Prepare For Ielts Listening

[Onfroi Baird]

Thefollowing plan relates to the first Practice Test in The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS. If you do not have this text, you can apply a similar plan to a different practice test if you have one, or find a practice test to download from this blog post.

Reading: There are three reading passages in Practice Test 1 (pages 160-170). Choose ONE of the passages and complete the questions related to that passage only. You should complete all questions in 20 minutes.

Writing: If you have time, complete both writing tasks for Practice Test 1 (page 171). Just complete one of the two if you are short on time. The first Task should take no more than 20 minutes. The second Task should take no more than 40 minutes.

It is critical to approach the IELTS Reading paper strategically. Many students are surprised to learn that, in fact, it is NOT advisable to read each IELTS Reading passage carefully before responding to questions. That approach would take too much time for most IELTS-takers. You can boost your Reading score significantly by utilizing several key Reading strategies. Your Reading video lessons target these skills directly.

Optional blog post: The Complete Guide to IELTS Listening. Like our complete IELTS Reading guide from Day 2, you can either use this as a source of quick reference for extra guidance, or read the post in greater depth.

Writing Lessons: Make sure you watch the videos for Academic Task 1 or General Training Task 1 (depending on which version of the IELTS you need to take). You should also watch the video Introduction to Task 2. Other videos in this section will help you plan and organize your essays. Depending on how much time you have today, watch as many as you can!

Practice: You should practice preparing a few (3-5, or more if possible!) responses for Part 2 of the Speaking test. Here is huge collection of IELTS Speaking question prompts we put together at Magoosh. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Part 2 prompts.

You should time yourself strictly for each section. Put your pencil down after 60 minutes when you take your Writing exam, for example. No cheating! You need to see how much you can do within IELTS time limits.

The purpose of the academic writing task 2 is to show that you can write a formal 5-paragraph essay and look at different sides of an issue. You can use personal experience in the essay, but you should make sure to clearly show how that personal experience links to the prompt and how it supports your opinion. For example, you can talk about how your personal experience shaped your opinion, but you should also clearly show how your personal experiences are part of a wider trend and can be generalized to many people.

The format of the two exams are the same: four skills, four tests. In addition, the listening and speaking sections are exactly the same, so your preparation in these areas will work for both the Academic and General tests. ?

Hi Monika, you can use our one week study plan to help you prepare. If you become a Magoosh Premium Student, you will have the option to get an essay graded. At this time we do not grade speaking responses.

Here are the top 5 IELTS Listening tips to help you increase your score in IELTS Listening for the Academic and General tests. Follow these IELTS test tips when you practice taking IELTS tests and on IELTS test day. See your IELTS Listening score improve, even if you have only a short time to study before the IELTS test.

Throughout the IELTS Listening test, you will have a total of about 7.5 minutes of time to look at questions and answers. Most of this time will be silent, so you can more easily focus on the questions and answers.

The largest amount of time is at the very beginning of the test before the Section 1 conversation begins. During those 2.5 minutes, you will hear the test narrator welcome you to the test and give instructions on how to answer questions. Also, you will hear about 15-30 seconds of conversation from the beginning of the Section 1 conversation. They play this part of the conversation to explain to you how to answer fill-in-the-blank questions. At some point, the narrator will tell you that you have some time to look at the Section 1 questions. Lastly, the test narrator will tell you the test is about the begin.

The IELTS Listening test has 4 sections. Sections 1 & 2 usually have shorter questions and answers, so they are easier and faster to look at. But Sections 3 & 4 usually have longer questions and answers. You need more time to read the questions and answers and think about what makes each answer different than the others.

Also, look for Multiple-Choice questions. If they have long answer choices, it will take longer to examine and prepare them. This is because you need to analyze long answer choices and determine what makes them different from each other. Therefore, spend some time looking at those Multiple-Choice questions and answers so that you are not rushing to look at them later in the test.

Spending some extra time on Sections 3 & 4 will give you a better chance to being ready to hear some of the more complicated and specific information talked about in the Section 3 conversation and Section 4 lecture.

In Sections 1 and 3 of the IELTS Listening test, you are going to be listening to conversations where they try to trick you in some very specific and predictable ways. Listen for these tricks when you are taking practice IELTS exams!

So, on test day, when you answering Listening questions, always focus on keywords for two questions at at time. Move your eyes back and forth between the questions and answer choices for the two questions, which will give you a better chance of hearing clues for both questions. For example, once you hear the answer to Question #15, you shift you focus to looking at key words for Questions #16 and #17!

So, remember to use all the silent times between conversations and presentations to prepare for the next part of the IELTS Listening test or for a part that looks more difficult. Listen to how the IELTS conversation and presentation speakers use their voice to help you hear the correct answer. It takes time to become effective with these techniques, so practice using these techniques many times before IELTS test day so that they become a habit! Remember to use these 5 IELTS Listening tips every time you are doing mock IELTS Listening tests, and you will see your IELTS Listening score improve!

Whether you have taken the IELTS test before, you will benefit from completing this course on the listening and speaking sections of the exam. The lessons in this course will improve your overall skills in both listening and speaking, and they will prepare you for every type of question in these sections of the test, increasing your chances of getting your target band scores.

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

If you have studied at university, it is common practice for university lecturers to show you the exam questions from previous exams. I remember spending hours looking at these when I was a student to check that I could answer the previous questions. However, was this how I PREPARED for those tests? No! The preparation came in the lectures and tutor groups that I attended. If I had just looked at the exam questions, I would have found it almost impossible to pass!

In the same way, if you are studying IELTS in a school or a good preparation centre, you should complete only a small number of tests from the Cambridge books in class. Instead, your teacher should be preparing you with a good course book like Objective IELTS, Ready for IELTS, or IELTS Masterclass, which introduces each of the skills tested in the exam alongside useful vocabulary and grammar structures.

Yes, we did reading and listening, but in those lessons we were focusing on how to approach each type of question, improving our language, and breaking down difficult questions to understand how they work.

I understand that not everybody who takes IELTS wants to study in a classroom with a teacher, but you should be using the same principles when you use the Cambridge books at home. Definitely use the books at the start of your preparation to understand the format of the test and your current score, but once you have taken two or three tests to do this, STOP.

Instead, go away and do something to improve your skills. This might be improving your language by studying lexis or grammar, or focusing on one type of question to understand what it tests and why you are finding it difficult.

Once you locate the underlying problem, you can then go and find some lessons that will help you learn a better technique (i.e. like those here on my blog). Every type of question requires a unique approach, so find out what that is and PRACTICE!

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