Paper 1 The goals of listening include accomplishing tasks and developing relationships. Although this skill is essential, listening is not regularly taught in schools. Therefore, I found that analyzing my listening skills taught me a lot of things about myself that I didn't know before. I kept track of my self-talk and inner voice, completed a seven-day mental exam, followed the HURIER listening profile, and assessed how I listened in different social situations and listening contexts as well as the communication circumstances that I have experienced the most. I also learned that my strengths as a listener are comprehension and interpretation. My weaknesses are hearing and memorization. I have also observed how well I adapt my hearing to different listening situations. Additionally, I created listening goals that I would like to achieve this quarter. During the seven-day mental exam, I made some interesting revelations about myself regarding my listening skills. The type of self-talk I have observed is specialized speech. Interpreting is a two-step process in which you "consider the overall context of the communication to better understand the meaning of what is being said from the speaker's perspective" and "let [your] partners that they were understood” (Brownell 13). If I'm talking to someone, I try to take into account who they are, i.e. their age, gender, political point of view, religion, culture, sexual preferences, etc. This helps me interpret what he says from his perspective, not mine. This empathy is important because I can use it to assess what a person may find rude or offensive based on their beliefs and life experiences. For example, I have many friends who accept offensive or dark humor. However, I know that some of my friends don't appreciate this type of humor, so I refrain from making the same jokes with them. My interpretive ability is… BLAH BLAH