Many people feel that the listening paper (and listening to English in general) is difficult because the speaker is fast. This is actually a common misconception: in the IELTS test you have to listen to ‘fast’ or rather ‘normal’ speech and also answer questions. But you don’t need superhero hearing or writing to do this – all you need is to know how to listen efficiently.

Here are the 3 golden rules for doing listening tests:

1.You don’t need to listen to every word.
In a stream of speech there will only be one or two phrases which you will need in order to answer the question. You just have to locate them. A good tip is that important words are often stressed and repeated.

2.You need to know why you’re listening.
We always have a reason for listening. In the IELTS the reason is the question – so read the question carefully and try to pick out the key words.

3.You should try to predict the answer.
Once you have identified the key words, you’re ready to have a guess at the correct answer. If you predict the answer before listening, you will listen in a more focused way. Remember, you only listen once in the IELTS, so don’t waste your chance!
You will need to use these 3 strategies together in order to succeed in the listening test.

You can find advice on how to develop listening skills for IELTS at the official IELTS web site.
If you have the book Action Plan for IELTS you can find more practice of this reading task on pages 6-29.

This is a good question. You should start with the Introduction, and end with the conclusion. The other paragraphs in between will depend on how many points you wish to make. Remember that each paragraph should have only one main idea. The next paragraph will introduce a new idea. You should link the paragraphs using expressions like ‘On the other hand’ (if the new paragraph is in contrast to the first one) or ‘Furthermore’ (if the new paragraph is a new idea which agrees with the first one).

Let’s look at a typical question and suggested paragraph plan:

In Britain, when someone gets old they often go to live in a home with other older people where there are nurses to look after them. Sometimes the government has to pay for this care.
Who do you think should pay for this care, the government or the family?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your experience.

© www.cambridgeesol.org

Plan:

Remember, each paragraph should be linked and have only one main idea. You should develop each idea with supporting details, for example evidence, personal experience, explanation of the point.

For more tips on General and Academic writing task 2, visit the official IELTS web site.

If you have the book Action Plan for IELTS you can find more practice of this reading task on pages 66-73 (General Training Module) and 70-77 (Academic Module).

This is one of the trickiest IELTS reading tasks.
Candidates often get confused about the difference between ‘no/false’ and ‘not given’. ‘No’ or ‘false’ means that there is something in the text which explicitly contradicts the statement. ‘Not given’ means that there is nothing in the text to contradict or confirm the statement. Be careful not to use your knowledge of the topic to answer this question – you must base your answer only on what is written in the text.

Here’s an example. Look at the paragraph above and the 3 statements below. Do the statements agree with the information given in the paragraph? Write

True if the statement agrees with the information
False if the statement contradicts the information
Not given if there is no information on this

1.‘No’ and ‘false’ mean the same thing.
2.Many IELTS candidates fail this part of the test.
3.‘Not given’ means that you should use your own ideas.

How did you do this task? Did you underline key words and phrases in each statement? Did you look for these words and phrases in the text? A good tip for this type of question is to think about how you answered the question – this will help you develop strategies for future questions like this.

You can find lots of practice for the Reading test at the official IELTS web site.
If you have the book Action Plan for IELTS you can find more practice of this reading task on pages 49-51(General Training) and pages 47-48 (Academic Training).

Answers to exercise above:
1. True    2. Not given   3. False

Don’t worry about this – it probably won’t happen. The topics for this part are chosen because they are of general interest. Everyone can say something about the environment! Some tips for part 2:

Finally, you can easily prepare for this part by brainstorming your ideas for different common topics (family, work, holidays, festivals, etc.). You can join with friends to have discussions on these kinds of topics. This will definitely make you less nervous on the day of the exam.

You can find more advice, as well as a recording of a part 2 task, at the IELTS web site:

If you have the book Action Plan for IELTS you can find more practice of this speaking task on pages 80-83 (General Training) and pages 84-87 (Academic Training).

Many candidates worry about their accent, sometimes needlessly. Pronunciation in the IELTS test is assessed by ‘the candidate’s ability to produce comprehensible utterances and to use a range of pronunciation features… Assessment takes into account the amount of strain caused to the listener, and the noticeability of L1 (first language) influence’. What this really means is that your accent will not be penalised, unless the examiner cannot understand you.

My advice is to be proactive about improving your pronunciation, rather than worry about changing your accent. The first part of the assessment above mentions the use of ‘a range of pronunciation features’ (sounds, stress, intonation, rhythm). If you can show the examiner that you are aware of these features, you will gain marks. So how can you improve your pronunciation? Here are three options:

1. Listen to lots of native speaker English, on TV, radio or internet. The more exposure you get to real spoken English, the better you will understand what English sounds like. It doesn’t matter if you listen to American or British English – remember in the IELTS test you will hear a variety of accents.

2. Take a training course. The British Council Teaching Centre in Delhi runs spoken English courses where pronunciation is a significant element of the course. See www.britishcouncil.org/india-english-elt.htm for more details.

3. Self-study. This is not the best solution, as studying pronunciation is not as easy as studying grammar or vocabulary. Two resources you can use, however:

• www.teachingenglish.org.uk has a downloadable pronunciation chart where you can listen to and repeat the sounds of English
• ‘English Pronunciation in Use’ by Mark Hancock, Cambridge University Press 2003. This book has exercises and explanations of all pronunciation features.