Practice listening to numbers and letters
Different types of questions in IELTS listening require different skills. This lesson helps you the precise skill of knowing how to listen for numbers, names and addresses. This is a common question type in part 1 of the test. It should be easy but if youre unprepared its all too easy to make avoidable mistakes. Show What youll find in this lesson
General problems in part 1 listeningWhat causes problems here? Think about these points
Some general skills to focus onPredict the type of answerOne way you can help yourself is learning to predict the type of answer youll need to write down. If you know the answer is going to be a number then you have a head start when you hear a number in the listening thats your cue to start writing Look at this example from my practice listening below. You cant predict what the answer will be but you should see that 3 requires a date, 5 the spelling of a name, 6 the spelling of an address, 7 a telephone number and 10 a longer number for a credit card.
Learn to write as you listenThis is where loads of people go wrong. They hear the answer but they dont write it down quickly enough. Key point Id make here is that you need to write down exactly what you hear. The answers are always words/numbers that are spoken. Beware the trapJust sometimes there is a trap in part 1. You may hear more than date/time/number and the one you need is not the first one you hear. To make it harder, sometimes the speaker gives one piece of information and then goes back and corrects it. In this case, make sure you write down the second correct version. Dont just focus on writing down names and numbers. Remember to listen generally too. Youll find an example of this in my practice listening below. How to listen for addressesYou can help yourself here by knowing what to expect. Look at the question sheet before you listen
House numbers When you are listening for an address, you should expect a number and a street name. Typically, the number comes before the name of the street, for example 13, Fairfax Street Types of different roads If you have to write down the name of a road, the name will either be spelled out for you or be a common English word that you should be able to spell, eg 34, Bishop Street or 48, Ormondroyd Street, thats O-R-M-O-N-D-R-O-Y-D You should also make certain that you can spell the different words that we use for roads, these are:
You should also be prepared to write down letters and numbers for the postcode (what Americans call ZIP code). In the British system, these come at the end of addresses and combine a series of letters and numbers, eg 14, Fairhill Road York YO1 7AH How to listen for namesIf you see you need to write out a name, you can expect that the family name will be spelled out letter by letter. This can sometimes cause problems for candidates (even high-level ones) who cannot automatically recognise the names of the letters in English perhaps because they missed out on learning English at the very elementary level and their sounds do not match their names. The ones which most frequently cause trouble are:
How to listen for numbers and datesTelephone numbersThere are one or two points to consider when you are listening to a telephone number in English.
DatesThere are a number of different ways in which say and write down dates. The most common system is: the 25th of October speaking 25 October/25th October writing If you have to write down a date and there is a word limit of one word/two words, you should not write down the and of. It does not matter if you put the month before the date. A practice listeningLook at the questions firstRead the transcript and see the answersThe answers 1 transit (van)
5 Beebor 6 14 Castle
Transcript The correct answers are highlighted in blue. Careful of the trap question where the first telephone number highlighted in green is the wrong one. Tapescript Hello, this is Munster Car and Van Hire, how can I help you? Good morning. I was wondering whether you have a van available for hire next week. Certainly, sir. We have a number of vehicles in stock right now. Though I should warn you that its our busy time of year and youll need to book today if you want to guarantee a vehicle. What precisely are you looking for? Well. Im looking for a van. Preferably quite a small one. Ive just moved house and I need a van to transport my garden furniture. I see. So I imagine that you will be looking at one of our smaller vans. Yes. A transit van will do me just fine. What makes do you have available? Well. Let me see. We have the latest Renault which has the largest capacity and then there is the Ford which is our most popular hire. Hmmm. Im not too concerned about the size of the vehicle. Would the Ford be large enough to take my garden table and chairs? Oh yes. I dont see any real problem with that. You could fit a good 18 cubic metres in there. Okay then the Ford it is. You mentioned next week. Can you give me a precise date so that I can go ahead and make the booking for you? Im working Monday through Wednesday so itll have to be towards the end of the week. Ideally, Id like to pick it up on Friday and then return it first thing on Monday, but I suppose it would turn out more expensive that way. How much more would it cost me if I returned it on Monday rather than Saturday? Its $21 a day and $12 a half day so that would be $33 extra. Thats not so bad cheaper than I expected. So can we say Ill collect it on the 17th? thats Thursday. No problem. And just to be clear, you intend to return it Monday morning. Well, just to be on the safe I think Ill keep it for the week and return it Wednesday that should give me plenty of time. Now Ill need to take some details from you so that I can fill out all the paperwork.Your name is? Justin. Justin Beebor. And thats spelt with a double E: B-E-E-B-O-R Okay. And the address? Well. Ive just moved. Would you like my old address or the new one? Everything is still currently registered at the old one and Im yet to move in. Well take the old address then. We just need somewhere where we can send the confirmation of your booking to. Youre in Toronto I take it. Yes thats right. Im actually just moving across the city. My current postal address is 14 Castle Street. Next thing on the list is a telephone number. Given that youre in between houses. I think it makes sense to take your cell phone number. We need a means to contact you in case of emergency. Thats 0231-4463-7689. No hang on. That doesnt sound right. Its 0231-4462-7689. Im always getting that wrong. Strange how you can never remember your own number Now I need some details about your driving record for insurance purposes. I take it you have a full driving licence and not a provisional one Yup thats right. I assume my normal driving licence qualifies me to drive a transit van. You dont need a special licence for that do you? No. no. Anyone with a full driving licence is qualified to drive a van of that size. Any convictions? Nothing serious. No drink driving. Just a few parking tickets. Okay. They dont count. So that is no convictions. Have you had any insurance claims in the past 5 years? Just the one when a car hit me while I was stationary in a car park. Almost there now. Youll need to show some ID when you collect the van. Anything with your photo on it will do just fine. I carry my passport with me all the time so Ill use that. And how will you be paying sir? You dont have an account with us do you? We take all the major credit cards. Ill use my Visa card. The number is 2344-5587-6489-0112
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