Apr 12
Anna's Teaching Tales #2
Teaching receptive skills
Teaching Listening Gone Wrong? Watch Anna's Mistakes (and Fix YOURS!)
This is the next in the series of Anna's Teaching Tales. Find out what went wrong when she taught listening and get some Tip Tips for your listening lessons.
If you’d like more ideas like these check out my free CELTA Toolkit. If you’d like to develop your teaching in a structured, low pressure, supportive environment, have a look at The Next Step programme: CPD that fits your life.
Write your awesome label here.
Video timeline
00:00 The problem
01:12 Introduction
01:55 Tip 1
02:43 Tip 2
03:17 Tip 3
04:08 Tip 4
05:13 Tip 5
06:44 Summary
________________________________________
Video transcript
Anna pressed play.
It was just a short audio clip—two people buying train tickets. Should’ve been fine.
But when it finished, she looked up and... oh dear.
Total panic.
One student had their head in their hands.
Another whispered, “Too fast.”
And a third—always brutally honest—just said, “I didn’t understand anything.”
Ouch.
Ever had one of those moments? You’ve picked what you think is a straightforward listening task, but your learners look like they've just been hit by a verbal tsunami?
Anna messaged me later that evening:
“Jo, it was awful. They were completely lost. I don’t think they caught any of it.”
Sound familiar?
Listening lessons can be tough—really tough. But the good news? A few simple tweaks can make all the difference.
If you’re new here, I’m Jo Gakonga. I’ve been teaching English for over 35 years and training teachers on CELTA and MA TESOL programmes for most of that time. I also run ELT-Training.com, where I make video-based resources to help English teachers feel confident, prepared, and just a little bit brilliant. If that sounds like your thing, like and subscribe—I post a new video every week.
So—what did Anna do?
First—she changed the mindset.
She realised her learners were treating the audio like a test, and because they didn’t understand everything, they thought they’d failed.
So we had a chat about this:
Listening in a second language? It’s not about catching every word. It’s about getting the gist, finding what’s important, and building the skill over time.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Reassure them- missing words is normal. It’s a listening lesson, not a comprehension exam!
Next, she gave them some support before pressing play.
Instead of dropping them straight into the deep end, she set the scene. Activated their schemata and some useful language.
A picture of a train station. A bit of prediction.
“Who do you think we’re going to hear?”
“What might they say?”
Brainstorming some of the vocabulary they’re likely to hear really helps.
Next—crucially—she gave them one clear task.
“Listen and find out where they’re going and what time.”
Simple. Doable.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Give them a reason to listen and keep that first task achievable.
Then she played it twice.
First time: general idea.
Second time: more detailed info—what time, how much, which platform.
And it worked. Her students looked a lot less like deer in headlights.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Always play it more than once—with a different focus each time.
But here's where it got even better- intensive listening.
After the second playthrough, Anna tried something new.
She picked out a short stretch- just a few seconds- and played only that.
She asked:
“How many words can you hear?”
She played it again.
“What’s the third word? Did you hear ‘to’ or ‘at’?”
And slowly, they started to tune in. They were training their ears, bit by bit. This is so useful- especially to start to hear all the weak forms that get lost in connected speech.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Use short chunks of audio for intensive listening. Ask about number of words, specific sounds, or little linking bits. Train their ears like a muscle.
Finally she gave them a way to use what they’d heard.
They practised the conversation in pairs, swapped destinations, changed times, played around with the language.
Suddenly, it wasn’t just a scary recording. It was something they owned.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Always follow listening with speaking. Let them use what they’ve learned.
A few days later, Anna sent me another message.
“Jo! We did another listening today—and they actually enjoyed it!”
Yay!
So if your learners get that panicked look every time you press play, remember:
And if you’d like more practical ideas like this, have a wander over to my website. And if you’re looking for friendly, supportive, realistic CPD, take a look at The Next Step programme. It’s full of stuff like this- and it’s designed to fit around your life, not take it over.
Links' below. Hope to see you there!
