimsleur*.
These learning materials tend to contain a dialogue and then explain new vocabulary before you listen to the conversation a second time. You can use these materials to study.
#2 common listening problem – recognising words you know
How to improve your listening with active listening techniques
Improving your Vietnamese listening skills will help you to better understand what people are saying and to pick up on important details. It will also help you become more comfortable speaking Vietnamese, as you will be able to understand more of what people are saying
To be able to improve your listening skills, you need to pay attention to everything that is being said. For this reason it’s important to choose materials suitable for your level and not materials that are too difficult.
Step 1: Choose suitable materials
Useful materials for improving your listening may include:
Listening several times, pausing and replaying a difficult section
To be able to focus on improving your listening, you want to understand 90% or more of the words. If you can’t understand most of the words, you’ll be practising listening while you try to figure out the vocabulary.
Step 2: Use active listening techniques
Just listening is fine when you’re listening for pleasure. To improve your Vietnamese listening skills you can:
When you improve your listening, you will be able to better understand the people around you. You will be able to make more meaningful connections with native speakers and build a foundation for future learning.
I suggest a mixture of practising listening (listening for pleasure) and focused tasks to improve your listening in Vietnamese.
Audio and podcasts are a great way to learn Vietnamese as you don’t have to be sat at a desk or a computer to learn. Unlike video you can listen in the car, while out for a walk or when doing tasks around the home.
I’m a big fan of podcasts for language learners. Podcasts have been one of the main materials I used to learn Russian. I wish there had been more podcasts around when I started learning Vietnamese a decade ago!
In this post, we’re going to discuss the benefits of podcasts and some ways to use audio to learn Vietnamese.
What are the benefits of learning Vietnamese through audio?
There are a number of benefits to learning Vietnamese through audio, and in particular, podcasts.
Podcasts are informative. The hosts will often discuss topics related to Vietnamese culture, history and modern life in Vietnam. This is a great way to learn about the language and the country.
Podcasts are easy to listen to on the go or at home while you cook or do housework. All you need is a phone and an internet connection (or download an episode to listen to offline).
Vietnamese learning podcasts are great to learn or brush up on vocabulary or grammar. Many podcasts are designed for beginner and intermediate learners of the language. This makes them understandable.
Podcast episodes are short and the material is easy to follow. They’re conversations or a monologue on a particular topic or theme.
Podcasts are affordable. Some are free, and learner podcasts tend to have low cost monthly subscriptions.
How do you choose the right Vietnamese audio to listen to?
There are a couple of things that you need to consider when choosing Vietnamese podcasts to listen to. These include:
1. The level of difficulty of the audio
If you’re listening for pleasure you’ll want the content to be easy and enjoyable. If you’re looking for learning materials, you’ll want to choose something for your level.
2. The format and type of content on the podcast
With learning podcasts, you tend to hear a conversation between two people in Vietnamese followed by some explanations of the vocabulary and grammar used in the conversation. These can be in Vietnamese or in English. At a lower level, it might be helpful to hear some English. As your level improves, you’ll probably prefer your podcasts to be 100% in Vietnamese.
The longest-established Vietnamese podcast for learners.
Podcasts are grouped in themes and functions. The lessons are well-organized and easy to follow. There is also plenty of helpful content included in each episode so you can practice your skills on a real-world context.
You can start with a completely free 7 day trial. After that there’s a monthly subscription, starting from $1, which gives you access to podcasts on a range of topics and from beginner to high intermediate.
There are extra features like flashcards or, if you choose Premium Plus, support from a tutor. The company also make podcasts in other languages.
How can I use audio and podcasts to learn Vietnamese?
Here are some ways to use audio and podcasts to learn Vietnamese:
1. Use Vietnamese audio to practice listening.
Listen with a purpose. When listening to any type of audio content – including Vietnamese podcasts – it’s important to have a purpose in mind. This means that you should try not only listen actively but also take notes or make flashcards while listening so that you can review the material later on in more detail.
