Personal information: introducing yourself

Personal information: introducing yourself is your opportunity to hear a Spanish-speaker from Spain giving some personal information. You will have to scroll down and click on the clip at the bottom of this page to watch and listen.

Here are some instructions you can follow to tackle this task step by step:

1. Before you start with your listening activity, try to make a list of the kinds of things that you can anticipate, considering the topic in hand. What do you think is the content that will be covered?

2. Once you have considered the sorts of things you are expecting to hear about, listen to the recording and try to pick up some key information. You may not understand much to start with. That is why you are going to listen at least two more times.

If you feel you are under prepared for the listening, it may be worth spending some time revising in preparation. Some helpful items in Spanish Bytes that belong to this topic are NUMBERS, PROFESSIONS, ADJECTIVES OF NATIONALITY… Having a good look will help you for sure to focus and to understand better.

3. When you are ready, try again and make a list of the key information. If you are working with a partner or language buddy you could compare notes after listening. Afterwards, and specially if you are working alone, you may want to check with me whether these are the things that you identified. Alternatively, use this task, which is a bit easier, and then check here.

4. After having checked, listen one more time. It is very likely that by now you are much more able to understand much more of this presentation.

5. You can take this activity one step further. For example, by matching the key information you have picked up or seen in the document you accessed to check with the categories I am providing you with here. Once you are done, check whether your matches look something like this.  

6. Finally, do this additional task, to learn key questions that will trigger the information that you have about Julia, and check when you are ready.

7. To expand on the topic of question words, this is also a good activity. 

Listening to understand key information is a skill that needs time to build up. It also requires being strategic when dealing with each individual listening task. I hope this post will help you to approach your listening tasks in a structured way.

The more you prepare by revising relevant content ahead of the listening, the more you will be in a good position to pick information up in your listening practice. Keep on trying!

Remember you can leave a comment; let Spanish Bytes know how you fared and whether you have any questions. ALSO…