HOW TO GET A 9.0 IN LISTENING TEST

The listening test consists of four separate sections and as can be seen in the reading test, each section will progressively be more difficult. The listening audio will be heard once only. There will be 40 questions in total.

FOUR DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OF THE LISTENING TEST

Section 1: In this part of the test, the candidate will hear a conversation between two speakers about everyday life situations.

Section 2: Generally, this section is a monologue. For example, radio news broadcast or announcement in a guided tour etc.

Section 3: This section covers a conversation between two to four speakers about a course, training or education.

Section 4: A university lecture or seminar preparation can be heard in this section. It will be an extended monologue.

QUESTION TYPES IN LISTENING TEST

• Note completion
• Flow chart completion
• Note taking
• Diagram labelling
• Map labelling
• Sentence completion
• Short answers
• Multiple choice questions
• Multiple matching (Match words from a list of options to the words in
  the box)

YOUR DIFFICULTIES DURING LISTENING TEST AND OUR SOLUTIONS FOR THEM

1. Inability to understand the native speaker: Those candidates who do not listen to the native speakers may find it hard to get more than 6.0 Candidates must listen to the native speaker’s English via podcast, Television, radio and other sources.
2. Inability to focus: The major difficulty for many candidates to concentrate on listening audios for a long time. Remember, improving concentration needs regular and continuous practice.
3. Spelling errors: English is not a phonetic language and making errors in spelling is not uncommon even among the educated class Candidates have to find out their own ways to reduce the mistake. For example, they can make list of words which they are consistently making
   spelling errors.
4. Variety of accents: It is likely that, students may hear Australian, Canadian, American, Irish and British accents in the listening test. Therefore, push yourself more to listen to Television, Radio programs and other resources like podcast and TED talks.

WRITING ILLEGIBLY

In the listening test, your answers will be scanned electronically. So that, letters used must corresponds to a standard format. Therefore, your score may potentially be reduced unless you write your answers legibly.

NATIVE SPEAKERS PACE:

Non-native speakers may not have opportunities to listen to the real life speaking contexts.

STRATAGIES

• Watching English movies / web series /other programs with subtitles.
• Listen to the podcast and radio
• Watch YouTube videos.

LISTENING TIPS

1. Before the audio starts, candidates will get some time to look at the questions, use this time effectively. Read the questions quickly and underline the key words and the words before and after the gaps.
2. Check each gap and guess whether the answer is a number, date, a noun or verb etc.
3. Listen carefully about the instructions before the section begins and do what is instructed to do.
4. If you miss any answers, just leave it there, don’t waste your time thinking about the lost answers.
5. Check the word limit in the instructions before you answer the questions.
6. Do not expect questions to be presented in the same way as the information in the recording. Paraphrased version may be expected.
7. If you do not know the answer, try a guesswork.
8. It is your responsibility to make sure about the spelling accuracy.

YOUR ANSWERS AND BAND SCORE