IELTS and TOEFL listening exam. What is the difference between them?

Listening is one of the skills that some people may struggle to practice when learning English, especially if the language is completely new to them.

Since TOEFL and IELTS are the most widely accepted English language certificates, many people who take these tests seek to master this skill in order to obtain the required score.

So here we will explain to you the difference between the TOEFL and IELTS listening tests, what questions are expected in each test, and how to prepare well for them and develop your listening skills.

What is listening skill?

Listening is one of the four English language skills , and it depends on how well you understand the speaker in front of you or the sound you hear when he speaks English.

Developing this skill will greatly improve your performance, and you will find yourself memorizing many words and expressive sentences, and learning a lot about how to speak faster than expected.

Listening part of the IELTS test

In the IELTS test,the Listening section is the first part of the test, and you have to answer 40 questions in 30 minutes.

• The examinee listens to 4 different texts, each text discusses a specific topic, and has 10 independent questions about the text that follows it.
• The difficulty of the text gradually increases, as these texts discuss various and general topics such as means of transportation, a conversation in the library, buying a specific item from the store, and the like, but the fourth and final text is often about an academic topic specific to the study.
• The texts differ from each other, as the first and third texts are a conversation between two or more people, but the second and fourth have only one person speaking.
• While listening to the audio recording, you must concentrate well, as you will not be able to listen again or stop the recording for any reason, so it is very important to take this point into consideration.
• Also, when correcting, incorrect words are not counted, even if this error is only a letter, so the entire question score will be cancelled.
• The questions are varied and different depending on each paragraph, and they vary between multiple choice , filling in the missing blanks with what suits them, connecting, solving a chart or graph.
• The Listening score is calculated at the end on an IELTS scale from 0 to 9 based on the overall score.

TOEFL Listening Part

TOEFL is less academic and scientific than IELTS, with the topics heard often being about scientific projects or university conversations.

• The test consists of approximately 5 to 7 recordings, 5 of which are on academic topics, and are a conversation between two or more people, and each recording is usually 5 minutes long.
• The remaining recordings, which may be two or three, are in one voice and are often about a topic within the university, such as the library, the auditorium, and so on.
• There will be 6 questions on each audio clip, meaning that the total test questions will range from approximately 30 to 45 questions, and the test duration will be approximately 41 to 57 minutes.
• The score for this part is 30 points, which are added together with the other 3 parts, so that the test is ultimately worth 120 points.
• When the clip ends, you cannot go back to listen to it again, nor can you slow down the recording or stop it during the test.
• Before each recording there are a few seconds that you can take to quickly look at the questions, so that you have an idea of ​​the recording and can gather some answers as you listen.
• The test questions vary between multiple choice, some questions have more than one answer, and connections between questions and answers.
• In multiple choice questions, the question may be to choose an appropriate title for the paragraph, or to identify the intended purpose of this recording, so you must concentrate well while listening.

How to improve your listening skills before the TOEFL or IELTS test

Listening is the first skill that anyone who wants to learn English can improve in the simplest ways, as listening to the English language and words a lot develops this skill in you very quickly.

Here are some tips that can help you with this task:

Listen to English daily

The best way to develop your listening skills is to hear the language spoken by native speakers, as this will help you master the accent faster and improve your ability to understand words when listening.

• You can do this by listening to English movies or songs to learn more about the slang, but for academic and formal language it is better to listen to scientific programs, news channels, formal discussions and so on.
• You can also use some audio books or educational applications to be able to control the speed of the conversation to collect the largest number of words from them and understand their meaning, but for this to succeed you must do it daily to notice the development of your skill.

Practice concentration and note taking.

The listening part of the test requires some effort from you, as you must listen carefully to every word in the conversation, read the questions, take notes and write them out to answer, so you must practice this part well.

Good concentration is the key to success in this part of the test. If you listen carefully and read the questions, you will reach the answer more easily and quickly. You will be able to develop this part through daily practice and training on it a lot, as the exam will not differ much from the training.

Memorize words and master writing

Since the test may contain fill-in-the-blank questions, you will need to write the words from your mind, so memorizing the words is very important, because when correcting, incorrect words are not counted, even if the mistake is only one letter.

You also have to take into account the grammar rules while writing. You have to write the word according to the context of the sentence, whether it is singular or plural, or in the past or present tense, and so on.

Solve a lot of exercises

One of the most effective ways to help you progress very quickly and practice test questions is to solve previous test model questions, expected questions, and also solve exercises in IELTS or TOEFL preparation books.

By solving many questions, you will practice the test method well, and the questions will not be completely new to you during the exam, and this will greatly reduce your stress and increase your self-confidence.

Join educational clubs

You can join one of the educational clubs for learning the language, and groups that prepare for IELTS or TOEFL, as this will help you develop your communication skills, advance your level faster, and thus your listening ability will improve significantly.

Join training courses

If you find it very difficult, you can join a course and get help from a private tutor, and this will make it easier.

One of the places you can join to learn about the IELTS and TOEFL tests correctly is the school.com , where the school offers specialized training courses presented by the best lecturers with experience in the field of language study.

Listening is one of the first skills you will learn when studying English, as listening quickly develops any language and makes you get to know the language more through common words and expressive sentences.

So if you want to take one of the two English language tests, you have to develop this skill quickly, and you have to practice it well, but depending on the exam you will take, as the IELTS test part is different from the TOEFL.