Welcome to the Leo Listening Blog
Regular articles, tips and advice on understanding spoken EnglishRead by topic:
Understand native speakers: hard to understand aren’t they? Here’s why & what to do about it
Understand English movies: understand movies and TV shows without subtitles
Listening tips: improve your English listening skills with these tips
Podcast: improve your listening in English with my podcast episodes from the archive
Interviews: expert interviews on listening skills, language learning, living abroad and more
Motivation and Mindset: boost your motivation to understand fast English
Latest posts:

The Ultimate Guide To Audiobooks For English Learners
Updated September 2022. Hello there Leo Listeners! It's Cara here from Leo Listening, where I help intrepid travellers and adventurous expats connect in English through movies. Do you listen to audiobooks? Would you like to know how they can help you improve your...

3 Simple Steps To Understand Movies In English Without Subtitles
Updated September 2022. How to understand English movies without subtitles - if you're asking yourself the question, then congratulations! You don’t need to feel bad if you’re watching movies or TV series with subtitles. It’s already fantastic that you’re watching...

The Three Best TV Series For American English Listening Practice
Updated September 2022 What better way is there to get American English listening practice than to watch TV series? I can still remember the day I saw the pilot episode of the Walking Dead. I walked into the front room, took a look at the TV screen and asked my...

How Movie Club Helped This Learner Get Rid Of English Subtitles And Improve His English Listening Skills
If you're still struggling to get rid of English subtitles even though you - have been learning English for years can use it at work fine have passed all the language exams - then keep reading because you're not alone. It's surprisingly common to not understand...

How To Stop Translating In Your Head
Updated June 2022. Wondering how to stop translating in your head when you listen to English? I'm not surprised! Maybe you've already been in this situation: You’re having a conversation in English, trying to catch as many words as possible and follow the...

How To Understand Any English Accent With The IDEA Dialects Archive
Updated May 2022. Imagine if you could listen to the accent of your choice in English whenever you wanted. In fact, imagine if you could listen to recordings of English as it's spoken throughout the whole world by native and non-native speakers. Now, close your eyes...

A Simple Guide To Using SoundCloud To Understand English Better
Updated May 2022 Want to understand English native speakers better? Want to simplify the process so that you can save time, money and sanity? You're in the right place! My listening motto, that I’ll hope you’ll adopt too is - less is more in listening. I don’t believe...

Why You Should Stop Watching TV Series Alone
Are you fed up of small talk? Are you sick of doing language exchanges where you discuss the same boring topics each session (introductions, weather etc) ? Or of watching TV series by yourself and having no-one to talk to about them? Well, you're going to love this...

How To Understand Native English Speakers Thanks To Connected Speech
How to understand native English speakers - it can be a real headache, can't it? One thing I’ve heard a lot in my teaching career is that English speakers eat their words and they don’t articulate properly. I can’t really disagree with that! In this post I want to...

Why These Three Listening Strategies Recommended By Teachers Don’t Work
Updated April 2022 Hi there Leo Listeners. It's Cara here from Leo Listening, online English listening skills coach, and movie fan. I help adventurous expats and intrepid travellers harness their love of movies to understand authentic English, so they can connect with...