Good listening skills are an essential learning tool. Listening for specific information as you need to do for the FCE Listening paper, can be difficult. It is a skill that can only be built up over time and requires a lot of practice.
If you are not living in an English speaking country and are exposed to the language daily, it can be difficult to improve your listening skills. It is therefore important to that you try and listen as much as possible to English speaking programmes on the radio or TV.
Another good alternative is listening to graded audio books. These can not only help you improve your listening skills but also help you improve your reading skills.
Tips for the FCE Listening Paper
Whenever possible, try to identify the information you need before you listen. That way you are better prepared. Then while you listen, focus only on listening for those details and don’t worry about anything else.
Remember that your aim when listening is not to make note of everything that is being said. Your goal is to understand the content and the key points the speaker is trying to make.
Listening for key words and phrases is an important skill. Try to group the words and phrases you hear into similar topics and themes. We give tips on how to take notes and organise them in our video below on notetaking skills.
Complement Your FCE Listening Skills
Having good notetaking skills will complement your FCE listening skills. They will not only help you to prepare for the FCE exam but good notetaking skills will also help you whether you are studying in general or working.
Good notetaking skills will help you ensure you get the most out of your lectures, or assist you in writing great minutes of meetings that will impress both your colleagues or boss.
To help you develop good notetaking skills, we have included a video we hope you will enjoy.
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