Long Listening · Section 6

Communication

This is an extremely important topic because all of us need to communicate in our daily lives.

Level: A2 · 69 sentences

Transcript

1. This is an extremely important topic
2. because all of us need to communicate in our daily lives.
3. First of all, let's talk about some of the different ways that people communicate.
4. In the past, communication was pretty simple.
5. You could talk to people in person,
6. you could call people on the phone,
7. or you could write people a letter.
8. But nowadays, there are lots of other ways
9. for people to communicate with each other.
10. The internet has given us many more methods of communication.
11. Nowadays, for most young people, sending messages
12. is more common than actually talking to people.
13. They use messaging apps, social media apps, and normal text messaging.
14. We also have video call platforms like Skype and Zoom.
15. This technology has completely changed the way that we communicate.
16. However, there are some things related
17. to communication that will always be the same.
18. For example, communication always requires effort.
19. You need to make an effort to call someone,
20. send them a message or knock on their door.
21. Communicating with others takes effort, energy and time.
22. Another thing that's necessary for good communication is good listening skills.
23. Do you know someone that isn't a good listener?
24. This person probably isn't a fun person to talk to.
25. When someone only talks about themselves
26. and they don't ask you questions,
27. this can be annoying or boring. When you talk to someone
28. who really listens to you, it's much more satisfying.
29. So this is something that we can all practice with, being better listeners.
30. Another important part of communication is having empathy.
31. Empathy is the ability to understand
32. and feel what other people are feeling.
33. When you talk to someone who's empathetic,
34. it feels like they understand you and they care about you.
35. But when you talk to someone who's not empathetic,
36. you probably don't feel this way.
37. One other skill that can help your communication is humor.
38. This refers to being funny.
39. When people have a good sense of humor,
40. it's really fun to talk to them because you can laugh together.
41. Humor makes communication more interesting in general.
42. Okay, now let's talk about some of the difficulties with communication.
43. One of the hardest situations is when you're talking to someone
44. who speaks a different language.
45. I'm sure many of you have had the opportunity
46. to speak English to someone who doesn't speak your language.
47. This is both exciting and hard.
48. It's exciting because you get to practice your English
49. in a real situation, but it's hard
50. because English isn't your native language.
51. You can't express yourself how you express yourself in your language.
52. Of course, this is why you're learning English,
53. so that you can speak to people from other countries more effectively.
54. Another thing that can be difficult is if you're a shy person.
55. People who are shy usually don't feel
56. comfortable meeting new people and talking to many people.
57. I used to be shy when I was a kid,
58. but I think people can become less shy if they practice.
59. If you force yourself to speak to people often,
60. it'll start to become more normal for you.
61. You'll feel a little less uncomfortable after a while.
62. One last difficulty that people have is public speaking.
63. Most people don't like speaking in front of a large audience.
64. It doesn't feel good when everyone is watching you.
65. If you have to give a presentation to an audience,
66. the best thing you can do is really prepare
67. and memorize your presentation beforehand.
68. If you do this, you'll be able to say
69. what you need to say, even if you're nervous.