Ielts listening practice names and numbers

Can you tell the difference between “16” and “60”?

Mistakes with “teen” numbers and “10” numbers are really common on the IELTS Listening Test. (Actually, native English speakers have trouble with them too!)

The trick for these numbers is to realize that not only is the pronunciation different (sixteen / sixty), but there is also a difference in word stress.

With “sixteen”, the second half of the word is stressed (we say it louder), like this:

                   sixtEEN

With “sixty”, the first half of the word is stressed, like this:

                   SIXty

This is the same for all of the “teen” numbers, and the “10’s” numbers. Let’s go through the list for practice:

                   13               30

                   14               40

                   15               50      (careful, this is the hardest one!)

                   16               60

                   17               70

                   18               80

                   19               90

NUMBERS ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET:

Note that it doesn’t matter whether you write “8” or the word “eight” on your answer sheet… both ways still simply count as a number for the instructions. You should always just write the number (like “8”) to save yourself time.

Big Numbers:

How do we say “1300”? Actually, there are two ways.

• We could say “one thousand three hundred”.

• Or, we could say “thirteen-hundred”.

You might hear either on the IELTS Listening Test.

*Note that this is only possible if the second number is not a zero! 3000 is always just “three thousand”… but 3100 can be “three thousand one hundred” OR “thirty-one hundred”!

Let’s go through a list of big numbers for practice:

                   2700

                   27,000

                   270,000

                   2,700,000

BIG NUMBERS ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET:

Note that a big number like “27,000” just counts as one number.

Also, remember that you don’t have to worry about commas or spaces in large numbers. Just write them out like this: 27000. Punctuation (like commas and spaces) doesn’t matter on the listening test.

Money:

Since the IELTS relates to all English speaking countries, you may hear two different kinds of money. They are:

Dollars are used in most English speaking countries (Canada, USA, Australia) while pounds are used in the United Kingdom.

Pay attention to the test paper to see whether you are listening for the word “dollars” or “pounds”; the questions will always be marked with either the $ or the £ symbols.

MONEY ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET:

Note that you will never be expected to write “dollars” or “pounds” (and you don’t have to include the symbols, either). This notation ($ / £) will already be marked on the question paper. 

Note that any time a symbol for notation is already on the question, make sure you don’t add it into your answer or it will be marked wrong! (for example, if the question says 14. _____ %  and you write “75%” on the line – so it says 75%% – then you would be marked incorrect.)

Telephone Numbers:

Telephone numbers are quite common in Section 1 and 2 of the listening test.

You should learn the pronunciation of numbers in general, but there are also two tricks the IELTS listening test often uses:

1. Zero as “oh”. Often the number zero will be pronounced simply as “oh”. For example:

     780 – 2489

When there are two zeroes in a row, sometimes the text will say “double-oh”. For example:

     983 – 0091

2. The second trick is that sometimes someone will begin to read a telephone number, and then correct themselves with a different one! For example:

     “Okay, so the number is 338… no, wait. That’s my old number. Ah here it is: 342 9740.”

In this case, you will need to be careful to use only the second number for the answer! (You can just scratch out the first… don’t waste time erasing. Remember, the examiner doesn’t look at your test paper, just the answer sheet!)

TELEPHONE NUMBERS ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET:

Remember, spaces between the numbers don’t matter. Again, punctuation is not marked on the listening test!

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Page 2

Names are common as answers in Sections 1 and 2 of the listening test. The tricky part is that difficult names will be spelled for you, but common names won’t! So you should be familiar with the most common boys and girls names in English.

A quick google search can help you here.

NAMES ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET:

One important note is that if the IELTS test gives you a title (Mr. or Mrs.), and the title is not already written on the test paper, then you should include it as part of your answer, or it will be marked wrong!

The five titles that you are likely to see are:  Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms / Dr

Letters:

Since difficult names and addresses will be spelled for you on the test, it’s very important to know the correct pronunciation of English letters!

Let’s go through the alphabet together. I will say each letter, then you can repeat it for practice:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Some people have difficulty hearing the difference between the following letters. Let’s go through them together:

I        /       Y       /       E       /       A

B       /       P       /       V

M       /       NK       /       Q

D       /       T

S       /       X

J        /       G

Addresses:

Again, difficult addresses will be spelled for you, but common ones may not be. For example, “Park Lane” would not be spelled for you, but “Fairfax Road” would.

One important note is that if the IELTS test mentions a type of street (like road, avenue, or lane) then you should include it.

It is okay to include the abbreviated form of street types, in case you can’t remember how to spell them! BUT… make sure you get the abbreviation correct!

Here are the different street types you may hear, and the abbreviations for them:

Road           /       Rd.

Avenue       /       Ave.

Lane           /       Ln.

Highway     /       Hwy.

Crescent     /       Cr.

Street         /       St.

Drive          /       Dr.

Place          /       Pl.