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| 8+ Easy Ways to Improve Your IELTS Listening Score |
Some listeners have problems keeping up with the tape and end up getting lost, skipping several questions in a row. Others miss their chance to provide a suitable response because they focus on the incorrect question at the incorrect time. Then there are the distracters, which are response choices intended to deceive you into believing they are the right answers. Before the recording begins to play, there isn't enough time to read the questions. As if all of this weren't enough, some students receive failing grades for "nearly accurate" answers that contained too many words or spelling mistakes.
There is no question that it takes time, effort, and patience to make a fundamental improvement in listening. However, I find that many individuals neglect certain simple actions they can take to considerably improve their IELTS score. That boost in score may be all some test-takers need! So go ahead and practice your listening abilities, but first follow these instructions to improve your score:
1. Practice English listening daily
The listening exam's objective is to assess how well you comprehend verbal English. As a result, listening to a lot of English is the most obvious way to improve your listening skills.
What is it that you must listen to?
On the online platform, you will receive support in all forms. Whether you choose to spend an hour or only 15 minutes getting ready is entirely up to you, but you can quickly find a ton of information online.
You'll hear different versions of things. There are two types of listening in the IELTS test:
a solitary speaker
discussions between two people
As a result, both styles of listening need to be practiced.
Platforms that allow you to listen to English
Online news, Ted speeches, podcasts, and music listening.
It is one of the best suggestions for enhancing listening in the IELTS test. You can gradually get better if you listen to English for 10 to 15 minutes every day.
2. Watch Your Spelling
You won't receive credit for that response, even if you heard the right response but typed it incorrectly. The simplest way to score well in listening is to pay attention to your spelling. You can learn the words you are most likely to misspell by consulting a list of "Commonly Misspelled Words" (you can find it here in the free sample of the "IELTS Success Formula" book).
3. Learn to write while listening
The ability to write while listening needs to be improved. If you struggle with it, writing your responses while simultaneously listening to the tape will feel much more difficult. Find out early on if you can write while you listen, and then cultivate or strengthen that skill by taking notes as you listen to any form of lecture or talk.
4. Read questions and try to predict answers
When you have a moment at the start of each Listening section, review the questions therein. However, don't merely read them; instead, attempt to determine the type of response they call for. Knowing that you are listening for a date, time, dish on the menu, or other information affects how well you listen.
5. Complete practice tests
This is prioritized by many pupils, who successfully pass test after test. In order to improve the precise abilities you need to get a good score, you will need to practice tests and master techniques for answering the 10 various types of questions on the listening test.
I advise you to complete 10-15% of practice papers and devote 85-90% of your study time on listening to spoken English, as mentioned before. This will swiftly raise your overall level of English as well as your particular listening skills, which will result in greater points on all sections of the IELTS exam.
I advise you to exclusively practice for exams with official tests because only these accurately reflect the actual exam you will take on test day. There are plenty that may be found online for no cost, and I've added two to the page. Look them up here:
The Cambridge English series of legitimate exam papers is the primary source of real tests, though. These novels are outstanding. Each one comes with four entire test papers. Check to see if the copies you purchase include with an audio CD for the hearing exam because some versions don't and you have to purchase them separately.
Having said all of this, you can take advantage of the numerous practice exams that academics like me have developed to teach you the skills you'll need to succeed on your test and give you a chance to put them to the test. You may use these for this without issue.
Follow the options in the menu at the bottom of this page to access lessons on how to respond to the 10 various types of questions on the Listening test, including practice exercises.
6. Identify your weaknesses
Spending hours upon hours taking practice tests and listening to spoken English is useless unless you recognize your areas of weakness and concentrate on strengthening them.
Do you have poor grammar, a restricted vocabulary, or do you have trouble following conversations? If you don't already know what your major difficulties are, analyzing your practice test results will help you figure out what errors you consistently make.
Transcripts of the recordings are included in the books of real test questions published by Cambridge English, as well as in some online exams. You can use these to determine why you chose a particular response incorrectly.
7. Develop unbreakable concentration
Don't allow your thoughts wander once the Listening recording starts playing. You risk losing an answer if you have even one thought that distracts you from the recording. You need to consciously stop thinking about anything else and focus just on the recording. This requires practice, but you can do it at home with ease. Simply play a Listening test audio, and for the next 25 to 30 minutes, focus solely on that. How proficient you can get at blocking things out will amaze you!
8. Avoid getting stuck on a missed answer
When the conversation shifts to a different topic and you realize you missed that answer, you can recognize it since you followed recommendation #3 and anticipated the type of response you're listening for. To prevent a chain reaction in which you lose several responses, you must now move on, read the next question, anticipate the answer type, and begin listening for it. The worst case scenario in this situation is that you lose every answer from the first one you missed to the last one in that section. However, the best-case scenario is that you just miss one answer, swiftly make up for it, and avoid trouble.
9. Get familiar with accents commonly used in IELTS
The recordings for the IELTS Listening test use speakers with British, Canadian, American, Australian, and New Zealand accents, among others. Because some words are pronounced very differently depending on the accent, you can't afford to be in a position where you are hearing one of these accents for the first time ever during an actual IELTS exam.