If you are considering taking the IELTS exam, you might already be aware that the fee they charge can be pretty high. Thus you want to ensure that your score is perfect the first time around so you do not need to dole out another hefty payment to retake the test.
One of the components they test in the IELTS exam is your listening ability. The candidate’s ability to understand and comprehend English is tested by the candidates having to listen to an audio clip and then answering certain questions about the clip they have listened to.
It is imperative to score well in this component of the test as it contributes greatly to your overall score and this component is fairly easy to score in hence you should do your best not to lose any marks in this segment.
Here are 5 tips which will help you obtain a higher score in the listening portion of your IELTS exam:
1. Focus on The Audio
This might seem fairly obvious but you would be surprised how many people confuse hearing with listening. Hearing is when you physically hear the sounds and listening is when you hear the sounds and encode them into your memory and make sense of them. Make sure you have no distractions around you and you are solely focusing on the audio clip. Listen to the story intently, and do not get distracted or lose focus because of your nervousness.
2. Practice, Practice, Practice
One of the best ways to ensure a better score in the listening component of the IELTS is to practice beforehand. Listen to short 5 minute audio stories on YouTube or any other website, and then after you are done write down a summary of the story, not missing out any of the vital details. Play the audio clip again and check whether your summary was correct all the way through. You could even find certain audio clips which have questions with them which you can use after you have listened to practice for your IELTS listening segment.
Obviously, this website recommends using TED Talks for IELTS practice, so go ahead and search through our archives to find ones that are interesting for you. I really like this one about education and this one by Bill Gates.
3. Mnemonic Devices
A mnemonic device is a tool which helps you remember details with ease, such as singing something to the tune of a song you know or making acronyms for words to help you remember certain terms or ideas better. There are various mnemonic devices which you can use, you can choose the one which is easiest for you to follow. These will help you remember vital information from the audio clip in a better fashion so you do not forget it.
4. Encode All the Information
When you are listening to the audio clip, make sure you understand the information you are hearing. Make sense of what you are hearing by playing it out in your head. If there are certain words in the audio which are unfamiliar to you, make sense of them according to the context; do not ignore them under any circumstance. If you try to make sense of them you will remember the audio better and have a better understanding of it overall. Thus when you answer the questions you will do a much better job.
IELTS Listening Practice for Section 4
Here’s a video to help you practice your IELTS listening skills:
For those spoiled by spellcheck and, hence, losing points because of spelling mistakes, do you have any recommendations on what to use to target this particular problem? Any apps?
Thanks!
I’m asked this a lot and honestly I don’t have a great answer. Spelling is really hard in English, even for native speakers. There are some ideas here: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/how-to-improve-english-spelling/