How to Hear English Everywhere

Two simple definitions

• to hear: to receive sound with the ears
• to listen: to try to hear

YOU are very good at languages! You must be because you already speak one language very well - your own! And if you can learn and speak one language well, then you can certainly learn and speak one or more other languages.
But did you ever ask yourself: "How did I learn my own language?" In fact, you never really "learned" it at all - you just started speaking it. One day, when you were about two or three years old, you started speaking your language. A few words at first, not full sentences. But you spoke. And very soon you made progress without even thinking about it. It was like magic!
But it wasn't magic. It was the result of hearing. For two to three years before you spoke, you heard people speaking your language all day, and maybe all night. You heard people speaking your language. Maybe you listened to people, but more importantly you heard. them. Then, as if by magic, you started to speak. All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking. For two to three years words went IN to your head. Then words came OUT of your head! That is why hearing (and listening to) English as much as possible is so important to you now. The more English you put in, the more you'll get out!
So how can you hear a lot of English when you're not in an English-speaking country or family? Fortunately, there are many ways of hearing English in almost all countries of the world.

Radio

You can receive English language radio in most countries. Two of the best international networks are the BBC World Service and Voice of America. Both of them have special programmes for learners of English. You can find information about times and frequencies for your country on their web sites.

Television

TV is an excellent resource for hearing and listening to English. The pictures help you understand what is being said. If you don't have access to English-language TV, you may be able to watch TV on Internet.

Internet

It is now a lot easier to hear English by Internet. If you're reading this at your computer, you can probably listen to some English-language radio news right now, without even moving! To be able to listen to radio on the Internet, you'll need to have special software called a "player" installed in your computer. Most sites work with two players - the RealPlayer from RealNetworks and the Windows Media Player from Microsoft. Don't worry. Both these players are free and you may already have them installed on your computer.

Music/songs

Songs in English are everywhere, even on foreign-language radio and TV stations. Listen to them often. Buy some cassettes or CDs, or make recordings, and try to write the words for an entire song. But choose one that is not too difficult. That means it should be reasonably slow, and with real words sung clearly. Some pop songs are very unclear and are difficult even for native English-speakers to understand fully!

Cinema

Outside the English-speaking world, many large cities have cinemas that show films in English, usually with sub-titles. Make it a habit to go to these films. If you need to read the sub-titles, at least you'll be hearing English even if you don't understand it.

Video

Video has one really great advantage. You can play it again . . . and again. You can use video to watch film cassettes that you buy or borrow. If there are sub-titles, you can cover them with paper (which you can remove if you really don't understand after listening several times). And you can use video to record programmes from television and then watch them several times to improve your understanding.

Friends

Try to make friends with English-speaking people so that you can practise your English through conversation. Of course, this will practise your speaking as well as your listening. And if you don't have a lot of time to go out and meet people, at least you can chat a little by telephone.
Finally, don't worry if you don't understand everything you hear. Hearing comes first! Understanding comes next!

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Listening: A good way to learn English

Everyone knows that there are four skills in learning a language, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. They are always related in terms of usage, and speaking is viewed by learners as the most desirable skill in face-to-face communication in the globalization era. However, what is the answer to the following questions?

• What do you have to do before you can speak?
• What does a child learn before he talks?
• What do we do before chatting?

Listen, of course!
Naturally, children begin listening to their parents when they are babies. They are often greeted, spoken to and admired without any response expected. Though nobody knows if the baby understands the spoken words, the process continues. Children automatically acquire such language over some time, and later on gradually produce it through actual experience. The production may be incomplete at first, but successful at last. That leads to speaking skill which is quite applicable to daily conversation.
In learning English, listening can help improve speaking considerably. Although it is the first of all skills, it is neither the easiest nor the most meaningless. We need to hear various types of English repeatedly and continuously if we want to communicate properly, meaningfully and naturally.

Why is listening good?

1. When listening, we are reviewing a lot of English usage such as vocabulary, grammatical structures, intonation, accent and our own interpretation.
2. We can learn new words and expressions by hearing them frequently.
3. Besides the English revision, general knowledge from news, features, or even advertising spots is certainly beneficial for regular listeners.
4. We can imitate what we hear and apply it with great confidence.
5. Listening can be a good "hobby" while we do other things such as cooking, ironing, exercising, relaxing etc. In other words, we have no wasted time at all.
6. Listening is also a great way to train our attention.

How can we listen to English?

Nowadays, radio cassette recorders are household appliances, but we often overlook their radio function. We can experience English language radio programmes almost anywhere in the world. They are usually picked up on FM bands and aired particularly for foreigners. Short wave radio programmes are another option. Two of the most easily found English language broadcasters are the BBC and Voice of America. Today, you can even access them by internet. You'll find some useful links for listening to the radio by internet, including "News in Easy English", here.

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Subject and Object Pronouns ( Kata Ganti Subyek dan Obyek )

Istilah Subjek dalam kalimat aktif adalah orang atau sesuatu yang menjadi pelaku dari sebuah pekerjaan atau kegiatan. Contohnya :
- I eat rice. ( Saya makan nasi )

- We study English. ( Kami belajar Bahasa Inggris )

 Dalam kalimat-kalimat tersebut yang menjadi subjek adalah I dan We. I dan We adalah yang melakukan pekerjaan, dalam hal ini eat (makan) dan study (belajar).

Sedangkan Obyek adalah apa yang dipengaruhi oleh perbuatan subjek

Sebagai contoh:
- I eat rice. ( Saya makan nasi )

- We study English. ( Kami belajar Bahasa Inggris )

Dalam hal ini rice dan English merupakan obyek. Rice merupakan apa yang saya makan (what I eat) dan English merupakan apa yang kami pelajari (what we study).

Kata Ganti Subyek dan Obyek ( Subject and Object Pronoun ) digunakan sebagai pengganti kata benda, biasanya dikarenakan kita sudah mengetahui benda yang dimaksud, atau sudah disebutkan dalam kalimat sebelumnya.

Contohnya :
- The students are in the library. They are reading books.

  (Siswa-siswa berada di perpustakaan. Mereka sedang membaca buku)

- I like this book. I read it every day. (Saya suka buku ini. Saya membacanya setiap hari)

Kata They adalah Subject Pronoun pengganti kata The Students dan kata It adalah Object Pronoun pengganti kata the book.

Adapun Subject dan Object Pronouns dapat dilihat pada table berikut :

Subject	Object
Singular – Tunggal I You He She It Plural – Jamak We You They	Singular – Tunggal Me You Him Her It Plural – Jamak Us You Them

Demikian pembahasan singkat ini, semoga bisa menjadi bahan pelajaran buat siswa dan masyarakat pada umumnya yang sedang belajar Bahasa Inggris. Wassalam.

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