How do you 'listen' to new music?

Just like Siliab says, music is a language, and we have to learn the syntax and structure of a new language to become comfortable with it. I was lucky, my mom was a classical musician and I was exposed to it from day one. (Of course, her elitist dismissal of popular musics of all sorts meant I had to acquire that taste on my own.) The often repeated maxim that music is a universal language overly simplifies things. The elements of music are shared to varying degrees, how the are put together can render one form or another almost indecipherable to our ears at first. Repeated listening to new music without expectations of reward or understanding eventually will lead to familiarity and eventually appreciation I think. Of course, reading some music appreciation books about classical or jazz will enlarge our appreciation and comprehension a great deal.