00:00 The problem
01:12 Introduction
01:55 Tip 1
02:43 Tip 2
03:17 Tip 3
04:08 Tip 4
05:13 Tip 5
06:44 Summary
________________________________________
Video transcript
Anna pressed play.
It was just a short audio clip—two people buying train tickets. Should’ve been fine.
But when it finished, she looked up and... oh dear.
Total panic.
One student had their head in their hands.
Another whispered, “Too fast.”
And a third—always brutally honest—just said, “I didn’t understand anything.”
Ouch.
Ever had one of those moments? You’ve picked what you think is a straightforward listening task, but your learners look like they've just been hit by a verbal tsunami?
Anna messaged me later that evening:
“Jo, it was awful. They were completely lost. I don’t think they caught any of it.”
Sound familiar?
Listening lessons can be tough—really tough. But the good news? A few simple tweaks can make all the difference.
If you’re new here, I’m Jo Gakonga. I’ve been teaching English for over 35 years and training teachers on CELTA and MA TESOL programmes for most of that time. I also run ELT-Training.com, where I make video-based resources to help English teachers feel confident, prepared, and just a little bit brilliant. If that sounds like your thing, like and subscribe—I post a new video every week.
So—what did Anna do?
First—she changed the mindset.
She realised her learners were treating the audio like a test, and because they didn’t understand everything, they thought they’d failed.
So we had a chat about this:
Listening in a second language? It’s not about catching every word. It’s about getting the gist, finding what’s important, and building the skill over time.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Reassure them- missing words is normal. It’s a listening lesson, not a comprehension exam!
Next, she gave them some support before pressing play.
Instead of dropping them straight into the deep end, she set the scene. Activated their schemata and some useful language.
A picture of a train station. A bit of prediction.
“Who do you think we’re going to hear?”
“What might they say?”
Brainstorming some of the vocabulary they’re likely to hear really helps.
Next—crucially—she gave them one clear task.
“Listen and find out where they’re going and what time.”
Simple. Doable.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Give them a reason to listen and keep that first task achievable.
Then she played it twice.
First time: general idea.
Second time: more detailed info—what time, how much, which platform.
And it worked. Her students looked a lot less like deer in headlights.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Always play it more than once—with a different focus each time.
But here's where it got even better- intensive listening.
After the second playthrough, Anna tried something new.
She picked out a short stretch- just a few seconds- and played only that.
She asked:
“How many words can you hear?”
She played it again.
“What’s the third word? Did you hear ‘to’ or ‘at’?”
And slowly, they started to tune in. They were training their ears, bit by bit. This is so useful- especially to start to hear all the weak forms that get lost in connected speech.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Use short chunks of audio for intensive listening. Ask about number of words, specific sounds, or little linking bits. Train their ears like a muscle.
Finally she gave them a way to use what they’d heard.
They practised the conversation in pairs, swapped destinations, changed times, played around with the language.
Suddenly, it wasn’t just a scary recording. It was something they owned.
✅ Jo’s Tip: Always follow listening with speaking. Let them use what they’ve learned.
A few days later, Anna sent me another message.
“Jo! We did another listening today—and they actually enjoyed it!”
Yay!
So if your learners get that panicked look every time you press play, remember:
- Start with a bit of prediction
- Give them a clear task (not catch everything)
- Play it twice (or more!)
- Focus in on short bits for intensive practice
- And always finish with a bit of speaking to tie it all together
And if you’d like more practical ideas like this, have a wander over to my website. And if you’re looking for friendly, supportive, realistic CPD, take a look at The Next Step programme. It’s full of stuff like this- and it’s designed to fit around your life, not take it over.
Links' below. Hope to see you there!
Write your awesome label here.
THANK YOU!
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If you don't see it, please check your Junk or Promotion folders and add jo.gakonga@elt-training.com to your contacts.
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Write your awesome label here.
THANK YOU!
Your download has been sent to your email inbox.
If you don't see it, please check your Junk or Promotion folders and add jo.gakonga@elt-training.com to your contacts.
If you don't see it, please check your Junk or Promotion folders and add jo.gakonga@elt-training.com to your contacts.
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