(18) Secret Business English (Listening)

This time, we will be thinking about tips for listening to English and ways to practice listening. First of all, "listen" has three meanings: heir, listen, and ask. Needless to say, what we are talking about here is listen, that is, "to listen carefully and with intention." ” That is.

■Can't hear it because it's too early?

Native conversation is fast. This is especially true during exciting business negotiations. British people still speak slowly, but Americans don't really care. First of all, it's all about getting used to the speed of conversation.

If you drive a car on a highway, the same speed of 40km/h will feel very slow when you get off to the public road. Hearing is exactly the same; after listening to fast conversations, you can listen to normal conversations more slowly. In this way, humans' sense of speed is relative. Overcoming conversational speed is not something you can learn by studying, but rather a physiological phenomenon.

Anyone can easily overcome the speaking speed of native speakers by listening to a lot of fast-paced conversations. So, if you overcome speed, can you hear? 　Unfortunately, no. Even if it's slow, you can't hear what you can't hear. Let's unravel the three causes.

■Why can't I listen even slowly?

The first reason is that they don't understand the meaning of the words. Most of the words used in business are words learned in middle and high school. However, in business, the same word is often used with different meanings. For example, we learned that capital means "capital city" or "capital letter of the alphabet," but in business, it only means "capital." 　Interest has no "interest". In business, it means "interest."

It is necessary to understand these differences in meaning that are unique to business, but you should be able to overcome them relatively easily if you basically study them in classrooms and acquire the knowledge.

■Foreign words are surprisingly pitfalls!

The second reason why you can't listen even slowly is because the sounds of the words are different. Fortunately or unfortunately, many English loanwords have become established in Japan, which can be said to be advantageous for learning English in that there is less difficulty in learning English words all over again. However, the pronunciation of foreign words can be too different from native pronunciation, which is a major cause of inability to understand English.

For example, the word "capital" mentioned earlier is pronounced "capachoo" by native speakers. 　The frequently used word "model" in business English is pronounced "madou" in English. As long as you think of the model's sound as a "model", you won't be able to hear it no matter how slowly you hear it.

Similarly, the words "center" and "world", which are frequently used in business, are "Sena" and "Wolo", respectively. 　Regal (legal) is also a frequently used word in business. This word, which is also famous as the name of Shoe Caker, is called ``Regal'' in Japan, but the English pronunciation is ``rigo'' or ``ㇾgo.'' The opposite word ireaga is not "illegal" but "irrigo".

In this way, among frequently used words in business English, the simpler the words in terms of meaning, the greater the difference in pronunciation from a native speaker's pronunciation, which often causes difficulty in understanding the words. However, there are not an infinite number of such words, and there are certain pronunciation patterns, so if you basically study in classrooms and acquire knowledge, you should be able to overcome this relatively easily.

■Liaison overcomes with rhythm!

The third cause is liaison, which is unique to English. This is a problem that not only business English learners but also a wide range of English learners often stumble upon. It is said to be the biggest reason why Japanese people cannot understand English, and there are many articles explaining it on the internet, so I will not explain it in detail here.

From a business English perspective, mishearing expressions that indicate "intent" can be fatal. The utterance "want to", which indicates a positive intention, is "wana". 　Not going to, which is used with a negative intention, is not ``not going to,'' but a native speaker would say ``nakkana.'' Even if a Japanese person says "not going to", it will be understood by the other person. However, if the other person says ``Nakkana'', you will never be able to hear it unless you recognize it as ``Not going to''.

This type of liaison, which is unique to English, has certain patterns such as connection, omission, and assimilation of sounds. The way to overcome this is to understand this pattern and memorize the unique English rhythm by actually listening to it.

■How to use voice recorder for meetings

A conference voice recorder is effective as a self-study tool for listening. I think a device that can play MP3 or WAV (such as a smartphone) would be fine, but why a conference voice recorder? That's because it has an "A-B repeat function" and a "playback speed change function." The "A-B repeat function" is easy to use and convenient when listening to short sections over and over again. If you listen to English repeatedly, you will be able to understand English that you cannot understand. The ``playback speed change function'' is generally used when you want to slow down English that is difficult to hear because it is too fast.

The reverse usage of this playback speed change function is also effective. In other words, if you continue to listen to audible English at a faster speed than usual, your ears will become accustomed to the speed of the English language. This is an effective training method to develop your sense of speed in English.

Another thing I would recommend is to record yourself speaking English and listen to it. The voice you hear yourself while speaking and the recorded voice (=the voice heard by others) are quite different. By listening to your own voice with a voice recorder, you can be careful to make sure your voice is easy for the other person to hear.

Nowadays, live English recordings by native speakers are available for free on the Internet. At first, listen slowly using the speed change function, and once you can understand it, listen at normal speed. Once you get used to it, you will play it faster than usual and listen to it. You can't just "just listen"; you need to "listen carefully".

I am often asked, "What should I listen to on my voice recorder?" and my answer is anything that interests me, such as news, movies, interviews, etc. Listening to the various variations of the roots is perfect for developing your listening skills.

News programs are especially recommended. If you know what subject is being talked about, you may be able to understand or imagine the content based on the context, but in order to develop your listening skills, listen without knowing what is being said or having no prior knowledge. is the best. In that sense, news programs can be considered a suitable sound source.

CNN News (free): http://www.cnn.com/video/