You can use active listening techniques link transcribing to improve your listening ability.
2. Use Vietnamese audio to practice pronunciation and fluency.
You can practice your pronunciation by repeating lines from the dialogue. You can pause and repeat after the speaker to work on pronunciation.
For fluency, you can use the transcript and read it out at the same time as the speaker.
3. Use Vietnamese audio to learn vocabulary and grammar.
Vietnamese audio and many podcasts are designed for learners of the language, with a good balance of vocabulary you already know and new vocabulary and structures. Jot down and learn new words and phrases from the podcast to enrich your vocabulary. Other episodes may focus on a particular grammar structure.
These podcasts can be used as bitesize lessons.
4. Use a Vietnamese podcast to supplement your textbook.
One option is to look for podcasts on the same topic as you’ve been studying. This can provide you with extra listening practice as well as extra vocabulary on the topic.
Once you have a good foundation in the language, you can then start listening to Vietnamese podcast episodes that focus on specific topics or vocabulary items that interest you. Published materials can cover a narrow range of themes. The beauty of extra materials like podcasts is the wide range of topics available. You can pick and choose episodes that you’re interested in.
How can I use Vietnamese audio and podcasts to practice my conversation skills?
One of the great things about Vietnamese language podcasts is that they are usually based on a dialogue. They are full of common question and answers. You can use this useful language to prepare your own responses and then practice with a language partner or teacher. Tell them the topic of the podcast episode you listened to and ask them to discuss the topic with you
Podcasts are a great way to supplement your Vietnamese learning. In this post, we’ve covered the benefits of using podcasts to learn Vietnamese, as well as how to choose the right Vietnamese podcasts to listen to and how to listen to them. By exploring these podcasts, not only will you be learning interesting vocabulary but also gaining an understanding of the cultural context surrounding Vietnam.
Do you get enough speaking practice? I’m guessing not.
I’ve mentioned several times that I use conversation lessons when learning foreign languages. But what exactly is a conversation lesson and what are the factors that make a good conversation lesson?
You may have had bad experiences with lessons in the past. I’ve also had the misfortune to attend language lessons that involved way too little speaking and almost no conversation. But conversation lessons are different from other lessons. This article will look at how conversation lessons can help you to boost your Vietnamese speaking skills.
Why have conversational lessons?
Conversation classes can be a great way to learn and practice Vietnamese. There are several reasons to take conversation lessons:
Help you overcome your fear of speaking – having a supportive and kind teacher can improve your confidence.
Get speaking practice – for example, if you’re self-studying or taking traditional classes where you don’t get enough practice speaking. Conversation lessons are also good for maintaining your level by keeping the language fresh.
Engage in a wider range of conversations – daily life can consist of the same conversations over and over again. This makes them useful if you want to reach a higher level.
Because you don’t have friends who you only speak to in Vietnamese.
Because you’re busy – time is money and you’d rather pay someone to speak to you than sacrifice your time doing a 50-50 language exchange.
What makes a good conversation lesson?
As a teacher and student, I’ve had over 100 conversation classes over the years. That experience has taught me that there are some common things you should look for in a good conversation lesson.
First thing to note, it’s possible to have one-on-one conversation lessons and also group conversation lessons (more often called conversation clubs or speaking clubs). Although this article focuses on 1-2-1 lessons, the same principles apply to both.
1. Student(s) speak more than the teacher.
In a good conversation lesson, you should spend much more time speaking than your teacher does. Of course, they will speak during the class but you should be the one speaking about 65-85% of the time.
2. The teacher is a facilitator, helping you to speak more.
They prepare some conversation starters to get things going. They let the speech flow naturally but they also guide the conversation – for example, asking follow-up questions.
The teacher has extra materials for when the conversation dries up and needs to take a new direction. For example, images or infographics which can give you new points to talk about.
How to have a conversation lesson online
Step 1a: Find a conversation tutor and choose the length of your lessons
How to choose a teacher
I think it was Kerstin’s blog where I first came across the idea that it’s important that either the teacher should be experienced or the student should be experienced.
