Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

If I want to recommend a song or a piece of music to my friends, can I say: have a good listen to it? In Chinese, we say ting1 ting1 kan4 (聽聽看). I know I can express the idea by saying 'Try it', but I'd like to know if there're expressions of that idea related to words like 'listen' or 'hear'. Thank you very much.

Leslie
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Less Is Blessed

[2006]

Yes, you can say 'Have a listen to it.'
If you say 'Have a good listen to it.', that suggests that you want the person to have a long listen, even if they don't initially like it.

[cgage2]

"Have a listen" may be British. I'm an American English teacher and can say that it sounds pretty colloquial. I don't think you would want to write it for a university paper. I have heard British say "have a bit of a think"
It doesnt work for me though.
Better: Listen to this!

[CP]

In school I noticed that my profs from Britain would say, "Have a look at page 23" while my profs from the U.S. would say, "Take a look at page 23."
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb