Active listening is an essential skill in learning．It is when you listen carefully to make sure you understand and learn the information that is being conveyed．      Here are some things which can help you to listen actively．
◆Listen for the main point and major subpoints．     Listen carefully and make sure you understand what the purpose of this lecture is． As you take down notes,
keep the main point in mind and make sure you understand how these notes are related．
◆Listen for an organizational structure． Listen carefully to figure out how the ideas are organized and they will make more sense．
◆Pay attention to organizational cues．        Pay close attention to the introduction, as it will probably indicate how you should organize your notes． If the lecture begins with, “Today I’m going to talk about three ethnic conflicts in the Middle East,” then you have a good idea of what’s going to follow． Listen for “signpost” words to indicate a transition for one point to the next, such as “next” and “finally” and numerical signposts like “first” or “third”．
◆Listen with your eyes．     Watch the teacher and be aware of how he or she uses hand gestures, eye contact and other body language to convey points．
◆Remove distractions．
Put away the campus newspaper, your cell phone and anything else that might be more interesting than the lecturer．
Learning to concentrate and listen actively is an endurance skill．     

A．Speakers communicate information through nonverbal communication．

B．Unfortunately, many students don’t know how to listen actively when they attend classes．

C．If your teacher indicates that something is important, mark it．

D．Make yourself do it, and it will get easier over time．

E．Listen carefully for words and phrases that reflect the organizational structure of the lecture．
F．Your teachers’ notes are probably organized into some kind of outline．
G．Don’t just write everything down．