Hearing or Listening Test?

The people that I saw coming in for hearing tests were usually referred by the doctor, and some because they're concerned with the hearing status while some came in because it was part of the medical check-up. It can be very amusing on the replies that I get.

I would ask, "Have you done a hearing test before?"

Most of them would say, "No, it's my first time." Following that, some would say smugly, "My hearing's fine, I'm just doing it because it's part of the package (medical check-up)". Tsk tsk, lack of awareness, if I may say.

Some would say they did a hearing test before. "Yeah, the doctor was using this metal thing and hit me on the head." Tuning fork test, of course. This is the cue where I go smug, "My hearing test is better.", hehe :P

The reply that always got me laughing inside (well, I couldn't laugh out to my patient, that's mean) - "Oh yeah, I've done it before. It was during my schooldays. It was an English listening test. I did okay on that." Would you believe it, I saw to several people who actually said that. Of course, I explained to them it's a totally different thing with hearing test.

So, what's the difference with hearing and listening? I guess with Malay word, it's just "mendengar" and "pendengaran". So in that context, it'll be the same for hearing and listening. But if we really define it, hearing would be the simple act of detecting sounds, whereas listening is a more complicated act of detecting and understanding the sound.

Anyways, in the end, it's always a nice feeling to test a first-timer, because then you know you're increasing the awareness of importance of preserving your hearing and of course detection and management of hearing impairment :)