If you are an English learner preparing for the exam you already have a fair share of ideas on how the IELTS listening section can feel like a race against the native speakers. With fast speaking accents, peculiar spelling and lack of time, it is no wonder that there are plenty of students asking, “why is my IELTS listening score so low?”. Nevertheless, it might help if one follows some IELTS listening tips, has proper IELTS listening preparation beforehand and makes a few habit changes. In this way, you can boost your score and reach band 7+ despite non native speaker.
Format of the IELTS Listening Test
One of the first things that you should understand about preparing for the IELTS is the format of the IELTS listening test. It has four parts altogether, starting from simple conversations and going up to lectures, and getting progressively harder at each step along the way. This will help you figure out how much time you have for the IELTS listening tests.
Typical mistakes to avoid in IELTS Listening Tests
A lot of students end up losing important marks in this part due to problems which can easily be avoided. Some of the common IELTS listening mistakes include:
Losing your pace after missing one answer and panicking through the next few
Spelling errors, even when the answer was heard correctly, is one of the biggest reasons candidates lose points, so learning how to avoid spelling mistakes in IELTS Listening is essential
Writing more words than allowed (always check the word limit)
Not reading questions ahead of time, making it harder to predict what you'll hear and what information is needed
Being aware of these patterns enables you to make the first step to improving your listening comprehension and IELTS band score.
How to improve your listening comprehension for IELTS
If you're not a native speaker of English and if you're wondering how to improve your English listening skills for IELTS, then firstly you need to improve your general listening comprehension and practice the test format. Develop your normal English listening skills every day for IELTS:
Listen actively for 15-20 minutes per day. These are all appropriate such as podcasts, YouTube interviews, news. Do it only when you are aware of what things you want to know and that you are always enthusiastic about it.
Work on various pronunciation styles: Listening to accent practice tips are often ignored but there are so many accents in the test including British, Australian, American and Canadian accents. You will be better at using different sounds with listening to different accents.
Repeat others: Repeating phrases immediately after hearing them will help to cultivate listening for subtitles in natural speech.
Listen and note down, not listen and note down later: Noting down things while listening in the IELTS listening test will enable you to note down important things including numbers, letters, and even symbols.
The following are some tips which might help you to focus during the IELTS listening test
Concentration while listening is very difficult for students, particularly in the later sections when they become exhausted. The following are some tips:
Practice one session at a time, rather than multiple short sessions.
Eliminate outside distractions
Make training sessions longer, but first time do 10 minutes longer and then the actual 30 minutes of the exam.
How to Practice IELTS Listening at Home
Self-study can take you only so far: that's why many English learning students find themselves stuck at a certain level, unable to improve further due to a lack of personalized feedback on their notes and technique. This is where Online Class Nepal (OCN) can help you with your final IELTS Listening prep:
One-to-one mentor review of your notes helps you learn from your mistakes. OCN's mentors can go over your notes with you to see where you could improve your note-taking skills in future practice exams so you don't repeat your errors in the real test.
Unlimited practice tests to perfect your IELTS Listening notes-taking technique. With OCN, you can take as many practice tests as you want to get better at your notes-taking technique until it becomes second nature to you during the exam.
Custom-made notes taking strategy to help you reach your desired IELTS band score. OCN can design a tailor-made course for you according to your current English level and desired band score for IELTS. This way, if you're aiming for an overall IELTS score average of 7 or higher, your tutor will be able to help you develop a plan for improving your listening score that takes into account your other scores.
Videoed sessions for referencing following the lesson. All OCN's lessons are recorded, allowing you to review and re-watch them over and over, reviewing what your mentor showed you during the lesson and how they helped you with your notes taking.
Ask Questions via WhatsApp support between sessions. Between lessons, you will be able to ask questions on WhatsApp and get feedback on how to correct any errors you make, instead of making the same mistakes on your next practice test or on the actual test.
Final Thoughts
As an English language learner, the process of preparing for the IELTS listening test requires much patience, persistence, and motivation on your part. The time you spend on yourself will definitely be compensated by the band score you will receive in the end.