English Listening Practice Collection

A conversation between two friends about Ben's bedroom and its furniture.

Present simple to describe objects, using "there is/are" and asking simple questions about possessions and location

A customer orders food and drinks at a restaurant and talks with the waitress.

Present simple for ordering food and drinks, using polite requests and asking for preferences

A conversation between two friends about Tom's daily routine and his dog.

Present simple to describe routines and hobbies, using "do/does" for questions

John asks for directions to the library, and a local gives step-by-step instructions.

Present simple for giving and following directions, using imperatives and prepositions of place

Two friends talk about buying groceries at the market, including prices and quantities.

Present simple for shopping vocabulary, quantities, and prices, using polite requests and amounts

Anna calls Tom because she is bored. They talk about TV shows, the park, and ice cream.

Present simple and present continuous to describe current activities and future plans

A public announcement at a train station about schedule changes and platform information.

Present simple for train schedule updates and information about future departures

A story about Thomas and his job at the post office and his problems with a co-worker, Cynthia.

Present simple for describing work routines and expressing likes and dislikes

A tour guide introduces visitors to Corper Castle, describing its history and features.

Present simple for giving a tour and describing historical features, rooms, and gardens

A zookeeper describes her daily tasks, taking care of animals and interacting with visitors.

Present simple for talking about work routines and describing animals and their care

A promotional advert for a beach resort, highlighting its facilities and special offers.

Present simple for describing resort features and making persuasive recommendations

Step-by-step instructions on how to make a simple fruit salad.

Imperatives and present simple for giving instructions and describing food preparation steps

Two friends talk about their favourite things related to Christmas, including food, decorations, and traditions.

Present simple for describing likes and traditions, using "love" and "like" to express preferences

Two colleagues discuss sound and internet problems during an online meeting.

Present simple and imperatives for technical troubleshooting and giving suggestions

Two people compare their small towns, discussing shops, parks, and public transport.

Present simple for describing places and comparing similarities and differences between towns

A conversation between siblings planning a surprise birthday party for their mother.

Present simple, future time expressions, making plans and offering help

A friendly conversation between two strangers who meet on a crowded bus.

Simple introductions, talking about work and study, making polite conversation

A conversation between a customer and barista at a coffee shop.

Ordering food and drinks, making requests, asking about facilities

Two friends explore an art gallery and discuss the paintings they see.

Expressing opinions about art, making suggestions, planning activities

Mark talks about his hobby of collecting stamps and what he learns from it.

Simple present tense, describing hobbies and routines, expressing likes

Emily describes her typical daily routine as a college student.

Daily routines, telling time, sequencing events using time expressions

Mark shows Lisa a photo and describes his family members.

Describing family members, simple jobs, ages, appearance; Present Simple; Possessive 's

David talks about the things he can and cannot do well (drawing, running, singing, cooking).

Talking about abilities ("can"/"can't"), hobbies; Present Simple

Sophie and James discuss what clothes they need to buy for a party and make plans to go shopping.

Talking about clothes, colours; expressing needs ("need"); making suggestions ("How about...?", "Shall we...?"); planning

Dan and Maya talk about the nice weather, worry about potential rain, and change their plans from the park to the cinema.

Describing weather; making plans and changing them; expressing opinions; 'will' prediction; making suggestions; simple past "was"

Anna talks about why she loves summer: the weather, going to the beach, swimming, long days, and ice cream.

Expressing preferences ("love", "favourite"); describing seasons and weather; describing activities; time references

Leo and Mia arrange to meet for coffee, discussing days, times, and a place to meet.

Making arrangements; asking about availability; suggesting times/places; days of the week; telling time; places in town

Tom calls Eva to say he can't go to the party because he feels sick, has a headache, and is tired.

Explaining inability ("can't come"); describing simple health problems; expressing sympathy; offering help; using "need"

Harry asks Olivia for help with a difficult maths question about percentages during a lesson.

Asking for help ("Can you help...?"); asking for explanation; understanding instructions; requesting objects; Present Simple

Chloe describes her small, quiet town, mentioning shops (supermarket, bakery, bookshop), transport (buses), the park, and the library.

Using "There is/are" (affirmative, negative); Present Simple; basic adjectives; prepositions of place

Ryan and Zara talk about how they feel after their work day. Zara is tired, Ryan is happy because his project is finished, and they decide to order pizza.

Describing feelings; making suggestions; simple descriptions of work

A park staff member announces bad weather (heavy rain, strong wind), the closure of the boating lake, and gives repeated advice for visitors.

Giving information; giving instructions/warnings (imperatives); repetition for clarity; Present Continuous ("is changing", "is raining")

Amy (an early bird) and Sam (not a morning person) compare their different morning routines before work.

