What It Means To Be A Good Listener?
See how we learn our Mother Language (MT/L1). As a child, we 'Listened' language spoken around us for 3 years. At the second stage, we 'spoke' in broken words and sentences for couple of years. At the third stage, we 'read' some picture books. Even alphabets were remembered as pictures. It is only in the last and fourth stage that we learn to 'write'. Thus, to say, L-S-R-W is natural way of acquiring language. In today's high-tech, high-speed, high-stress world, communication is more important than ever, yet we seem to devote less and less time to really listening to one another. Genuine listening has become a rare gift—the gift of time. It helps build relationships, solve problems, ensure understanding, resolve conflicts, and improve accuracy. At work, effective listening means fewer errors and less wasted time. At home, it helps develop resourceful, self-reliant kids who can solve their own problems. Listening builds friendships and ca