IELTS Listening Skills | How To Pass

How To Pass the IELTS Listening Exam - Key Skills

Understand the exam format

The exam is 40 Minutes, 40 Questions and has 4 parts with 10 questions each.

Part 1 – form filling exercise with two speakers.
Part 2 – everyday social situations between two speakers.

Parts 3 & 4 – educational & training situations, e.g. university student & tutor.

Part 3 – a conversation between two speakers.
Part 4 – one person speaks on an academic subject.

You hear the recordings only once. The questions are always in the same order as the recording.

IELTS.org provide these sample Test Papers.

Think about a realistic achievement strategy

The listening tests get progressively more challenging because of the use of an increased number of synonyms & paraphrases. The student might adopt a strategy such as:

Part 1: Score 9/10 – easy marks – with less challenging questions

Part 2: Score 7/10 – achievable – expect the use of synonyms

Part 3: Score +6/10 – challenging – synonyms & paraphrases

Part 4: Score +5/10 – more challenging – synonyms & paraphrases

Thus a total of 27 = IELTS 6.5 score.

You cannot listen & read questions at the same time

Any listening exam always starts the same way with the examiner saying ‘you now have some time to read the questions’. There is a very good reason for this.

Our brains can not listen & read questions at the same time – that is why you are asked to read the questions first. You cannot listen & write answers at the same time – that is why you are given 10 minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet at the Exam end.

What you do in the time given to read questions

Students should understand what you do in the time you are given to read the questions determines your exam grade. If you have not prepared yourself to receive and hear the answers, you will struggle in the test.

Using keywords is critical to your success. They:

carry the main meaning – this is important because you cannot listen and read the questions at the same time. The questions have to be in your head using keywords;

help you keep focus on the recording so you know what question you are on. Do not lose focus on the recording. Never be in the situation where you are asking yourself ‘what question are we on Q1, Q2, Q3 …. ?’

help identify when an answer is likely to be said;

help you think about synonyms, paraphrases & distractors. This is important because by question 3 or 4, synonyms are likely to be used rather than keywords.

How to select keywords effectively

select only 1 or 2 words;

why? – you cannot keep more than 1 – 2 words in your mind and think about synonyms & paraphrases at the same time;

select words that are easy to listen for such as name nouns.

Understand the structure of a listening exam

all listening exams essentially have the same structure;

it is important to understand the structure of the listening exam & the problems you face;

once you understand the problems you can be ready for them.

Problem 1 & 2: There is always an Introduction part of the recording. The problem is you do not know how long this time period is.

You should not listen for understanding in the introduction. You are only listening for the first keyword. 80% of the time, the listening exam will give you the exact keyword in the first question.

You must be ready to hear this word, otherwise you do not know question 1 has started. The mistake students make is that they get impatient during the Introduction period, think they have missed the question and make the fatal error of going back to the questions to read them again. The moment you start reading, the brain switches off listening to concentrate on reading the student misses the first key word.

Problem 3: Students must practice the skill of quickly thinking about synonyms. Why? The exam structure is always the same. By question 3 or 4, the student can expect the recording will use synonyms or paraphrases. Identify possible synonyms while reading the questions is critical. For example, if question 3 uses the words Saturday or Sunday, think that the recording is likely to use the synonym ‘weekend’.

Problem 4: It is important to develop 2 different listening strategies:

Listening for Keywords – in the Introduction & when going to the next question. You are not listening for meaning;

Listening for Meaning – after the Keyword, Synonyms or Paraphrases is said, you listen for the meaning & answer.

Again to stress the point, what you do in the time given to read questions determines you grade.

Understand the question

This sounds simple, but many students under-estimate the importance of this.

If you do not fully understand the question and have formatted in your mind the type of answer you are listening for, you will not hear the answer.

A simple example, students often get wrong.

The listening exam question asks:

You are going to listen to 4 Speakers talking about illegal downloading.
Would each speaker download anything illegally?

The first step is to identify the keyword to listen for. When asked what the keyword is, many students say ‘illegal downloading’, having not fully understood the question. This is incorrect.

The keyword to listen for is ‘Yes or No’ or a synonym such as ‘maybe’.

Summary of Listening Steps

read the question – twice so you do not misread it;
check the number of words required;
how you use the time given to read the questions is important;
identify keywords effectively in questions – critical for question 1;
think about synonyms & paraphrases;
prepare yourself – sketch out the format of answer in your mind;
be prepared for a short / long introduction;
change your listening type to match progress through recording;
synonyms, paraphrases & distractors are likely after Q2;
do not lose focus on the recording – know what question you are on;
check your grammar, plurals & capitalisation of name nouns.

The listening tests in more detail

Type of tests

Part 1 – form filling exercise with two speakers.

Type 1 – form filling, note, table, flow-chart, summary completion;
Type 2 – sentence completion;

Part 2 & 3 – a conversation between two speakers (social situations & academic).

Type 3 – multiple choice A,B,C;
Type 4 – sentence completion (text or table);
Type 5 – label a map / plan / diagram/ flowchart;
Type 6 – 1 answer from a variety of options;
Type 7 – more than 1 answer from a variety of options;
Type 8 – short answer;

Part 4 – one person speaks on an academic subject.

Type 2 – sentence completion.

IELTS.org provide these sample Test Papers.

Listening Part 1 – How To ..

two speakers, form filling with basic information;
achievement strategy 9/10 – easy marks with basic questions;
do not make silly errors and throw marks away;
think about what type of information is required – noun, number ..
be ready for answers that are said quickly e.g. phone numbers;
name nouns are spelt with capital letters;
check spelling, grammar & plurals number of words required;
Date format – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th ..31st March.

Listening Part 2 – How To ..

everyday social situations between two speakers;
the use of keywords in questions is critical;
achievement strategy 7/10 – achievable, expect synonyms;
Type 1 – multiple choice A,B,C;
Type 2 – sentence completion (Text or Table);
Type 3 – label a map / plan;
Type 4 – 1 answer from a variety of options;
Type 5 – more than 1 answer from a variety of options.

Listening Part 3 – How To ..

a conversation between two speakers in a educational or training situation;
achievement strategy +6/10 – challenging – synonyms & paraphrases;
supercritical you identify the first keyword;
listen to questions without losing focus on the recording;
a lot of synonyms & especially paraphrases are used.

Listening Part 4 – How To ..

one speaker – no breaks – in an educational or training situation;
the most challenging test;
achievement strategy +5/10 – a lot of synonyms & paraphrases;
the Introduction could be long or short;
supercritical you identify the first keyword;
use keywords to guide you progressively through the questions without losing focus on the recording.

IELTS Preparation Lessons

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