Super six tips for IELTS Listening

Like all other parts of the IELTS exam, the listening section of the IELTS exam is also important. In this section your listening skills are put to test. The listening test involves listening to four samples which consist of conversations and monologues and then answering questions based on them.

Here are some tips to do your best in the listening section of the IELTS.

Watch your spelling

You are like to lose marks if you misspell words in your answer. To avoid this, make a list of the words you commonly misspell and ensure you do not repeat them.

 Practice writing while listening

While this may seem difficult, it is an ability that needs to be improved. Writing your responses at the same time as listening to the recording can sound much harder if you have trouble with it. Find out early on whether or not you can write while listening, and by listening to some kind of lecture or talk and making notes at the same time, develop / improve that power.

Read the questions and try to predict the answers

Go over the questions in that section when you are given time at the beginning of each listening section, but don't just read them-try to anticipate what kind of answer they need. When you know you are listening for a date, or a period, or a dish on the menu and so on, it makes a huge difference to your listening.

Concentrate on the recording

All your attention should be on the recording, and any other thoughts need to be consciously shut down. This takes time, but for the next 25-30 minutes, you can do it easily at home. Just put on a listening test recording and time avoiding any distractions. You'd be shocked how good you can be at blocking stuff out!

Do not get stuck on a missed answer

You will know when the subject of conversation moves to another subject and remember that you skipped the answer if you trying to predict what sort of response you're listening for. You need to move on at that point in time, read the next question, anticipate the type of answer and start listening to it, to prevent a chain reaction that causes you to miss several answers. Your worst-case scenario here may be missing all the answers from the first one you missed and to the end of that section.

Get used to different accents

There are various accents for IELTS listening test recordings: they use British, Canadian, American, Australian, New Zealand speakers, etc. During an actual IELTS test, you can't afford to be in a situation where you hear one of these accents for the first time in your life, because the pronunciation of certain words really varies from one accent to the other. By doing listening practice exercises for them, you can and should expose yourself to these accents before the real test.

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