Introduction

Listening skills are considered to be the backbone of any language. A child is able to learn his/her mother tongue by listening only. Before a child learns to write, read or speak, he learns to listen and comprehend which helps to develop the other three skills. And it is really important to pay more attention to the listening skills while you are learning a foreign language. Studies reveal that during our everyday communication, we spend an average of about 45% in listening and 30% in speaking, 16% in reading and 9% in writing. This means that if you are studying any new language for communication purpose then you will be spending more time listening and the same is applicable for Korean too. That means if you have a good listening skill, your chances of getting successful will be more. Improving your Korean listening skills will help you to be better at Korean speaking, reading and writing. You will be able to understand and enjoy Korean movies, drama and music much more. You will be able to understand Korean TV shows, News, podcasts etc. you will be able to communicate with the native Koreans better. So, let us see how you can improve and master your Korean listening skills. 

You need to listen to something you really enjoy

Listening to boring audios, that you are not enjoying will always demotivate you and you will lose interest in listening and you will give up which is not at all a good sign. Always listen to the topics that you love or you know about. Always listen to the topic of your interest, don’t force yourself to listen to something you are not willing to listen to or you don’t have any knowledge about. In the beginning, while listening, don’t try to understand each and every word and sentence. Just try to understand the gist of the meaning, as it is the most important thing. Keeping up with the flow of the audio is required.

You need to expose yourself and listen to more authentic native language

The more you listen, the better your listening skills will be, and it is obvious. And if you are staying in Korea then it will be very easy for you. And if you are not staying in Korea, then you can make Korean friends online and talk to them. Listening to a native speaker is very much important to improve your Korean. You can even use YouTube to watch videos made by native Koreans. You can watch Korean dramas and movies, listen to podcasts. 

You need to do active listening

Many of us don’t realize that there is a difference between hearing and listening. While listening we usually pay attention to the meaning and active listening is a bit more than that. When you are practising active listening, you are not only understanding the meaning, but you are also paying attention to the linguistic elements used – like grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and intonation. Whenever we are listening to any native speaker we need to pay attention to how they are framing sentences, how they are expressing different ideas and the way of speaking. 

You need to focus on the pronunciation, intonation and fillers

While listening to a native Korean speaker, you should not just focus on the grammar and vocabulary, you need to also focus on the pronunciation of the words and the intonations used to express emotions. You need to imitate these styles while you speak. 

Usage of subtitles and transcripts 

While you are watching a movie for the first time, try to watch it without subtitles, even if you are not understanding anything. Then watch the film again with Korean subtitles. Now you are having some understanding of the content, you will be able to understand and read the subtitles faster and along with that, you will be able to focus on the sentence structure. If you find a transcript or the subtitle text video, then read it while listening to the audio. 

Listen with slow speed and then with fast speed and then repeat and again listen 

While listening to any audio first try to listen to it at a slow speed and then at a fast speed. You will understand that you are gradually picking up what they are saying. I would advise you to listen to it again and again to improve your listening skills. 

Memorize a lot of vocabulary

You need to memorize a lot of vocabulary so that you are able to understand while you are listening without getting distracted. If you don’t have a huge word stock it will be difficult to understand what the person is saying. So memorizing a lot of vocabulary is very important for mastering listening skills.