How to get good score in IELTS in 10 days - Part 1 (Listening)

How to get good score in IELTS in 10 days - Part 1 (Listening)

This is part 1 of the article.
There are 4 sections in IELTS: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.
In this post, I will focus on listening skills that you can enhance in a couple of days for IELTS.

Here are my test results. I took IELTS on 30/31 May 2009.

Candidate Id : 2976
Listening : 8.5
Reading : 8.5
Writing : 8
Speaking : 7.5
Overall Band : 8

For those who are not aware of what these scores are, here is a brief overview:
9 - Expert User
8 - Very Good User
7 - Good User
6 - Competent User
5 - Modest User
4 - Limited User
3 - Extremely Limited User
2 - Intermittent User
1 - Non User

Listening Skills: This is my personal experience. I am sure it would be helpful for you as well.

1. Listen and see english movies and television serials( on youtube, if you dont have a television). I used to do search on youtube to check television programs in UK and this helped me become familiar with the UK accent. Indeed this helped me in improving my listening skills. This would also help you in Speaking section.

2. When you register for IELTS, you will get a book and 2 CDs for free. Do all the 4 listening tests in the book. It will really be very helpful. In my first test i scored just 31 out of 40, but in my last test i scored 37 out of 40. After that i took my 1st test again and this time i scored 36/40 in listening. So i can guarantee you that taking these tests will really help you.

3. When taking the practice test for listening, you may pause it and resume it at your convenience. In actual test you cannot pause- resume the CD being played. So my advice is that once you have started the listening test, complete it and then only move to next section. So you should complete all 40 questions and see how you are performing. So the idea here is do not pause while taking listening test.

4. Write as you listen- This is the most important point in listening ability. Before you start listening, you will get some time to read the questions. Use this time properly and read the questions and understand the questions completely. When you start listening, keep marking your answers as sson as you listen it. You will not get time to write it later. Also my personal experience is that even if you get time in the end, you will not be able to remember what was played. So it's best to write it as soon as you listen.

I hope these tips would help you in your preparation. In the next part, i would focus on reading skills. All the best..