Sitting in a cosy room with a pencil in hand and a paper full of questions might create an environment of panic. This scenario can make you a bit nervous. As the recording starts, a confident British accent starts to explain a scene to you. It might get on your nerves and make you a bit scared. IELTS is not just about learning English but adapting the art of listening.
Listening tests can play an important role in getting a high score. Here in this blog, our experienced experts of IELTS Coaching in Ahmedabad will help improve your score by providing 11 Tips To Improve IELTS Listening Score.
1. Practice Will Make You Perfect
Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong. Like this quote, you need to expose yourself to English every day to improve the way you speak and understand the language. Try to listen to a variety of English content regularly. By doing this, you can increase the adaptability of English in your day-to-day activity.
Take a practice test to know your current position and analyse your growth. Time yourself while practising.
Remember, consistency is the key.
2. It’s All About The Keywords
Identifying and understanding the keyword is an essential part of the listening test. Thus, you should read the question paper beforehand to understand what is asked. Always have a pencil in your hand to underline the keywords in the question so you know what you have to listen to. In most cases, the exact word might not be asked, so you would have to look for synonyms of that word. It leads us to our next tip.
3. Improve Your Vocabulary
Improving your vocabulary will not only help you in the IELTS Exam but also help in your day-to-day routine. Improving vocabulary is considered one of the best ways to improve your IELTS score. Having a wide range of vocabulary in your head will make you less hesitate when a difficult word comes around. This preparation helps prevent you from getting stuck on unfamiliar words and lets you focus on grasping the overall message. This is one of the most important Tips to Improve IELTS Listening Score.
4. Understand What Is Essential And Non-Essential.
When you IELTS listen to a recording during the test, you should understand not all information is vital. You should know which information is of use and which has to be ignored to cope with the ongoing test.
You can develop this skill of analysing the content by practising, taking notes, and summarising. Having frequent practice can help you understand which information can be ignored. Adapting this skill will save you time and also increase your accuracy.
5. You Only Listen Once
In IELTS Listening, you only get one chance to listen, so you have to catch up with everything the first time. Just like in life, there is only one chance, but here, we have many chances to practice before going on the final journey. You will have 30 minutes and 40 questions to answer. Use your time effectively for practising so that one-time listening is enough for you.
6. Understand Your Question Type
You might think, why is it important to understand the type of question? It is a good thought. Knowing and understanding the different types of questions is vital because it helps in familiarising a different approach. As there is a time restriction in the test, it is essential to know the best strategy to solve the problem.
The IELTS Listening section includes multiple question types such as multiple choice, matching, labelling, flowchart, sentence completion, and short-answer questions. Make sure you understand the format and requirements of each type. This is one of those Tips to Improve IELTS Listening Score which will also help you in other IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training Tests.
7. Transfer Your Answers Carefully
At the end of the IELTS examination, you are provided with an extra ten minutes to transfer your answer. It is crucial to avoid mistakes. Thus, ensure accuracy in spelling, capitalisation, and grammar. You can lose marks for silly mistakes while transferring answers.
Check spelling
Use accurate grammar
Read the instructions carefully
Use the extra time wisely
Check capitalisation
8. Use Abbreviations
As you go through the IELTS listening test, you will have to be quick and efficient. Using abbreviations can help you save time. During the exam, you will write your answers on a rough sheet while listening to the recording. Writing complete words and sentences can consume a lot of time, so it is better to go for abbreviations while framing your answers in rough.
9. Beware of Distractors
In IELTS Listening, you will have to be very cautious of distractions. There might be many points where there will be words or phrases that will lead you in the wrong direction. These distractions are designed to test your attention to detail and comprehension skills.
What happens here is that, in the beginning, when the speaker starts to speak, it sounds like the answer, and later, there might be nothing important in it.
10. Attempt All Questions
If you wish to increase your IELTS score, then attempt all the answers, as there are no penalties for a wrong answer. If you feel that you have missed an answer, then GUESS! But do not leave it blank.
Even if you’re unsure of an answer, taking a guess is better than leaving it blank. Every question is an opportunity to gain points, so use them all.
11. Test Day Tips to Improve IELTS Listening Score
The day of the examination is finally here, but there is no need to panic. We have gone through all the required tips, which you must know before the examination. Here it comes, the last tip that you have to follow on the day of the examination. While you go for an examination, make sure to adhere to these tips:
Concentrate: Read the instructions and listen to the audio with utmost
concentration.
Specific information: Pay more attention to content like name, date, time, or other
minute details.
Conversation: Try to understand the idea and details of the conversation going on in
the audio
Similarity: Make sure you use the words that the speaker uses in talks, such as
firstly, on the other hand, to name a few, etc.
Word count: Read the instructions carefully to avoid any penalty for marks.
Now you are all set for your exam. Follow these Tips to Improve IELTS Listening Score. If you have any further doubts, then at Madhavi’s British Academy, we are just a ring away. Reach out to us for more information on IELTS.
