Why is listening the most important skill if you want to be fluent?

I must've talked a little bit about my experiences in english studies through previous posts, and maybe I mentioned that at the very beginning I used to devote effort only to textbook English, gap-filling exercises and more visual things which, as you can imagine, produced nothing further. I was capable of spending several hours straight looking at a book trying to figure out all of those english grammar rules and memorize a bunch of vocabulary (usually on a list) all at once.

Only overtime I came to realize nothing of that was providing me with a substantial improvement, and actually I was about to leave it altogether when I finally had the best idea of my life: learning English with my ears. I started to subscribe to a lot of podcasts, ranging from science podcast to comedy, language, health, music, movie podcasts, and even not understanding some parts of what was being said during those, I was getting my ears used to the rhythm of the language.

What I did, however, might not be recommended. I should've chosen podcasts according to the level of my English at the time, not random ones. That is to say, if you've just started learning English and therefore have a basic English level, you should look for materials aimed at basic English. What matters is that you listen to things (not only podcast, but videos, movies, TV shows) whose content you can understand at least 90%. That makes you feel more and more familiar to the language, which consequently makes it easier to improve gradually your English. It's like the same process you went through when you were a child. First you listened to your parents talking around you the whole day, and only then you finally uttered the first words. If you decide to break the natural process of language acquisition by for instance speaking before you learn to listen, you'll end up getting used to the wrong way of pronouncing certain words. Once you have done so, it will be harder for you to correct yourself.

So that's why listening can be considered the no. 1 skill you should be focused on right now. Below I will provide you with some of my favorite ESL podcasts I currently listen to everyday. Give them a try and come back to tell me what you think:

• Inglês Online
• English Experts
• Inglês na Ponta da Língua