Major Themes in "Twilight in Delhi" by Ahmed Ali

Major Themes in "Twilight in Delhi" by Ahmed Ali

The Struggle over Memory:

In “Twilight in Delhi” memory is seen both as source of personal identity and as a burden preventing to attain happiness. Each character is involved in a struggle to remember but more importantly in a struggle to forget certain aspects of their past. Mir Nihal the protagonist of the Novel wants to seek refuge in the past. He wants to live in past not is present. The other characters, like Begum Nihal, Begum Jamal and the elder sons of Mir Nihal, all of them found in struggling condition. The grandeur and wonderful Muslim’s past, in which they were rulers not wipe out from Mir Nihal and his family’s mind, like Asgher seemed rebellious but in the end of the Novel he was caught in the trap of cruel and remorseless fate. The city “Delhi” had faced the rise and fall of many Kings and princes like a poet said.

Delhi which was once the Jewel of the world,

Where dwelt only the loved ones of Fate,

Which has now been ruined by the hand of time,

I, m a resident of that storm-tossed place . . . .

But now the present scenario has impolitely changed people who were rulers now they are under the domination of colonial forces. So Mir Nihal like madam Ranevsky in “The cherry orchard” is not able to forget the grandeur of past his management, attitude and behavior in his family totally reflect the king like way as Moghals did in past. He never able to comprehend the change in his own family when Asgher showed his consent to marry Bilqeece ,the problem solved and every thing happened according to his will. Ahmad Ali showed all the characters and especially Mir Nihal in a struggling position ,the whole family and the surrounding area’s people never able to came out from the memory of their glorious past.

Modernity VS The Old India

With the arrival of the British colonial forces in the sub-continent every thing had changed .people who were habitual in living under the kings of were not able to face a change which as far as British was concern a change which civilize the Brutes. the major character or the protagonist of the Novel Mir Nihal never able to compensate with the new traditions. Britishers gave change to their style of living and the government structure but he wants to live according to the past like Ahmed Ali relate is part 4 chapters 4.

“New ways and ideas had come into being a hybrid culture which had nothing in it of the past was forcing itself upon Hindustan a wedge-people of Indian and Western ways which he failed to understand. The whole culture of India was a mixture of too cultures the new generation want to adopt the English culture like in the beginning of the Novel Asgher’s first appearance was in wearing English shirts and Mir Nihal scolded on it His sudden anger on him showed his hatred and non-accomodateable attitude towards and modernity.”

He was a backward person like in the mid-end of the Novel the episode when he try to gave punishment to the children he said to Dilchain that you go and took my sword and he took his sword and children seemed terrified not in real sense, this shows that he did not left the past, but he did not want to think about it.

Sense of diffidence:

Sex is the most important theme of the novel. Mir, Asgher and all the women characters in the Novel were sexually suppressed figures. Mir Nihal, a tall hand some and energetic man, desperately wanted a women who knew well the art of sex and the art of capturing man. So Babban Jan, a young girl gave him all these pleasures and when she died his whole world deranged. He felt a kind of flux in his life, which cannot be full-filled. He had also sexual relations with Dilchain (His Maid) and when she got pregnant Begum Nihal surprised to hear this that she is not a married one and her quarrel with Mir Nihal shows that Mir Nihal,s sexual appetite was not satiated from Begum Nihal.

If we look at Delhi’s society we came to know that most of the male society went to prostitutes and when they became habitual of them then they were not accommodate with their wives because they were not well-versed in the art of capturing man through sex. So most of the men had not time for their wives.

Asgher was also one of them who went to prostitutes like Mushtari Bai. She was a young girl; beautiful, fascinating and charming girl. Asgher often went to her Kotha and became habitual of her. But when he saw Bilqeece he bewitched by her extreme beauty. He desperately wants to marry her and after huge amount reluctance from Mir Nihal he succeeds to marry with her. But he feels that she lack sexual understanding. So Bilqeece can not able to feel the gulf between them. It wasn’t her fault because in Indian culture mostly the women spent her youth in the four walls of Zennana where no male allowed enter in it. So she can’t able to understand why her husband left her in the house for weeks. But begum shahbaz felt the actual problem or the cause which create the gulf. She quarreled with him But Asgher not able to manage the whole issue.

