Academic dilemma

[Thomas32]

I am an Italian PhD student in philosophy and my supervisor absolutely wants me to give a talk at an international conference at the end of August. The talk will be in Italian but the questions will inevitably be in English. However, I have a very low listening level (I think A2), although I am around B1 in the other skills. I can devote up to eight hours a day to English, but I am afraid that is not enough. What should I do? (There are no interpreters).

[rdearman]

I had a similar problem at a polyglot conference. I'm a native English speaker but I gave my presentation in French. However at the beginning of a presentation I told everyone that although the presentation would be in French, the questions and answers would be in English.

I don't think it's unreasonable for you to tell the audience in advance that they must ask questions in Italian. If someone can sit through a 45-minute presentation in Italian and understand enough to ask questions they should be able to form the question into Italian.

[Lawyer&Mom]

I would cheerfully announce that English listening is difficult for you, ask them to ask questions slowly and bring a stack of index cards so, if necessary, questions can be put in writing.

I’ve found that being clear, upfront and upbeat about my limitations makes people willing to accommodate me.

If you want to take this opportunity to work on your English listening that is great. But have a backup plan anyway.

[Le Baron]

Be ill on that day.

[wherahiko]

Greetings - I’m a fellow academic.

I find that at international conferences, many of the participants (presenters and audience) are non-native English speakers anyway. The questions you get will likely be asked in slower English (for the benefit of everyone) and the terminology will be from your field so it will be familiar. It's quite a different situation to trying to understand a rapid-fire native-level podcast or pub conversation.

To practise, I’d recommend listening to content in your academic field (e.g. YouTube, etc.) and speaking in English about your topic with your peers.

I was once present at a conference when a French presenter—one of the leading scholars in her field—gave her first (ever) paper in English. It was quite a privilege to hear. When it came to the questions, the first was asked in English; she started answering in English then, part-way through, asked the audience if it were ok for her to continue in French. No-one minded at all. After that, people (many of them not native French speakers) continued to ask questions in French, which she answered in French. People were far more interested in what she had to say than what language it was in.

Best wishes for your conference paper, and enjoy the conference!

[Deinonysus]

I would like to present a trick that helped me massively improve my French listening comprehension. Watch the news every day!

The news is good for a few reasons. Presenters speak clearly but at normal speed. They will probably mention topics, people, or places that you are already familiar with, which can help you learn new words from context. And the video will also help you figure out what is going on.

I would also recommend Assimil (very popular on this forum!). Focus on listening without looking at the text.