Is there a difference between hearing & listening?

Hearing is the act of perceiving sound and receiving sound waves or vibrations through your ear. Listening is the act of hearing a sound and understanding what you hear. Hearing is one of the five senses and it just happens all the time – whether you like it or not – unless you have a hearing problem. But if you listen, you are consciously choosing what you want to hear. You concentrate on what you hear in order to understand the message.

Hearing is a skill where you use your ears only. It is one of the five senses. Listening is a skill that lets the sound you hear go through your brain to process the meaning of it. Listening means also observing what you hear, like the speaker’s behavior and body language, in order to better understand what the speaker is talking about. Hearing is an involuntary act where you simply receive vibrations through your ears.

Listening is a form of a communication technique that lets you understand, interpret and put meaning to what you hear. Listening can build a better relationship with others, while hearing is just merely receiving sounds through your ears.