The whole Mir Nihal, s family represent the Muslim class of India and throughout India they have the same life style. Men often satiate their sexual appetites to go to the prostitutes and women remained ignorant because they had no knowledge about what is going on there.

Passing away of Muslim civilization in India

One of the Major themes is the passing away of Muslims civilization in India. Twilight in Delhi basically showed the decay of Mughal Kingship or the Muslim civilization.

Muslims ruled on India from many centuries but with the arrival of Britishers, the whole civilization had faced a huge set back. Mir Nihal, who lived in the illusions of splendid past, not able to accommodate with the present condition. His appearance and attitude represent the Muslims community of that time. Which not bale to live according to the changed conditions because they felt that this is the most humiliating condition for the Muslims.

Like Niven says

“Despite the rhapsodic treatment of Asgher’s love Bilqeece (Ali’s own wife is called Bilqeece), the autumnal mood at the Novel’s close the grief-stricken regrets for the Mughal past and the frequent coherence in his prose style, Ali writes less from a romantic than a classic stand point. He recognizes the immutability of the basic elements in human life individual remains the same in every age.”

Yet classicism in so far as it refers to recognition of the permanence of the change brought about by the passing of time is perhaps the intention of the Novel’s plot.

Twilight in Delhi: A critical Review

Twilight in Delhi: A critical Review Twilight in Delhi: A Critical Review Ahmad Ali’s Twilight in Delhi is a marvelous novel. It brings before our eyes a true “motion-picture” of how the Muslims of the sub-continent used to live their religious, social, cultural, single and collective life during the tumultuous years of 1857-1919. Another important thing to note is that, Ahmad Ali shows us all the positive as well as negative aspects of the Muslim Cultural life of sub-continent. So there is no taboo binding the hands of the writer to omit this or that part of the life: he presents life as a whole in all its aspects and colors. The details of Mehro’s marriage with Meraj, the son of Bhopal millionaire, added with the details of Mushtari Baiand Babban Jan, provide ample proof for our statements in this respect. We also find details of two pastimes that were very popular at those times among the gentlemen and others: pigeon-flying and kite-flying. There would be only a few such cities in the world which have become living landmark in the history or civilization of the world at large and of the related country in particular. Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) is one. Rome is another. Delhi is still another. Delhi can boast rightfully of a culture and civilization that has its long, deep roots going back into the 2nd century B.C. Built in 1453 B.C. by the name of Hastnapur by Raja Yudhishtra after the great battle of Mahabharat, Delhi had seen many ups and down in its long history. It has seen the age of Kauravs and the Pandaus. It has seen the rise and fall of the Khiljis. It has seen the regime of the Sayyeds. And lastly it has seen the supreme, superb and colorful reign of the great Moghals; Babur, Huamyun, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, the grand and great line culminating in Bahadur Shah (Zafar), the last of the Moghal dynasty who was overthrown by the Britiehers, or Farangis, as the people of the sub-continent including the Delhi-ites used to call them. According to the novelist himself: “Destruction is in its foundations and blood is in its soil. IT has seen the fall of many a glorious kingdom and listened to the groans of birth. It is the symbol of life and Death …” Ahmad Ali has seen the lanes, by-lanes and streets of Delhi with great affection. So Ahmad Ali has drawn a detailed picture of the life going on in these lanes and by-lanes during the last years of the 19th and the earlier years of the 20th century. The life is the true representation of the decaying Indian Muslim civilization during the period referred to above. With this novel was published in 1940 by Hogarth Press, London, a lot of reviews appreciations about the same appeared not only in India but also in England. The novel gained spontaneous attention of the literary critics in India and abroad. One of the main aims of Ahmad Ali in writing this novel in English language was to acquaint the English-speaking world about the Indian civilization and its presentation through the life of novel’s characters. In his essay entitled “Some Reflections on the Novel” Ahmad Ali himself writes: “The Novel is not an imitation but representation of life and its changing shadows, reflecting their movement and directing the changing scene of human activity in all ages and societies…. For the canvas of life is too vast and can be presented only in the moments of shattered desire or contemplation calm and rising hopes and ambitions. In all forms it shows man and society their true semblance, and life, its picture which, in the movement, life itself does not often understand.” So, Ahmad Ali lived a rich life and created, out of that, a rich, living and throbbing novel as such which is Twilight in Delhi. If we care about the unity of impression and vitality of life, we are to find it only in Twilight in Delhi. Loo-stricken life being lived/passed in the lanes and by-lanes of Delhi right from the darkness of dejection to the radiating hopefulness has been immortalized in its own subtle and sublime manner by Ahmad Ali. __________________ " Remember that if Allah gave you more, more He would expect from you. Higher position is a TEST. Taking a test is not an achievement rather PASSING it is."

