IELTS Listening Tips: Improve your Scores!
Improving your listening band score requires you to practice constantly however here are a few tips to help you improve!
Predicting the topic and the questions
Before you hear the recording, you are given time to look through the different sections and you should make the best of this time. It is very helpful when you get into the habit of predicting the topic as this will let you have an idea of the kind of conversation and the speakers that you will hear in the recording. It is also important that you have an idea of the kind of information that you will need to hear in order to answer the questions. For instance, there are questions that will require you listen to names, numbers, addresses and others.
Additionally, at the end of each section you will be given a time of thirty seconds to check your answers. The best way to use this time is to simply turn to the next section and look at the questions as there will be nothing much you can do with the recording played only once.
Learn to Multitask
Multitasking is a skill that is often very helpful in the listening section as you will have to listen to the recording and at the same time also write your answers. Listening to different audios and getting into the habit of writing notes can help you practice both the skills.
You do not really have to worry about what you write on your question booklet while taking the notes, the answers that you will write on your answer sheets are more important.
Underling key words
As with the reading section, get into the habit of underling key words when you are given time to look through the questions. This could be often very helpful for you in listening sections 3 and 4 which are often more difficult than the previous sections.
Please note that you have to be careful of the synonyms and paraphrasing as it is very likely that you will not hear the same words or phrases that appear on the question booklet.
Look at two questions at the same time
An advantage of looking at two questions at the same time is that you will not miss out on the answers when the answers are given out too close. It is possible that you may hear more than one answer in the same sentence. This tip can also be really helpful when you miss out on one of the answers as you will easily figure out you’ve missed the answer when you hear the answer to the next question.
Don’t waste your time if you miss an answer
If you have figured out you’ve missed an answer, don’t get stuck there. Instead, you should MOVE ON and concentrate on the next question and its answer so that you don’t miss it too. It is important that you do not panic as there is nothing you can do about it with the recording being played only once. You can always make guesses when you are transferring your answers to the answer sheet.
Read your instructions carefully
The questions in the listening sections give you instructions on how many words or numbers you can use in order to answer the questions. Reading the instructions carefully is very essential as you should not exceed the word limit. Answers with exceeded word limit are marked incorrect henceforth, it is always better to read the instructions.
Transferring your answers to the answer sheet
You will be given ten minutes time at the end of the listening section to transfer your answers to the answer sheet and this is one of the most crucial steps. You have to be extra careful when you have missed out on a few answers because a lot of times students put correct answers in the wrong question numbers.
Try to avoid spelling errors as answers with wrong spelling will be marked incorrect. Additionally, for note taking questions or sentence completion, you also have to ensure that your answer fits in grammatically otherwise, it will be marked incorrect.
IELTS recognizes both British and American spelling which simply means you can use either.
You can write your answers in capital letters or lower case. It is best to capitalize the whole word to remain on the safe side as it might get confusing to use capitalization correctly when writing answers in lower case.
As you will not be penalized for incorrect answers, it is highly recommended that you do not leave any answers blank. Making a good guess can have a good chance of getting an answer correct sometimes.
To conclude, there are several ways you can improve your band score in the listening section. A final tip for you would be to get yourself familiar with different accents that you are likely to hear in the recording.
Remember! Practice is the key!
