How To Do IELTS Listening Part 4

IELTS Listening Part 4 is usually a monologue or lecturein an academic setting and is quite formal. This means that there will probably be an introduction first.

Listening carefully to this will tell you how the talk will be structured, what it is about and importantly when you can expect to hear different pieces of information.


How To Follow The Talk Easily

Signposting words and phrases will likely be used to move from one topic to another, so if you know some of these phrases you will be able to follow the talk more easily.

Here are some great examples of this:

Introducing the topic    

The subject/topic of my talk is ...

I'm going to talk about ...

Overview                                  

I’m going to divide this talk into four parts...
There are a number of points I'd like to make.
Basically/Briefly, I have three things to say.
I'd like to begin/start by ...
Let's begin/start by ...

Finishing a section

That's all I have to say about...
We've looked at...

Starting a new section

Moving on now to …
Turning to...
Let’s turn now to ...

The next issue/topic/area I’d like to focus on

I’d like to expand/elaborate on …

Analysing a point and giving recommendations

Where does that lead us?
Let's consider this in more detail...
What does this mean for...?
Translated into real terms...

Giving examples

For example,...
A good example of this is...
As an illustration...

Summarising and concluding

To sum up ...
To summarise...
Right, let's sum up, shall we?
Let's summarise briefly what we've looked at...
If I can just sum up the main points...
Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered...
To conclude...
In conclusion ...
In short ...

Paraphrasing and clarifying

Simply put...
In other words...
So what I’m saying is....
To put it more simply...

Invitation to discuss / ask questions

I’m happy to answer any queries/ questions.
Does anyone have any questions or comments?
Please feel free to ask questions.
If you would like me to elaborate on any point, please ask.

Introducing the topic    

The subject/topic of my talk is ...

I'm going to talk about ...

Overview                                  

I’m going to divide this talk into four parts...
There are a number of points I'd like to make.
Basically/Briefly, I have three things to say.
I'd like to begin/start by ...
Let's begin/start by ...

Finishing a section

That's all I have to say about...
We've looked at...

Starting a new section

Moving on now to …
Turning to...
Let’s turn now to ...

The next issue/topic/area I’d like to focus on

I’d like to expand/elaborate on …

Analysing a point and giving recommendations

Where does that lead us?
Let's consider this in more detail...
What does this mean for...?
Translated into real terms...

Giving examples

For example,...
A good example of this is...
As an illustration...

Summarising and concluding

To sum up ...
To summarise...
Right, let's sum up, shall we?
Let's summarise briefly what we've looked at...
If I can just sum up the main points...
Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered...
To conclude...
In conclusion ...
In short ...

Paraphrasing and clarifying

Simply put...
In other words...
So what I’m saying is....
To put it more simply...

Invitation to discuss / ask questions

I’m happy to answer any queries/ questions.
Does anyone have any questions or comments?
Please feel free to ask questions.
If you would like me to elaborate on any point, please ask.

We could…

Why don’t we…

I think we ought to…

How about…

Why not…

Shall we…

Is that OK with you?

Agreed?

Does that seem fair to you?

Are you OK with that?

Does that suit you?

I’m not sure that’s the best idea!

Actually, I’d rather…

To be honest, I think we should…

To be hones, I’d really rather not…

OK, fine.

Yes, that sounds good to me.

Absolutely, I’m with you on that.

 


 

How IELTS Examiners Try To Trick You!

Here is what the audio script for the question above might be like:

In orange are the sentences which talk about data analyses, in red are the sections which are distractors and trying to trick the candidate and in green are the sentences where the answer is finally given:

Effects of Global Warming - Monologue

Levels of Carbon Dioxide keep rising.

One 1 ___________ is starting to suffer more than most.

Their Governments have not yet acknowledged this as a problem.

It appears that 2 ______________ businesses are not helping progress.

In fact some people believe they are entirely to blame for this due to their constant pursuit of 3 ___________ and lack of 4_____________.

 


We can predict that:

Number 1 is asking for a place or being.

Number 2 is asking for an adjective to describe businesses.

Number 3 is asking for a noun that businesses seek.

Number 4 is asking for noun and something businesses don’t have.

By focusing your listening in this specific way it should make it easier to pick out these answers:

1 – continent, 2 – multi-national, 3 – wealth, 4 – integrity

The Secret To Success

Now you know how to do IELTS listening part 4, the secret to getting the highest band possible with your current level of English is to apply the techniques and tips that you are being taught on this web-site.

This means you need to practice the test and use the techniques several times so it becomes automatic to do these things. This is what will allow you to score as highly as possible.