Academic Listening and Note-Taking (Coursera)

Academic Listening and Note-Taking (Coursera)

This course will help non-native English speakers improve their listening and note-taking skills for the purpose of listening to academic lectures. You will learn techniques for improving your understanding and skills for taking more effective notes, and you will get lots of practice in using these. If you're planning to attend college classes in English, then this class is for you.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

  1. Understand and follow a lecture
  2. Take better lecture notes
  3. Discuss courses with classmates and professors
  4. Give an effective academic presentation

Please note that the free version of this class gives you access to all of the instructional videos and handouts. The peer feedback and quizzes are only available in the paid version.

Course 1 of 4 in the Learn English: Advanced Academic Speaking and Listening Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Welcome
This is the first course in the Learn English: Advanced Speaking and Listening specialization. It is aimed at learners whose native language is not English. This course will help you improve your academic listening and speaking skills. For example, you will learn how to understand and follow a lecture, how to take better lecture notes, how to discuss courses with classmates and professors, and how to give an effective academic presentation.
What is Academic Listening and Why is It Important?
This week, you will begin thinking about academic listening. You will learn what makes it difficult and how you can get better at listening and note taking. You'll also learn some tips to make it easier.

WEEK 2
Identifying Topic and Purpose
Now, you will learn about strategies to make you a better listener. You'll learn about what things to pay the most attention to and what things might not be so important in a lecture. You'll also learn that listening well to a lecture starts before the class and continues after the class.

WEEK 3
Identifying Main Ideas and Details
Last week, you learned about listening to the beginning of a class lecture. This week, you will learn about listening to the middle of the lecture. You'll learn about idenifying main ideas and details and how to organize them well in your notes.

WEEK 4
Identifying Stance and Speaker Attitude
You've been learning about how to listen and take notes about various parts of a lecture. In this final week, you'll learn about some other strategies to help you listen and take notes more effectively in lectures.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Presentations: Speaking so that People Listen (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Presentations: Speaking so that People Listen (Coursera)

Do you have to give presentations in school or at your work? Is it nerve-racking? Then you've come to the right place. Everyone gets a little nervous when they think about having to stand in front of other people and speak intelligently. This course will give you helpful tips for making effective speeches and delivering them well in typical American settings.

Aug 31st 2026
4 Weeks
Business English: Marketing and Sales (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Business English: Marketing and Sales (Coursera)

If you work in marketing, sales, or advertising, you already know that effective communication is a requirement. This can be even more difficult when expressing your ideas in a persuasive manner in English. In this course, you will learn to use English more efficiently while joining successful global professionals around the world.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
English Composition I (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

English Composition I (Coursera)

You will gain a foundation for college-level writing valuable for nearly any field. Students will learn how to read carefully, write effective arguments, understand the writing process, engage with others' ideas, cite accurately, and craft powerful prose. Course Learning Objectives: summarize, analyze, question, and evaluate written and visual texts; argue and support a position; recognize audience and disciplinary expectations; identify and use the stages of the writing process; identify characteristics of effective prose; apply proper citation practices; discuss applying your writing knowledge to other writing occasions

Aug 31st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Teach English Now! Lesson Design and Assessment (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Teach English Now! Lesson Design and Assessment (Coursera)

Learners will be introduced to designing lesson plans based on principles and knowledge of learning objectives, assessment plans, methods, materials, and learning activities. Learners will find and prepare appropriate teaching materials through careful analysis, adaptation and creation of professional resources. Learners will also reflect on the cohesion between lesson design and teaching philosophies.

Aug 31st 2026
5-12 Weeks
English Intermediate B1.2 (Coursera) Coursera
University of Naples Federico II

English Intermediate B1.2 (Coursera)

Welcome to the second and final course in our B1 program! English is the most important international language for the workplace and for study, and this second course will help you improve your language skills even further to reach the convincing intermediate level you need to work, study or travel abroad. The varied learning activities will enable you to communicate on a variety of more complex topics like the digital university, the climate and the environment, and looking after your health.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Noun Clauses and Conditionals (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Noun Clauses and Conditionals (Coursera)

This is the third course in the Learn English: Advanced Grammar and Punctuation specialty. In this class, you will learn about the advanced grammar concepts of noun clauses and conditionals. You will learn about several different types of each and get lots of practice using them appropriately. This may seem like difficult grammar, but this course will make them easy to understand. These grammar points are essential for any learner trying to master fluency in the English language.

Aug 31st 2026
4 Weeks
Perfect Tenses and Modals (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Perfect Tenses and Modals (Coursera)

This is the first course in the Learn English: Intermediate Writing specialization. In this course, you will learn about important intermediate verb tenses, including present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive. You will also learn about common modal verbs used in English. This course is designed for learners who have a basic understanding of English grammar but who want to learn more and improve their skills for everyday speaking or writing, as well as for academics. It will be a fun class with lots of entertaining and informative video lectures.

Aug 31st 2026
4 Weeks
Verb Tenses and Passives (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Verb Tenses and Passives (Coursera)

This is the first course in the Learn English: Advanced Grammar and Punctuation specialty. In this course, you will review the verb tenses that you learned in beginning English classes and learn about a few tenses you may not know very well. In all, you'll cover all 12 of the English verb tenses and passive verb forms. Most importantly, you'll learn how to blend these tenses, which is what native speakers frequently do. This course is vital to your becoming a more fluent English speaker.

Aug 31st 2026
4 Weeks
Teaching EFL/ESL Reading: A Task Based Approach (Coursera) Coursera
University of London,UCL Institute of Education

Teaching EFL/ESL Reading: A Task Based Approach (Coursera)

This course explores ways of teaching reading skills in English as Second and Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) using a task-based approach. You will be introduced to the concept of task and the key principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and learning. TBLT uses communicative tasks as the key unit for creating language learning activities. You will also examine the role of reading in real-life and in second and foreign language teaching and current thinking about the interface between TBLT and second language reading.

Aug 31st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age (Coursera) Coursera
University of Toronto

Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age (Coursera)

Communication has changed! The traditional rules for speaking and presenting, meeting coordination, influencing people, negotiating and selling ideas no longer apply in a world of skype, messenger, video and teleconference. This course will act as an overview on several concepts each of which could be a course of their own and our goal is to give you tools that you can practice and perfect on your own.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Business English: Basics (Coursera) Coursera
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - HKUST

Business English: Basics (Coursera)

This course aims to improve your Business English language skills by developing your vocabulary and reading skills and your understanding of tone, style and knowledge of communication methods. We'll also cover how these language skills can enhance audience analysis, business case analysis and basic business communication strategies.

Aug 31st 2026
5-12 Weeks