Why?
Obviously it helps if someone knows what they’re doing.
I’ve had good lessons with both experienced and inexperienced teachers. I’ve sometimes had problems with experienced tutors who have a fixed way of teaching or approach which doesn’t match up with my preferences. If you have a clear idea of how you want the lesson to be, a less-experienced teacher may be more flexible and accommodating to your needs.
That said – my favourite Russian teacher to take conversation lessons with is both a Professional Teacher and Community Tutor on italki*. She usually selects a theme that I’m capable of discussing, but it’s challenging. She finds a good prompt to stimulate discussion. And because she doesn’t have to spend a lot of time preparing, her speaking lessons are a bit cheaper than her professional lessons.** Win-win.
Interact beforehand
Before booking a lesson, you can view the teacher’s profile, their introduction video and read reviews. It’s also worth noting how many loyal students they have. If they have repeat students, they must be doing something right.
You can also send them a message before you book. I like to specify what kind of lesson I’m looking for so the tutor can see if that matches with their teaching style.
Overall, it can be trial and error to find a tutor who’s a good fit. It’s partly just finding someone you click with.
**Professional Teachers v Community Tutors on italki
Typical language lessons are more structured than conversation classes. The teacher spends time preparing and creates a lesson generally focused on learning. There may be games, pronunciation activities and so on.
Step 2: How long should a conversation lesson be?
It’s generally more effective and efficient to speak a language more often – ie. two 30 minute lessons per week is generally better than a 60 minute lesson once a week.
Again it comes down to personal preference. If you’re able to speak Vietnamese, you’re chatty and you have the time, you could take a 60 minute lesson.
Personally I like 30 minute or 45 minute lessons best. While I could easily talk for 60 minutes in Vietnamese and Russian, the notes I make during the lesson would get really long. I know I’ll never follow up and put everything in Anki. That extra 15 minutes feels unnecessary to me. Plus, depending on the topic, my energy levels that day, I sometimes feel a bit tired after a long one-on-one conversation on a difficult topic. So slightly shorter lessons work for me.
Note that not all tutors on italki offer 30 minute or 45 minute sessions, so make sure you check their profile carefully.
Group conversation classes are usually longer – 60 or 90 minutes – and that’s fine. You want the class to be long enough that you get enough chance to speak.
What about beginner conversation lessons?
When I’m a beginner or low-level, I choose 30 minute lessons. You may think even 30 minutes is impossible, but I assure you it’s doable. I’ll soon have a new article covering exactly how. Sign up to the newsletter to get notified when it’s published.
Step 3: Choose a topic and prepare for your conversation class
I like to know the theme of the topic in advance so I can prepare. I’ll think about some things the teacher may ask, look up and try to memorise some new vocabulary that I may be able to try out in the lesson. I might read a blog post.
Another option for one-on-one lessons is to read a text or watch a video before the lesson (ie. homework) and then start the lesson by discussing the text/video. If you want to practice speaking (as opposed to improving your vocabulary), it’s best if this material is kind of easy. Ideally there shouldn’t be much new vocabulary if the aim of the lesson is to practice speaking. Otherwise, you’ll spend too much time understanding and less time practising your speaking skill.
Likewise, if your tutor tends to share a document or infographic to discuss in class, you can ask to receive it beforehand so you can prepare. Again, you can think about what you may say and secondly, look up words you don’t know to avoid wasting time asking questions about vocabulary when you could be practising using it.
Step 3: Take notes and ask questions
It’s helpful to take notes during a conversation lesson in order to improve. You might want to write interesting phrases you heard your tutor say, and ask them to write down new expressions in the chat box.
It is also important to ask questions in order to check you’ve understood or clarify something you’re not sure about.
One top tip to really boost your learning is to make a note of things you wanted to say but didn’t know the right words. During the conversation, don’t worry about this. To improve your fluency, it’s important to find alternative ways to say what you mean to keep up the conversation. However, to improve your overall language ability it’s good to find out what to say for next time.
You can ask your tutor at the end of the lesson for help translating or rephrasing what you wanted to say. Or if you prefer to do it yourself (there can be benefits to this), read step 4 below.
By taking notes and asking questions, you will be able to improve your Vietnamese language skills.
Step 4: Follow up after your lesson
After your Vietnamese conversation lesson, it is important to follow up if you want to improve.
Sometimes you might just be taking lessons to maintain your level. In those situations, this fourth step is optional.
But if you really want to boost your learning, what happens after the lesson could be considered as important as during!
Personally I like to save my list of “things I wanted to say but couldn’t” for after the lesson. I’ll sit down with a good dictionary and even google translate and take time to rethink and research how to say those things. Often I’ll find a word I’d forgotten, or just by taking the time to think I’ll realise a better way to say something. Other times it involves new phrases or constructions and I’ll often ask a friend or language partner to check it’s correct, or else ask my tutor at the start of the next lesson.
Once I’ve got these new or better phrases, I’ll put them in Anki, add audio and spend the next few weeks learning them.
The great thing about this technique is that the language is personal and useful to you. Chances are, you might have a similar conversation with someone else in the future and you’ll be able to use these phrases.
If you have two tutors (see below), you can deliberately do this in order to practice.
Finally, it can be also helpful to review your conversation lesson notes again before your next class. This will help you to revise new phrases and to improve your speaking ability. Don’t forget to book your next lesson!
Tips for taking conversation lessons
Why I like to have two regular tutors
Firstly, from time to time your tutor will be temporarily unavailable due to holidays or sickness. We all have lives. 🙂 By having a second tutor, you can avoid having a break by just continuing (or increasing) lessons with your second tutor.
Sometimes, tutors leave italki* or change their hours and they’re no longer convenient for you. Again, having a second tutor means you’re not back to square one if that happens as it can take a few sessions to find a new tutor. (You can try to minimise the risk of losing your tutor by choosing a tutor who teaches on italki full-time and has been doing for a long time.)
The other main advantage of having two tutors is that you can repeat a topic and try to do better the second time. This is ideal for beginners, but can also be useful at higher levels to push yourself to use a wider range and richer language the second time. Recycling language is a key aspect of acquiring it.
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Improve your speaking by taking action
If you’re serious about improving your speaking skills in Vietnamese, conversation lessons are a great way to get good quality speaking practice. Sites like itaki* let you find tutors from the comfort of your own home.
You can use conversation classes for speaking practice to help you maintain your level, or you can take it a bit further and spend time before and after class boosting your vocabulary as well. Both are good options, depending what your goals and priorities are.
Speaking a foreign language can be a challenge, but when you overcome that it can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
How can you improve this difficult skill?
In order to improve your speaking skills in Vietnamese, you need to practice speaking. These tips and techniques will help get you started!
Tip 1: Speak more often
Speaking more often is one of the best tips for improving your speaking skills in a foreign language. The more you speak, the more confident you’ll be and the better your fluency will become.
Of course listening, reading and writing will all help you to improve your Vietnamese. But if it’s specifically speaking that you want to improve, then you need to practice speaking.
So, if you want to really improve your speaking skills, get unstuck and improve your fluency – increase the amount of time you spend speaking.
How often should you speak Vietnamese?
In my 10 years of teaching and learning languages, I’ve found speaking 1-3 times a week is good for maintaining your level.
If you want to improve your fluency, you ideally should be trying to speak Vietnamese 4+ times a week. Conversations should be long enough that you have to push yourself (ordering lunch doesn’t count), but those conversations don’t all have to be hour-long discussions.
This is one reason why it’s easier to make progress when you’re living in the country. It’s easier to have frequent conversations.
If you’re not in Vietnam, it’ll take more planning. Fear not – we’re here to help. We’ll be covering tips for speaking in the rest of this article.
Tip 2: Find a Conversation Partner
Speaking can also help you to build a deeper connection to the culture and make friends. Conversation partners are a great way to do this.
