hello my name's Liz and in this lesson
I'm going to give you all the essential
information and tips that you need to be
successful in your IELTS listening test
we're going to start by reviewing the
exam content and then we will move on
and I will give you a lot of useful tips
there is only one IELTS listening test
all IELTS students take the same
listening test so if you're taking
academic IELTS or general training IELTS
you all take the same test the same
questions the same format and the same
scoring it is exactly the same for
everyone
having a look at the content of the
listening test there are four sections
and there are 40 questions in total now
the sections the first two sections are
the easiest and they are social that
means the context of the situation is a
social situation an everyday situation
and the last two sections are more
difficult they are academic in content
now section one has two speakers a
social situation now a typical example
is a phone conversation where somebody
is registering for a course so for
example they need to book a course and
they need to know what date they need
your name they need your address your
telephone number or perhaps you're
booking a table at a restaurant
or organizing to meet someone and you
need to think of the time that you're
going to meet so it's very specific
information and it is quite easy and
it's quite easy to improve that section
the next one number two is also social
so in everyday situation but it's only
one speaker a typical example would be a
tour guide
so that it would be a tour guide
explaining about a resort so what
facilities there are or the history
behind the resort another example could
be for example talking about an historic
building or talking about a charity a
company or an organization section 3 the
academic the first academic section that
has three to four speakers now this is
challenging because it's a discussion
and academic discussion now when you've
got three to four speakers that means
you've got different voices and you have
to be able to identify who is speaking
and who is saying what so that could be
quite challenging but the most difficult
is section four that is only one speaker
and it is an academic lecture the
listening test takes 40 minutes in total
30 minutes off for the audio so that
means you have 30 minutes to listen to
the recording and answer the questions
at the end of the 30 minutes you are
given another 10 minutes and that is so
that you can transfer your answers from
the question paper which is where you
write your answers when you're listening
to the answer sheet here is an example
of the answer sheet for IELTS listening
now you can download this answer sheet
and it's very important I think number
four for your tip is to practice using
it before you go into your IELTS test
it's very importantly you're comfortable
with all parts of the test and that
includes spending ten minutes
transferring your answers from your
question paper onto this answer sheet to
write your answers clearly so that they
can be easily read onto the answer sheet
moving on to tip number five you will
hear the recording only once it is not
played again so that means that when you
have your test
you need to listen to the recording read
the questions and at the same time write
down your answers so that means at one
time you are listening reading and
writing so you really are multitasking
during this listening test it can be
quite difficult and it's something that
you do need to practice number six many
students ask me can they use a pencil or
a pen the answer is you need to write
your answers onto the answer sheet using
a pencil and that's the same as the
IELTS reading test tip number seven the
scores are calculated by the number of
correct answers you have so there are 40
questions there are 40 points and each
time you get a correct answer you get a
point and that is how your band scores
are calculated let's move on to tip
number eight tip number eight you can
write your answers in capital letters or
lowercase you can choose but which ever
one you choose you must stay with that
choice if you decide to use capital
letters all your answers must be written
in capital letters you can't change
suddenly on your answer sheet or if you
choose lowercase you must make sure that
all your answers are written with
lowercase on your answer sheet now
capital letters means every single
letter is written as a capital there is
no difference at all but if you're using
lowercase you need to remember that some
words start with a capital letter
so for example names or places will
start with a capital letter so make sure
if you do decide to use lowercase that
you remember your capital letters at the
start of your answers for names and
places tip number nine if you look at
your question paper it will always tell
you how many words you need for the
answer it will give you a rule
for example no more than two words and
or a number these instructions you've
got to pay attention every time you get
a new type of question that might change
so you must always look how many words
can I have for these answers and when I
move further down the page how many
words has it changed underline it
quickly so that you don't forget now
many students get confused about what it
means so let me explain what no more
than two words so that means we cannot
have three no more than two words and or
a number so that means we can have two
words and a number or we can have just a
number so let's have a look at the
