Listening Tip # 1 - use transcript.
Use an IELTS Listening test - just choose from all the links in the right sidebar. You need a test that has transcript, so I suggest Listening test # 1 (be patient, their site is slow).First try just listening, to get used to the accent. Then start working with a recording and a transcript: go over the recording, stop it every sentence and use transcript to make sure that you understand every word.
Use an IELTS Listening test - just choose from all the links in the right sidebar. You need a test that has transcript, so I suggest Listening test # 1 (be patient, their site is slow).First try just listening, to get used to the accent. Then start working with a recording and a transcript: go over the recording, stop it every sentence and use transcript to make sure that you understand every word.
Listening Tip # 2 - repeat phrases
You can use any recording. First, listen, remember what you heard and stop the recording after each phrase. Even if you didn’t understand the phrase, play it in your head a couple of times, like a broken record “Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”.Then say it out loud. If you understood that phrase at first, this exercise will improve your pronunciation. If you didn’t understand the phrase for the first time, this repetition will give you more time to hear it better, break it into words and make sense out of them. And if it is still difficult, you can always rewind and hear the phrase again.
Listening Tip # 3 - don’t let them distract you
In Listening section of IELTS the recording “speaks” several different voices - of younger and older people, men and women. You may also hear different accents - Australian, British, American, Japanese, etc. The background noise is also different. It can be of airport, cafe-shop, street, University lecture hall, you name it. Be ready for it and don’t let it distract you - because that is exactly what they want. Ignore the noises and listen for the answers.
Of course, the accent you hear the most is British. Suggestion: when you are studying for IELTS, listen to as much British accent as you can. Where can you get it? I liked what BBC have - visit BBC site by clicking here. You can listen there to news (and read the transcript), learn the news vocabulary, learn the pronunciation, etc. Try it, you might like it.
A very good site to use for listening exercises in American English is VOA News - click here to visit it. This is how they recommend using their site:“The short sentences, limited vocabulary and slow pace of speaking make it easy to understand. It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way. People around the world practice their listening and speaking skills by recording the programs and playing them repeatedly. Internet users can also listen to programs on the Special English Web site while reading the text.”
Hang in there, people, more tips are coming!
Listening: The right way to answer
Of course, the accent you hear the most is British. Suggestion: when you are studying for IELTS, listen to as much British accent as you can. Where can you get it? I liked what BBC have - visit BBC site by clicking here. You can listen there to news (and read the transcript), learn the news vocabulary, learn the pronunciation, etc. Try it, you might like it.
A very good site to use for listening exercises in American English is VOA News - click here to visit it. This is how they recommend using their site:“The short sentences, limited vocabulary and slow pace of speaking make it easy to understand. It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way. People around the world practice their listening and speaking skills by recording the programs and playing them repeatedly. Internet users can also listen to programs on the Special English Web site while reading the text.”
Hang in there, people, more tips are coming!
Listening: The right way to answer
Listening Tip # 4 - Answer as you listen
What I mean here is that you need to listen and write the answer at the same time.Make no mistake - it is not a very natural thing for you, so you have to practice a lot in it.The reason you have to “answer as you listen” is that you immediately forget the sentences after you have heard them. This is what stress, foreign language, constant flow of information does - it makes you forget. After hearing the third sentence you won’t be able to repeat the first. It means that when any part of Listening is over - you won’t be able to remember any of answers. So write them as you hear them, leave nothing for later.
Listening tip # 5
Lately I was thinking a lot of IELTS-Blog and what I should add to it. So far, I’ve decided to continue posting Listening tips, but if you, guys, have better ideas - please let me know.
Know your clues
The answer is usually pronounced louder and clearer, it is easier to hear and understand. If you can’t hear something clearly (because the speaker swallows words or whispers), then probably the answer is not there. Practice and you’ll learn to tell the difference.
A good clue to answer is when you hear a repetition of a word, a word being spelled out (G A R F U N K E L) or a number dictated.
The following conversation is a classic example of repetition:
Mary-Joe: “These days there are many changes in our company policy”
Kathy:”Oh, what kind of changes?”
It is clear that the word “changes” is a clue of answer.
Lately I was thinking a lot of IELTS-Blog and what I should add to it. So far, I’ve decided to continue posting Listening tips, but if you, guys, have better ideas - please let me know.
Know your clues
The answer is usually pronounced louder and clearer, it is easier to hear and understand. If you can’t hear something clearly (because the speaker swallows words or whispers), then probably the answer is not there. Practice and you’ll learn to tell the difference.
A good clue to answer is when you hear a repetition of a word, a word being spelled out (G A R F U N K E L) or a number dictated.
The following conversation is a classic example of repetition:
Mary-Joe: “These days there are many changes in our company policy”
Kathy:”Oh, what kind of changes?”
It is clear that the word “changes” is a clue of answer.