Do you ever find your mind wandering while listening to a podcast?
Does this happen when you’re listening to IELTS audio for the listening exam?
It’s incredibly easy to get lost during the IELTS Listening audio.
This can be devastating for your score, as it could cause you to miss multiple answers.
Today we’ll teach strategies to prevent this.
We’ll also share tips so you know how to get back on track.
Why do students get lost?
What causes students to lose track on IELTS Listening?
- Not realizing they’ve missed an answer.
- Listening for keywords they’ve missed and not realizing the audio has moved to the next question
- Mind wandering
- Some audio passages are boring! Can be difficult to stay focused
- High cognitive load from multitasking (reading, writing, and listening simultaneously
- Taking time to second guess or change answers before audio is done
#1: Do not panic
Allow yourself one second to realize you’ve missed an answer and mentally reset. Calmly say to yourself “move on.”
Practice moving on without feeling panic!
If you’ve never felt that sinking feeling of realizing you’ve missed an answer, it can throw you off during the exam.
Stay to the end for details on how to practice this.
#2: Get back on track
Immediately move on to the current question.
If you’ve missed question #4 and realize the audio is at question #6 just move to question #6 and listen for that answer.
The audio plays only once, so dwelling on a missed answer causes a chain reaction of missing subsequent questions.
Leave anything you’ve missed blank for now and focus on identifying which question the audio is currently discussing
Once the audio finishes make a guess for any missed questions based on the context of the audio you heard, as there is no penalty for a wrong answer
#3: Practice getting back on track
You must do a lot of active listening practice to be ready for IELTS.
Listen to podcasts or news to train yourself to maintain concentration for 30 minutes.
Ideally, practice with audio you don’t find extremely interesting or engaging.
This is likely to be the case with audio for the Listening exam.
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#4: Practice with different accents
IELTS uses a variety of accents from English-speaking countries.
The most common are:
- British
- American
- Australian
Train with podcasts that have Australian, British, and American hosts to get used to these accents.
This will help you avoid difficulty understanding the audio.
#5: Follow along
In map questions, keep your pencil moving on the map as the speaker gives directions, focusing on prepositions.
- Opposite
- Next to
- Beside
- Across from
Work with a speaking partner or AI to pull out a few synonyms/parallel expressions to listen for.
If you miss one, practice not panicking and getting back on track.
Takeaway
IELTS students often get lost during the IELTS Listening audio.
You need strategies so this doesn’t happen to you.
It also takes a lot of practice!
For all the strategies you need on IELTS, sign up for 3 Keys IELTS!
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