Listening for Beginners

Listening can be difficult for beginners. People often speak too quickly and use words that you don’t recognise. Today, I’ve got a listening exercise for beginner and low intermediate learners which I hope will help. This activity will help you to listen for specific pieces of information. It should also help you to make sure you understand what you hear.

Listening Activity

I’d like you to listen to a story from when I was a child, and then I’ll give you a list of statements to read. Your job is to decide whether the sentences are true, false or if the information is not given in the story.

Listen to the story

First of all, listen to the story once, so you get an idea of what the story is about.

Then, read the sentences. Make sure you understand any new words before you listen to the story a second time.

Now, listen to the story for the second time and tick which box you think is correct – true, false or not given.

Check the answers

Did you get the answers right? Check here and see!

Read the transcript

Here is the transcript for you to read. Look at the answers and find them in the text.

Read the text again, and see if you can find any words that have a similar meaning or words that you think go together. When you have made your list, see if you found the same words that I did:

Extra Practise

Practise your listening skills –  listen to this audio of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham which is broadcast on the BBC Radio Sounds app. It’s a lovely story for adults and children which is easy to listen to.