Struggling to understand native speakers? You're not alone!
When you read something in the language, it's easy. But when you listen, it sounds like gibberish.
Become confident in your listening abilities and break through the “listening barrier,” once and for all.
Cancel anytime — no commitment. Plus a 30-day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee on your most recent payment.
Amazing course! I loved every minute and wish it lasted longer. I'm excited about the new tools, mindsets, methods, and the “fresh wind” it brought to my Cantonese learning. This course is a must for anyone looking to elevate their listening comprehension and build a solid foundation in language learning. Super high-quality stuff, guys!
Christian • Learning Cantonese
Does this sound like you?
Reading in your target language is easy.
Watching TV shows with subtitles isn't too hard. Reading books is even doable.
But when the text disappears and it's just you and the audio, it sounds like a totally different language.
What gives? You feel like you're doing everything right, but you still can't understand any of your listening material.
How are you supposed to ever understand people in real life if they don't have subtitles?
It all sounds like a blur
You've tried for hours to practice your listening skills. It's still uncomfortable, and you can't understand anything.
The language at native speed is just too fast.
People speak too quickly.
They mash their words together.
They skip or add sounds.
But when you read, you're fine. When you check the subtitles, you know every word.
Is it your fault? Is your brain just broken?
You keep putting in time and effort, but your listening doesn't get better.
You don't really know if you're doing it “right.”
I've been there!
Hey there! My name is Ethan, and I failed at learning Japanese and Spanish for 15 years. If there's one thing I know, it's that I have ZERO natural talent for learning languages.
I tried dabbling with apps like Duolingo, Pimsleur, and a few podcasts, but that got me nowhere.
I decided I needed to take Spanish more seriously, so I buckled down, put all my other hobbies on hold, and made learning Spanish my entire life.
I couldn't understand spoken language
It took me years of struggling to make any tangible progress in Spanish. But those years of hard work and effort were met with failure.
No matter how much I studied, I couldn't understand native speakers unless they slowed down and simplified their speech.
I was so frustrated and angry with myself.
I continued to struggle
I tried speaking more. I tried learning more words. Still no luck.
In a last-ditch effort, I packed up all my belongings and moved to South America.
I lived with a host family, studied in school for 5 hours every day, and spoke to as many people as I could. But I still couldn't understand native speakers on the street.
Once, I went into a cheese shop and at one point the shopkeeper said “parmesano,” (which is basically identical to “parmesean”), but I didn't understand what they had said. My ears and brain seemed unable to process Spanish when it was spoken.
My brain had very strict expectations of the language, and anything outside of that was incomprehensible, even something as easy to understand as Parmesano. It felt like all my effort was in vain.
After that realization, I almost gave up and accepted that I couldn't do it, that I was incapable of hearing Spanish.
But then I made a discovery
After I had all but given up on ever being able to listen, I noticed something.
It was actually easier if I didn't try as hard to understand. This seemed too good to be true, so I took a step back and tried to figure out why that might be.
What I discovered isn't revolutionary, but it totally changed the way I think about listening:
Spoken language is completely different from written language.
Written language is neat or orderly. I can study and improve. But spoken language is messy. It's chaotic and expressive.
If I wanted to understand spoken language at native speed, I would need to train my brain to understand without thinking, without translating.
I needed to be able to listen without the help of tools, or dictionaries, or time to think.
Why couldn't I understand?
I tried breaking down the problem further and I realized that there were a bunch of different things getting in my way.
I couldn't hear the real sounds of Spanish, they still sounded foreign to me.
I was only familiar with classroom phrases. The way people actually spoke didn't match my textbooks and lessons.
I was translating into English in my head, which slowed me down a lot.
I couldn't look up new words that people used. Which happened all the time.
I could understand some people alright, but not everyone else. If someone had a slightly non-standard accent, I was completely lost.
The TRUTH about listening
It doesn't matter how many words you've memorized. Understanding them in a blazing-fast sentence is a different beast.
It doesn't matter how much grammar you've studied. Native speakers say things the way they want, and you have to understand.