I’ve covered this topic before in an article on language exchanges as finding a conversation partner can be difficult when you are learning a new language.
First, you could try to find a meetup that is specifically focused on language learning. If you’re in a city, there’s a small chance of meeting a Vietnamese speaker. I once spoke Vietnamese at a language exchange in Bulgaria! To be honest though, I’ve had more success with language exchanges when I’m in a country where the language is spoken.
Your second option is to find a language exchange partner online. This is pretty easy if you can speak English as there is no shortage of people who want to practice with you. Again, my other post on language exchanges covers this in more detail.
Finally, once you’ve found your language partner make sure to practice your new language regularly.
Tip 3: Take Conversation Lessons
Conversation lessons will help you improve your speaking skills, and give you the opportunity to practice your new language with a native or fluent speaker.
This is a big part of my approach when I’m a beginner and low level. Though to be honest, I really like conversation lessons at any level as they’re so convenient to schedule and I can get a lot of quality practice time. It’s similar in convenience to an online exchange, but you pay for a lesson instead of using your time to help someone.
A great option for busy people.
Tip 4: Take Language Lessons
If you want to improve your overall skills in a foreign language, not just your speaking ability, then taking language lessons may be a good idea. This can help you to improve your vocabulary, spend time on learning the grammar and pronunciation of the language, and to improve your spoken fluency through practice.
One of the main differences between traditional lessons and conversation lessons is the amount of time you spend speaking. Many good teachers will use a communicative approach in normal lessons so you will get some speaking practice. But you will also spend time reading or listening, learning new words, revising grammar and so on.
In contrast, a conversation lesson is more like speaking to a friend – except they’re paid to be patient and help you say what you want to say, make sure the conversation doesn’t dry up and provide feedback.
I like both types on lessons, but I take more conversation lessons because I want to improve my speaking and conversational ability most of all.
Tip 5: Think in Vietnamese
Speaking a foreign language often enough can be difficult. One way to make practising easier is to talk to yourself. If you don’t want to talk aloud, thinking in Vietnamese is a good substitution. Being able to think quickly in Vietnamese will help your spoken fluency.
You can decide to think in Vietnamese while you do a particular activity – like walking the dog or buying groceries. Every time you do that activity you commit to thinking in Vietnamese. I often think in Vietnamese when I’m buying groceries. It’s a habit I started years ago and still keep up with. Easy practice!
My other tip is to think in Vietnamese when you’re people watching. For example, when you’re waiting for a friend in a cafe. Use that time to describe what you see around you. Beginners can make simple sentences naming objects and colours. Higher level learners can guess how strangers are feeling and what might have happened to cause that.
Tip 6: Record yourself speaking
One way to improve your speaking skills is to record yourself speaking. This can help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and to improve your accuracy.
You don’t need to record a video – audio is enough. However, instagram users may want to share a reel and get encouragement from other learners.
To level up, you should listen to your recording and search for strengths and weaknesses. You can add strengths to your can-do list, and then create a plan to address your weaknesses.
An added bonus of recording yourself is being able to measure your progress. When you listen again to something you recorded six months or a year ago, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Tip 7: Mimic Audio Files
If you want to improve your speaking skills in a foreign language, one effective way is to mimic audio files. By listening to recordings of native speakers, you can learn how to produce the sounds well. This can help you sound more natural when speaking and can also help you to improve your pronunciation of tones.
This technique is great if you want to improve your pronunciation, but if you mimic dialogues you can practice common questions and topics that can be useful for your own conversations.
I did learn the words of Diễm Hương’s Who Cares several years ago, and I can still remember the chorus when I listen to the song.
Learning to sing could be a good strategy if you struggle with smooth pronunciation. My Spanish could probably benefit from this, my Vietnamese and Russian less so as my pronunciation is more natural than my Spanish pronunciation.
If you like Vietnamese music, singing is something to consider to work on your pronunciation and fluency.