options so that you understand more
clearly you could have one word you
could have two words but not three you
could have two words and a number or you
could have just a number now be very
careful with the instructions because
you can see here it says a number
sometimes it says and or numbers and if
that's plural it means you might have
two numbers so make sure you pay
attention to the instructions very
closely many students ask me about
number ten which is should we use
prepositions should we write hospital or
the hospital or at the hospital what
should we write for the answer well it
depends on the type of question you have
I will show you later in this video that
there are many different types of
questions form completion sentence
completion note completion summary
completion and each of them are a little
bit different now you can see here this
is an example of a question from a form
they tell you the type of information
they want and you write your answer here
and it can be just one word so it would
be possible to write just hospital but
if we look at this example you can see
it's a sentence and that means when we
fill in the answer here the sentence
must be grammatically correct because we
are completing the sentence so here we
would say the best place to meet is at
the hospital and that would be three
words so you need to look at the type of
question are you just making notes or
are you completing sentences number
eleven all words are counted even if
they are small words so for example a
holiday that is two words as the same
for reading and writing and of course
this 1950 that would be considered as
one number number 12 this is important
spelling if you spell a word incorrectly
it will be marked wrong so that means
that of course when you're listening you
don't have time to think about spelling
but in listening you have ten minutes at
the end of your test to transfer your
answers to the answer sheet that is the
time for you to pay attention to
spelling pay attention to your spelling
and capital letters check the grammar
use the ten minutes for transferring
answers wisely number 13 should you
write words or letters on your answer
sheet now that's very important you can
see here we need to write a word or here
we need to complete the sentence with
one or more words but if it's a multiple
choice that's different the instructions
tell you to choose the correct letter so
that means we've got a spring B summer
or C winter now when we choose our
answer for example B we need to write
be on the answer sheet if you write
summer on the answer sheet it is marked
wrong so although you have the correct
answer really you have written the wrong
answer on your answer sheet because you
needed to write the letter so make sure
you read the instructions the
instructions will tell you if you're
going to write a letter or a word and
again that is the same as IELTS reading
let's move on to number 14 one of the
most important tips to help you prepare
for your IELTS listening test is to
learn about the types of questions that
you will get in IELTS listening there
are quite a lot as you can see of
different types of questions and you
need to practice each type of question
when you get in your listening test and
you go to the question you have enough
time to read the question and answers
but you don't have enough time to try to
understand what to do if you've never
seen that type of question before so
knowing and having a strategy a
technique for each type of question is
important for your IELTS listening test
now one of the most difficult types of
questions is the multiple choice that's
often where you have a B or C to choose
from but multiple choice could also be a
very long list for example eight options
and you need to answer three questions
relating to all those eight options or
the multiple choice might be a choice of
people's names do you remember in
section three there are three or four
speakers so you might have to match the
name of the person with the information
so there are different kinds of multiple
choice there's also map completion and
that's when you've given the map of a
town or some streets it might also be a
building plan so that's when you've got
all the rooms in
building that you have to label and
complete it could be diagram labeling so
you've got a diagram and your answers
relate to parts of that diagram you
could have a form completion that's very
common in section one or note completion
that's very common in section four you
could have flowchart completion sentence
completion that's a very common type of
question summary completion that's a
little bit similar except this is more
like a small paragraph that you need to
complete we also have short answer
questions so these are questions that
might need one-word answers to word
answers or three word answers and of
course table completion as well there's
a lot of different types of questions
that you need to practice if you want to
have practice with these question types
then you can get a book of practice
tests or you can visit my blog where I
have free practice lessons using many of
these types of questions now let's have
a look at number 15 number 15 don't try
to understand everything the aim in
IELTS for listening and reading is to
find answers to questions a correct
answer is one point all you want are
answers you are not aiming to understand
everything so you need to look at your
question try to think of what type of
answer you're looking for listen for
that answer there will be a lot of extra
