This is my first post here. Firstly many thanks for the course, I’ve been using it for around the last 10 months. I’m just hitting the end of level 2, I’m pleased with the progress I’m making and what I am learning and there are many excellent things about the course.
However, one question, what is the deal with the listening exercises on level 2? It sounds like there are echoes of each voice - I feel like I’m hearing about 3 sets of each voice. Have the echoes been put in to further make us work when listening, or is it an accident of the speeding up process? Either way I’m finding it really difficult to hear what is being said.
To be clear, I was fine with the listening exercises on level 1 - obviously they were sped up and sounded like chipmonks to make the brain work faster, and whilst this makes it more difficult I’ve been getting used to it and can totally see the point. However the added echoes on level 2 seem to add an additional barrier that would typically not be there when listening to regular speech.
Is there any possibility at all of doing versions of the L2 listening exercises using the same method as L1? ie. sped up but with just one incarnation of each voice?
Hi Rob - and well done on your terrific progress! - that is certainly the model we’re aiming at, but it may be either that the faster stuff is trickier to master, or that there is a hiccup of some kind happening here - @lewie is the man who might be able to offer insight here (he’s travelling at the moment, so give him a couple of days ).
Those Level 2 listening exercises are sped up about 50% more than the Level 1 exercises. This unavoidably will sound more distorted. The plan is that the more you use the faster exercises, the more you’ll get used to them - just like you got used to the original Level 1 exercises.
That said, I don’t know if we’re hearing and/or talking about the same thing. Could you describe in more detail what you mean by “I feel like I’m hearing about three sets of each voice”? That could mean a number of things and I want to understand what you are saying.
I just ran the 1st listening excercise for level 2. Yes it does come out as very distorted. I was using the app on android. I also tried downloading it onto my laptop and using VLC player to slow it down to normal speed and and it still is distorted. Any answers??
John Davies
Welcome to the forum! @jppdavies999
I am finding the same too. Perhaps @lewie could take another look. It is interesting that its seems distorted when you slowed it down to normal. Level 1 worked really well and did what it was intended to do.
I’ve checked all listening excercises in level 2. They all have distortion at standard speech using VLC. Also tried using Audacity but no joy in overcoming distortion.
John Davies
I guess one of the factors could be…they’re not meant to be played at normal speed. They have a specific purpose (that you can find explained much better than I can try to do, by @aran elsewhere in the forum).
So, basically, you can ignore that sort of liquid reverb effect - weird as it may sound when you analyze it - because it doesn’t affect your learning.
Yes I had thought that possibly it could be thats the way it works. Its very frustrating though. As one gets older hearing gets more difficult so no allowance here for that. Personally I find it very difficult to understand most of it but occasionaly can pick the odd word up. It would be nice if someone in the know could actually convey the situation - a problem with recording or simply thats the way it is and miraculously it all becomes clear one day.
John
That’s an ordinary part of the learning process - it’s not because of the distortion, it’s because it is - at the moment - just too fast for your brain to process. But with repeated exposure, that will change…
Don’t expect it to become ‘miraculously clear’ - but if you do five minutes a day, in a few weeks you will definitely notice that you are hearing more words - and then you’ll start to get word pairs - and then occasional short phrases - and so on…
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