Meaning of this phrase

Question

What is the meaning of this phrase? I am baffled about the phrase having used in the conversation below:

Teacher to students:
Tell me honestly, my lads, did you ever feel heard?

(Teacher receives some answers like):

Student 1 :- Heard? Hmm! Rarely.

Student 2 :- Okay sometimes I go on a bit but yeah. Most of what I have to say especially with the family is absorbed, understood & in most cases acted upon. Which is good.

What is the exact meaning of "feel heard"?

As per my understanding, it means, People listening to you are not listening you attentively or the dictator is repeating the sentence over and over again or it's a matter of misinterpretation?

Thanks in advance.

Harry

Avangi · Accepted Answer

harry1999What is the exact meaning of "feel heard"?

"Did you ever feel heard?" is an unusual way to frame the question.
I hear things like, "Sometimes I feel as if I'm not being heard."
This usually means you believe no one is "getting" your message.
I don't think it addresses the question of why this is true. Context would do that.

If you wish to express doubt that your voice is audible, you'd perhaps say, "I wonder if anyone can hear me."

Harry1999 · Answer

AvangiI don't think it addresses the question of why this is true. Context would do that.

I was taking a look at this article. There is a paragraph on the website:

"Because feeling heard can be such an intangible thing, sort of like oxygen, it can be hard to identify. Chances are you got all the way through childhood without feeling heard by your family or even having an inkling what that means or what it would feel like (in fact, chances are if they didn't hear you as a child, they still don’t hear you today)".

So, it means you are being listened to?

Am I right?

Avangi · Answer

This is a tough one! As you can see, your author took three lines of prose to explain what he's talking about.

harry1999So, it means you are being listened to?

Generally, yes.

"Being listened to" is much less ambiguous than "being heard," in this context.
Of course you can be listened to and still not be understood!

Sometimes people say, "Our voices are not being heard!" to mean they're not being listened to. Sometimes they simply mean that no one seems to be acting on their advice.

I'd say your author uses "to be listened to" to indicate that an effort is being made
to understand the meaning and intention of what is being said.

The other evening I attended a performance of the opera Wozzeck. I had never "heard" it before. I listened to it very intently and enjoyed it immensely. But I didn't understand a word of it.

Context is everything!

Meaning of this phrase

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