Reading skill (ECC)

What Is Skimming?

Skimming is one of the tools you can use to read more in less time. Skimming refers to looking only for the general or main ideas, and works best with non-fiction (or factual) material. With skimming, your overall understanding is reduced because you don’t read everything. You read only what is important to your purpose. Skimming takes place while reading and allows you to look for details in addition to the main ideas.

What Is Scanning?

Scanning is another useful tool for speeding up your reading. Unlike skimming, when scanning, you look only for a specific fact or piece of information without reading everything. You scan when you look for your favorite show listed in the cable guide, for your friend’s phone number in a telephone book, and for the sports scores in the newspaper. For scanning to be successful, you need to understand how your material is structured as well as comprehend what you read so you can locate the specific information you need. Scanning also allows you to find details and other information in a hurry.

 EXTENSIVE READING

Extensive is when you try to cover vast amounts of materials, but just skip over the parts you don’t know and try to get the general gist of things. It’s all about context and the big picture. Once you get awesome, you can just sit down and read a book and understand everything, and you’re doing an extensive exercise still.
 INTENSIVE READING
Intensive is about studying minute details and trying to wring absolutely every drop of information out of a section of text. The easy way to compare these two types is reading the same paragraph 100 times (intensive) vs. reading 100 different paragraphs (extensive).

SQ3R

Throughout your education you can expect to be assigned a great deal of reading. Students who aren't comfortable with reading or who feel like their skills are deficient will find it hard to succeed in college and graduate school. It's essential that you read for class. 

If you're looking to be a more efficient reader, try the SQ3R Method. It's designed to help you read faster and retain more. SQ3R stands for the steps in reading: survey, question, read, recite, review. It might seem like it takes more time to use the SQ3R method, but you'll find that you retain more and have to reread less often. Let's take a look at the steps:
Survey
Before reading, survey the material. Glance through the topic headings and try to get an overview of the reading. Skim the sections and read the final summary paragraph to get an idea of where the chapter is going. Only spend a few minutes surveying the reading to get a background knowledge, an initial orientation that will help you to organize the material as you read it. It eases you into the reading assignment
Question
Look at the first heading in the chapter. Turn it into a question. Ask questions to be answered in your reading. This step requires conscious effort, but is worth it as it leads to active reading, the best way to retain written material. Asking questions focuses your concentration on what you need to learn or get out of your reading.
Read
Read the first section of your reading assignment to answer your question. Actively search for the answer to your question. If you finish the section and haven't answered the question, reread it. Read reflectively. Consider what the author is trying to say, and think about how you can use that information.
Recite
Once you've read an initial section, look away and try to recite the answer to your question, using your own words and examples. If you can do this, it means that you understand the material. If you can't, glance over the section again. Once you have the answers to your questions, write them down.
Review
After reading the entire assignment, test your memory by asking yourself the questions that you've identified. Review your notes for an overview the chapter. Consider how it fits with what you know from the course, experience, and other classes. What is the material's significance? What are the implications or applications of this material? What questions are you left with?
How many of the steps you follow is up to you. As you become more efficient you may find that you can read more - and retain more - with less effort. Regardless, if an assignment is important, be sure to take notes so that you don't have to reread it later.

