IELTS Listening: How do I know how good I am?
Like most IELTS candidates, you probably know which band score you are aiming for. Is it 5.5, 6.0 — perhaps even 7.5? But if you are going to plan your preparation properly, you also need to know how good you are now. How can you find that out?
IELTS Listening: The importance of good note-taking
The best listeners are engaged with whatever they are listening to. This could be a lecture at school or a conversation with a friend. Have you ever spoken to a friend and then thought, ‘Oh, what did he just say?’ because you were daydreaming? You weren’t being a good listener! And this can happen in … Read more
IELTS Listening: Making the impossible possible
‘We have to listen and read and write all at the same time — that’s impossible!’ This is a common comment from students preparing for the IELTS Listening test. It is not easy to do all of these things at the same time — especially as you only hear the listening once — but it … Read more
IELTS Listening: Three things that can go wrong
Most people find the Listening test more stressful than the Reading test. That’s because when you are reading, you have the texts in front of you and you can refer to them more than once. When you are listening, if you miss an answer, it’s gone — and because you only hear the recording once, … Read more
IELTS Listening: Help! I don’t understand the accent!
IELTS is an international test, so you might hear a range of different accents, including Australian, British, New Zealand and North American. Remember that you only hear the audio once in the Listening test so you need to be absolutely confident that you can pick out every detail first time. An unfamiliar accent can get … Read more