IELTS Listening Tips | IELTS in Mohali

IELTS listening is the same for academic and general training candidates.

Listening in IELTS consists of 4 sections. Section 1 and section 3 are conversations whereas section 2 and section 4 are conversations. Recording in each section lasts around 5 minutes. With practice, 9 bands can be easily achieved. Get enrolled in Best IELTS institute in Chandigarh to achieve results.

IELTS LISTENING TIPS

Each section consists of 10 questions . Questions can be in the form of 

Form/ note / table completion

Labeling a diagram /map/ plan

Sentence completion

Fill in the blanks 

Selection 

Multiple choice questions

At the end 10 minutes time is allotted to transfer the answers to the answer sheet. 

How to prepare for the multiple answer questions :

Read all the answers in the option 

Highlight the similar options , to avoid confusion

Try to think the paraphrases of the options

All answers will be said in the recording so don’t get confused after listening to the first option 

Listen to the contrasting connectors ‘but’ and ‘however’ as it is an indication of negative part which might be an incorrect answer. 

Answer the question accordingly, and keep listening till the end. 

Answers can be paraphrased form, it will not exactly the same as written in the options.

While transferring the answers make sure you transfer the letters, not the whole options (where needed). IELTS coaching in Chandigarh gets the help in attaining maximum bands.

Tips for form/note/table completion/ fill in the blanks

 There is  a form filling question in the first section of the IELTS listening test. The answers will be one or two words long and will be real  information, such as phone numbers, dates and times.

Prediction:  It is one of the important skills in whole of the listening but it has great importance in form filling. These key points are taught in Best IELTS institute in Chandigarh.

For example:

Name: Shaun Rodgers     Room no. ___________ Number of occupants: 1 Check out time: ____________

In the above example we can clearly make guess that room no. and time is to be mentioned, so we have to focus on these two.

When predicting we should think about: Think about 5W. What, where, when, why, who/whom and preposition of place and time helps to predict the answers. Get yourself enrolled in IELTS institute Chandigarh to learn all these tips.

Different prepositions will dictate different answers.

Preposition Possible Answers Examples

at Time, Part of Day, Place 9 pm, dawn, the restaurant

in Period of Time, Month, 2 days/hour/minutes, April 2018,

Year, Season Winter

on Day, Date Monday, January 15th (or 15th of

January)

Grammar: noun, verb, adjective, adverb etc. this makes clear as what has to be written.  Subject: phone number, address, date, business name etc. These all will help us focus on the correct part of the recording and find the correct information more easily.

Synonyms

In the IELTS listening test words with the same meanings will be used. For example, you may read ‘price’ but hear ‘cost’. In  the IELTS listening test there are lots of synonyms are used .Best IELTS institute in Chandigarh have wide range of material to practice these questions.

A common mistake is to read a certain word but doesn’t hear that word. That is because the recording used a synonym. 

You have to  think about the type of information you might hear in the form of synonyms, not just the information you read.

Word Limit

Always read the instruction 

NOT MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER means that if you write more than one word your answer will be incorrect.

Numbers

You should familiarize yourself with how numbers sound in English and remember that the speaker may have an accent from an English speaking country, you might not be familiar with, such as Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand or Canada.

The numbers that often come up are:

13 30 14 40 15 50 16 60 17 70 18 80 19 90

These numbers are difficult for many non-native speakers and that is why IELTS like to use them. Practice listening and saying these numbers by approaching IELTS institute in Chandigarh.

You might also get a credit card number. These numbers are always 16 digits long, so depending on how many numbers are already provided, you will know how many numbers to write down.

Finally, telephone numbers have two considerations. First one that the native speakers offer say ‘oh’ instead of ‘zero’ and we may also group numbers together by saying ‘double’ or ‘triple’ in front of it. So 0883404440 would sound like ‘oh, double eight, three, four, oh, triple four, oh.’

Letters

Make sure you familiarize yourself with how all the letters sound. You could also categorize them by similar sound. For example, B, D, E, T, G, P and C all have a similar final sound and may be used to trick you. Get  yourself enrolled in IELTS coaching in Chandigarh to make yourself familiarize with British accent.

Addresses

Every country has a different format of addresses. It can be confusing to some but normally followed format is:

House/Flat Number Street Name Town/City Name

Remember that postcode has numbers as well as alphabets . These always start and end with one or two letters first (normally the same as the city) and then a series of numbers in between. Make sure you write down both the letters and numbers. Example: M1 4JH

 For example:

22 South Street Bristol BS1 5TW

Dates

you should be aware of the spelling of all the days of the week, especially difficult ones like saturtday . This is also true for months like February. Also, if you don’t put a capital letter at the beginning of these words you will be marked as incorrect.

Keep in mind of synonyms such as, weekend for Saturday and Sunday or fortnight for two weeks.

There are many other ways to write and listen dates.