Talking about daily routines (Present Simple); telling time; frequency adverbs; transport; comparing habits

Chloe and Ben talk about what they can and can't do (playing instruments, cooking, swimming, speaking languages).

Talking about abilities ("can"/"can't" + verb); expressing likes/dislikes (Present Simple); asking about abilities

Omar can't find his keys before leaving. Fatima helps him check the pockets of his jacket and trousers, where he finds them. She also comments on his new shoes.

Asking for location ("Where are...?"); identifying clothes; colours; possessives; Present Continuous for current action

Recorded message giving cinema information.

Times of films being shown, plot outlines given using present simple

Rock star describes day's routine.

Present simple to talk about daily routine of a famous musician

A woman tells her male friend about her new Spanish class.

Present Simple and present continuous. Description of people and places

Two friends discuss what is needed to make an apple pie.

Quantifiers - few, many, enough, a lot, etc

Woman carrying out survey about reading habits and book-buying habits. Male respondant.

Present simple questions, some past simple

Two friends have a conversation during a flight to Los Angeles.

Mainly present simple and past simple

Two friends have a conversation about a family member coming to visit.

Expressing the future

Two friends at the airport discussing their future vacation plans.

Present simple, going to future, past simple

Male customer assistant helping female customer with information about where to find things in a department store.

Present and past simple, first conditional, basic modals

Four speakers talk about what they do to help themselves learn English better.

Adjectives, how to improve your English learning

Two friends talk about an assignment one of them has to write about Queen Elizabeth II.

Present simple questions

Survey about sleeping and dreaming.

Present simple questions, adverbs of frequency

Ben calls Susan at work to ask her how to do various things.

How to fix things; imperative

Henrietta meets a friend on the train and asks him about his European vacation.

Past simple, adjectives

A friend sends a spoken pen-pal letter to a friend who is going to visit her, talking about her hometown and how to find her house.

Giving directions, imperative

Three people talk about their hometowns.

Describing places, giving opinions

Two friends talk about how one can help the other with an upcoming charity show.

Can and Can't for ability

Diana tells her friend about how her new job is going.

Quantifiers: few, a little, much, many, etc

Pia goes for a job interview to try and get a new job.

Past simple and present perfect to talk about experiences and events

Leroy sends a "talking postcard" home to his family from his European vacation.

Review of past simple, present continuous and going to future

A police inspector comes and speaks to the wife of a murder victim.

Past simple to talk about sequence of past events

Laura asks Mike some questions about friendship to complete a survey.

Present simple and present perfect questions

Betty is very bored and her friend Kevin makes recommendations about what they can do.

Functional language of suggesting/inviting

Conversation between two friends about a modern art exhibition and specific paintings.

Descriptive language, talking about modern art

A businessman checks into a hotel.

Functional language to give instructions, orders, etc

Conversation between two friends about an old photograph.

Past simple to talk about past events, giving basic information about people

Chris needs help in the kitchen from his friend Jennifer.

Imperative to give instructions and make suggestions, cooking terminology

Two friends talk about which evening class to do together.

Comparing and constrasting different courses; expressing preference

Conversation between Janice and Stephen deciding which computer to buy.

Comparing and constrasting, computer jargon, expressing preference, dislike

Three people talk about and describe old photos.

Reminiscing, story telling, past simple

Chris talks to his friend, Janice, about the terrible office he works in.

Past Continuous

Three people describe photos of offices.

Photo description, using so and such

A couple is shown around a house by a real estate agent.

Discussing positive/negative points of a property, comparative adjective forms

Four people talk about where they like to eat.

Adjectives

Two friends meet after not seeing each other for a long time.

Present Perfect to talk about changes

Bulletin of sports news.

Vocabulary of sports - tennis, golf, motor racing, baseball, etc

Listen to this tourist guide as you walk through an old country house.

History of a building, past simple, past simple passive

A website customer calls online support to report a problem with the website.

Problems with ordering online, internet vocabulary

A mother speaks to a teacher about her son's progress and behavior.

Question tags

A customer leaves a message of complaint on an answering machine.

Complaints, personal details

Carolina talks about the great love story in her life.

Subject/object questions, past simple describing narrative

Brief bulletin of world news on the radio.

Use of present perfect to describe recent events

Two friends discuss some problems they are having living together in the apartment.

Use of should/shouldn't to express obligation politely

A politician speaks to a potential voter on the doorstep.

Politics vocabulary, going to for future intentions

What are these people talking about? It's not very clear, is it?

Mix of past, present and future tenses among the mini-dialogues. Subjects of conversations never made explicit

Presentation of facts and figures about Vanuatu by single speaker, island nation in the Pacific.

