Listening for the main idea

This article will teach you how to listen for the main idea and suggest some ways for you to improve your listening skills in the long term.

Before you read the following sections, download the listening worksheet and listen to the TED talk. See if you can understand the main points and answer the question! You can find the answers at the end of the article.

TED Talk: This is the side hustle revolution by Nicaila Mattews Okome

https://www.ted.com/talks/nicaila_matthews_okome_this_is_the_side_hustle_revolution/

Listening worksheet:

Listening Worksheet.pdf

Download PDF • 49KB

Students often find it difficult to listen for gist because they cannot distinguish main ideas and supporting details and/or decode sounds. Some students may have limited vocabulary, hence their difficultly in understanding the main points. If you are facing the same problems, try to use the following strategies.

Listening strategies

1. Before listening, predict the content based on the title and subheadings.
   

2. As you listen, pay attention to the signposting language and identify the logical flow of the speech.

• Sequences (e.g. first of all, last but not least)

• Contrast (e.g. but, however)

• Questions/ sentences that show a transition (e.g. What does it tell us?, What are the reasons?)
  

3. Pay attention to spoken language features like stress, intonation and repetition (exact wordings or synonyms).

Before listening

1. Read the title and predict the content.

• “Side hustle” = a job in addition to your main job

  • The speaker may talk about…

    • different kinds of side hustle

    • successful/ unsuccessful experience

    • reasons why people have a side hustle

    • difficulties of having a side hustle

• “Revolution” = a very important change

  • The speaker may talk about…

    • new kinds of side hustle

    • new perspectives on side hustles

While listening

1. Pay attention to the signposting language

2. Identify the logical flow of the speech (main ideas and supporting details)

3. Pay attention to spoken language features like stress, intonation and repetition (e.g. multipassionate = interested in lots of different things)
   

Example: Starting from 01:47

Third, people are multipassionate. I want to stress that not every side hustle is started because someone hates their job. Many are started simply because people are interested in lots of different things. [Main idea]

Lisa Price, who started a hair and beauty company, Carol's Daughter, was working in television production when she started side-hustling. She says she actually loved her job. It was the fact that she came home every day feeling goodthat led her to start experimenting with making fragrances and hair oils in her kitchen. [Example]

We're always being taught that we're supposed to know what we want to do when we grow up. But when you're multipassionate, you want to dip and dabble in those different things. It doesn't mean that you're not committed to your job, it just means that you have other outlets that bring you joy. [Explanation]

Methods to improve listening skills

1. Listen to authentic listening materials (e.g. movies, TV series). o  Learn more about spoken English features, such as connected speech and contracted forms (e.g. we’re, wanna). o  Recommendation: Learn English through TV Series (https://www.youtube.com/c/learnenglishwithtvseries)
   

2. Listen to podcasts (e.g. BBC 6 Minute English) and TED talk. o  Listen to a recording for 2-3 times and practise notetaking. - 1st time: focus on the main ideas - 2nd time: focus on the supporting details - 3rd time: check if you have missed any key points - Study the transcript after listening. Make sure you have jot down the key points and check your spelling.
   

3. Learn how to decode sounds (e.g. syllables, prefixes and suffixes). o  Try to deduce the spelling of unfamiliar vocabulary using phonics skills. o  Study the spelling of common prefixes and suffixes. e.g. employment (3 syllables, -ment: common suffix for nouns)

Answers: (a), (b), (d), (e)

References

Rebecca, O. (2020). Teaching and Researching Listening Skills: Theory- and Research-Based Practices. In Research-Driven Pedagogy (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 10–34). Routledge. 

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在聆聽英文錄音時，你會覺得很難抽取重點嗎？這篇文章會介紹一些技巧，讓你下次聆聽錄音時知道要注意什麼地方，以及長遠可以怎樣改善自己的聆聽能力。開始前你可以先去聆聽以下的TED Talk，下載工作紙，看看你能否理解到講者提及的重點。

TED Talk: This is the side hustle revolution by Nicaila Mattews Okome

https://www.ted.com/talks/nicaila_matthews_okome_this_is_the_side_hustle_revolution/

工作紙：

Listening Worksheet.pdf

Download PDF • 49KB

如果你在聆聽時發現很難抽取重點，可能是因為你……

• 沒有注意到一些提示，讓你可以分辨到重點和細節

• 不能拆解一些英文的發音，把你所聽到的拼寫出來

• 單字量較少，不明白錄音的內容

你可以嘗試以下的技巧：

1. 聆聽前，先根據標題和小標題去推測錄音內容。
   

2. 聆聽時，特別留意一些提示字，分辨到重點和細節，例如是表示 - 順序 Sequences (e.g. first of all, last but not least) - 對比Contrast (e.g. but, however) - 轉折的問題/ 句子Questions/ sentences that show a transition (e.g. What does it tell us?, What are the reasons?)
   

3. 聆聽時，留意講者的重音，語調和重覆的單字（有機會用同義詞表達）。

以下會以文章開首的TED Talk (This is the side hustle revolution by Nicaila Mattews Okome)作為例子，示範可以怎樣利用以上技巧去聽取重點。

聆聽前

1. 根據標題和小標題去推測錄音內容。 o  “Side hustle” = 副業 o  講者可能會提及⋯⋯ - 不同種類的副業 - 成功/失敗的經驗 - 建立副業的原因 - 建立副業的困難

o  “Revolution” = 大變革

o  講者可能會提及⋯⋯

- 副業的新種類

- 人們對副業的新看法

聆聽時

1.     特別留意一些提示字

2.     嘗試分辨講者的重點和用作支持重點的細節

3.     留意講者的重音，語調和重覆的單字（有機會用同義詞表達）。

例子：從1:47開始

Third, people are multipassionate. I want to stress that not every side hustle is started because someone hates their job. Many are started simply because people are interested in lots of different things. [Main idea 重點]

Lisa Price, who started a hair and beauty company, Carol's Daughter, was working in television production when she started side-hustling. She says she actually loved her job. It was the fact that she came home every day feeling goodthat led her to start experimenting with making fragrances and hair oils in her kitchen. [Example 例子]

We're always being taught that we're supposed to know what we want to do when we grow up. But when you're multipassionate, you want to dip and dabble in those different things. It doesn't mean that you're not committed to your job, it just means that you have other outlets that bring you joy. [Explanation 解釋]

改善聆聽能力的方法

1. 多聆聽貼近現實生活中會聽到的英文，例如英文電影、電視節目 o   你可以了解更多口語的特點，例如連音和縮短寫法（如we’re、wanna） o   推薦：Learn English through TV Series (https://www.youtube.com/c/learnenglishwithtvseries)
   

2. 仔細聆聽英文播客（如 BBC 6 Minute English）和TED Talk o   你可以在聆聽相同的錄音2至3次，用不同的顏色筆抄下重點 -       第一次：著重抄下重點 -       第二次：著重抄下細節 -       第三次：檢查自己有沒有遺留重點 -       聆聽後閱讀聆聽稿，確保自己能夠理解錄音和檢查自己的拼寫是否正確
   

3. 多練習拆解英文發音（如分拆音節、前綴和後綴） o   當遇到新的單字，嘗試用拼音推測串法 o   記下常見前綴和後綴的串法 例如：employment （有三個音節，最後一個音節 -ment 是常見的名詞後綴）

工作紙答案：(a), (b), (d), (e)