Tip 9: Go somewhere the language is spoken
If you want to improve your speaking skills in a foreign language, one effective way is to travel to a country where the language is spoken. By spending time in the language environment, This will help you practice and gain fluency in the language.
Of course, that’s not always practical but you can also seek places locally. I nearly always get to speak Vietnamese when I visit an authentic Vietnamese restaurant.
Practise speaking Vietnamese when you eat Vietnamese
Tip 10: Use apps and software
If you want to improve your speaking skills in a foreign language, one effective way is to use apps and software. These tools can help you to practice speaking the language, and can also help you to improve your pronunciation.
It can be hard to get as much live speaking practice as you’d like. One extra thing you can do for your speaking skills is to listen more. In time, this can help you to sound more natural when speaking. Listening can give you a better understanding of the language and keep vocabulary fresh.
I find that when I’m not using a language much, it’s important to keep up with it to maintain my level. Otherwise, you’ll start to get rusty and forget words. If you practice speaking but don’t spend much time listening to native or fluent speakers, your speaking can sound more foreign or unnatural because you’re missing out on natural expressions.
Tip 12: Improve your vocabulary
Sometimes the real problem is not your speaking ability after all, but a lack of vocabulary. That’s a topic for another day! Sign up to our newsletter to get notifications of new posts, so you’ll be the first to read that article when it’s published.
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Finally – Practice, Practice, Practice!
Speaking a foreign language can be difficult, but with a little practice, you can improve your skills quickly. One of the best ways to improve your speaking skills is to practice regularly. Whether you’re trying to improve your pronunciation or fluency, making time for regular practice will help you build your skills faster.
Over to you: How often do you practice Vietnamese? Which tip above are you going to add to your routine?
Here’s a technique to help you diagnose your listening problems. The basic idea is that you watch a video or listen to some audio and write down what you hear – ie. you transcribe it.
Why should you do this?
By transcribing what you hear, you are able to compare this with the transcript and find out where you’re having problems. Doing this regularly can help you to find out what your listening problems are.
Focused, active listening is useful. Passive listening alone won’t improve your listening skills. There are many ways to listen actively, but that’s a subject for another day. If you want to use a video or podcast to learn new expressions, we have an article for that.
What you need
Some audio or a video that you can mostly understand. You must also have subtitles or a transcript.
A pen and paper.
Because this technique is focusing on your listening ability, it’s key that the content should be familiar so that you won’t come across too many new words.
Learning to deal with new words is an important listening strategy, but is only one strategy of the many you need to become a competent listener. Today we’re looking for listening problems, not vocabulary problems. It would also be really discouraging to try this when you barely understand what’s being said!
There are some suggestions for materials at the end of this article.
How to do it
1. Choose a short video or audio
Transcribing is time-consuming, even in your native language. You have to replay the video many times to allow yourself time to write and to check if what you’ve written is correct.
Choose audio under 3 minutes for sure. I recently transcribed a 3 minute audio in English for a lesson and that took me ages. So I’d recommend something shorter – 30 seconds or 1 minute can also be worthwhile.
This doesn’t mean you have to find 1 minute audio clips. Even for a short video like Annie’s, you don’t have to transcribe the whole thing. Just choose a section. For example, if they’re having a conversation, you could transcribe until they change topic.
2. Listen to the audio or video the whole way through
Start off by listening to the material the whole way through. Don’t take any notes or worry about catching every word. The aim here is to just understand the general message or conversation.
If you’re watching a video, turn off any subtitles. If your video has vocabulary that pops up on screen, either don’t watch the video or cover up that part of the video so you can’t cheat by looking at it.
No cheating! I covered up the right hand part of the screen where new vocabulary appears
2. Transcribe the audio or video
Replay the audio or video (still without subtitles). This time pause frequently (for example, every half sentence) so you can write down what has just been said.
A lot of the time you’ll have to replay a segment because you’ve not heard or forgotten what was just said. This is a natural part of transcribing (it’s the same for your native language).
