IELTS Listening Tips and Tricks

The IELTS Listening Test is the same for the Academic and General Training modules. You listen to language spoken in a social or academic context and answer a series of questions. The tape is played only once so you have to practice sufficiently beforehand to pick up what’s being said the first time around. The Listening exam has 4 parts, 40 questions and lasts 30 minutes.  You then have another 10 minutes at the end of the exam to copy your answers onto the answer sheet provided.  

IELTS LISTENING - QUESTION TYPES

The listening test measures how well you can listen for main ideas, specific information, supporting information, facts and opinions. You will find a variety of question types:

• multiple choice

• short answer                                                                  

• sentence completion

• notes/diagram/flow chart completion

• matching

• classification

Parts 1 and 2 concentrate on social needs or “survival English” – the kind of English you need on a regular basis if you are living in an English speaking country, for example asking for information or getting directions.  Parts 3 and 4 focus more on the topics of education or training.  You will hear a combination of dialogues between 2 or more people and monologues. Each of the four sections of the IELTS Listening Test thus focuses on a different type of speech, as shown below:

• Section 1 – A social or transactional dialogue – 2 speakers

• Section 2 – A topic or short speech on a general topic – 1 speaker

• Section 3 – A conversation in an academic context – 2-4 speakers

• Section 4 – An academic lecture – 1 speaker

I would also advice you to complete all the passages in IELTS book that you have got from Cambridge. This is because one of the passages I got in real IELTS Reading exam was taken from this book. My 1st passage was Olympic torch. It was fact based and easy.
Second passage was on musical instruments- it was also easy. Third one was a bit tough- you will find it easy i feel if you read psychology, religion, arts, personality, sports psychology etc. For me, 3rd passage was on Child development. It was interesting but it took me more time to find answers. So I would really recommend you to budget the time as i have mentioned above ( 16-20-24) during the IELTS Reading exam. It would really help you. Dont divide the time in 20-20-20 slots in reading. There are some skills that you will need in order to do well in the IELTS Reading Module. 

The variety of question types means that you sometimes need to write in the answer in your own writing, versus simply choosing the right answer. This is important because in such cases, you also need to spell correctly or the answer will be marked wrong. Even a small error can cause you to lose marks. For example, if the answer is "hat"; and you write "hats", it may be marked wrong.

You also have to make sure you include the correct information. If the answer is "Green hats" and you write only "hats", you may also lose points.

You will get a better sense of how precise you need to be by doing as many practice listening exams as possible before your actual test. Believe it or not, you will improve with practice, though it might seem impossible at first. Your ear and your concentration can be trained. Over time, you will improve – but only if you remain patient and move steadily towards your goal of the highest score possible.

You can now collect the book "IELTS Listening: Band 9 Tips & Tricks" only @ $ 10 from the PAYZA BUY NOW button shown in this blog.

Also visit our other IELTS blogs from the links given below:

IELTS Reading Tips and Tricks

http://ieltsreadingtipsandtricks.blogspot.com/

 

IELTS Speaking Tips and Tricks 

 http://ieltsspeakingtipsandtricks.blogspot.com/