Our Rehab at Home for Adults series focuses on one everyday listening goal at a time. This time it’s all about understanding conversations in quiet environments.

Everyday Listening Goal 3: To Understand Conversation With One or Two People in Quiet

We all have different voices and ways of speaking. Some people are just more difficult to understand than others, and people with normal hearing find this too. Start your listening practice with familiar people and be patient with yourself. It takes time and practice to improve your understanding of conversation.

In our last episode, you met Trudi, who was born deaf and chose to have a cochlear implant as an adult. In this video, hear Trudi describe what speech sounds like with her cochlear implant and what she does to improve her understanding of conversation, including a listening activity her family does together.

Tips for Understanding Conversations

Here are some additional tips to help you achieve the goal of understanding conversation with one or two people in quiet.

To Get Started

• Ask a family member or a friend to do a listening activity with you. Set a topic that you are familiar with (e.g. the weather, current event, or sport). Make sure that you are in a quiet place and you are sitting close to each other with good lighting so that you can see the speaker’s face and lips. Read and use these clarification strategies.
• Buy or borrow two copies of the same book or find an article or story you are interested in on two devices (phones, tablets, or laptops). Get a family member or friend to read aloud to you while you follow the text. Choose materials with simple, uncomplicated language.

As You Progress

Find a quiet listening place with a friend or family member and ask them to start a conversation. Decide on a topic together before you start. Try not to look at their face and see if you can understand what they’re saying without watching their lips. Practice using a variety of clarification strategies if you get stuck.

Once You’re Almost There

Ask your friends or family members to start a conversation about a topic you’re not familiar with. Try not to look at their faces, and see if you can understand what they are saying without watching their lips. If you miss something, practice using different clarification strategies.

Trudi and her family use an Adult Rehabilitation Kit for this activity. Learn how to use our Adult Rehabilitation Kits here .