You sometimes see it said that all you have do with the listening paper in IELTS is to practice: that there aren’t any particular skills to learn. I disagree – profoundly. There are not just definite skills to learn, there are also I would suggest very definite ways in which to practice. Here are a few of my suggestions.
1. Read before you listen – predict the answer
One difficulty in the exam is that you are not just listening, but reading the question and writing the answer all at the same time. One simple tip is to read the questions before you listen so that you know what you are listening for. It is a difficult skill to master, but it can sometimes help to try and predict the type of answer you are looking for: is it a name for instance or a number?
2. Read as you listen – focus on the whole question
A huge proportion of mistakes are made not because you haven’t listened well, but because you you do not focus on the question. As you are listening focus on the precise wording of the question. See this video tutorial for more on this.
3. Look at 2 questions at once
One difficulty is that the answers to 2 questions often come quickly one after the other. Can you get both answers? Maybe, maybe not: but the only way you can is if you are ready for the next question.
I’d add that it’s no problem getting one question wrong, the real problem is if you lose track of where you are in the listening and you are still listening for question 13 when the cassette has moved onto question 15.
4. Don’t leave the writing to the end
Sometimes candidates leave the writing part to the end, thinking that they will remember what they heard. In my experience, this almost never works: there’s a lot of information, you’re under stress and, most importantly, after each listening you should be moving onto the next set of questions to read them.
5. Practice your shorthand
You do not have to write everything that you down: you have 10 minutes at the end to copy your answers onto the answer sheet. So what you need to do is to learn how to write down enough for you to recognise as you are listening so that you can write it out in full later. The one exception to this is in part 1 with numbers and names where you have to write everything out in full as you are listening – that is the challenge.
6. Numbers and names – check your spelling
In part 1, you are almost invariably required to spell names and/or write down numbers. This looks easy, but in my experience can often go wrong and the problem is that if you get any spelling wrong, you lose the mark Of course you know the alphabet, but some letters can cause problems even for advanced learners, in particular:
J & G
Y
A & E & I
My tip is to make an association that you can remember: these are mine, but I suggest you make your own:
J is for Jesus, but G is for God
How do you spell “why”? W-H-Y
A is for apple
E is for elephant
I is for ‘I”
7. Don’t write the answer too quickly
Sometimes you hear what you think is the answer, but the speaker goes on to correct themselves or give slightly different information:
“So I’ll see you on Wednesday afternoon”
“Sorry, I’m busy then. How about Thursday evening?”
“Fine, Thursday at 7 0′clock”
8. Don’t leave any blank answers
There are 2 reasons for this. Firstly, your guess may well be correct, particularly if it is a multiple choice style question. Secondly, there is a danger if you leave a blank that you write the answers in the wrong boxes on the answer sheet and that can be a disaster.
9. Listen for repeated information
This doesn’t always work, but sometimes the words that are the answer are repeated: if you need to make a guess choose the words you hear repeated, they could well the be answer.
10. Look for clues in the question
A frequent question type is completing a table; in this type of question you will often find clues to the answer by looking at the other information in the table. In particular, look at the headings of the rows and columns: if, for example, the heading says “equipment” and some of the completed boxes say “paperclips” and “cardboard” you have a good clue as to what you should be listening for.
hi, its really helpfull.thanks a lotttt
THANK YOU
IT IS REALLY USEFUL
THANK YOU
I GOT 8 BAND IN LISTENING
GOD IS GOOD
THANKS DCIELTS
nice short tips, no doubt its helpfull
Thanks for your kindness.It’s quite helpful.
Another awesome article Domonica, Point number 7, 8 and 9 indeed are very important.
Dominic* not Domonica x_x
Shukariya
a great website thank u sososososos much i wish i could be suggested this website b4 i got it jus 1 day b4 my test but still very very helpful thank u dcielts ……………gr8 work praiseworthy 2
Simply indebted to you and your web site —-you have made my studies for IELTS so much more easier —–THANK YOU !!!
WONDERFUL TIPS.They are quite helping.
Thanks a lot.
PRATIBHA
Thanks, very Helpful Tips!!
Appreciated!!
Thanx aton for your helpful tips… I hope dat this tym i ll crack the code..
Very helpful tips to prepare students for the IELTS.
please guide how to score true false and not given correctly since they are very confusing .when you think something is false and its supposed to be not given
please tell me how can i fill fill in the blanks
thanks. good job!
thanks a lot ,,,really helping me a lot in gaining more and more,,,
APPRECIATED
hye,
i am so worry about my ielts test now,i had last 6 band in listening,writing ,speaking and 5 in reading. this time i had 6 band in listening and reading ,5 band in writing and 5.5 in speaking .i need 6 band each plz help me.
manpreet.
Hi….
I have been reading many IELTS blogs and guidance. But, to be honest this is the best, it helps me a lot from the very first beginning. I really appreciate you commitment and, will also consider this as a remarkable global service.
Thanks a lot
Cha
Really thanks these tips helped me a lot …………………
Hi Dominic, thanks for the site….it is really useful for IELTS preparation.
Just one question, I was taking the listening test…’Listening to directions: maps and plans’ and when I checked my answers, I was not clear with the D and E option. I feel it is not placed correctly in the map.
D – Indoor zoo (just before the swimming pool)
E – soft play area (first building you’ll see on your left)
But the answers are other way round.
Thanks for that
Hi Dominic., Thanks For your excellent site ..i got overall IELTS Band score; 6.5. Reading 5.5, Listening; 7.5, Writing ;5.5 and Speaking ; 7. My mistake in writing was to spend 40 mins in writing task 1 and use 20 mins on writing task 2. I suppose that i did not write 250 words in writing task 2 and that is the reason not to get what i deserve in writing. Another point to say here is that my reading performance badly affected my writing and i was almost unable to forget my worst performance in reading. I also believe that reading passage is too long that is almost impossible to read whole passage for ordinary students like me.Anyway This score is good enough for me as i pursue undergraduate course. Special Thanks for your endeavour effort to this site.I am from Bangladesh and Studying in the uk.
Hi Dominic,
I got a dought can we write all our answers in capital letters in answer sheet so that it eliminates loosing marks for writing small letters in place of capital letters.
Yes, you can.
I sat for Nov 27 academic module, i got 5 in Listening , 6.5 in reading , 8 in writing and 7 in speaking.How do i improve my listening and reading skills?. i am writing another exam in Dec 1. I need band 7 in every skills
Thanks for this tips for listening. A great site for students who are preparing for IELTS exam.
Thank you!! Your website is great. I scored band 8 in reading and listening. In addition, i got 7 in writing. Your notes really helped me!!
tnx these tips are quite helpfull
I am just in love with this blog. I have also made a blog for ielts test preparation. do visit my blog ielts package, as i need your inputs. Thanks
Hai !This all the tips very useful for me.Thank you so much.