The simple hack to better understand native English speakers, is to realise that they (I should say ‘we’ as I am also a native speaker), use contractions all the time in spoken English. So what you are expecting to hear is different from we will say. A simple example is that when I introduce myself you may expect me to say ‘I am English’, but I will rarely say that, I will usually say ‘I’m English’.This is a contraction, where 2 words become one, or more accurately, two words become one sound. So ‘I’ and ‘am’ become ‘I’m’. We call this a contraction, because the verb ‘to contract’ means to make smaller. We are in effect making the sound smaller.If you can learn to really hear these contractions, and know what they mean when you hear them, you will start to better understand fast English.Yes, there are several other factors at play when you listen, and this alone is not the only solution to better listening skills, but it is a great place to start.
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