Listening – Session 1 – Improve Listening Comprehension

It is a common misconception that if you understand spoken English, you can get a high score in IELTS Listening. The IELTS Listening test assesses your listening comprehension, which means you need to understand the recordings and be able to use the information to get correct answers. Since you are allowed to listen only one time, you need to do everything all at once. To do that, you need to enhance your listening comprehension skills and your IELTS Listening skills (or IELTS Listening question-solving skills).

There are many reasons that you may not find IELTS Listening as easy as you thought. One possible reason is low English Listening Comprehension skills. If you find yourself struggling to understand the recordings, you may be suffering from this issue. In this case, you should first improve your listening comprehension skills.

Before getting into any practice, you should spend time enhancing your general listening comprehension before engaging in specific IELTS practice. Listening comprehension is the ability to understand spoken English and to keep and use the information presented. Improving your listening comprehension skills is essential because it helps you choose the information that is needed to answer the questions in the IELTS Listening test. 

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Here are some strategies and techniques you can use to improve your English listening comprehension in preparation for the IELTS Listening test.

Practice active listening

Active listening involves paying attention to all the elements in the speaker’s speech, including the choices of words, the tones in the speaker’s voice, the stresses on important information, the overall meaning of the speech (the main ideas), and the details given. By actively listening, you can improve your understanding of the information being presented and better retain (keep) it. Active listening for IELTS preparation can be done by listening to podcasts and radio. You can also practice through videos, but it is better to not look at the visuals to familiarize yourself with the way IELTS Listening works.

Use context clues

When listening actively, try to use context clues to help you understand the meaning of words and phrases, as well as the main ideas of the speech.

Take notes

Taking notes while listening can help you to focus and retain (keep) important information, which is necessary for answering questions. It can also help you to identify keywords and phrases that you may not understand.

Repeat after the speaker

Repeating what you hear can help you to practice your pronunciation and improve your listening comprehension. You can also try rephrasing what you hear in your own words to help you better understand and retain (keep) the information.

Practice with listening comprehension exercises

There are many online resources and practice exercises available to help you improve your listening comprehension skills. These exercises can range from simple dictation tasks to more complex listening comprehension exercises.

It depends on your weaknesses to choose the appropriate techniques for your needs. If you struggle with any type of Detailing questions, you need dictation. If you struggle with any type of Summary questions, you need notetaking. It will be clearer once you reach Part 3 of this session.

These techniques can be repeated as long as you need to enhance your test-taking skills, before the practice, while you are doing practice tests, and after you have done a few tests.

1.     Dictation

Dictation is a type of practice technique in which you listen to a recording and write down the exact words that you hear. It helps you enhance your understanding of different accents and correct pronunciation of words and spelling. In IELTS, this technique helps you catch the exact words that are being spoken, therefore good to find details to fill in the missing information.

Step by step

Step 1: Choose a recording or video without subtitles

• It should not be too long to avoid getting too bored with the topics.
• Choose different topics to enhance vocabulary.
• Preferably videos and recordings that are spoken at a relatively steady speed.
• Avoid videos and recordings with slang, or speakers speaking too fast.
• Avoid listening to videos and recordings of the same topics.

Step 2: Play the recording/video with short intervals and write down the words

• Play the recording/video for about 2-3 seconds every time.
• Replay if missing any word.
• Avoid playing too long at a time.
• Write down the words while listening.
• Practice using abbreviations of words.

Step 3: Replay the whole recording/video and check spelling

• While replaying the whole recording/video, read along with the speaker to practice pronunciation.
• Pay close attention to the spelling.

Step 4: Summarize the recording/video in your own words

• This is an optional step to make full use of the whole process.
• Keep the keywords if needed but try to use as many synonyms as possible.
• Follow the rules of notetaking.

2.     Notetaking

Notetaking is a type of practice in which you listen to a recording or a video (without subtitles) and summarize what you hear in your own words to capture the main idea. This technique helps you understand the main idea of a long speech without being bothered by different small details. In IELTS Listening, this technique is generally useful to maximize the possibility of getting all the needed information, especially in Summary questions. This is not only used in practice but also can be used to solve the exam questions.

Step by step

Step 1: Choose a recording or video without subtitles

• It should not be too long to avoid getting too bored with the topics.
• Choose different topics to enhance vocabulary.
• Preferably videos and recordings that are spoken at a relatively steady speed.
• Avoid videos and recordings with slang, or speakers speaking too fast.
• Avoid videos and recordings of the same topics.

Step 2: Play the recording/video without pauses and summarize with bullet points

• Play the recording/video without any pauses.
• Note down the words and phrases that can cover the main points.
• Use abbreviations if any.
• Spelling is not a priority. 

Step 3: Summarize the whole recording/video based on the notes

• Use the information in the notes to summarize in your own words with proper grammar and vocabulary.
• Pay close attention to spelling in the summary.

Don’t forget to do the exercises below.