Listening: Active Listening Strategies B2 - Lesson 4: Tolerating Ambiguity and Incomplete Understanding

Listening Skill: Staying Calm with Unknown Words CEFR Level B2 Lesson Goals In this lesson, you will learn a critical B2 listening skill: tolerating ambiguity . This means staying calm when you don't understand every word, and using context to grasp the main message despite incomplete understanding . The Strategy: Don't Panic, Find the Gist When you listen to native speakers, you will often hear unfamiliar words, idioms, or slang. Advanced listeners don't panic. They have a strategy for dealing with this ambiguity. Don't Panic: This is the most important step. It's normal not to know every word. Do not let one unknown word stop you from understanding the entire conversation. Let It Go: Actively decide to ignore the word you missed. It might not be important to the main idea. Keep Listening: Immediately refocus on the words and sentences you *do* understand. The context from the next sentence can often clarify the previous one. Use the Context: Use all the clues available—the …