Sometimes there will be a problem word or phrase and even after replaying it a few times you’re still unsure. Don’t worry about it. Just take a guess, write any letters or sounds you have heard. You can also just leave a space and move on. It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t make sense – just write what you hear. This will come in useful when you compare with the transcript.
If you are watching a video with pop-up vocab, you can have a look at the screen after you’ve had a guess.
I had a look at the pop-up vocabulary. I didn’t know the word for diary before so of course I couldn’t understand it.
When you’re finished, quickly read through your transcript looking for any spelling mistakes.
2b. optional replay
You can play the whole audio again with your transcript and check for any mistakes. Or you can focus on the gaps you have and see if you can hear them now you have a fuller picture from your transcript. You may be sick of hearing it by now though, so this step is optional!
3. Compare your transcript with the subtitles
Play the audio or video a third and final time, with Vietnamese subtitles or while reading at the transcript. Compare it with what you’ve written.
I couldn’t find my Vietnamese notebook, so here’s one in Spanish.
Check both for mistakes and words you didn’t hear. Highlight or use a different colour to make a note of these mistakes.
Comments on my problems with the Spanish transcript
In the example above I didn’t have a pencil so I highlighted the two areas I thought were wrong. The first one was actually right (I didn’t know the speakers were boyfriend-girlfriend so I thought it was weird to start the conversation with “Love”).
With the second highlighted area, it turned out to be a verb I don’t know (avisar). Of course I couldn’t understand because I’ve never seen this verb before! This is not a listening problem, but a vocabulary one. In terms of listening, I actually did ok as I had correctly heard some of the sounds.
You can also see on Line 2 some signs of listening problems. The words are squashed up as I had to listen a few times to get the words before “izquierda”. That’s OK.
I was also unsure about “me voy a” before “probar”, but I used my knowledge of Spanish grammar to help me work it out when I replayed the line. I probably should have highlighted that in a different colour because this may be a potential problem.
4. Study
Any new words should be recorded somewhere such as your study notepad or in Anki so you can learn them. If you’ve made any grammar mistakes, this is a good time to go back to your course book and revise that topic.
As for listening, once you have transcribed a few listening extracts, try to look for patterns.
Is there a particular sound you are struggling with? For me, I struggle with the northern Vietnamese r. Northern gi- and d- are usually okay but the r- throws me on a regular basis.
Are there words that you couldn’t separate? For example, you heard a nay (it doesn’t matter if this doesn’t make sense, or you don’t know the tones – just write what you hear) when they said anh ấy. This is a feature of speaking called connected speech and it often causes listening problems (especially in English!). We’ll look at this another time.
Once you’ve done this a few times, this is where you can start to diagnose your listening problems. Then, once you know your listening problems, you can then look at how to tackle them.
Resources
A note on choosing materials:
You can apply this technique to any material that’s relatively easy for you. Ideally when you read the transcript you should be able to understand everything (though a couple of new words is okay). If your audio is harder, use it to learn new words, not to improve your listening.
I was low intermediate when I used Annie’s video above which is for elementary learners. I was able to transcribe it pretty accurately with just a few problem areas. Similarly with the Spanish podcast, the grammar was not challenge so I was able to focus on my ability to listen and hear the sounds.
Some ideas for choosing suitable, easy materials:
A dialogue from a textbook that’s either a similar level or even better: a slightly lower level.
Any videos with subtitles that you can easily understand (but don’t look at the subtitles until you’ve finished transcribing!).
A podcast that comes with a transcript. Be careful if it’s a “teaching” podcast as they may have deliberately introduced new words or grammar. Natural speech is better if possible.
If you have interesting audio but there’s no transcript, you can get custom transcripts via Rhinospike.com.
Over to you: What do you do to work on your listening? What problems are you having? Have you noticed any patterns?
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I started learning Vietnamese in 2011 when I first moved to Vietnam to work. Altogether I lived in Saigon for a total of 3.5 years. While I no longer live in Vietnam, I still maintain this site to help others learn Vietnamese
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