Listening practice
A Short Talk on Memory: B2 Listening
Why we forget so fast, and how spaced practice helps us remember.
- Age
- Ages 13+
- Level
- B2
- Skill
- Listening
- Time
- 30 min
- Format
- Interactive
- Listening
- Monologue
The voice is your device's built-in speech synthesis, not a recording, so it sounds different on every phone, tablet and computer. Dialogues use two voices where the device has them. The transcript is always one tap away.
1. Before you listen
Read the question, then listen to the whole script once and choose the answer.
2. Listen
Play the whole script or one line at a time. Try the questions before you open the transcript.
Transcript
- Line 1 · Transcript hidden
- Line 2 · Transcript hidden
- Line 3 · Transcript hidden
- Line 4 · Transcript hidden
- Line 5 · Transcript hidden
- Line 6 · Transcript hidden
3. Listen for detail
Listen again and answer the five questions.
4. Dictation
Play each sentence and type the missing words. Capital letters and punctuation don't matter.
- 1.If so, you're .
- 2.The good news is that the solution is .
- 3.And each time you have to to remember something, the memory becomes stronger.
- 4.This is known as , and it works whether you're learning vocabulary, history dates or the rules of a sport.
- 5.It might feel harder, but that's .
5. Your turn to speak
How do you usually study for a test? Talk for one minute about what works for you, then plan how you could use spaced practice for something you're learning now.
Printable worksheet
The tasks, the transcript and an answer key on a separate page.
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A. Before you listen
What is the speaker's main message?
- ☐ a) Coming back to material several times helps you remember it
- ☐ b) Our memory gets worse as we get older
- ☐ c) Tests are not a useful way to learn
B. Listen for detail
- What did Ebbinghaus memorise in his experiments?☐ a) Long poems☐ b) Words in a foreign language☐ c) Lists of nonsense syllables
- Ebbinghaus found that we forget much of what we learn very quickly.☐ a) True☐ b) False
- The speaker recommends reviewing everything the night before an exam.☐ a) True☐ b) False
- When does a memory become stronger, according to the speaker?☐ a) Each time you reread your notes☐ b) The night before an exam☐ c) Each time you make an effort to remember it
- What does the speaker suggest doing tonight?☐ a) Going to bed early☐ b) Testing yourself with the book closed☐ c) Rereading your notes twice
C. Dictation: write the missing words
- If so, you're .
- The good news is that the solution is .
- And each time you have to to remember something, the memory becomes stronger.
- This is known as , and it works whether you're learning vocabulary, history dates or the rules of a sport.
- It might feel harder, but that's .
D. Speaking
How do you usually study for a test? Talk for one minute about what works for you, then plan how you could use spaced practice for something you're learning now.
Transcript
Have you ever studied hard for a test, done well, and then realised a month later that you'd forgotten almost everything? If so, you're not alone.
Over a hundred years ago, the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus tested his own memory by learning lists of nonsense syllables and testing himself on them over time.
What he found was that most of what we learn disappears surprisingly quickly, much of it within the first day, unless we do something about it.
The good news is that the solution is fairly simple. Instead of reviewing everything the night before an exam, it's far more effective to come back to new material several times, with longer gaps in between: say, the next day, then a few days later, then a week after that. This is known as spaced practice, and it works whether you're learning vocabulary, history dates or the rules of a sport.
And each time you have to make an effort to remember something, the memory becomes stronger.
So tonight, rather than rereading your notes, try closing the book and testing yourself instead. It might feel harder, but that's exactly the point.
Key phrases are in bold.
Answer key
- A. a) Coming back to material several times helps you remember it
- B. 1 c) Lists of nonsense syllables · 2 a) True · 3 b) False · 4 c) Each time you make an effort to remember it · 5 b) Testing yourself with the book closed
- C. 1 not alone · 2 fairly simple · 3 make an effort · 4 spaced practice · 5 exactly the point