TeachinglisteningskillsisoneofthemostdifficulttasksforanyESLteacher. Thisisbecausesuccessfullisteningskillsareacquiredovertimeandwithlotsofpractice. It'sfrustratingforstudentsbecausetherearenorulesasingrammarteaching. Speakingandwritingalsohaveveryspecificexercisesthatcanleadtoimprovedskills. Thisisnottosaythattherearenotwaysofimprovinglisteningskills, howevertheyaredifficulttoquantify.

每个外语老师都会觉得听力是最难教的课程之一。这是因为，好听力不是一日练就的，它需要大量的实践练习。不像语法教学有规律可循，说与写作也有相应的练习供学生提高，而听力却不然，这令学生们感到很头疼。并不是说就没有好的途径去提高听力，只是难以对其进行量化而已。

Oneofthelargestinhibitorsforstudentsisoftenmentalblock. Whilelistening, astudentsuddenlydecidesthatheorshedoesn'tunderstandwhatisbeingsaid. Atthispoint, manystudentsjusttuneoutorgetcaughtupinaninternaldialoguetryingtranslateaspecificword. SomestudentsconvincethemselvesthattheyarenotabletounderstandspokenEnglishwellandcreateproblemsforthemselves.

对学生们来说，练习听力时遇到的最大的障碍之一就是他们经常精神溜号。听着听着，有的学生突然发觉自己听不懂了。出现这种情况，许多学生是因为走神了，或者正在脑子想着某个词的意思。有些学生太不自信，认为自己没有听力天赋，听不懂英语口语。这也给他们自己造成了很多麻烦。

TheykeytohelpingstudentsimprovetheirlisteningskillsistoconvincethemthatnotunderstandingisOK. Thisismoreofanattitudeadjustmentthananythingelse, anditiseasierforsomestudentstoacceptthanothers. AnotherimportantpointthatItrytoteachmystudents(withdifferingamountsofsuccess) isthattheyneedtolistentoEnglishasoftenaspossible, butforshortperiodsoftime.

帮助学生们提高听力的关键是要让他们相信，听不懂是没什么的。态度上的转变比什么都重要。何况，一些学生的态度也比较容易转变。我在教我的学生（资质各不相同）时发现，还有一点很重要，那就是要让学生尽量多听英语，但每次听不要时间过长。

Iliketousethisanalogy: Imagineyouwanttogetinshape. Youdecidetobeginjogging. Theveryfirstdayyougooutandjogsevenmiles. Ifyouarelucky, youmightevenbeabletojogthesevenmiles. However, chancesaregoodthatyouwillnotsoongooutjoggingagain. Fitnesstrainershavetaughtusthatwemustbeginwithlittlesteps. Beginjoggingshortdistancesandwalksomeaswell, overtimeyoucanbuildupthedistance. Usingthisapproach, you'llbemuchmorelikelytocontinuejoggingandgetfit.

我喜欢这样类比：假如你想减肥。你打算去慢跑。第一天你出去跑了7英里。没准儿你还真能跑7英里。但是，你很可能近期就不再出去跑了。健美教练提醒我们，我们一开始要小步跑，跑的距离不宜过长，并走着回来。这样，你继续慢跑并变得健康的可能性就会更大。

Studentsneedtoapplythesameapproachtolisteningskills. Encouragethemtogetafilm, orlistentoanEnglishradiostation, butnottowatchanentirefilmorlistenfortwohours. Studentsshouldoftenlisten, buttheyshouldlistenforshortperiods- fivetotenminutes. Thisshouldhappenfourorfivetimesaweek. Eveniftheydon'tunderstandanything, fivetotenminutesisaminorinvestement. However, forthisstrategytowork, studentsmustnotexpectimprovedunderstandingtooquickly. Thebrainiscapableofamazingthingsifgiventime, studentsmusthavethepatiencetowaitforresults. Ifastudentcontinuesthisexerciseovertwotothreemonthstheirlisteningcomprehensionskillswillgreatlyimprove.

对于练习听力，学生们也需采用同样的方法。要鼓励他们去看个电影或者收听英语广播。但是，不要让他们看一整部电影或者听广播听上2个小时。他们需要常听，但每次听的时间不宜过长，以5到10分钟为宜。每周听4、5次。就算他们什么都听不懂，5到10分钟的时间也不会影响到他们什么。但是，这种方法若想奏效，决不能让学生们急于求成。如果多给些时间，大脑是可以创造奇迹的。学生们一定要有耐心去等待。如果一个学生能坚持这种训练方法2到3个月，那他的听力肯定会有很大的提高。

原文出处:ABOUT