This is the IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1510, IELTS Listening Part 1 Practice About Weddings.
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The best way to prepare for IELTS listening is real practice.
So today, practice the strategy of predicting with an IELTS listening sample, plus get tips from your expert IELTS hosts.
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Hey there, Aubrey. How are you today? I'm great, Lindsay.
How are you? Feeling good. Ready to get into our part two of this episode series.
Is that right? Yes. I'm excited to provide you guys with some listening part one practice.
This will be really fun. We have done this before, so definitely search on our blog to find all of the listening practice that you can get as part of this podcast.
But yeah, in this episode, you will get questions.
We're going to go through the strategies that you should be using to make sure you get the answers correct.
And then you'll get the listening audio as if it were a practice exam and we'll provide the answers.
I love it. And go back to 1509 after you finish this episode and check out that one.
That's where we opened up this whole idea of the importance of listening.
Right, Aubrey? Exactly. And how important strategies are, right?
The average score for 2023 and 2024 was lower than you might expect.
We shared that in the last episode. This is because students aren't always using strategies.
They're just practicing listening and then trying to get the best score they can on the exam.
That won't cut it. If you need a seven or higher, you need strategies.
Yes, it won't cut it. All right. So today we're going to give you kind of a sneak peek into one of the strategies that you learn in our course.
Obviously, in our course, we go into greater depth.
We help you practice it with practice tests and everything.
But today you get kind of a sneak peek, right, Aubrey?
Exactly right. We're talking about making predictions, but also identifying keywords.
So these are two vital strategies. When you complete IELTS listening questions, the first thing you will do is identify keywords in the questions. keywords that are definitely going to be in the audio, often a synonym or a paraphrase of that, but this will help you track the audio as you're listening. exactly so we sit down for the listening test and we have this piece of paper in front of us is that right exactly you'll have the questions if it's the computer exam you'll have the questions on the computer you can highlight keywords if you have the paper exam you can underline keywords okay so here we're going to do a little demo on how to predict what goes in a blank Exactly, right?
You should be predicting what you'll be listening for, what type of word is needed.
Should you be listening for a noun, a verb, an adjective, a number?
So we are going to read through what you will see, and you can come back to see these on our blog at allearsenglish.com.
So for this at the top, it would say wedding venue details.
This is sort of like notes that someone would be taking during a call.
And so you'll see some of the information that would have been written down and then blanks where information is missing.
Okay, good. All right. So let's go through this, Aubrey, and show predictions.
Right. So first under wedding venue details, we see Willow Creek, and this is capitalized, and then a blank.
So what do you predict would go there, Lindsay?
I think it's probably a noun, right? Probably a proper noun, a name, you know, finishing the name of this event. of this location, Willow Creek and what?
Exactly, where we have the title wedding venue details, makes sense that that would be the name of the wedding venue.
So you're definitely going to, this is one thing that couldn't be paraphrased.
If the name of the wedding venue is there, they're going to say Willow Creek and you'll be able to listen to the very next word.
Maybe it would be like a reception hall.
Who knows what will come next? There are all types of names for wedding venues.
But it's likely part of a proper noun because Willow Creek is capitalized.
And later in the episode, we will obviously read through that.
Well, you'll get the listening sample, so you'll know what it is.
But now we're going through this first step of predicting.
Yeah. Yeah. OK. Next one. Grand Garden Ballroom holds blank guests.
That's what I'm seeing. Yeah. So in that blank, we could predict that it's maybe a number.
How many guests this ballroom holds would make sense.
And you're likely this is definitely a keyword that you would underline.
You would identify Grand Garden Ballroom.
Again, a proper noun. There's no paraphrase for that.
You'll likely hear that and you'll know to listen for how many guests it holds.
Yeah, but it's probably more than 50 is probably a good number, right?
Because ballrooms are big. Right, weddings are usually large.
Yes, exactly. And remember, here's a little pro tip.
