Introduction to IELTS Listening
[The important IELTS listening tips to help you score well in your test. Learn about the content, question types, writing the answers, scoring, note making etc.]
In this series I am going to give you all the essential information and tips you need to be successful in your IELTS listening test. We are going to start by reviewing the exam content and then we will move on and I will give you a lot of useful tips.
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Only one listening test
So there is only one IELTS listening test, for both Academic IELTS and General Training IELTS. All IELTS students take the same listening test, the same questions, the same format and the same scoring. It is exactly the same for everyone.
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There are 4 Sections and 40 Questions
Section 1 (Social) two speakers
Section 2 (Social) one speaker
Section 3 (Academic) three/four speakers
Section 4 (Academic) One speaker
Having the look at the content of the listening test, there are 4 sections and there are 40 questions in total. Now the first two sections are the easiest, and that are social. That means the context; the situation is the social situation, an everyday situation. And last two sections are more difficult. They are academic in content.
Section 1: The section one has two speakers, a social situation. A typical example is a phone conversation where somebody is registering for course, so for example they need to book the course and they need to know that what date, they need your name, your address, your telephone number or perhaps you are booking a table at a restaurant or organizing to meet someone and you are going to think of the time you are going to meet. So it’s very specific information and it is quite easy and it’s also easy to improve that section.
Section 2: The second section is also social, but it has only one speaker. A typical example e would be a tour guide, explaining about a resort, what facilities there are or the history behind the resort. Another example would be of talking about an historical building or talking about a charity a company or organization,
Section 3: Section three is the first academic section, and there are 3-4 speakers. Now this is challenging, as this is an academic discussion, now when you get 3-4 speakers, that means you get different voices and you have to be able to identify who is speaking and who is saying what. That could be quite challenging but the most difficult one is the number four. That has only one speaker and that is an academic lecture.
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Test Duration
- Length = 40 minutes
- 30 Minutes = Audio
- 10 Minutes = transfer answers to the answer sheet
The listening test takes 40 minutes in total, 30 minutes all for the audio. That means you have 30 min to listen to the recording and answer the questions. At the end of the 30 min you are given another ten minutes and that’s so that you can transfer your answers from the question paper which is where you write your answers when you listening to the answer sheet.
So this is the basic format of the IELTS Listening Test. I will be coming with some useful tips for IELTS Listening in my coming lessons.
Till then All the best!
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