SQ3R - Improving Reading Comprehension

Textbooks are often read in the same way that other books are read for pleasure – beginning with the first page of the chapter and reading to the end of the chapter, without stopping. While this method is fine for novels, it is not likely to result in the level of understanding and retention needed for most textbooks and the classes they are assigned to. SQ3R provides a different method of reading textbooks that will most likely enhance understanding and retention of material. It's not a quicker way to read a chapter in a textbook, but it is likely to reduce the amount of time you will need to spend studying the material immediately prior to the test. This result comes from more time being spent actually understanding the chapter while it is initially read. Study time then becomes deepening your understanding of the material.

Reading textbooks and comprehending their information is difficult. If you want further information about reading comprehension, review other sections of Academic Support for Students (Link to Academic Support for Students). If you have been trying to improve your reading comprehension but the strategies you're trying just don't seem to be helping as much as you would like, please contact Cook Counseling Center.

SQ3R is a five-step process:

• Survey
• Question
• Read
• Recite Review

Survey

This step helps you gather the information that is necessary to focus on the chapter and formulate questions for yourself as you read. It’s not necessary to have answers to your questions at this step in the process – answers will come later.

Read the title

This helps your brain begin to focus on the topic of the chapter.

Read the introduction and/or summary

This orients you to how this chapter fits the author’s purposes. It also provides you with an overview of the author’s statement of the most important points.

Read each boldface heading and subheading

This helps you to create a framework for the chapter in your mind before you begin reading. This framework provides a structure for the thoughts and details to come.

Review any graphics

Charts, maps, diagrams, pictures, and other visual aids are there to make a point. Publishers will not include these items in textbooks unless they significantly add to the content of the text.

Review any reading aids in the chapter

This includes italics, chapter objectives, definitions, and study questions at the end of the chapter. These aids are there to help you sort, comprehend, and remember the material.

Question while you are surveying:

• Turn the title, headings, and/or subheadings into questions
• Read questions at the end of the chapters or after each subheading
• Ask yourself,
  "What did my instructor say about this chapter or subject
  when it was assigned?"
• Ask yourself,
  "What do I already know about this subject?"
   Note: If it is helpful to you, write out these questions for consideration.
  This variation is called SQW3R
• When you begin to Read:

• Look for answers to the questions you first raised
• Answer questions at the beginning or end of chapters or study guides
• Reread captions under pictures, graphs, etc.
• Note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrases
• Study graphic aids
• Reduce your speed for difficult passages
• Stop and reread parts which are not clear
• Read only a section at a time and recite after each section

Recite after you've read a section:

• Orally ask yourself questions about what you have just read, or summarize, in your own words, what you read
• Take notes from the text but write the information in your own words
• Underline or highlight important points you've just read
• Reciting:
  The more senses you use the more likely you are to remember what you read Triple strength learning: Seeing, saying, hearing
  Quadruple strength learning: Seeing , saying , hearing, writing!!!

Listening comprehension

Listening comprehension

Introduction

Like many students, you may be initially very worried about your listening skills. Academic listening usually involves trying to follow a lecture or discussion in English and writing adequate notes on it. If you have difficulties in doing this, you may not be sure whether the problems are listening problems or language problems. In any case, much listening to lectures or similar texts is essential. There is also a need for you to be aware of the way lectures are organised, the particular kind of language that is used in lectures (Lynch, 1983) and making sure you know the language, particularly the pronunciation of familiar words, of your own subject. I think the most important skill is for you to learn to recognise the structure of lectures - the main points and subsidiary points.

You need to practise:

• How to take notes.
• Recognising lecture structure: understanding relationships in the lecture - reference; understanding relations within the sentence/complex sentences; importance markers, signposts.
• Deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words and word groups - guessing.
• Recognising implications: information not explicitly stated; recognising the speaker's attitude. Evaluating the importance of information - selecting information.
• Understanding intonation, voice emphasis etc.
• Listening skills: skimming - listening to obtain gist; scanning - listening to obtain specific information; selective extraction of relevant points to summarise text; learning various ways of making sense of the words you hear.