Often on IELTS Listening, you'll hear some numbers and then they'll sort of change it.
They might say, the Grand Garden Ballroom holds 500.
No, wait, it actually holds, right? So if you're to listen for that, you might hear a few numbers.
You need to pay attention to what the actual right number is.
IELTS loves to do that. Is that what we call distractors or is that something else?
Yeah, that's definitely a distractor, right?
There are a lot of pitfalls, a lot of traps IELTS does.
And this is one of them to provide several dates or several numbers and then clarify which one you should write. oh okay good to know good to know now we move into the section included in package right yeah exactly under included in package we have several bullets here as if someone has taken notes the first one says use of the estate from 10 a.m to blank yeah that's definitely going to be a time right because we're looking at a span of time how long can we use the estate so i'm imagining a particular time here Exactly.
Right. They're probably going to give a time and you'll likely hear 10 a.m. or 10 in the morning, something like that.
And that's a keyword you wouldn't want to underline as well as use of.
Right. And they might not say the estate.
They might say use of the venue, use of the ballroom.
Who knows? But then you're going to hear the 10 a.m. to you need to listen to the closing time.
The closing time. Good. Then we have a couple more bullet points.
Tables and chairs for up to 350 guests, right?
So that's a number. And then setup and breakdown is another bullet point.
And then what, Aubrey? Yeah, and this is interesting because often you'll have this.
You'll have some complete notes. And the nice thing with IELTS listening is they're always in order.
So that is going to help you keep track of the listening.
They're likely going to say how many tables and chairs they provide. something about setup and breakdown, and then you go to your next blank here.
So keeping track of those underlining keywords there as well to help you track.
The next one that has a blank is access to bridal and groom blank.
So something that would be available to the bride and the groom, maybe changing rooms, maybe snacks, who knows?
It could be anything, but likely a noun.
Yeah. Going through our cultural scripts on what happens typically during a wedding.
Right. The day of the wedding. How do we get ready?
Maybe there's something we can do there with a little brainstorming.
Yeah. Yeah. And this is the kind of thing that would help the more you listen to English audio.
You will likely have listened to some kind of podcast or seen a TV show about weddings in the UK or the US.
So then that's so much more information that as you're listening to this audio, you'd know more of the answers.
You got it. And then the next bullet point is onsite coordinators.
That's included in the package. Then we have indoor or outdoor blank.
Okay. So this could be restrooms, right?
It's likely a noun, something that is indoor or outdoor, but it could be plants.
Who knows? It could be anything, but you know, you're likely looking for some kind of noun that is located both indoor and outdoor.
And those are keywords. You're going to hear something mentioned after the onsite coordinator.
That's a keyword. Once they say something about the wedding coordinator, then you're going to listen for what is this that's indoor and outdoor.
Yes, I love that. And then the last bullet point is catering and bar services.
And then we get into the reservation details, right?
So first we're looking for a date, right?
And that's what we're looking for is a date.
Yeah, so there's date colon, and we often will see this in notes for IELTS listening.
So you know you're listening for a date, but not just any date.
There might be a lot of dates in this audio.
It's the date of the reservation. So maybe a reservation for this venue.
So that you would immediately think, okay, I'm listening for the date.
These will all be in order. So this date must come after that information about the onsite coordinator and this indoor outdoor information.
Yes, the answers will be in order. Very important to note and think about the different ways we might write the date.
So we're looking for a few different ways to write the date.
If our minds are only looking for one way to write a date, we might miss the answer, right?
And there usually are a couple of options. the best thing to do is listen for exactly how they say it.
So if they say the 12th of August and your instructions say two words and or a number, you would want to write it just like that.
12th, 1-2-T-H of O-F, August, right? So it's important to know what is allowed, what is acceptable for the answers on your listening exam as well. good and then we have next item is total cost we have the the colon and then the underline so here we're looking for an amount of money right they're going to be talking about the price the cost and you'll need to listen for that number and you will if they give you amount of money that you would also need to include the dollar sign right if they say or the pound sign or you could write dollars or pounds And if we didn't include the dollar sign, would that be points off our score, Aubrey?
