People use different words and phrases in spoken English than they do in writing. They use slang. They say "um", "hmm", "ah", "uh", etc. They skip the word "that" when using relative clauses. Most classes and books teach "proper" English, which is used in writing and in formal speech. Words are pronounced differentlywhen you say them individually than when you say them together. This is called "connected speech". If you only learn English in a classroom, you probably only hear very careful pronunciation. You won't be prepared when someone asks you: W'joominehand'nmethabagovethare? ("Would you mind handing me that bag over there?") People talk about a lot of different topics. Some topics are very specialized and uncommon. Sometimes they talk about people you don't know, or make a joke about a movie that you haven't seen. An English class, textbook can't prepare you for all of the possible topics in this world. So it's important to realize that you don't have to understand everything. My #1 tip for improving your listening The best way to improve your English listening is to listen. A lot. There's no way around it; you have to spend hours and hours listening to people speaking English. Listen to things that interest you. If you don't enjoy something, it's going to be hard for you to continue. You'll get bored and stop. Other listening tips Interacting is better than passive listening. In other words, it's better to talk with someone than just to listen to a TV show, radio program, or podcast. Being in a conversation forces you to listen more carefully The next thing to watch out for is to make sure that you listen to a variety of different kinds of speech. I know some people who listen to radio news shows every day but don't feel like they're improving. That's because news English is one specialized form of speaking. Only news broadcasters speak that way. So you can't expect to understand everyday conversation if you only listen to the news.

Listening records with scripts. I've heard this advice: Listen three times 1 - just listen. 2- listen and read scripts. 3 - listen and try to read text along with a speaker. And choose things which is appropriate with your level, don't take too hard text.

Hi Rena, you need to stop the tape and listen to it many times.Or maybe you can find things to listen to in English with subtitles and then you can read and listen at the same time.

You can simply find the lyrics of your favorite English songs...it really helps and if you wanna practice more try to watch movies with subtitle or ask an English native speaker or some one with good pronunciation and speaking skill to send you voice messages and ask you to write what he/she said

Good Moorning Rena, there are a web on you can listen a lot of TV and radio programs with native speakers, it is a good form to improve your English and a lot of vocabulary. I send you the link: vaughanradio.co