Shadowing Practice: IELTS Listening Tips and Tricks - How I got Band 9 TWICE - Learn English Speaking with Video
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I got a band 9 in IELTS Listening twice.
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To score high in IELTS Listening, you must have a listening strategy.
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You must know how to find the correct answers.
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And this is what you will learn in this video.
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I will give you 11 top tips that I use to score a band 9 in IELTS Listening twice.
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By the end of this video, you will know how to use these tips to boost your score.
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If you are going to take your IELTS soon, check out my IELTS materials.
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There, I teach you everything you need to score high.
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I show you step by step how to give high scoring answers.
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And of course, we do many practice tests together, so you will feel confident about your test.
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You can find the link in the description below.
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And now, let's get started.
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Tip number one is read the questions before the listening starts.
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I always do this when taking the IELTS listening test.
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Why?
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Why?
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Because if you read the questions, you know what you need to listen for, and this makes it a lot easier to find the correct answers.
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In IELTS listening, you get 30 to 40 seconds to look at the questions before each section.
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This doesn't seem like much time,
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but there is a lot you can do in these 40 seconds to help you prepare for the audio to come.
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First of all, read the questions carefully.
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Make sure you understand what is being asked so you know what you need to focus on.
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Second, underline important keywords such as names, dates, numbers, and verbs to focus on while you're listening.
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Here are some examples of keywords.
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Names such as Professor Drim, Julie, Mr. Kim, dates and times like June 14 at 10 .30pm,
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numbers For example, 25%, 250 sales, verbs such as decide, stop, increase.
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Listen for these keywords and try to understand the information provided alongside these keywords.
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This will make it easier to find the correct answers.
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Tip number two is pay attention to distractors.
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What are distractors?
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A distractor is information in the audio that makes you think it's the correct answer, but actually isn't.
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This could be because the speakers use similar sounding words or mention some parts of the answer, but not all of them.
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For example, if you get a multiple choice question, all options may be mentioned in the audio, but only one of them is correct.
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Let's take a look at the question.
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Now listen to the audio.
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At first I considered taking business studies, but then I thought accounting might be more useful.
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However, I finally decided to go with economics.
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Notice that here all three options are mentioned in the audio.
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When this occurs, the first option is often wrong.
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Make sure you wait until you hear the speaker's final decision or conclusion.
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Another common distractor is when a speaker gives his answer, then changes it.
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This is also referred to as self -correction.
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Here's a question.
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Now, let's listen to an example.
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The meeting will be at 3 p .m.
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Oh, actually, sorry, it's been moved to 4 .30 p .m.
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As you can hear, the speaker mentions two different times.
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The incorrect time comes first.
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Then the speaker corrects himself and mentions the correct time.
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The correct answer is 4 .30 p .m., not 3 p .m.
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Spelling and grammar are crucial in the IELTS listening test because even a small mistake means a wrong answer.
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There are no half or partial points.
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If your spelling or grammar is incorrect, you won't be awarded the mark.
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In particular, there are three words that IELTS students often don't spell correctly.
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In the following, I will say these three words and you have to tell me how they're written.
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I will say each word twice.
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After that, you have five seconds to think about how the word is written.
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Then you have five seconds to write the word in the comments.
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Let's get started.
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How do you write this word?
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Accommodation accommodation.
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Let's continue with the next word business, business.
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The third word is necessary.
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Necessary.
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Now, let's take a look at the correct answers.
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Accommodation is written like this.
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It has two
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Cs and two Ns.
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A common mistake is writing it with only one C.
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Business is spelled with two S at the end and one S in the middle.
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Necessary is written with one C and two S.
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Don't confuse the two.
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Also, remember that capitalization is important in English spelling too.
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Proper nouns such as names of people, cities, countries, and so on must start with a capital letter.
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If you don't capitalize correctly, the answer is wrong.
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By the way, if you want more IELTS listening videos, click the like button and write yes in the comments.
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If you want something else, tell me your video wish in the comments so I know what you want to see on this channel.
