IELTS Listening – Test Tips

It is time for the listening component of the test. You have the booklet and the answer sheet and you are gripping that pencil as if your life depended on it. Suddenly, the watchman presses the Play button on the CD player. During the first five to ten minutes you concentrate as much as possible and write down the answers. But at some point, maybe in the middle of recording or right after, your mind seems to drift away. By the time you snap back to reality, you’ve missed a couple of answers, at which point your brain races and you have no idea what to write and you miss another answer or two.

This happened to me while taking the test and to a lot of people. Sometimes it’s hard to focus for long periods in that kind of artificial environment.

There are other reasons for missing answers:

– The test location is near a road and traffic noises are suddenly louder than the recording. Test organizers will usually do everything they can to ensure this doesn’t happen, but they can’t stop ambulances or fire trucks from rushing to an emergency.

– Other examinees around you are coughing, sneezing or making noise.

– You have heard a word with which you are not familiar and your brain is suddenly struggling to make sense of it, even if it is not related to any question.

These are things that we cannot control, so you should not let them affect you. Getting angry or upset on test day will not help you get a good grade.

What can you do before the exam to prepare?

– Take some practice listening tests and listen without headphones to get used to ambient noises. You can find a lot online these days if you don’t have the CD practice books.

– Watch the news or documentaries on TV (without subtitles) or listen to the radio, but not while you are doing something else. Set aside some time for this activity just to see how long you can focus to get the gist. You have to be able to do it for 20 minutes or more.

What can you do during the test?

If you have missed some answers, reread the text or the question and try to guess them. Most of the time these will be everyday words, and in some cases alternative answers can be accepted as correct. You will not lose any points if you give an incorrect answer.