Practicalities of the IELTS Listening Test

by Anna
(France)

Improving in 3 Months?

Hi! Do you think is three months enough to improve listening skills?

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Oct 14, 2015
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Listening Skills
by: IELTS buddy

Yes you can improve in 3 months, but by how much it is impossible to tell you.

That would depend on several things, such as how much time you have each day and your current level of ability.

Also, whether you can get the IELTS score you need would depend on your level now and what score you need.

For example, going from a 5.5 to a 7 in two months is very unlikely.

Oct 15, 2015
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comment
by: Anonymous

dear
if you realize that you are able to summarize what you have listened to script, then you would be fully confident to appear the exam.

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Do we have headphones in the IELTS listening test?

by anu

For the listening task do I get individual head-phone or do I listen from a common place - Like Radio? What will happen if I have hearing problem?

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Jul 19, 2015
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IELTS Listening
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Anu,

In the past it was through speakers for everyone, but I believe most test centres now use individual headphones. But if you want to know for sure, phone up your local centre and check.

They do a test check before the listening starts. If you have any problem with your headphones then you will need to put up your hand and tell the staff.

Mar 28, 2016
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ielts listing
by: fatii

british council lahore provides us with headphones or speakers for listening test?

Mar 31, 2016
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headphones in the IELTS listening test
by: IELTS buddy

I think most do now, but you'd need to check with the centre. Give them a call.

Feb 24, 2017
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No headphones provided in Austria
by: Anonymous

I made blunder by conducting exam in Austria, Vienna to improve my overall band score from 7 to 8 or 9.

They conducted exam in Auditorium without headphones and the voice was full of echo. Couldn't hear conversation clearly and missed lots of questions and my listening score got dipped from 8.5 to 6. Horrible experience waste of time and money and missed immigration opportunity.

They should be consistent, no matter how much you practice, such things ruin everything during test.

Mar 04, 2017
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Nope
by: Anonymous

You won't be able to hear something without headphones, don't take the exam or register if there is no headphones just take toefl exam at least you'll be sure that there will be no problem with the sound

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How can I write the answers while I am listening?

by martialyao

what am i supposed to do to be able to write the answers while i am listening?

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May 31, 2014
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IELTS Listening
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

You will get better at this with practice, but remember you can write your answers in the listening booklet and then you have 10 minutes to transfer them at the end.

So just write your answers quickly and don't worry about spelling or grammar.

You can sort this out at the end when you transfer your answers.

This will mean you get less distracted from the listening.

Thanks

Jun 22, 2014
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Listening tips
by: Ikechukwu Square

Listen attentively and with full concentration. Read the questions first but don't worry about understanding everything and Write as fast as you hear the answer in the provided paper. Tranfer to the answer sheet and correct all spelling.

Good luck

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Can I read though the test during the example at the beginning?

by raju
(india)

hello,

in the beginning of the test, in the listening part, the narrator gives an example of how to answer the questions.. during this 1-2 minutes of time, is the test sheet is open to me? and can i start reading and understanding the rest of the questions??

thanks!

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Sep 05, 2015
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When you can start looking at the listening test
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Raju,

Yes, the IELTS listening booklet will be yours to look at as soon as the test starts, so you can use that time to look at the rest of the questions if you like.

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IELTS Listening is too fast

by Johnny Wang

How to handle the problem that i can't hear the IELTS Listening clearly? He reads too fast!

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May 05, 2015
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IELTS Listening is too fast
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Johnny,

There is not much you can do about this apart from improve your listening skills.

If it is too fast and you can't understand it then your listening skills are weak.

A lot of people will struggle with part 4, and part 3 as well maybe. But if the whole thing is too fast then your skills must be quite weak.

You need to just focus on improving your listening skills generally without worrying too much at the moment whether it is 'IELTS' listening or not. There are plenty of sites online where you can do listening practice yourself.

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Difficulty with IELTS maps in the listening section

by huma747@hotmail.com
(Canada)

Hello,

I have a difficulty in academic listening, especially maps.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Thanks

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Jun 21, 2015
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Map description
by: Mohammed

The important thing in map is to locate your position on the starting, for example in the park or building or youth center description, they usually give you three or four gate on the map and you need to know exactly which one you should start with and they will guide you on the record starting.

