Do you know how many questions you need to answer correctly to raise your band score by 1.0 in the LISTENING EXAM?
Sometimes the difference between a 5.5 and a 6.5 may be ONLY 4 questions!
Many students get a lower mark than they deserve just because they are not careful and make 'little' mistakes. The problem is that these 'little' mistakes can add up and lower your score.
One good example is spelling. If you spell an answer incorrectly on the real IELTS exam, that answer is wrong.
Today, I am just going to give you ONE IMPORTANT TIP about listening.
REMEMBER YOUR GRAMMAR
This may seem like a strange tip for the listening exam, but let's see how it works.
Imagine you have this QUESTION:
COMPLETE THE SENTENCE:
1) The library has many _____________ on Biotechnology.
In the AUDIO, you hear BOOK. If you write BOOK, the answer is wrong because it does not fit the grammar of the sentence.
The correct answer must be BOOKS (because we cannot say MANY BOOK in English)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
You may not HEAR the 's' but you still have to write it !!
You may not hear it for 2 reasons:
1) The speaker says it too quickly or too softly for you to hear.
2) The speaker may link the 's' sound to the next word. Look at this example:
She is going to buy her course books Saturday.
In this case, the 's' in books links with the 'S' in Saturday.
So, HERE IS THE FULL TIP:
REMEMBER YOUR GRAMMAR and USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF GRAMMAR TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
You may not hear the word exactly, but the grammar of the sentence can tell you which form of the word is CORRECT!!
If you can avoid small mistakes, you can usually increase your band score by 0.5 to 1.0!
I hope you find this helpful.
If you would like a FREE SPEAKING class with me, please