Many people suffer from hearing loss.  Some people are born with the inability to hear or hear well.  Others suffer hearing loss from ear infections or other illnesses, and many go through their years and suffer hearing damage form too much exposure to loud noises including loud music, heavy equipment, gunfire and mortar shells even jet planes flying over head.

Just like vision impairments, hearing impairments can be reduced or minimized by hearing aids.  These devices range from simple noise amplification devices to Cochlear Implants with many different levels of sophistication in between.

Several members of my family suffer from hearing loss. Some have wised up and now use devices to help them hear, but some still rely on techniques like lip reading and other devices to communicate. I myself experienced a slight loss of midrange sounds, and found this loss to make it very difficult to study and learn enunciations of foreign languages.

For students or people learning a new language especially those immersed in a new culture resulting from a move, its even more important to try and make use of devices that can help them hear better such that they can not only hear better, but hear and turn that noise they heard into the correct words and speach they need to communicate themselves.



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