Why is it difficult to understand a foreign language when it is spoken?

Question

Why is it that students can excell in grammar, reading and writing a foreign language (such as English) and then have such a hard time when they are trying to understand it spoken?

Answer 1

Learning a foreign language is a complicated process, including knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, writing, and speaking. Grammar is a set of rules that can be learned through the normal process of studying, including memorization, and at one's own pace. The same is true with vocabulary and writing. Speaking a foreign language includes pronunciation (mastering the accent), vocabulary, and listening. It is a dynamic process of translating a response to what you hear into coherent sentences - often translated from your native language into the foreign language you are learning. Conversation can be difficult because of the back and forth nature of speaking and listening. You have to understand what is being said, and you have to know how to respond. Often this is a rapid exchange, and the brain and the ear do not readily recognize what is being said. In using one's native tongue, an individual's brain fills in what is said, based on familiarity and context. With a foreign language, this is not the case, so this makes understanding and responding much more difficult.

Answer 2

I would think a knowledge of pronunciation is the key to understanding the spoken language. Mastery of reading, writing, and grammar helps but does not guarantee one will understand the spoken word. To understand the spoken word, one must study pronunciation or phonics. The spoken sounds of one language do not necessarily have a complement in another. It is therefore important to learn these new sounds or their pronunciation in order to speak or understand a different language. It helps to interact with native speakers and hear the spoken word.

Answer 3

The answer to this question is pretty simple. Why? Because it is spoken so fast! Native speakers of any language speak their own tongue very, very quickly. They run words together, speak with different dialects, different accents. They use slang phrases, curse words, metaphors, cultural and local references that the non-native speaker may know nothing about. Try to compare the English spoken by a New Yorker, to the English spoken by an American Southerner to English spoken by a Scots. Now, that's a lot of different English!

The only real way to get 'on top' of this phenonmenon is by listening to it spoken again and again.

For instance, I love British TV mysteries and watch a lot of them. I am pretty sure what they mean when they talk about the 'telly', the 'jumper' the 'torch' and 'getting it sorted'. I have been watching Outlander this season and can almost understand the Scottish brogue, most of the time!

So, in the end, practice listening and then, some more practice. Find a TV show you like to watch and listen to them!. Courtney W.