Alongside reading, listening is the other receptive skill that we need to focus on to receive language and build our linguistic bank of words, grammar, and pronunciation. Remember how we learned languages when we were children? We learned by listening. So that is a tested way to learn that you, I, and everyone who speaks a language proved to be effective. One question that might come to your mind is whether the process would take us just as long to learn our language of choice. Another one would be if random listening to any input would do the job.
How long does it take
Language learning is a journey and not a short one. So the answer to our first question is that it would definitely take time. And whether it takes longer or shorter would depend on other factors like how intrinsically motivated you are, the frequency of practicing the skill, your learning speed, and whether you enjoy/are interested in what you listen to.
The input+1 idea
When it comes to content, there is good research that supports listening to what you mostly understand is the best way to do it. If you listen to a song and understand 70% or 80% of it, the rest is what gives you the opportunity to learn. Stephen Krashen, the linguist who theorized this, calls it input+1. Input is what you already know and the +1 is what you learn. So listening to something that you don’t understand completely does not do you much good.
What to listen to
What should we listen to? This question has so many answers. Music, movies, videos, podcasts …etc. For someone who is just starting, long form of either of these answers is not very helpful. Same like suggesting a book for reading is not very good. What we need here is bite-sized chunks; short form. From my learning experiences, social media is one of the best things that happened for language learning. I find reels to be one of the best ways to do listening. On Instagram, I have followed so many accounts that post reels in Hindi, French, and Japanese. Reels are short and light on a busy schedule. Reels are only a few seconds long. Another advantage of these reels is the different genres there are. You have everything from life advice, poetry, comedy, education, philosophy, and the list goes on.
Give reels a chance
My advice to you if you don’t know what to listen to is to give reels a chance. There are even reels explaining grammar and vocabulary if you’re comfortable with that approach. When picking content and media type, let comfort and enjoyment be your compass. Found a method that clicks with you? Never abandon it — you can optimize it, add to it, but don’t drop it just because something new comes along. You like music? Good! Keep at it. At the end of the day, that’s what keeps you consistent, and you know how important that is for our linguistic journey.