Dense load of statistical data: numbers, dates, etc. Good for practice of listening for specific information

Two friends discuss environmental issues.

Environmental vocabulary & expressions

Radio interview discussing home security and how to make your home less attractive to thieves.

Modal verbs and phrasal verbs

Four people talk about problems they had on vacation.

Past Perfect, adjectives

A woman talks about her father's life.

Used To & Would to talk about past habits

A journalist's report on a road protest.

Gerund/infinitive verb pattern use

A husband and wife talk about the problems a relative is having.

Modal verbs

Three people talk about unusual jobs they have.

Describing jobs and routines

A friend helps a nervous job candidate rehearse his interview answers and break his worst habits before the big day.

Giving advice, conditionals, interview vocabulary

A woman tries to convince her skeptical friend to see a new film, offering to buy him dinner if he doesn't like it.

Persuading and recommending, expressing opinions

Two friends help a third person move house, dealing with too many boxes, heavy furniture, and things that don't fit.

Past simple narratives, describing past experiences

A woman describes being reversed into in a parking lot and the frustration of dealing with the other driver and the insurance process.

Narrating events, reported speech, giving advice

A customer calls her energy company to dispute a bill that's double the usual amount and tries to find out what went wrong.

Formal complaints, polite requests, transactional vocabulary

A couple try to agree on a summer holiday, comparing two very different destinations and struggling to compromise.

Comparatives, expressing preferences, making suggestions

A woman tells her friend about a disastrous evening at a new restaurant where almost nothing went right.

Narrating a sequence of events, complaining, time expressions

A young man tells his friend he failed his driving test and has to figure out how to break the news to his mother.

Past simple narration, expressing disappointment, giving reassurance

A woman politely asks her neighbor to keep the noise down in the evenings, and they work out a solution without it becoming awkward.

Making polite requests, negotiating, indirect language

A famous actress is interviewed about her recent work.

Conversation about actress's current work in the theater and movies

An interview on the radio about SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence).

Vocabulary and expressions to talk about science, especially astronomy, UFOs, SETI, etc

Radio interview between presenter and man who works as a caterer for pets.

Man describes everyday activities and procedure related to his job

Listen to the exciting story of survival at sea, against all the odds.

Sailor describes a terrifying survival ordeal in the Pacific Ocean

Radio interview about the dangers of the web: spam, viruses and more.

Internet expert describes ways of avoiding the "dark" side of the online world

A radio discussion about the modern problem of light pollution.

Radio interviewer speaks to an expert on light pollution, the problems it causes and how we can reduce it

Discussion between two friends about merits of different local newspapers.

Description of advantages and disadvantages of three different newspapers

Radio presenter interviews a member of a driving organization about road rage.

Talk about the causes of road rage and possible solutions

Radio presenter interviews two film critics about new movies they've seen.

Positive and negative adjectives/vocabulary connected with film and cinema

An author is interviewed on the radio about her past and present books.

Talking about ideas, inspiration, life events

Four people talk about work colleagues.

Personality vocabulary, describing people

Conversation between two work colleagues, one of whom has inherited a dilapidated house.

The causative form, talking about working on a property

Two teachers talk about the scandalous theft of cake at their school.

Past modals of deduction

Two friends talk about reading eBooks.

eBooks and readers, technology vocabulary

Four book reviewers give their thoughts on the latest publications.

Positive and negative adjectives/vocabulary connected with books

A scary short story about pirates, shipwrecks and strange ships!

Short story telling, narrative tenses, advanced vocabulary

Two friends plan a weekend trip to a cottage by the lake, sorting out food, transport, and who forgot the bottle opener last time.

Future plans and arrangements; informal suggestions

A newcomer to Calgary talks to a friend about finding a doctor, settling the kids into school, and preparing for his first Canadian winter.

Comparing experiences; giving advice and recommendations

Two friends discuss whether Tyler should quit his stable job to restore and sell furniture full-time.

Discussing risk and probability; financial language

Two friends plan the food, drinks, and setup for a tailgate party before a football game.

Planning and delegating; quantities and estimates

Two neighbours chat about their allotment plots, trading tips on tomatoes, slugs, and an absent plot-holder.

Giving and receiving gardening advice; present perfect for recent results

Two commuters on a delayed train compare notes on cancellations, season ticket costs, and the lack of remote working options.

Complaining and commiserating; expressing frustration

A radio host, a housing researcher, and a mortgage broker discuss why young Canadians are being priced out of the property market.

Cause and effect; economic and housing vocabulary

Two commentators discuss falling hockey participation in Canada and what it means for the sport's future.

Discussing trends and decline; cultural identity

An Indigenous artist talks about working with traditional materials, the pressure to represent her culture, and weaving endangered language into her art.