information given in the recordings and
you need to just relax and focus on the
answers that you're looking for number
16 this is an important tip you need to
prepare your answers and questions now
before you listen to the recording you
will hear
message and it will say to you you now
have time to prepare questions one to
five that means that you will have time
to prepare and read questions one two
three four and five
then you will listen to it and after you
will have a chance to prepare question
six seven eight and nine so you're
always given time to prepare but it's
not long so you do need to train
yourself to prepare questions quickly
now let's have a look at this one this
is a sentence completion now the first
thing I would do is I would underline
this the town's square of course I'm
going to hear those words and those
words will help me to find my answer I
will also pay attention that built is a
verb that is very easy to paraphrase for
example construct so the town the town
square was constructed by so I can see
that immediately because I've done lots
of practice and is a word I'm familiar
with another key word would be this one
by when you see a preposition you often
have a good idea what type of answer you
need to complete the sentence for this
one obviously is probably going to be a
person the town square was built by
someone but be careful because IELTS is
testing your English and by could be a
person it could also be an organization
it could be a group of people so for
example the town square was built by
local craftsmen so it might not be the
name of a person but you can see very
quickly that I identified three key
words one because I know I will hear
those words that's the main content two
because that could be paraphrased and
three it tells me what type of
answer I need so that is how you prepare
your questions tip 17 answers can come
quickly so be prepared for that the
answers do not come at regular intervals
you could get suddenly three answers
coming together that means you need to
keep your eye on the next question so
don't just look at the question that
you're looking for keep your eye on the
other questions coming so you can move
quickly to the next question and you
don't lose time you don't get lost now
because the answers come quickly you
don't always have time to write long
words if the answer is University
bookshop you might want to just make a
note if it was University bookshop I
would do this I would write that on my
question paper and then when I transfer
my answers to the answer sheet I would
write the full words which is University
bookshop so making notes is very useful
you should also make notes of possible
answers because maybe you're going to
miss one you can write all over your
question paper the examiner will never
see it
so make notes on your question paper
write down the short version of the word
if you need to and transfer correctly to
your answer sheet tip number 20 there
may be a gap between answers so here we
have answers coming quickly but also
there could be a gap and this is when
students start to panic they're
listening and waiting and waiting and
there's no answer and the recording is
going and going and they get very
nervous that's the reason it's important
to underline your key words because then
you know that you need to wait for these
words to come so don't panic you need to
be calm and keep listening keep your eye
on the next question
make notes while you're listening and be
prepared for any gaps between answers so
let's move on now tip 21 common traps
these are ways that IELTS really try to
test your understanding and your
vocabulary now I'll give an example of a
common trap this is when the answers are
given so for example shall we meet at 7
o'clock yes definitely
let's meet at 7 so we've got the answer
7 o'clock but then it's changed and the
speaker says oh actually sorry how about
half past so suddenly instead of the
answer being 7 it is now 7:30 so when
you listen and you hear your answer
obviously you can make a note of the
answer but keep listening because that
answer might be changed so be careful
with that and another type of trap is
when you have the same words in the
question and the same words in the
recording so of course people
immediately think oh this is my answer
but actually that could be a trap
because usually IELTS will use
paraphrasing rather than using the exact
same words completely so always be a
little bit suspicious when you hear all
the same words if you want to have
practice with common traps then visit my
blog I've got lots of practice exercises
with these types of traps and it will
help you to practice for that and number
22 repeated answers if you look for
example at section 3 this is when you've
got three or four people having a
discussion and of course when you are
discussing something people might say is
this what you mean do you mean this and
the answer could be repeated again and
that can help you to locate the answer
at number 23 very important now IELTS is
a listening test and they know that many
foreign language speakers struggle to
hear plurals so you need to pay
attention does that word have an S on
the end or not now if you have a
sentence completion sometimes you can
see in the grammar that you need a
plural answer so just take a look but
keep your ears open for those plurals
now it's time for me to give you a
breakdown of the scoring and I will give
you the scores for bang score five six
seven and eight
the scoring now you can see here we've
