Listening skills are very important in everyday life. One must understand what people are saying and what is happening around them. In order for this to be done effectively, one must be an active listener. This is achieved when the listener is listening for meaning; when the listener checks if the statement has been heard and understood correctly. The goal of this is to improve mutual understanding. Many people believe that listening skills are taught when in elementary school or during childhood. Truthfully, one can never really learn all the skills and apply them all the time. Many times people will be “listening” to someone talk but in their head he/she will be thinking about something else, or even be distracted by something that is going on around them. If two people are in an argument or debate, many times one person will be thinking about that he/she is going to say next instead of listening to the other person. In this case the listening might miss something and argue about something that isn’t very relevant.