The four parts of the Listening test
The Listening test has 40 questions in four parts and takes about 30 minutes. On the computer-delivered test you get 2 minutes at the end to check your answers; on paper, you get 10 minutes to transfer them to the answer sheet.
- Part 1: a conversation between two people in an everyday situation, such as booking a course or reporting a lost item. Often a form or notes to complete.
- Part 2: one speaker on an everyday topic, such as a tour or a facility. Map and plan questions often appear here.
- Part 3: a discussion between two or three speakers in an educational setting, such as students planning a project with a tutor.
- Part 4: a lecture on an academic subject, with no break in the middle.
You hear each recording once only. The answers follow the order of the questions, which is one of your biggest advantages.
Accents: why Ranchi students find them tricky
At school and college in Ranchi, most of the English you hear is Indian English, plus films and online videos that are often American. IELTS recordings use a range of accents, especially British ones, and many students say the speakers seem to swallow sounds.
Common challenges include:
- dropped "r" sounds in British speech ("car", "water");
- the short "o" in words like "hot" and "lot";
- fast linking between words ("what are you" becoming "wotcha");
- unstressed small words like "to", "of" and "can" almost disappearing.
All 88 Listening sets on IELTS Learning are recorded with British voices, so you get steady exposure to the sounds you will meet in the test.
Spelling and numbers
You can understand an answer perfectly and still lose the mark through spelling. Words often misspelt include "accommodation", "necessary", "Wednesday", "February", "environment" and "library". Learn the spelling of days, months and common nouns until it is automatic.
Numbers need care too:
- Teens and tens: "fifteen" and "fifty" sound different by stress: fifTEEN versus FIFty.
- Phone numbers: speakers may say "double three" for 33 or "oh" for zero.
- Prices and dates: practise writing them quickly and correctly.
- Spelled names: in Part 1 a speaker may spell a surname or street. Know how English speakers say letters such as "G", "J", "W" and "Y".
Map and plan questions
Map questions worry many students, but they follow patterns. Before the recording starts:
- Find the starting point ("You are here", the entrance or the car park).
- Note compass directions and features such as a river or main road.
- Learn direction language: "opposite", "next to", "at the far end", "to the left of", "just past", "in the corner".
Then follow the speaker's route with your pen or cursor. The answers come in order, so if you miss one, move on to the next.
Practising with headphones in a Ranchi home
Many students in Ranchi live in shared homes, hostels at Mesra or Kanke, or PG rooms near Lalpur and Morabadi, where background noise is constant. That makes good practice habits even more important:
- Use headphones every time. They block household noise and match the experience on the computer-delivered test.
- Practise in one sitting. Do not pause the recording; you cannot pause on test day.
- Practise at different times. If your test is in the morning, practise in the morning to train your concentration for that time.
- Use commute time wisely. If you travel by bus or are a passenger in an auto, you can listen to British English podcasts for exposure, though real IELTS practice is better done sitting down.
Common errors and how to fix them
- Writing the first thing you hear. Speakers often correct themselves ("Tuesday... no, actually, Thursday").
- Losing your place. If you miss a question, look ahead to the next; do not dwell on the lost one.
- Ignoring plurals. "Book" and "books" are different answers.
- Not reading ahead. Use every pause to read the next questions and predict the type of answer.
How to organise IELTS Listening practice on IELTS Learning
Start with the free sample Listening sets on the practice tests page. Then work through the full sets part by part, review every wrong answer (saved automatically to your Mistake Notebook), and move to Charged sets when you are consistently scoring 30 or more out of 40, which is roughly band 7.
Full Access at ₹999 for 2 months unlocks all Listening sets and mocks. Sign up free and put your headphones on for your first IELTS Listening practice in Ranchi.