Kelas IELTS by Betari Part 2 -- Understanding IELTS Listening

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

listening is my first love, but Betari shows me it's not that easy.

you are what you listen to, is a perfectly right quote to describe coherency between you and your IELTS Listening Test. stay calm and trust your ears. you just have one chance to concentrate and write exactly what you listen to. do not ever think that your memoir can save you for listening tests. once you get delayed, you never find out the right answer.

at that time, i lost my motivation. i have been getting a stable listening score during my practice. but one day, it decreases 0.5 points. I still assume that is because I did not get my breakfast before the practice. but it becomes worse when the next day it shows the same score in different listening test (i never repeat my practice with the same test).

and Listening Test from Betari came. i got more surprised when the score is dropping 1 point than before. my total decreasing gap from my stable score to Betari test is about 1.5 points. it's very heartbreaking. 

when the class is started, Betari says that she will do the same test like me for figuring out why this happen    

this is so begin with end in my mind. for the first time i found a coach who willing to learn, to imagine standing in my position. OMG what kind of thing i did in my past life to deserved coach like Betari ?

one thing that I learn in Betari IELTS Class is : she always do speaking test in the beginning of class and give me a score as a result. this is because active part in IELTS (writing and speaking) is harder than passive part (listening and reading). especially on speaking test, there is a psychological pressure that impacts the score. that's a common problem for IELTS fighter that Betari know. and she implements that problem into brilliant strategy.

so, you have 10 meetings of the class. then you have 10 speaking test along the way.

Betari gives a lot of feedback after the speaking test. she told what my strength and what kind of aspect i can improve better. she gives me AREL structure for the Speaking part 3, explains how many points i must fulfill in the Speaking part 2, and how to answer Speaking part 1 based on examiner expectation.

Betari is also repeating my answer in the Speaking test in the proper yet understandable sentence.

now, let's talk about the listening test itself

 

actually the content of this listening part is not that new for me. but, it feels so different when you have an available coach who accompanying you trough this class. the secured feeling that you always have a place to ask and discuss is never be replaceable by any other IELTS listening books. 

one key takeaways from this meeting is : Betari suggest me to imagine that i am involved in that recording situation. i must stand myself as part of that recording test. in part one, i must imagine that the speaker is friends of mine that i attend for accompanying his/her trough the conversation. for part 2, i imagine i am one of the audience. in part 3, i imagine i am part of the informal university activity (because i take the academic module), and the last part i imagine sitting down in that lecture class.

it's explained why some people are getting frustated of the last part of IELTS Listening test meanwhile my gained score is always from this part. again, it's because the psychological factor. i love school and wish to pursue my degree. and Betari encourages me to occur that feeling in every part of the listening test. 

because IELTS is not as simple as score and a certificate. it's about your survival tool kit to live and study in an English speaking country. every part of the IELTS test will be my daily basis situation when my odyssey begins.

the other highlighted point i got from Betari's class is : do not try to understand everything that you listen to. focus on keyword (such as cause - effect) and some specific point (like spelling, price, times, place, etc.)

the hyphenated, this is very new yet surprising for me.

along this time i just understand the instruction, strictly (one word / no more than two words / one word and or a number ), despite that instruction actually has a hint and traps. something that i think you never found in a book. or, if you found it you still have a challenge to understand. because in my opinion, this instruction needs deep explanation of the expert.

so, that's all things i can remember from the last Friday night meeting. i hope you gain some enlightenment as i am. thank you for reading.

Balikpapan, 8 of September 2021

Faizah Riffat -- who get praise yesterday from head of supervision commitment officer. ministry of public works and housing.