English Listening Practice For Intermediates (Improve Your Listening Skills!)

What’s up guys? My name is Shane and in today’s video, you are going to improve your English listening skills.

Listening is such an important skill in English if you want to take your English to a native speaker level. Because if you can’t understand what someone is saying to you, how can you have a conversation with them? You can’t, right?

So in today’s video, you are going to listen to three stories. For each story, you will hear the story read at native speaker speed. Then you will hear it read at a slower speed with the words on the screen.

And finally, there will be some questions for you to check your understanding of the story.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Story #1

Story number one.  The girl who loved the beach. Once upon a time, there was a girl named June. June had long brown hair with brown eyes.

Ever since she was a child, she loved going to the beach. Nothing would make her feel better than walking along that soft white sand at the beach.

Walking along the beach gave her a feeling of being alive. It gave her energy.  It gave her happiness. One summer’s day, June was walking along the beach when she heard a yelping sound.

She turned around and saw a little brown dog lying on the sand under a big tree branch. June raced over to the dog and pulled the branch off the little dog.

June looked up and thought that the branch must have fallen on the dog and hurt the dog’s leg. June picked up the dog and took it back home to her house.

She looked after the dog, fed the dog, washed the dog and gave the dog a place to sleep. After a few weeks of June taking care of the dog, June became attached to the dog.  She didn’t want to let it go.

So she decided to keep the dog.  She even decided to name the dog. She called it ‘Lucky’ because it was lucky to not have been killed by the branch falling on it.

And after that, instead of going to the beach alone every day, she took her new friend. And they lived together until the end of their days.

Okay now at a slower speed. Story number one. 

The girl who loved the beach. Once upon a time, there was a girl named June. June had long brown hair with brown eyes. Ever since she was a child, she loved going to the beach.

Nothing would make her feel better than walking along that soft white sand at the beach. Walking along the beach gave her a feeling of being alive. It gave her energy.  It gave her happiness. One summer’s day, June was walking along the beach when she heard a yelping sound.

She turned around and saw a little brown dog lying on the sand under a big tree branch. June raced over to the dog and pulled the branch off the little dog.

June looked up and thought that the branch must have fallen on the dog and hurt the dog’s leg. June picked up the dog and took it back home to her house. She looked after the dog, fed the dog, washed the dog and gave the dog a place to sleep.

After a few weeks of June taking care of the dog, June became attached to the dog. She didn’t want to let it go. So she decided to keep the dog.

She even decided to name the dog. She called it ‘Lucky’ because it was lucky to not have been killed by the branch falling on it.

And after that, instead of going to the beach alone every day, she took her new friend. And they lived together until the end of their days.

Okay, now let’s find out how much you understood in the story.

Question number one.  What was the girl’s name? Her name was June.

Number two.  How did the beach make June feel? Well, it made her feel alive. It gave her happiness.  It gave her energy.

Number three.  What did she hear? She heard a dog yelping.

And question number four. What happened to the dog? A tree branch fell on it.

 And last question.  What did June name the dog? She named it ‘Lucky.’

Story #2

Story number two.  Going To University.

Going to university is a big step in a young person’s life. It could determine their future. What they choose to study could change the outcome of their life.

So how do you know what to choose to study?

Some people say that ‘You should just go where the money is. Study something that’ll give you a good career that is well paid.’

But is that really the best way? Is it worth doing something you don’t like just to earn money?

Other people say that ‘You should study what you enjoy. Study something that you are interested in, something that makes you feel excited to learn.’

But is this really the best way? Is it worth spending time and money studying something that may not give you a well-paying job?

Some subjects that students study for enjoyment may not have many job opportunities. It’s a tough decision.

At the end of the day, in life, there is no right and wrong choice. It all depends upon how you look at the situation you’re in.

Okay, now at a slower speed. Story number two. Going To University.

Going to university is a big step in a young person’s life. It could determine their future. What they choose to study could change the outcome of their life.

So how do you know what to choose to study?

Some people say that ‘You should just go where the money is. Study something that’ll give you a good career that is well-paid.’

But is that really the best way? Is it worth doing something you don’t like just to earn good money? Other people say that ‘You should study what you enjoy. Study something that you are interested in,  something that makes you feel excited to learn.’

But is this really the best way? Is it worth spending time and money studying something that may not give you a well-paying job?

Some subjects that students study for enjoyment may not have many job opportunities. It’s a tough decision.

At the end of the day, in life, there is no right and wrong choice. It all depends upon how you look at the situation you are in.

Okay how much did you understand? Let’s find out! In the story there were two ways to decide what to study. What were they? Number one was following the money. Studying something that can give you a well-paying job. And number two was studying something that gives you enjoyment.

Now what was the problem with studying something that will give you a well-paying job? The problem was that you might not enjoy it.

What was the problem with studying something that you will enjoy? The problem was that you might not be able to find a well-paying job.

Story #3

Story number three. A Man Talking About His Printer.

I just bought a printer but I don’t know where to put it. I want to put it in the study with my computer but I don’t know where to put it. I could put it on the table next to my computer.

Hmm. That might make the table too cluttered. I don’t like it when the table is full of stuff. You need to have room to put things, right? Okay what about on the table next to the window?

That might be better.  But wait! I’ll need to get an extension cord because the cord from the printer won’t reach the computer. I guess I could do that but I don’t like long cords running across the room. Hey wait!  What about on the cabinet next to the computer?

The cabinet is big enough and then the cord can reach the printer. Yeah that might be better. Okay yeah, I think that might be the best option. I’ll put it there.

Okay, one more time at a slower speed. Story number three. A Man Talking About His Printer.

I just bought a printer but I don’t know where to put it. I want to put it in the study with my computer but I don’t know where to put it.

I could put it on the table next to my computer. Hmm. 

That might make the table too cluttered. I don’t like it when the table is full of stuff. You need to have room to put things, right? Okay what about on the table next to the window? That might be better.

But wait! I’ll need to get an extension cord because the cord from the printer won’t reach the computer. I guess I could do that but I don’t like long cords running across the room.

Hey wait! What about on the cabinet next to the computer? The cabinet is big enough and then the cord can reach the printer.

Yeah that might be better.

Okay yeah, I think that might be the best option. I’ll put it there.

Okay let’s see how much you understood. Question number one. Where were the three places that the man thought about putting his printer? Number one.  The table next to the computer. Number two.  The table next to the window. And number three. The cabinet next to the computer.

What was his problem with putting the printer on the table next to the window? He needed an extension cord and he said he didn’t like extension cords running across the room.

And last question.  Where did he decide to put the printer? He decided to put it on the cabinet next to the computer.

Conclusion

Okay and that is the end of the video today. If you liked this kind of lesson, please comment down below and let us know and we will make more of these lessons.

And if you’re interested in learning how to improve your confidence when speaking English, you can check out this video right here. If you liked the video, hit like.

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