IELTS Listening: Strategy for Notes Completion Question

• Read the instruction sentence carefully to check how many words you can write for each gap. For example, in the question above you need to write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer. That means you can write "one word, one number, a word and a number (e.g. 22nd January)".

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• Take a quick look at the text in the question paper to understand a general idea of the discussion that you are going to listen.

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• Take short notes when you are listening. Write those on the question paper as much as you need. There is nothing wrong with writing on the question sheet. You paid for it. Use it, make it dirty😎. The examiner will evaluate your answer sheet, not the question paper.

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• Identify the keywords and think about the synonyms and paraphrases of those keywords. Because, you are not going to listen to the same words that you are seeing on the question paper, rather you are going to hear synonyms or paraphrases of these words.

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• Think about the types(noun, adjective, verb, adverb etc.) of words that you might need to fill the gaps. 

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• Don't rush to write down the answer immediately after you hear it. Wait for a little time to do so, because sometimes the speaker might change his/her mind and say something else.

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Check the following resource:

Essential grammar and vocabulary for IELTS