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Now, let's take a look at eight more tips you can use to get a higher IELTS listening score.
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Next, predicting answers is one of the best things you can do in the IELTS listening exam.
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This is because it saves time you know what to listen for in advance.
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Also, you are more likely to recognize the correct word or phrase.
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Let's take a look at how you can predict answers for sentence completion questions.
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Based on the sentence structure, you can guess what kind of answer is expected before the recording begins.
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For example, the new library will open in.
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The answer is likely a year or a month.
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John's phone number is.
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The answer is likely a series of numbers.
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You can also think about the grammar in the sentence and gap.
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For instance, is it a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb?
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Does it require a singular or plural word?
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If it's a verb, it's likely to be in the infinitive form or maybe in the past participle.
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When predicting, you can also consider synonyms of the words in the questions that you might hear in the audio.
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The IELTS listening test rarely uses the exact same words from the question in the audio.
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Let's see an example of that.
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The company is planning to reduce its workforce by percent this year.
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You can predict that the answer will be a percentage.
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You might hear decrease or cut instead of reduce.
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You might also hear staff or employees instead of workforce.
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Now you know that you have to listen for these synonyms.
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This will make it much easier for you to find the correct answers.
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Now comes a super important point.
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If you know it before taking your listening test, you can prepare for it.
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But many IELTS students don't and then they lose points.
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What am I talking about?
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Listen out for connected words.
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In IELTS listening and in real life, speakers don't always pronounce words separately.
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They often use connected speech.
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This means that words blend together as if they're one single word.
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If you're not familiar with this, you might miss key information.
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So it's important to train your ear and get used to connected words.
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You will now listen to three recordings.
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Each recording will be played twice.
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After each recording you will have five seconds to think about what the speaker said.
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When the time is up write in the comments what the speaker said.
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You have five seconds to do this.
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Let's get started.
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I have to go.
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I have to go.
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Give me it
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Give me it
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What do you think?
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What do you think?
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Now, let's check out what the speaker said.
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The first speaker said, I have to go, which means I have to go.
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The second speaker said, give me it, which means give me it.
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The third speaker said, what do you think, which means what do you think?
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Here you can see that you need to listen carefully to understand connected speech and IELTS listening.
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Tip number six is write as you listen.
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One of the most crucial skills in IELTS listening is the ability to write answers as you're listening.
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Since the recording is played only once, it's not a good idea to wait.
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You must write down answers immediately as you hear them because you won't get a second chance.
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Doing this also saves time during the answer transfer stage.
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You won't have to remember details later when writing your answers on the answer sheet.
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It can also make forgetting key details less likely.
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However, writing as you listen can be tricky, especially if the information is said quickly or contains distractors.
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Sometimes you may not have time to write out the entire word.
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One way of writing faster as you're listening is to use abbreviations.
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For example, here you can see some abbreviations of common words that you can use.
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Let's have a look at how you might make quick notes while listening using abbreviations.
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The government is focusing on reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 % by 2030.
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As you can see here, symbols such as arrows can also be helpful when writing quick notes as you're listening.
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One important thing to remember about using abbreviations is that you need to understand them.
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Make sure you practice using them before the exam.
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Don't attempt them for the first time on the day of the exam.
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Choose abbreviations and symbols that make sense to you and are easily understood when you go back to review them.
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My next tip is to move on quickly.
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If you miss an answer.
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Move on quickly to avoid losing focus.
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The IELTS listening exam can be nerve -wracking for many, and it's important to keep calm if you feel that you've missed something.
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Some IELTS test takers panic when this happens.
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The problem is that they lose the opportunity to answer the questions
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that follow because they are too worried about what they've missed.
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Try not to panic.
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Instead, take a deep breath and focus on the next question.
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Tip number eight is listen out for clues.
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Sometimes in IELTS listening the speaker will give you a clue which tells you he's about to give the answer.
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If you start to recognize these clues you will be able to find the answer more easily.
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Let's see some common clues that tell you an answer is coming.
