Listening: No Time to Panic or the Exam Begins

Listening is the first module, which starts your way to IELTS certificate. It has 40 questions and lasts approximately 40 minutes, including 30 minutes for the test itself and about 10 minutes to transfer your answers. This module is divided into four sections beginning with the easiest questions enhancing difficulty level to the end. I’ll refer to “Cambridge IELTS 8: Examination Papers from University of Cambridge”, to show you some examples of tasks types and give you some tips how to complete them successfully.

Section 1 

Before every group of the questions starts, you’ll get detailed instructions. To give you a possibility to concentrate on the exam, you’ll hear a short abstract from the conversation with a sample answer done for you. The text is only read once, so you have to make notes as you hear. Before the task you’ll be told to listen to the dialog and answers the questions, for example, 1 to 5. So, you shouldn’t look through all of them. You only browse the mentioned numbers.
The beginning questions usually provide you with a multiple choice, which is rather easy to make. The most important thing is to read the question. In the first section you are usually to mark just one correct answer, while in further tasks you’ll have to choose two or three items that have been mentioned.

That’s also typical of the first group of questions to ask you to write down some names and addresses. It’s not that easy because you have to spell it correctly! Otherwise your answer is not accepted. Write down the names as you hear them. Then, in most cases, the speakers will spell them and you’ll be able to correct what you got. Don’t wait for them to spell! First write what you caught and then correct the mistakes. Following this practice you’ll have the possibility to check twice, that you’ve done everything right.

 

Then you’re to fill in the gaps in the table. As you’re limited to approximately 30 seconds to look through the questions, you should use some tricks that may help you to analyze the information faster. The main secret of tables is that you should look at columns first, to understand what type of information will follow. If some time is left, you can browse the rows.

The speaker will deliver the information taking one line and giving the details about it. So, that’s important for you to be ready to what you will hear. After the first line is completed the speaker will move to the next line. You will not miss this moment. So concentrate on columns to predict what kind of information should be added there and follow the lines after a speaker.

Section 2

In this section you’re to fill in the gaps and select 2 or 3 notions that were mentioned in the conversation. Here, you should start making predictions. Give a brief look at the text and underline the key words. They would be a mark for you. Once you hear a word, you concentrate on what is being said.

Referring to selecting the information that has been said, you should be ready to hear almost all the items included in a list. So read a task carefully.

Generally they start with something which is not an answer. For example, it’s not allowed to take some food or water in the bags. So, there’re three items that have been included into a list but that what the visitors can’t take. After that they usually say, we provide the students with pens and worksheet to make some notes during the excursion. You should tick А and G as correct answers. Hope, the strategy is clear.

Section 3

Section 3 contains the same types of tasks as in section 2. The only difference that the speed of thу speech increases, and more complex constructions are used.
Sometimes you’re to fill in the gaps in a map. Working with this task would be rather easy if you practice following the words on a record. You main aim is to determine where the route starts and then you should move your pen according to what is being said.

 You will hear that when you enter you see a green park lying in front of you. So your answer on the first question is a green park. If you turn to the right there would be something else. This task checks your ability to understand the guidelines. You may see this task in any section featuring different level of difficulty.

Section 4

We have almost finished, just some patience and we will reach the desired score. At first sight the tasks in section 4 are very similar to what you have been doing during the whole test but anyway there’s some special about it.

 For sure you need predicting to know, at least approximately, what kind of information should be inserted. But to make this task more complicated all the sentences are paraphrased. You will not hear them the same way as they are written on your test paper. For example answer to a question 31 one may be interpreted as “It’s difficult to overestimate the significance of geography studies that covers impact of various processes on the Earth surface.”
I tried to collect the best ways and strategies that help me to complete IELTS listening part. Hope you’ll find them useful. I’ll be glad if you find a minute to share your most efficient methods on dealing with listening test.