Students, from time to time, have questions on how they can improve their overall listening ability in direct relation to the exam. Here is some helpful information stated below:

I. Focus on how voices ‘change’ in tone and speed

After you have listened to and studied the transcript for an online recording of your choice using our 3×3 Method, spend time listening to that same online recording and analyzing it.

Notice all the ‘ups and downs (intonation) in the tone of their voice.
Identify words (or parts of words) that are more stretched than others.
Notice parts of sentences that are spoken more quickly, where it seems like many words are smashed together.

The IELTS also uses these techniques to help you identify important information. They often use changes in intonation and stretched words to tell you the exact words to write down in Fill-in-the-blank questions! The IELTS speakers will often talk faster when telling you information that won’t be useful for answering questions.

II. Practice listening to different accents:

BBC

CNN

Podcasts are also an excellent resource. They can last for as little as 2 minutes or go on for an hour or more. They also cover a vast range of topics so you’ll easily find something interesting to listen to in the time you have available.

The best platform to search for podcasts is Stitcher or Spotify

TED Talks are equally as useful. These are online lectures, often very short, and are perfect for practicing listening to monologues. Again, the range of topics is huge.

Follow this link to the menu page with hundreds of subjects listed: TED Talk Topics

You can also watch TED Talks on YouTube.

III. Analyze transcripts for ‘changing information’ in IELTS conversations

One way the IELTS Listening section tests your English is by having speakers in conversations change their minds or have different opinions about a topic. One speaker may also either misunderstand or mishear the other speaker.

So, you want to practice listening for these changes, debates, and misunderstandings in the IELTS conversations that are given in Section 1 and Section 3 of the IELTS Listening test. Listen to as many IELTS conversations as you can, and practice listening for changes in the tone of speakers’ voices.

IV. Increase the listening audio track play speed by 0.25 and/or 0.5

One of them is that, if you are listening at an increased speed deliberately, You will concentrate more so as to listen to every answer more carefully. Also, your brain will learn to retain more information and the exam will actually seem slower.

Note: Do this after you have mastered the strategy and tactics of answering questions and normal speed.

V. Practice, practice, practice

Improve your listening skills by becoming an active listener. Films and TV series may be fun to watch, but going further will make a big difference. Listen to a variety of English language resources, such as podcasts, news reports, and Ted talks, which will expose you to new vocabulary and different accents (you may not just hear British accents during the IELTS test recordings).

The aim is to make listening to a part of your daily life. You can find a variety of interesting and fun content online. Start with topics you are most interested in, before moving on to more academic material.

VI. It is ALL about Paraphrasing and Synonyms so Create Tables.

Set up a table with the question keywords on the left side and the audio-matching language on the right. The better you get at recognizing synonyms and paraphrasing the better you can score. A table would look something like this:

VII. Understand Connected Speech Better:

Connected speech is when words and sounds run into each other making it difficult for a non-native speaker to understand what is being said.

In these examples, you can see the words being spoken followed by how they might sound to the listener.

What are you going to do? ---------------- Whadya gonna do?

I’m going to read a book. ---------------------- I’m gonna re dabook.

Come on. Let’s go to the park. ------------------ Cmon. Let’s getethe park.

I have to do my homework first. ------------------------ Ivte dome homework first.

There is no easy way to overcome the challenge of connected speech apart from listening to lots of native speakers speaking at a normal rate.

Podcasts are ideal for this as you can pause them and listen to confusing sentences over and over again until you fully understand what’s being said. You’ll gradually become familiar with the way words link together and find it easier to comprehend fast-paced speech.