Yes, that is important for this. If you're writing a cost and you just write 40,000, is that 40,000 people?
If they say $40,000 or 40,000 pounds, you need either the symbol or to write out dollars or pounds as well.
Okay, next one we have balance due by, right?
And a blank. So again, we're probably looking for a date here.
Exactly. It could be a month, but likely month and day.
So definitely looking for the date that the balance is due.
And this is the kind of thing that could be paraphrased.
There's a lot of ways to say that a balance is due.
Remainder of date. You know, down payment due, remainder of the money, right?
So it could be a paraphrase. Always know you can't get so tied to listening for those exact words.
If you underline balance due, you're listening for any way that that might be said.
And then the date of when, you know, the final payment would be made, the rest of the money.
All right, good. Anything we need to know about how to use this practice, Aubrey?
Anything else we should know? Yeah, you're going to hear us read the audio.
Often for part one, it's a conversation between two people, like a phone call.
And the best thing you can do, we have done these with you, identifying keywords and making predictions.
You want to do that every time you're doing listening audio.
So then, you want to listen to this audio without following along on the transcript.
We're going to provide that transcript on the blog, so you can come and check it out later.
But to make this as IELTS valid as possible, listen without following along on the transcript to see if you can get these answers correct, now that you've made these predictions, identified these keywords, without following along with the transcript.
And then afterward, come back to the blog, look at the transcript, find out what you missed, if you missed any answers, Why?
What was in the audio that made you mess up?
All right. I love it. So we're going to take a break and then we'll come back and we'll get to the listening exam.
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Exclusions apply. See details online. Okay, Aubrey, we are back.
It is time for the listening exam. All right.
We're going to read a listening exam audio that you would hear for listening part one.
All right. I'll start us out. Yes. Good afternoon.
Thank you for calling Willow Creek Estate.
This is Taylor. How can I help you today?
Hi, Taylor. I'm looking to book a wedding and I wanted to see if your venue could accommodate about 300 guests.
Absolutely. We'd love to help with that.
Our Grand Garden Ballroom comfortably holds up to 350 seated guests.
Do you have a date in mind yet? We're looking at either May 17th or June 7th next year.
Do you happen to have availability for either?
Let me check for you. Yes, we still have both of those Saturdays open as of today.
They are very popular dates though, so I'd recommend holding one as soon as possible if you're seriously considering it.
Good to know. Could you walk me through what's included with the venue rental?
Of course. Our full wedding package includes exclusive use of the estate from 10 a.m. to midnight, tables and chairs for up to 350 guests, setup and breakdown, access to our bridal and groom suites, an on-site coordinator, and your choice of indoor or outdoor ceremony space.
We also offer in-house catering and bar services, or you're welcome to bring in your own licensed vendors.
That sounds great. I think I'll go ahead and book for June 7th.
What does the pricing look like for that day in June with 300 guests?
For peak season Saturdays, the base venue rental is $8,900.
Catering typically averages around 85 to 110 per guest, depending on your menu choices and bar package.
So for 300 guests, you're looking at a ballpark total of around $40,000, including everything.
Okay, that's within our range. When do you need payment?
A deposit of 50% is required immediately, and the balance will be due July 1st.
Wow. Weddings are so expensive. That's my takeaway.
All right. Good. So what do we know? That's the end of the audio.
Let's go through these answers. Hopefully you got them all correct.
So we first had Willow Creek blank. And hopefully now that you identified keywords, you heard that third word, which would be estate.
Keep in mind, because the full name of the venue is Willow Creek Estate, you would have to capitalize it.
You are also allowed to write in all caps.
So you could write every single answer in all caps so that you don't miss points for capitalization.
But for a proper noun like this, it would need to be capitalized if you're writing in small and uppercase.
It's an interesting strategy, this idea of writing all in caps.