 Use Your Prior Knowledge 

You can try yourself to predict the words by your own knowledge. It refers to one’s own knowledge and life experience. Situations in IELTS listening sections are familiar to students. Sometimes vocabulary can help in getting the answers. Here is a common list of vocabulary that can be used in some situations shared by IELTS institute in Chandigarh. 

Accommodation

Payment : cash, cheque, credit card, money order

House type: house, flat, dorm, home stay, student hostel

Facilities: gym, laundry, furniture, household appliances 

Library

ID: ID card, passport, driving license/license, student card

Book type: novels, magazines, newspapers, fiction, non-fiction, journal, reference book

Rules: loan pediod, fine, issue date, submission date, renew book.

Bank

Types of bank account: savings account, checking account, deposit account, debit card, credit card

Activities: withdraw money, transfer money, deposit money, open/suspend/activate an account

Required information: billing address, phone number, bank statement

Booking a flight

Basic information: departing date, return date, first/business/economy class

Types of ticket: one-way, round-trip, multi-destination, non-stop flight

Buying insurance

Types of insurance: home insurance, medical and dental insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, critical illness insurance

Other related words: coverage policy, third party, monthly/half-yearly/annually payment, insurance terms and conditions.

 Listening strategy for maps/picture/ flowcharts questions followed by IELTS institute in Chandigarh.

1. Read the question carefully. Understand the map or plan and its features. 

2. Make the relationship between the questions and the things given on the map. This will help in predicting the answers and follow the talk. 

3. Check from where the speaker may begin the lecture as sometimes entrance or main gate are mentioned on the map. What is to their right or left, front or behind? 

4. Look at the major sections on the map or try to understand and navigate your way around. 

5.Anticipate what sort of words may be the appropriate response for example will it be a spot, room, road, building and so forth.

6. Always focus on the beginning of the talk as it will make you understand the context and follow the talk easily. 

7.Picture the spot they are depicting while the individual is talking. Note down any potential answers, yet be cautious with distractors for example 'this was the library yet we chosen to move it down to the finish of the hallway'.

8. Always concentrate on signposts language like ‘The next room we are about to see is…’, or ‘If you now follow me to….’, to help you understand each stage of the talk. 

9. Make short notes on the inquiry paper and afterward move your answers toward the end utilizing right spelling.

Useful Language 

The following is a choice of vocabulary and expressions you ought to know about before doing the listening test:

• at the top/at the bottom/ basement 

• on the left/on the right/on the far side 

• North/South/East/West 

• to the north to the west 

• slightly west of 

• in the southwest/in the northeast 

• in the middle of/in the center of 

• above/below 

• inside/outside 

• opposite/in front of/ behind 

• left-hand side/ right-hand side 

• clockwise/anticlockwise 

• a little beyond 

• just past 

• before you get to 

• adjoining, adjacent, beside 

• enter via 

• runs alongside 

• round the corner 

• terrace 

• at an arm's length 

• far away 

• aside 

SIGN POSTS 

Positive signposts make sure about the answer and negative signposts may confuse the students as that are not the correct answers. 

The following are the signposts that give a hint about the answer, guided by IELTS coaching in Chandigarh. 

Positive signposts 

• is called as 

• is known as 

• referred to 

• I'm sure, exactly, obviously 

• certainly 

• no doubt 

• ought to, must 

• I mean it 

• Yes I’m 

• I will 

• Positively 

Negative signposts 

• Oh! No 

• I apologize 

• I regret to say 

• But, however 

• Perhaps 

• Likely to 

• May/might 

• I think 

• Nevertheless

IELTS Listening Tips by Best IELTS institute in Chandigarh

Learn to concentrate for 45 minutes

As listening continues for up to 45 minutes, students need to focus and concentrate for 45 minutes. It is difficult for many students. Practice focus for a long period of time

Improve your active vocabulary

With the meaning of the word, student must know the synonyms as well. As in IELTS vocabulary also plays an important role.

Identify keywords in the questions

It is possible to know what you have to listen for before you really listen. Use words in the questions to know what type of word the answer will be. You should also use keywords to follow along with the audio. When there are names or numbers given in the question then you should have to hear those things carefully to answer the question.

4 Practice under real exam conditions

Practice with other students and use the answer sheets as provided in the exam. Practicing at home or at IELTS coaching in Chandigarh makes a lot of difference. The classroom gives a feeling of the exam center.

Learn from your common mistakes

In order to improve your listening test scores, you need to know what you are doing well and what you are not doing so well. When you practise the listening task you try to understand the mastakes you mostly do.Common error types in the listening exam include spelling or grammar errors, poor transferring skills and the inability to follow along with the audio.

Practice transferring your answers

It is quite common for students to practice listening tests without transferring answers to an answer sheet. Managing your time when you transfer and checking for errors as you transfer are two skills that you need to practice before exam day.

Never give up on your goal

Many students give up after once. Never lose hope. IELTS exam is not easy but it is not that difficult that one cannot attain the bands. Motivate yourself and try again with more practice. IELTS institute in Chandigarh will help you to boost your performance.