got the band scores your five point five
six six point five seven seven point
five and you can see here these are the
number of correct answers that you need
to get the band score so if you're
looking for band score seven you will
need to get 30 or 31 answers correct and
to get seven point five you need 32 33
or 34 answers correct to get ball score
seven point five so what you can see is
it is all about the number of correct
answers so tip number 24 is if you don't
know the answer
guess write something on your answer
sheet don't leave an empty space because
if your answer is wrong it will not
affect your band score you don't lose a
point if your answers wrong so always
guess if you don't know I'll give you a
link at the end of the lesson so that
you can get all of a scoring for all the
band scores now let's move on to tip
number 25 let's look at the final tips
at the first one is to listen to the
example that is given at the beginning
of your list
test so before section one truly begins
you have a chance to listen to an
example and see an example answer you
should use that time to get used to the
speaker's voices because that will help
you understand what they're going to say
this example is only given at the start
of section one not at the start of
section two three or four so use the
time effectively and listen carefully to
the example now the accents that come in
the IELTS listening test of course there
will be a lot of British English accent
and Australian accent as well but IELTS
is an international English language
test so that means there will be a range
of accents so when you practice for your
listening test make sure you practice
listening to different types of accents
now the next one this is quite important
you will often find titles on your
question paper and those titles are very
useful because it helps you prepare for
the topic that's coming so if you have a
diagram completion map completion table
completion questions have a look for the
title read it underline it very useful
the next one and this is very important
check where all the questions are now
ayats will say you now have time to
prepare for questions
one two questions seven so that means
you know that you're going to get seven
questions make sure you check where the
seven questions are because I have seen
students who only prepared six questions
because they didn't realize that
question seven was on the other side of
the paper
so make sure that your questions are on
one side or maybe you need to turn over
and look at the next page as well so
always check that the next one if you
miss an answer move quickly to the next
question that's very important
you don't have a chance to catch up if
you lose your place in the IELTS
listening test because you only listen
once to the recording so keeping your
place in the recording is very important
so if you miss an answer don't worry
about it
forget it move directly to the next
question another one and this is very
useful for section 3 and section 4 and
that is the technical and academic
language is often not paraphrased now
not all words but often they are not
paraphrased so if you see a very
complicated word or a technical word
then that can be useful for you don't be
scared of that language and it can be
useful because it might not be
paraphrased and that means when you hear
it you know what question you're on and
you can keep your place let's have a
look at some more final tips this is a
very important tip for your answer you
need to write the words that you hear
now here's an example of something you
might hear in the recording children
must be accompanied by an adult at all
times and here is the question
so number 26 no children are allowed
without and you need to fill in the gap
you need to complete the sentence now
here are two answers no children are
allowed without an accompanying adult or
no children are allowed without an adult
now if we look here we have to be
accompanied by an adult so it is true
that children must have an accompanying
adult but that is not what the recording
actually says word for word the meaning
is correct but the wording is not so
this answer would be considered wrong
you can't change and reformulate the
words you need to listen and write down
the words
here so the answer would have to be an
adult so be very careful not to
reformulate the words but to write what
you hear the final tips this is
important make sure that your headphones
are working properly now you remember I
told you at the beginning of section 1
there is an example played and you can
use that to also check that your
headphones are working properly before
the answers start coming if your test
center doesn't use headphones for the
listening test and if the recording is
played to the whole room you can check
the volume is alright for you if there
is a problem with the headphones or the
volume then you can put your hand up and
a test invigilator will come to you and
you can get the problem fixed now
finally of course the biggest problem
that people have is concentration you
need to really concentrate for the IELTS
listening test if you lose focus at any
time you can not only miss an answer but
you can lose your place in the recording
and then it's very difficult to locate
the following answers so you need to
practice building your concentration
before you go into your test now if you
found this video useful please press
like and now it's time for me to give
you some more useful links for IELTS
listening
you