Art and identity; discussing representation and institutional expectations

A former content creator discusses burning out after four years online and what he now tells other creators as a coach.

Discussing burnout; digital media and audience vocabulary

Two true-crime podcast hosts examine the 1997 disappearance of a small-town librarian whose car was found twenty miles in the wrong direction.

Speculation and deduction; narrative sequencing in investigations

A journalist and a retail analyst discuss the decline of the British high street and why charity shops and cafes have replaced the shops that once anchored it.

Analysing causes; retail and urban planning vocabulary

A professional cook reflects on fifteen years in restaurant kitchens, from the worst service of her career to what keeps her coming back.

Descriptive narrative; sensory and workplace vocabulary

A woman describes leaving a well-paid consulting job after realising she had stopped caring about the work, and starting over as a high school teacher.

Extended personal narrative; corporate vocabulary and self-reflection

A man reflects on how Sunday mornings have changed over his lifetime, from church and closed shops to brunch culture and open laptops.

Comparing past and present; nostalgia and social change

A neuroscientist explains what happens in the bilingual brain, from how both languages compete for attention to whether bilingualism can delay dementia.

Academic and scientific register; explaining research findings

A nurse practitioner describes eleven years of working in remote fly-in communities in northern Canada, from improvised medicine to the cost of isolation.

Healthcare in remote settings; discussing systemic issues with sensitivity

An economist and a climate scientist debate whether Canada's fossil fuel industry remains essential or whether the case for continued investment is weakening.

Formal debate language; presenting and rebutting arguments

A privacy researcher explains how personal data is collected, modelled, and exploited, and why current regulations are failing to keep up.

Technology and privacy vocabulary; explaining complex systems

A journalist visits a small Ohio town seventeen years after its factory closed, talking to residents about what survival looks like when the economy doesn't come back.

Documentary register; economic decline and community resilience

Two debaters argue over whether the British monarchy should be replaced by an elected head of state.

Formal debate and persuasion; constitutional and political vocabulary

A retiring professor tells the stories of three immigrant families whose experiences over forty years reveal what integration actually looks like from the inside.

Academic narrative; immigration and identity vocabulary

A defence attorney describes the moral weight of winning an acquittal for a client he believed was guilty.

Legal vocabulary; ethical reasoning and moral argument

A retired diplomat recalls a fourteen-month trade negotiation in Southeast Asia that taught her everything she knew about patience was wrong.

Diplomatic and cross-cultural vocabulary; narrative reflection

A gallery curator makes the case for a minor Dutch landscape painting and asks what decides whether a work of art survives or disappears.

Art criticism vocabulary; discussing value and obscurity

A retired BBC producer reflects on fifteen years making the Shipping Forecast and why millions of people listen to weather they will never need.

Broadcasting vocabulary; describing ritual and routine

A retired harbourmaster discovers that his forty-one years of ship logs include vessels that officially never existed, some of which match ships that sank decades earlier.

Nautical vocabulary; unreliable narration and ambiguity

A used bookshop owner in Ontario finds handwritten notes in the margins of old books that describe events in her life before they happen.

Literary and bookshop vocabulary; describing unexplained events

An antique map dealer in Vermont discovers a detailed 1893 survey of a town that has no trace in any historical record, until strangers begin contacting him to say they grew up there.

Cartography and historical vocabulary; building an unsolved mystery

An overnight radio engineer discovers a voice hidden in the dead air between programmes, reading news stories that haven't happened yet.

Technical broadcasting vocabulary; describing anomalous events

A retired mail carrier begins receiving letters postmarked from dates that haven't arrived, written in handwriting she recognises as her dead husband's.

Postal and domestic vocabulary; grief and the uncanny

Someone is asking for a loan from a bank for his business.

Introducing your company, basic summary, loan interview

Jenny describes the business conference she attended in London.

Dialogue about a bad business trip, past simple/continuous

Dialogue between female boss and male employee talking about emails that need to be sent.

Giving instructions, describing tasks

Five short dialogues in offices.

Dealing with problems, making enquiries, taking deliveries, etc

People describe different gadgets and devices used in an office.

Functional language to describe what an object is used for, made of, etc

A woman calls into a radio show and talks about her distressing workplace situation.

Radio phone-in, work related vocabulary, quantifiers

Gillian discusses a trade show with Christopher, who will attend.

Planning a trade show, expressions of future

Short office-based dialogues.

Idioms and expressions from a business environment are used in several short dialogues between work colleagues

Discussion in publishing company about survey results and consequences of it.

Giving results of a survey, describing trends, changes, etc

Interview with the new CEO of a software company.

Talking about future plans and strategies