TIPS: Listening to Nonnative Speakers

In my earlier post, I discussed nonnative speakers. It’s a topic that I feel is important to be addressed because I myself do not have English as my first language. I had difficulty speaking English before, and I am sure that people had difficulty understanding what I was saying. I was born in the Philippines, and came here when I was 6 years old. Although I attended a private school back home where they taught in English the majority of the time, when I arrived here in Canada and started going to school, I had a heavy accent and terrible grammar. I noticed it too, and often times, made many mistakes and had moments where I was discouraged to even speak. Now that I have been in Canada for almost 14 years, my English has vastly improved and I’ve lost my native accent. However, I’ll always remember my younger self- new to the country, speaking broken English, with poor confidence. With this in mind, I offer the following tips to help native speakers become better listeners when nonnatives speak. After all, it’s really not easy for nonnatives/ those who are new to the language, so the least we can do is try our best to be better listeners!

1. Try not to negatively judge those who have accented speech.
Just because they have an accent doesn’t mean they are not smart!

2. Patience is a virtue.
Be patient. Try not to hurry a conversation along- give them time to say what they want to say.

3. Don’t finish sentences.
Allow them to complete their sentences. Often times, you’ll find that what they have to say is totally different from what you had in mind.

4. Don’t correct grammar and pronunciation.
Sure you’re just trying to “help”- and that’s nice of you. However, try to forget their grammar and instead try to focus more on understanding what they are trying to tell you.

5. Be honest.
It’s alright to admit that you have no clue or are having a hard time understanding him/her. In other words, don’t pretend like you understand them when you don’t.

Keep these tips in mind—and always remember, listen with intent, it’s one of your keys to success!