Introduction
One of the main purposes of this website is to provide you with an interesting (and free) way to improve your IELTS score. By using TED talks you can learn some useful vocabulary and practice your listening at the same time. But there’s more to preparing for the listening exam than just practice. You’ll need to remember the following things to get a high score in the listening exam.
1. Pre-read the questions
I always tell my students that they need to pre-read the question. They complain because they think that they don’t need to, but when they do their answers are far better. Even native speakers of English will slip up during the IELTS exam if they don’t pay attention! The key is to focus and make sure you read everything carefully before the listening track begins. If it’s a true or false question, ensure you know the meaning of each statement. Once it’s internalized, you’ll find it much easier to determine the answer. For gap-fill questions read the passage and guess at the answers. Are you listening for a verb? A noun? An adjective? A name? A number?
Even asking yourself what a topic will be helps. Look at the material on the paper. What can you tell about this listening passage? Once your brain is prepared, it will be much easier.
Furthermore, when the audio track is played, sometimes the answers come quickly with little time between them. If you’re anticipating the material, it will be easier to hear each answer and note them done. If you’re not prepared, it can be overwhelming.
2. Don’t leave any question unanswered
This is really important. You don’t get any points deducted for a wrong answer, so there’s no good reason to leave any space empty. Even if it’s a completely wrong answer, you still get zero points, so why not guess? This is particularly true for multiple choice questions. If you have no idea what the correct answer might be, you should take a guess and hope for the best.
3. Look for clues in the question
When you’re reading the question, read it carefully. Pay attention to words that might give you a clue to the answer. Think of key vocabulary, words that illustrate meaning, and synonyms for important words. Then when you’re listening, you’ll have a better chance of getting the correct answers. If, for example, the question asks about a job, remember that in the listening passage they might say “work” or “career.”
You might be presented with a map or a table, which are partly completed with blank spaces for answers. Look at the information that is already there and it will help you determine what you should listen for.
Read more… (Don’t worry 😉 It’s free and you don’t need to sign up.)
tedielts 