Hello.
I’m currently learning English at Lingq. I usually keep listening using headphones, but when I try to listen directly I have to struggle to understand.
Is that Ok? If I have to interact with some native how will I understand?
Keep listening to the mini-stories over and over. If you find you don’t understand a mini-story completely, the next time you read in lingQ read the mini-story you had problems with and click on the words you don’t know.
Then listen to it again until it makes sense.
It may take some weeks to a couple months till you understand the mini-stories completely. Also you might want to look up “TPRS english” on youtube and try watching some of them.
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Yes, you will understand native speakers in a real conversation. Most of my listening is done via headphones in German at home. I am currently living in Germany. And, wax is tapering off and I can understand slightly more complex conversations at shops than I was used to. Just have patience and keep listening. I have minimally engaged in direct interactions with native Germans.
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It’s almost always going to be more difficult understanding a native in person. When you’re learning, you may be nervous anyway and feel some pressure (I know I do) that pretty much throws you off. My hearing is not as good anymore, so having headphones vs speaking to someone directly can also be difficult if the speaker does not have a loud voice, or mumbles. The stuff you may be listening to on headphones may be done by a professional actor or speaker (in the case of audiobooks or a newcast) or someone otherwise trying their best to speak clearly and correctly. A native may use slang, or “swallow” or merge words together which makes it difficult to distinguish what word(s) they are saying.
It just takes a LOT of listening time. It helps too if you have sources of “natural” native speakers speaking to one another. Then you can hear these sort of elements and not be totally shocked because they don’t speak in a perfect way.
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