Does this situation seem familiar to you？Your English is progressing well, the grammar is now familiar, the reading comprehension is no problem, and you are speaking quite fluently.【小题1】First of all, remember that you are not alone. Listening is probably the most difficult job for almost all learners of English as a foreign language. The most important thing is to listen as often as possible.

【小题2】The Internet is really a useful tool for English students. You can download The RealPlayer from RealMedia.com.The RealPlayer allows you to use the Internet like a radio station.

Once you have begun to listen on a regular basis, you might still be frustrated(受阻) by limited understanding.【小题3】Here is some of the advice I give my students：

I remember the problems I had in understanding spoken German when I first went to Germany. In the beginning, when I didn’t understand a word, I insisted on translating it in my mind. This method usually resulted in confusion.【小题5】Firstly, translating creates a barrier between the listener and the speaker. Secondly, most people repeat themselves constantly. By remaining calm, I noticed that even if I didn’t pay much attention I could usually understand what the speaker had said.

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” We all know that healthy habits can help us build a strong body, but how can we live a happy life? Over the past two decades, scientists have identified many techniques to raise our happiness, but these methods cannot work magic. “Things like poverty or injury are obviously going to affect your well-being,” says Laurie Santos, at Yale University. “But for many of us, our happiness is much more under our control than we think.” Her free course, The Science of Well-being, explores evidence-based ways to increase happiness.

For a taste of what the course involves, consider our tendency to compare ourselves negatively with the people around us. By recognizing when those thoughts have started to arise, you can consciously shift the reference point to something more neutral(中立的).With this kind of thinking, you may start to feel more content.

The use of gratitude journals, where you regularly count your blessing, work on a similar basis. We have a tendency for “hedonic adaptation”, essentially getting used to the good things in our life over time, and taking them for granted, so they no longer bring us the same interest—we should delay that process.

Other tips like small acts of kindness may surprise you with rewarding experience. However, those approaches to happier life should be used carefully. There is now some evidence that pursuit of happiness can have the opposite effect if it becomes time-consuming. Keeping a gratitude journal appears to be effective if it is used once a week. It seems that the technique may become a burden if it is practiced too regularly.

There seems little doubt that we can learn to be happier, but we should recognize that the path to a better life is with ups and downs. You cannot remove every negative feeling, but with some science-backed strategies, you can shift the balance so as to experience more positive feeling than negative ones.

Ways to Increase Your Confidence

There are some ways you can use to increase yourself-confidence. You’ll need to practise a lot before some of them start to work. It’s like playing the guitar or soccer. 【小题1】 But as you do them, you build deeper confidence in yourself.

【小题2】

Exercise will improve your confidence and your way of looking at life. Plus, being healthy and looking better can also help you feel more confident.

Create something.

Everyone is a creative person. Rediscovering your creativity is a good way to improve your confidence in yourself. Creating something is a wonderful but not always easy experience. But when you’re done, you not only feel good about yourself. 【小题3】

Use your body.

If you start to walk fast you’ll soon start to feel nervous. If you start to walk slower you’ll soon start to feel more relaxed. To feel more confident, use your body in a more confident way. 【小题4】 Learn how confident people around you or on the TV use their bodies.

Compare yourself to yourself.

This will take away a lot of unnecessary pain in your life. 【小题5】 Compare yourself to yourself. Improve yourself and see how you grow and become a more successful, more confident and happier person.