Maybe if your native language doesn't really use capitalization or something like that, and you're not confident in your ability to identify capitals and lowercase, maybe you do that.
I don't know. It's an interesting choice.
It wouldn't hurt whether you're typing or writing by hand.
If you practice writing in all caps, you could avoid possible errors for capitalization.
But you would want to practice that, right?
Yeah. Next one, Grand Garden Ballroom holds 350 guests.
So 350 is our answer there. Yeah. And there was a distractor of 300 guests, right?
You heard that a couple of times. So you would need to be listening closely when they said, this is really where those predictions are vital because you knew that you were listening for the amount of guests this particular ballroom holds.
So then you would get that correct, 350.
So you would just write 350. Love it. And what about included in the package, the next section?
Yeah. So likely you heard that 10 a.m. and you would zero in and hear 10 a.m. to midnight.
And you would just write that all as one word, M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T, midnight. all right and we'll skip down to the next section access to bridal and groom suites is the answer right the rooms for changing getting ready that's exactly yes hopefully you heard this and got it correct you knew you were looking for likely a plural noun and so that would be sweets s-u-i-t-e-s nice all right what else aubry our next blank was indoor or outdoor blank this was could have been many different things but the answer was ceremony space Keep in mind, if you just write space, for example, that would be incorrect because ceremony is vital to this noun, right?
Space could be anything. That could be open lawns.
That could be space for eating. But ceremony space would be where the actual wedding is performed.
Yeah, we need to listen for those extra details because they do matter, right, on IELTS.
Right. This is often where students will miss an answer when they'll just write one word when really it's a compound noun.
Both of those are required to really tell us what this indoor or outdoor space is.
Interesting. Good to know. Next piece is reservation details.
We have date and our answer here was June 15th. seven was it june 7 or june 7th either would be accepted right so that's what's nice in the audio you can just write it exactly how it's stated in the audio if they say june 7 just write that capitalize the the month and then just write the number seven but also accepted here would be june 7th if that makes sense grammatically in the audio if they say june 7th they would also accept june 7 without that th so sometimes there are multiple answers that are accepted but it must make sense in the grammar of what was said.
Love it. And then we have total cost, and that was $40,000.
And there were other distractors in there too, Aubrey, right?
Exactly. I think you first heard 8,900, and then you heard individual costs for, that's very common.
It's unlikely there would just be one price amount in the entire audio, right?
Yeah, so don't just think you've got the answer the first number you hear.
Keep listening for the full context. Right, exactly.
You hear one price, don't shut off your brain.
You need to be listening to make sure you get the actual total cost.
And then balance due by July 1 or July 1st.
Exactly. Both of those would be accepted.
So hopefully you got all of those right and you were able to see how making predictions and identifying keywords made it so much easier to track that audio and identify the answers as they came.
Oh my gosh, what a meaty episode today, Aubrey.
Really good stuff. And what do we want our listeners to do now?
What should they do? Comment on YouTube or Spotify, wherever you listen, how many you got correct.
We want to know how many answers you got correct and definitely come back to the blog so you can see the transcript.
If there were any words you didn't understand, it's always helpful to, after finishing IELTS listening, read through the transcript, find out why you got the answer.
Work backwards. Find out why you got any answers incorrect.
Yeah, any other final takeaways where we should leave our listeners?
Yeah, it's not enough just to know strategies.
You need to be using them in real IELTS listening practice.
So we're excited that you're following here.
You were able to get today's listening practice.
You must use strategies on test day, guys, and you must practice those strategies.
I love it. And don't forget in our three keys outs online course, we go into much more depth by teaching you these things step by step.
Okay. So this is getting you started, but if you want to get into our course to get a guaranteed score increase, go to allearsenglish.com slash K E Y S. All right.
Absolutely. Awesome. Thanks for joining me today, Lindsay.
All right. Take care, Aubrey. Good one today.
Talk to you next time. Bye. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy.
Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.
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