LISTENING
“The more I listen, the more I think in English.”
Listening is the skill I focus on daily — through music, podcasts, and conversations. My goal is to understand native speed, recognize emotions, and follow complex topics.
Podcasts I Love
The Joe Rogan Experience: I listen to interviews with scientists, authors, fighters and comedians.
Skill learned: Following spontaneous conversation,
Challenge: Long episodes, slang, fast speech
Tucker Carlson’s Commentary: I listen for vocabulary and political language. - I noticed how he uses strong phrases like “radical agenda” or “undermining values” to persuade. It made me more aware of how emotion and bias can be built into formal speech.
Skill learned: Listening for opinion, bias, persuasive tone
Music: Santan Dave & Beyond
I often listen to UK rap with lyrics in front of me.
Benefits: Learn idioms, pronunciation, and rhythm
Reflection: Understanding lyrics gives me access to cultural stories and emotional themes
Movies: Subtitles On, Then Off
I watch every movie and series with subtitles - then without.
Goal: Improve comprehension without reading
Result: Better at catching keywords and tones
Movies I watched:
Good Will Hunting: Helped me catch informal dialogue and emotion. I learned how characters express vulnerability through tone, like when Will says, “It’s not your fault.”
Into the Wild: Natural, calm narration and real conversations taught me how tone changes in reflective vs. spontaneous speech.
Dead Poets Society: Inspired me to pay attention to formal vs. poetic English. I learned expressions like “Carpe diem” and the beauty of rhythm in language.
Inception: Challenged me with fast dialogue and layered vocabulary. I had to listen closely to lines like “You’re waiting for a train…” to understand tone and symbolic meaning.
Shutter Island: Helped me recognize suspense through sound and dialogue pacing. I learned how silence, hesitation, and voice shifts all add to meaning - not just the words.