Even if you're an advanced reader, you can't do mental math (translation) to understand the spoken language in real time. It's far too inefficient and slow. Listening is HARD because you don't have time to think.
No wonder it's so hard to get good at listening! It's TOTALLY different from all the learning you've done up until now.
There is a better approach
You need to re-frame the way you think about spoken language and learn to understand it as it is. I had all those problems with listening because I was expecting the spoken language to be a certain, specific way (which it wasn't).
But how DO you practice then??
By digging into the way native speakers say things! How they sound. How they really speak in real life.
Have you ever heard the phrase fuhgeddaboudit?
If you have, then you can probably hear it in your head right now.
If you haven't, try reading it aloud and see if you can hear what it actually says.
Hint: it's “forget about it,” but said in a stereotypical New York accent.
How would you explain that to an English learner? It's hard, right? Explaining the context and pronunciation differences behind that simple word is really hard! And yet, if you hear that in a movie, you immediately understand.
You need to get to that level of instant understanding in your target language.
The results are clear
I changed my approach and practiced this with Spanish, and I can understand everything with ease.
I can listen to an audiobook while doing other tasks, and understand everything.
I can watch movies without subtitles and not miss any plot points.
I can chat with people on the street, even if they have a heavy accent.
Want to learn exactly how?
Introducing Refold's Level up Your
Listening course
Tired of not understanding the language when spoken at full speed?
Our 28-day course is based on our tens of thousands of hours of combined language learning experience, and all of our insights from over 50,000 learners. We focus on giving you the skills you need to truly level up your listening.
Stop wasting your time on learning activities that don't make a difference to your listening. Join our hundreds of satisfied students who have escaped the traditional language-learning trap and started making real progress toward fluency.
Over the next four weeks, you will learn how to:
Understand the language
as it's actually spoken, even if native speakers skip, blend or change sounds!
Hear new sounds
in your target language that you may not have been aware of before.
Rely on your subconscious
to help you understand the language, at full speed.
Recognize words
(or word groups) in the ways that natives use them. Donchywanna be able to do that?
Build an intuition
for listening which allows you to understand accents or speakers that you haven't explicitly studied before.
Here's what our students have to say
I crushed it today! After struggling with certain sounds, I had a huge breakthrough with Minimal Pairs. This lesson was exactly what I needed! As a self-learner, I found it hard to practice consistently, but now I can use Anki to repeat the exercises and listen to the recorded pronunciation. I'm excited to distinguish small sound differences, which is crucial for fluency. Today's lesson was mind-blowing! As a Korean, I can instantly recognize similar words by ear. I'm determined to master this. Thank you, Ben! This is a game-changer for my listening skills.
Dean
English learner
Amazing course! I loved every minute and wish it lasted longer. I'm excited about the new tools, mindsets, methods, and the "fresh wind" it brought to my Cantonese learning. I'll definitely keep using the Refold tracker app to monitor my listening, as I've wanted something like this for a while. I'll also focus on more active and intensive listening, which was the biggest gap in my practice. This course is a must for anyone looking to elevate their listening comprehension and build a solid foundation in language learning. Super high-quality stuff, guys!
Christian
Cantonese Learner
The Level Up Your Listening course pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me develop habits for better comprehension of native speakers. I gained valuable practices to improve my listening skills and get closer to my goal of enjoying native content without feeling lost. The supportive community at Refold was also a huge help, as members shared experiences that kept me accountable. After completing the course, I feel ready to continue my listening journey with the tools I've learned. I highly recommend the Level Up Your Listening course!
Cody
Spanish Learner
If German and I were in a relationship, the Refold language listening course would be our therapy, helping me appreciate its quirks and envision a brighter future together. On a serious note, this course was phenomenal. Here are my key takeaways: Listening is fundamentally different from reading; it should be treated as its own language. Spoken language relies on sounds, not just words. Listening improvement requires active effort. The course effectively teaches these concepts through a well-structured curriculum. I'm grateful to the Refold team for their planning and support on Discord. I now feel confident in continuing to improve my listening skills independently.
