1. An Introduction to IELTS

2. Outline: 1. What is IELTS listening? 2. Listening Practice 3. Feedback
4. Listening strategies

3. What is IELTS listening?
The IELTS listening test is the same for both those taking the Academic and General Training papers.
It consists of 40 questions (10 per section) and lasts around 30 minutes. You will have 10 minutes at the end to transfer your answers from the question paper to the answer sheet.

4. What is IELTS listening?
A variety of questions are used, chosen from the following types:
• multiple choice
• short-answer questions
• sentence completion
• notes/summary/diagram/flow-chart/table completion
• labelling a diagram which has numbered parts
• classification
• matching

5. 1.How many sections are there in the listening test ?
2.What do you do in each sections?
3.Do those sections share the same theme or have different focuses? Why?

6. Test time!
剑10 test 1

7. 1.What did you do ?
2.Did that work for you ?
3.How did you feel ?

8. Listening strategies in each stage
1. Pre-listening
2. While-listening
3. Post-listening

9. 1. Pre-listening Predicting
In IELTS Listening, you always have time to read the questions before the recording starts. Typically, you’re given around 30 seconds. Use this time to analyse the questions and predict answers. Don't forget to underline the key words to help you understand the questions.

10. 2. While-listening Identifying keywords
The questions in the IELTS Listening module will contain two types of word: those likely to be used by the speaker and those likely to be paraphrased. Improve your chances of following the listening passage by identifying the ‘anchor’ words (names, dates, and technical vocabulary) since these are words you will hear. As you hear these words in the recording, that will also help you to avoid getting lost and know which question you should be answering.

11. 2. While-listening Identifying paraphrase
For non-anchor words, try coming up with some potential paraphrases that the speaker might use. English speakers paraphrase more often than speakers of many other languages, so recognising paraphrase is an important listening skill. However, you don’t have much time to think of potential paraphrases while reading the question in the IELTS Listening test. For that reason, paraphrasing is a skill you should be practicing continuously as an English learner.

12. 2. While-listening Targeted listening
This means focusing all your attention on the specific details in in each section of IELTS Listening. Pay special attention to questions that require numbers or difficult spellings such as names.
The opposite is open listening – listening for any information that helps you understand what’s going on. Open listening may be important when having a conversation with a friend, but use targeted listening for success in IELTS.

13. 3. Post-listening Spelling
Most question types in IELTS Listening require you to write the answer, not just tick a box. If spelling is incorrect, then the answer is also marked incorrect, even if you heard it right. So good listening skills will be useless if you can’t spell! Read my guide to Common Spelling Mistakes in IELTS to find out which words you need to be extra careful with. In English, names of people and addresses may have more than one accepted spelling. In the IELTS Listening test, such words will be spelled out for you by the speaker.

14. Single and double consonants
Common Spelling Mistakes in IELTS, part1
Single and double consonants
Harass, Disappoint, Recommend, Parallel, Apparent, Exaggerate, Occasion, Accommodation, Embarrass, Millennium
Occur (but Occurred), Commit (but Committed)
Weak vowel sounds
Separate (adj.), Definite, Desperate, Category, Opportunity, Pursue, Persuade, Surprise
Capable, Achievable, Understandable; but Possible, Visible, Accessible
Performance, Attendance, Ignorance; but Independence, Existence

15. 1.Benefit > Beneficial; Influence > Influential;
Common Spelling Mistakes in IELTS, part2
Changes of spelling when words change form
1.Benefit > Beneficial; Influence > Influential;
2.Maintain > Maintenance; Pronounce > Pronunciation
3.Success > Succeed; Excess > Exceed; Process > Proceed
4.Target> Target ted; Refer > Referred; Begin > Beginning

16. Finally, some notoriously tricky spellings in English
Amateur, Entrepreneur, Hierarchy, Medieval
Queue, Vacuum, Questionnaire, Rhythm,
Liaison [ˈlieɪzɑ:n], Miscellaneous [ˌmɪsəˈleniəs]
Some notoriously tricky spellings in Chinese
[zhāo pìn] 招聘
[ yùn dǒu ] 熨斗
[ fáng ài ] 妨碍
[ bēi bǐ ] 卑鄙
[ huì lù ] 贿赂
[ yāo niè ] 妖孽

17. 3. Post-listening Grammar Check
In sentence and summary completion tasks, you will need to write an answer that is not only spelled correctly but also fits grammatically. This can actually be helpful. For example, you may not hear the plural ‘s’ at the end of a word, but a quick analysis of the question should confirm that the noun must be plural.
Another word part that is often difficult to hear is the ‘ed’ suffix. If you know that you’re listening for an adjective, that will guide you towards the correct answer.

18. Try it out !

19. Homework:
1. AWL: Vocabulary Learning
2. Review the notes.
3. 剑10, Reading Preview.