Advice

Your listening will improve quickly if you hear English often - so make sure you do - films, television, anything. Any kind of comprehension is also part of a circle:

• understand learn have knowledge understand more learn more have more knowledge understand more etc.

So read around the topic before the lecture - or read the newspaper if you want to understand the news on the radio.

For academic listening, particularly listening to lectures, it will also be useful to learn about how the language works in lectures in your subject. You can learn the language you need, learn about how lectures are structured, and the various processes you go through to make sense of the words and phrases you hear.

The process of listening

Introduction

You listen with your brain and your ears. Your brain makes meaning out of all the clues available. When you are listening sounds are an important clue. But you also need to make use of your knowledge.Your ears pick up sounds; your brain makes the meanings.

The two main parts of the listening process are:

• bottom-up listening

and

• top-down listening

Bottom-up listening

This means making as much use as you can of the low level clues. You start by listening for the individual sounds and then join these sounds together to make syllables and words. These words are then combined together to form phrases, clauses and sentences. Finally the sentences combine tgether to form texts or conversations.

Top-down listening

Top-down listening means making as much use as you can of your knowledge and the situation. From your knowledge of situations, contexts, texts, conversations, phrases and sentences, you can understand what you hear.

Interaction

Of course, good listeners need to make use of the interaction between both types of listening. For example, if you hear the sound /ðɛə/, it is only the context that will tell you if the word is "there", "their" or perhaps "they're". Your knowledge of grammar will tell you if /kæts/ is "cats" or "cat's", which may be "cat is" or "cat has".

Summarising and note-taking

Purposeful

Listening is purposeful. The way you listen to something will depend on your purpose. You listen to different texts in different ways. In everyday life, you usually know why you are listening. You have a question and you read to find the answer. You usually know how the news programmes on the radio or organised - usually a quick headline followed by details. You know the sports results follow the main news items, so if you want to know the sports results, you wait until it is time. You do not listen to every word of the news items. When you read a story or a play, it is different. You start at the beginning and listen to the end. In academic listening, you need to be flexible when you listen - you may need to listen carefully at the beginning to find out what is going to come, then listen less carefully until you hear what you want to know. General efficient listening strategies such as scanning to find the correct part of the lecture, skimming to get the gist and careful listening of important passages are necessary as well as learning about how texts are structured in your subject.

Interactive

Listening is an interactive process - it is a two-way process. As a listener you are not passive but active. This means you have to work at constructing the meaning from the sounds heard by your ears, which you use as necessary. You construct the meaning using your knowledge of the language, your subject and the world, continually predicting and assessing. You need to be active all the time when you are listening. It is useful, therefore, before you start listening to try to actively remember what you know, and do not know, about the subject and as you are listening to, to formulate questions based on the information you have. Title, sub-titles and section heading can help you formulate question to keep you interacting.

Listening Comprehension

What is listening comprehension?

"Listening comprehension" would describe a person's ability to listen and understand what he's hearing

Why we listen?

Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others.

• We listen to obtain information.
• We listen to understand.
• We listen for enjoyment.
• We listen to learn.

Given all this listening we do, you would think we'd be good at it!

In fact most of us are not, and research suggests that we remember between 25 percent and 50 percent of what we hear. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers or spouse for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation. This is dismal!

Turn it around and it reveals that when you are receiving directions or being presented with information, you aren't hearing the whole message either. You hope the important parts are captured in your 25-50 percent, but what if they're not?

Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener, you will improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate. What's more, you'll avoid conflict and misunderstandings. All of these are necessary for workplace success!

Tip:

Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. By understanding your personal style of communicating, you will go a long way towards creating good and lasting impressions with others.

About Active Listening

The way to become a better listener is to practice "active listening." This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, try to understand the complete message being sent.

In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.

You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you, or by forming counter arguments that you'll make when the other person stops speaking. Nor can you allow yourself to get bored, and lose focus on what the other person is saying. All of these contribute to a lack of listening and understanding.