Dion
German Learner
Refold has helped thousands of learners like you
Since I launched Refold in 2020, we've worked tirelessly to answer this one question: How do we create an instinct for a second language that's just as strong as the instinct we have for our native language?
We've worked with hundreds of clients and thousands of learners to understand exactly where learners struggle and developed solutions to help learners overcome those struggles.
The transformation I've seen in our students has been remarkable.
You don't see value like this every day!
15 video lessons
$300
15 video tutorials
$300
28 days of written lessons
$140
Extensive daily homework
$60
Refold App companion
$70
Minimal Pairs Anki deck
$40
Custom prepared resources
$30
Content database for 10+ languages
$120
Private community with other learners
$70
Support of experienced Refold coaches
$250
Weekly guided reflections
$80
Dozens of useful listening-focused activities
$80
Access to ALL Refold courses (Teach Yourself a Language, Level Up Your Listening, Build Habits, and more)
$400
Complete Anki deck library for 12 languages
$200
Weekly live lectures with Coach Ben (+ full recording archive)
$300
Direct message support with coaches in-app
$500
Total
$2,940
Your price:
$2,940
$49/month
Refold's stress-free money-back guarantee
Your subscription comes with a 30-day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee on your most recent payment. Cancel anytime — there's no commitment and no hassle.
I promise you, when you dive into our courses and resources, you will have complete confidence about how to improve your listening. You will understand what a balanced and complete language-learning routine looks like, which tools to use, and exactly which techniques will help you build a native-like ear for your language.
If you aren't completely satisfied, you can cancel your subscription at any time with just a couple of clicks. And if you want a refund on your most recent payment, just send our support team an email within 30 days.
There are no strings attached, no hoops to jump through, and nothing to prove. Simply tell us that you would like a refund, and our incredible support team will issue your refund on the spot, no questions asked.
I'm taking on ALL the risk because I'm that confident that Refold is the solution to your language-learning struggles.
Hear more from our happy clients:
I'm nearly at the finish line of the course, and I've noticed a significant improvement in my intensive listening skills! I can now comfortably listen to videos at five times their original speed, and I'm optimistic that I'll soon be able to reduce that to three times. The suggestion to use familiar content as free-flow material has been a game changer for me; it allows me to concentrate on listening without the stress of trying to follow a new storyline. This approach has truly enhanced my learning experience!
Shawn
English Learner
I truly enjoy intensive listening when I can dedicate my focus to it. The biggest challenge I face is that it requires more effort compared to my other study activities, as I need a computer and a quiet space for an extended period. This means I have to plan my time more carefully to fit it in. However, I'm optimistic that intensive listening will become a cornerstone of my studies in the coming year!
Sente
Russian Learner
In other exciting news, due to the course, I heard "T'es pas prêt" and "Le monde est prêt" clearly today and immediately understood their meanings without needing subtitles! However, I completely lost it when I heard "Avec desh veux roses" in this episode. I quickly pulled up the subtitles, surprised to find it was actually "Avec des cheveux roses," meaning "With pink hair."
Damian
French Learner
Thank you for the course. Thank you for teaching me how to use Audacity. Providing the awesome Transcription Deck. How to do Intensive Listening, although I still struggle with that. How to use the Refold Habit Tracker. I enjoyed watching Ben's tutorials and reading Bree's writing. Thank you to everyone at Refold. I will be on my way to finally understanding Korean.
Krantje
Korean Learner
It's time for you to be a confident listener
Stop wasting your precious time and energy on learning activities that aren't improving your listening skills.
Subscribe to develop the habits and skills you need to level up your listening skills. After completing the course, you'll be a confident listener who has what it takes to achieve your listening goals.
Get started for $49/month
Frequently asked questions
It's time for you to be a confident listener
Stop wasting your precious time and energy on learning activities that aren't improving your listening skills.
Subscribe to develop the habits and skills you need to level up your listening skills. After completing the course, you'll be a confident listener who has what it takes to achieve your listening goals.