It is generally believed that there is nothing that a candidate can do to elevate their score in a short span of time. But I beg to differ and strongly believe that with enough dedication, practice, time management and expert guidance, getting higher score in IELTS Listening is not that hard.
Here’s is what you require to know about the IELTS listening test in order to prepare for the test perfectly. These IELTS Listening tips will help you score higher band.
LISTEN THE RECORDING CAREFULLY
Firstly, you need to make sure that you listen to the recording, do not just hear it. There is a world of difference between “listening” and “hearing”. One simple distinction between listening and hearing is that the element of ATTENTION is missing in the latter one. When answering questions, candidates must listen to the recording thoroughly instead of reading the questions. To put it more clearly, do not READ and LISTEN at the same time. Before the recording is played, pay attention to your booklet. While listening to the recording, direct all your attention to the recording.
FOCUS ON QUESTIONS YOU CAN ANSWER
Don’t stress yourself thinking that to get a good score you need to answer all the questions. Even if you manage to answer 30 questions out of 40 questions correctly, you can still get a 7, which is a high score. But, the problem here is one cannot be too sure if the 30 questions attempted out of 40 will all be correct. Therefore, it is better that you try and solve all the questions. In IELTS Listening, you will find 5 questions that are quite difficult and only candidates aiming for an 8, 8.5 or 9 bands can answer them. The real problem here is that these difficult questions are randomly and cleverly distributed in order to distract you. What you need to do this not let a difficult question make you lose track of the audio. Even if you lose a question or two, do not panic! Move on to another question immediately so you don’t miss questions you are capable of writing correct answers of.
AVOID ERRORS
To maximize your score and improve your performance, you need to minimize your errors in Section 1. Many candidates who have acceptable level of listening ability end up performing poorly in this section, just because it the very first section of the Listening test. So, to deal with your anxiety and improve your performance, do plenty of practice and mock tests.
• Practice numbers and dictation.
• Develop a system.
• Find a list of words that seem to be frequently used in the listening module.
HOW TO SOLVE MCQs
A common problem for majority of the IELTS candidates, regardless of their listening ability is Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), which are frequently asked in section 3 of the IELTS Test. This type of question can be challenging for candidates for a number of reasons.
First of all, candidates do not have time for reading all the questions and their options. What are more challenging are questions with long answer options. The only solution you have to this is to MANAGE TIME. Try and be one or sentences ahead of the recording if you can. Use the time you are given at the end of each section to prepare yourself for questions in the following section.
Another reason why candidates find MCQs challenging is because they have again to do with Listening and Hearing. One common mistake many candidates make while answering this type of questions is that, while the recording is being played, they re-read the options thinking they are listening to the recording but technically they are not. Avoid making this mistake.
One classic mistake candidates make is try to decide the correct option while the examiner is still giving information about a question. You must not do this, wait till the examiner is done speaking and then quickly decide the answer.
IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING ABILITY
The best thing you can do before taking the IELTS Listening test is to prepare yourself thoroughly for the test by working on your listening skills. You can do this by watching English TV series and listening to English music. This will work wonders for you.
Follow these tips and with enough dedication, active listening, awareness and guidance, you will get your desired band score. And if you require more tips on the IELTS Listening module and looking for a tutor who can evaluate your mistakes you can visit IELTS NINJA- IntensiveListeningPreparation for further details.
Remember that the best way to assess your Listening skills is to take an IELTS mock test.
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