Nov 07, 2015
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Difficulty with IELTS maps
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

Yes, with the map you need to know language that is used to give directions and state where things are.

There is now a lesson on the site to help with describing maps.

Check it out here:

IELTS Listening Map Labelling

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Accents in IELTS Listening

by Victoria
(Mississauga)

Hi everyone,

I am taking my general IELTS on Saturday this week.

However, I am wondering if my listening will be in a Canadian accent dialog. Anyone has any idea for me?

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Sep 07, 2016
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Accents in IELTS Listening
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Victoria,

Nobody knows what is going to be in the next IELTS test as it is confidential.

However, you can get any kind of accents in the test, such as Canadian or North American.

Nov 10, 2016
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Head phones in IELTS
by: Anonymous

Sir, does headphones effects our ears? As doctors recommend not using these too much. Please tell.

Nov 10, 2016
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Head phones in IELTS
by: IELTS buddy

They won't be loud enough to damage your ears!

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American and British English Spelling

by Firdavs
(Moscow, Russia)

Hello!

During my preparation to listening section I have met the word "center(re)". What is the difference between them? Are both correct if I will write any of them on answer sheet?

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Oct 21, 2016
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Center or Centre
by: IELTS buddy

One is English spelling (centre) the other is North American spelling (center).

Both would be correct as American and British English are both accepted.

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'z' or 's'

by Egle

Helllo

I'd like to ask which spelling (organization or organisation) is correct in IELTS, as at the listening test I wrote the answer with 's' and I wonder if it is going to be ok.

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Jan 17, 2017
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'z' or 's'
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

Both are ok as you can use US or British spelling in the IELTS test.

Jan 17, 2017
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Yay
by: Egle

Thanks a lot!

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Filling in Two Gaps

by Gabriele
(UK)

Hi,

I have a question about the answer sheet. I had my exam yesterday and in the listening and reading tests there were two blank spaces for one answer.

One question was about meters and it said:

"It should be between ... and ... meters high"

And another one about tools:

"They were made of ... and ...".

When transferring my answers to the answer sheet I separated both of the numbers and words with a slash:

"10 / 15"
"stone / wood".

Was I wrong for using a slash?

What should we use to separate two words?

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Nov 24, 2016
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Separating Two Words
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Gabriele,

Yes, for questions like that, it is fine to put a slash to separate them.

You can also have the words in either order.

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Question Order in IELTS Listening

by Jul

Hi, are the questions in the same order as they get played. What I mean by this, is if the answer to question 2 comes always after question 1, and the answer to question 3 after question 2, and so on.

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Oct 21, 2016
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Order of question in IELTS Listening
by: IELTS buddy

Yes, they are the same order. It would be impossible to answer the questions if it was not.

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Marking of the IELTS Listening Test

by Ehsan
(Riyadh)

Hello Everyone,

Hope you guys are doing well, I will be taking my IELTS test in January, so I am in my preparation zone. Right now, I am concentrating in Listening and Reading sections, so I have a few questions:

1) How are IELTS Reading and Listening sections marked? By computer? I mean do all the answers need to be exact? For example, If the answer for one of the Listening question is "The textbooks", but if I wrote only "Textbooks" - is this wrong!?

2) Lastly, currently I am scoring within 29-35 in Reading, and 30-37 in Listening, with time pressured. Is this good start for practice?

Regards

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Dec 01, 2016
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Marking
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

1) It's done by hand, but there are still fixed answers in the answer key and you will not get the point if it does not match the answer key.

If grammatically the answer would need 'THE textbooks' to make it correct, you would have to have 'the'.

2) Yes they are quite good scores. You can check out how that converts to bands here:

IELTS Scores

Dec 30, 2016
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IELTS aspirant
by: Abdul Baseeth (Riyadh)

Dear Ehsan,

Can you please share your whatsapp number. I am planning to take test in end of Jan or beginning of Feb '17.

My Whatsapp number: 0538129565.

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