Tip:

If you're finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on what someone is saying, try repeating their words mentally as they say them – this will reinforce their message and help you stay focused.

To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you've ever been engaged in a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were saying. You wonder if your message is getting across, or if it's even worthwhile continuing to speak. It feels like talking to a brick wall and it's something you want to avoid.

Acknowledgement can be something as simple as a nod of the head or a simple "uh huh." You aren't necessarily agreeing with the person, you are simply indicating that you are listening. Using body language and other signs to acknowledge you are listening also reminds you to pay attention and not let your mind wander.

You should also try to respond to the speaker in a way that will both encourage him or her to continue speaking, so that you can get the information if you need. While nodding and "uh huhing" says you're interested, an occasional question or comment to recap what has been said communicates that you understand the message as well.

Becoming an Active Listener

There are five key elements of active listening. They all help you ensure that you hear the other person, and that the other person knows you are hearing what they say.

1. Pay Attention

Give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge the message. Recognize that non-verbal communication also "speaks" loudly.

• Look at the speaker directly.
• Put aside distracting thoughts.
• Don't mentally prepare a rebuttal!
• Avoid being distracted by environmental factors. For example, side conversations.
• "Listen" to the speaker's body language.

2. Show That You're Listening

Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.

• Nod occasionally.
• Smile and use other facial expressions.
• Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
• Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh.

3. Provide Feedback

Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.

• Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. "What I'm hearing is," and "Sounds like you are saying," are great ways to reflect back.
• Ask questions to clarify certain points. "What do you mean when you say." "Is this what you mean?"
• Summarize the speaker's comments periodically.

Tip:

If you find yourself responding emotionally to what someone said, say so, and ask for more information: "I may not be understanding you correctly, and I find myself taking what you said personally. What I thought you just said is XXX; is that what you meant?"

4. Defer Judgment

Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message.

• Allow the speaker to finish each point before asking questions.
• Don't interrupt with counter arguments.

5. Respond Appropriately

Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down.

• Be candid, open, and honest in your response.
• Assert your opinions respectfully.
• Treat the other person in a way that you think he or she would want to be treated.

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.
• Captions can help if they're in English. If you watch a movie, video, or TV show with English subtitles, it can help you match the written words to their spoken pronunciation. But subtitles in your native language are dangerous. They do help you to understand what's going on, but they also keep your brain locked into "native language mode". Try to use native-language subtitles as little as possible.

The 10 best ways to improve your English listening skill

So here's my list of the 10 best ways to improve your English listening skill. These are listed in order. The very best advice is #1, the second-best advice is #2, and so on. Take a look:

1.    Live and work in a completely English-speaking environment.

2.    Do some kind of sports, hobbies, or other activities with a group of English speakers.

3.    Talk one-on-one with an English-speaking tutor a few times a week.

4.    Do a language exchange with an English speaker, in person or over Skype.

5.    Watch lots of hours of movies, TV shows, and videos in English, with English captions.

6.    Watch movies, TV, and videos with no subtitles.

7.    Watch movies, TV, and videos with subtitles in your own language.

8.    Listen to English podcasts on a topic that's interesting to you (but not on the topic of learning English).

9.    Listen to English radio shows.

10.                       Listen to audio English lessons.

Key Points

It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be an active listener. Old habits are hard to break, and if your listening habits are as bad as many people's are, then there's a lot of habit-breaking to do!

Be deliberate with your listening and remind yourself frequently that your goal is to truly hear what the other person is saying. Set aside all other thoughts and behaviors and concentrate on the message. Ask questions, reflect, and paraphrase to ensure you understand the message. If you don't, then you'll find that what someone says to you and what you hear can be amazingly different!

Start using active listening today to become a better communicator, improve your workplace productivity, and develop better relationships.

Why spoken English is difficult to understand

A lot of you first learned English in a classroom, from a textbook, or maybe from a CD series. If that's how you learned, then you're going to have trouble with spoken English because they're not the same thing! Here's what's different:

• 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. Here at PhraseMix, I try to teach  casual English as well.
• Words are pronounced differently when 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, or even a website like PhraseMix 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.