TIPS FOR THE LISTENING TEST
The Listening Test is probably the one people get most scared of. To help yourself overcome that fear, start watching TV programs in English. These are better than radio or audio books, because you also see images that help you understand the words you hear.
Listening – a skill, not a gift!
In many cases listening is the least developed skill. So if you feel especially weak in that area, pay attention to the following tips, as they will help you improve your Listening ability. Remember – nobody is born with it, it’s just a skill and you learn it. If you think your listening needs no improvements – skip the “Teach yourself the words” part, move forward to the tips which follow that part.
Teach yourself the words
The only way to improve your Listening ability is to train your ears to separate and understand the words you hear in the flow of a sentence. Often what you hear is a “Blablablablabla”, which you can’t break into words, and for that reason it makes no sense to you.
When training, make a recording of the news, a lecture, a television program, a movie or an actual IELTS Listening test and work with it. Use an MP3 player. You can easily record English from the radio or any other source onto it. It is also easy to repeat (re-play) sentences you didn’t understand. An MP3 player is small and light, so you can use it in any spare moment that you have – riding on a bus or on a tram, walking the dog, taking a walk, etc.
TIPS FOR THE LISTENING TEST
First, listen, remember what you heard and stop the recording after each phrase. Even if you didn’t understand the phrase, play it in your head a couple of times, like a broken record – “Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”. Then say it out loud. If you understood that phrase at first, this exercise will improve your pronunciation. If you didn’t understand the phrase the first time, this repetition will give you more time to hear it better, break it into words and make sense out of them. If it is still difficult, you can always rewind and hear the phrase again.
There is a big difference between seeing a word printed on paper while reading, and hearing it. If you saw a word, it doesn’t mean you will recognize it when you hear it. This is why you must hear every word you have seen at least once.
Instructions will keep you safe
Every task in the IELTS Listening test has its instructions. It may sound stupid, but you really need to read them carefully. Why? Because they will tell you exactly what to do with the information: how many words you can use to answer questions, whether or not there is a table you must fill in, whether there is a list to choose words from, how many items you must name, etc. Remember, too, that if the answer must be in 3 words – write EXACTLY 3 WORDS, because writing four or two words will get you 0 score.
TIPS FOR THE LISTENING TEST
Divide and conquer!
The recording divides questions into groups, so for every grouping you are instructed to answer 4-5 questions. There are 20-30 seconds of silence before each group.
The first thing you should do when the recording starts playing, is understand which group of questions you need to answer.
For example, the recording says: “Look at questions one to four”. It means that you have about 30 seconds to look at those questions. Go over the questions, read them and underline keywords. Keywords are the words that contain the main idea of the question. They will help you guess what you will hear – numbers, opening hours, names, locations, etc.
TIPS FOR THE LISTENING TEST
Draw a line under the fourth question, so you won’t look further before it’s time to do so.
Next you will hear a piece of spoken language and answer the questions one to four as you listen. It means that you should be able to write one answer and listen to another.
After that, the recording will say the numbers of the questions in the next group. Repeat the same process, including drawing the line. This dividing technique is very efficient because every time you concentrate on a limited number of questions, it makes you more focused and in control.
TIPS FOR THE LISTENING TEST
TIPS FOR THE LISTENING TEST