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Let me repeat that.
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This means an important detail will follow.
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To be more specific this tells you an explanation of key information is coming.
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One important thing to remember is this emphasizes that something crucial will be mentioned.
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Make sure you listen for such clues in your IELTS listening test because this will help you figure out the correct answer.
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Sometimes you may not hear the answer clearly or miss a detail.
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Instead of leaving the space blank, write your best guess based on what you heard.
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For example, if you know the answer is a name, but you are not sure of the spelling, write something close.
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If you heard a number but aren't sure, write it down and go back to it later.
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You do get time to check and transfer answers, so it's always better to write something down and fix it later on if you need to.
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Next, make sure you understand the question types.
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As with all parts of the IELTS exam, it's really important that you understand the format of each question type
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because this will allow you to be able to answer the question properly.
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If you're familiar with the test format, you won't waste time figuring things out during the test.
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Let's take a look at common question types in IELTS listening.
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Multiple choice questions appear frequently on the test.
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You're given a question with three or four answer choices, A, B, C, or D.
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The speaker will likely mention all options, but only one is correct.
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Next, there are form, note, table, and flowchart completion questions.
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You need to fill in missing words in a form, table, or notes.
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Answers are often dates, names, places, numbers, or short phrases.
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Additionally, you will often see sentence completion questions.
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You must complete a sentence with a missing word or phrase.
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The missing word will usually be a key detail from the audio.
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Map, diagram or plan labeling questions are also quite common.
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You must label a map, diagram or plan with missing words or numbers.
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The speaker will describe locations or directions.
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My final tip is to be prepared to hear different accents.
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In IELTS listening, there are often a range of accents in the audios, such as variations of British, American, and Australian accents.
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It's wise to start getting used to hearing different accents from various countries.
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You can do this by doing more practice tests, but it's also useful to train your ear by listening to podcasts,
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news, reports, movies, and speeches from different countries and different speakers.
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Don't forget that each English -speaking country has a wide range of accents.
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So don't just focus on a general American or received pronunciation, so British accent.
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When learning a language, most of us have a preference when it comes to the variety or accent we prefer to study.
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But for the purpose of the IELTS Listening exam, It's vital to increase your exposure to all types of accents.
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That's it.
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That's 11 tips to score high in IELTS listening.
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I hope you liked this video.
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Don't forget to like, subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon so you're notified when the next video comes out.
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Also, share this video with your friends so they can improve their IELTS score too.
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See you in the next video.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Listening Tips and Tricks - How I got Band 9 TWICE”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: answer, listening, Ielts, word, speaker. This video has 188 sentences and 2252 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:03. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| audio adjective | /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/ | Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight. |
| accent noun | /ækˈsɛnt/ | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to… |
| examination noun | /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/ | The act of examining. |
| clue noun | /kluː/ | Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| predict verb | /pɹɪˈdɪkt/ | To make a prediction: to forecast, foretell, or estimate a future event on the basis of knowledge and reasoning; to prophesy a future event on the basis of… |
| spelling noun | /ˈspɛl.ɪŋ/ | The act, practice, ability, or subject of forming words with letters, or of reading the letters of words; orthography. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| crucial adjective | /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/ | Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital. |
| completion noun | /kəmˈpliː.ʃən/ | The act or state of being or making something complete; conclusion, accomplishment. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| accommodation noun | /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/ | Lodging in a dwelling or similar living quarters afforded to travellers in hotels or on cruise ships, or students, etc. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| format noun | /ˈfɔːɹ.mæt/ | The layout of a publication or document. |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. | |
| write out verb | To write at full length or in expanded form. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Let's take a look at the question.
- How do you write this word?
- Let's continue with the next word.
- If you don't capitalize correctly, the answer is wrong.
- What am I talking about?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is read · being asked · may be mentioned |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | it's been moved · you've missed · they've missed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 28 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, won't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, completion /kəmˈpliː.ʃən/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, abbreviation /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/, capitalization /ˌkæpɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like audio, accent, examination.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.