FIRST /B2: LISTENING PART 1, TIPS AND EXERCISES

Listening part 1: 

You will hear 8 different people talking in eight different situations, and you will have to choose the best answer (a, b or c). All the options will be mentioned. The correct answer could be anywhere in the recording: beginning, middle or end.

Tips A: 1. Read through the question and underline the keywords.
             2. Ignore the options a,b or c.
             3. Listen one time and think which the answer to the question can be.
             4. look at the options and choose the most similar to your answer.
             5. Listen a second time to confirm your answer.

Tips B: 1. Read through the questions and the three options.
             2. Underline the keywords.
             3. Listen to general meaning on your first listening.
             4. Listen to specific information on your second listening.
             4. Choose the correct one.

LISTENING PRACTICE: 

 

exercise 1         exercise 2         exercise 3         exercise 4         exercise 5        

 exercise 6      exercise 7         exercise 8

ENGLISH AUDIOBOOKS FOR CHILDREN

Children´s audiobooks are a wonderful learning tool because while they´re following a story through an audiobook, they are picking up new vocabulary, learning about sentence structure, improving pronunciation and listening skills.

Listening to stories read aloud helps to boost reading comprehension and of course, fosters imagination. So, let´s read

Here there are some links to audiobooks for children:

1) Original stories, fairytales, classic authors, myths and world stories Here

2) Short kids stories to watch: here and here

3) Short stories with read-along text: here

4) Wonderful boo reading videos on youtube by professional actors and famous people: here

5) Listen to interactive stories and play: here

APTIS GENERAL LISTENING

There are 25 recordings and questions in total, and you can listen to each recording twice. The exam usually begins with an A2 level question, and there are more of the B2 level questions towards the end, but they are mixed so be ready for B2 questions at any point.
Try this listening

APTIS GENERAL : HINTS AND TIPS VIDEO

Here is a video which explains to you what the aptis test is like and how to do it. I hope you find it useful.

LISTENING: A2 / B1 / B2 AND C1

Listening is one of the most challenging skills for most of my students. Practising is the key to get it. Click on this link: LISTENING , choose your level elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper- intermediate and advanced. Then, click on the exercise you want to do.

IMPROVE YOUR READING AND LISTENING

Do you need to improve your reading comprehension, your listening skills or your vocabulary? Have you ever used audiobooks? 

Dr Stephen Krashen said, "Scientific research tells that most of our fluency – our ability to use a language – comes from what we read and hear. Reading and listening have the power to improve vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension (understanding), writing, spelling, TOEFL scores, and more."

Audiobooks can help you to improve your English, so it's time to try it. Choose a book which has the appropriate level for you and read for pleasure. 

Here are some links to audiobooks:

- English graded audiobooks

- English ebooks (graded readers ebooks)

- classic audiobooks 

- audiobooks

- novellas

- short stories

- intermediate

- advanced

- audiobooks and ebooks

PET / B1: LISTENING PART 4

There is a longer informal conversation and six sentences. You have to listen to the conversation and decide if each sentence is true or false.

Here you have some useful links:

EXERCISE 1     EXERCISE 2     EXERCISE 3     EXERCISE 4

PET / B1: LISTENING PART 3

You will listen to a longer monologue (one person speaking) and a page of notes which summarise the text. Six pieces of information are missing from the notes. You have to listen to the recording and fill in the missing information.

Here there are some links:

EXERCISE 1     EXERCISE 2     EXERCISE 3     EXERCISE 4

PET / B1: LISTENING PART 2

Listening part 2 consists of a longer recording (one person speaking or an interview) and six questions. You have to listen to the recording and choose the right answer (A, B or C) for each question.

Here you have some links:

EXERCISE 1     EXERCISE 2     EXERCISE 3      EXERCISE 4 

PET / B1 :LISTENING PART 1

Listening part 1 consists of seven short recordings. For each recording, there is a question and three pictures (A, B or C). You have to listen to the tapes and choose the right answers.

Here you can find some links:

EXERCISE 1     EXERCISE 2     EXERCISE 3     EXERCISE 4

VALENTINE´S DAY IS COMING, DATING VOCABULARY AND LISTENING C1

Love is in the air is the title of a famous song so let's study vocabulary on dating.

Dating part 1: http://www.highlevellistening.com/dating-vocabulary-part-1/

Casual dating vocabulary and phrases: http://www.highlevellistening.com/dating-vocabulary-part-2/

New and interesting phrases for the next phase of dating: http://www.highlevellistening.com/dating-vocabulary-part-3/

Phrases for getting engaged and getting married: http://www.highlevellistening.com/dating-vocabulary-part-4/

The end of those  good times: http://www.highlevellistening.com/dating-vocabulary-part-5/

HEALTH VOCABULARY AND LISTENING C1

Learning how to talk about your health.

Phrases to talk about before you start feeling or getting sick:  http://www.highlevellistening.com/health-vocabulary-part-1/

Talking about being sick: http://www.highlevellistening.com/health-vocabulary-part-2/

Talking about getting hurt: http://www.highlevellistening.com/health-vocabulary-part-3/

Talking about some medicine and getting your prescription filled:  http://www.highlevellistening.com/health-vocabulary-part-4/

A check-up:  http://www.highlevellistening.com/health-vocabulary-part-5/

FAMILY VOCABULARY AND LISTENING C1

Time to study vocabulary about the family. Here you have some links:

Close or your immediate family: http://www.highlevellistening.com/family-vocabulary-part-1/

Your extended family: http://www.highlevellistening.com/family-vocabulary-part-2/

Where´d you grow up? http://www.highlevellistening.com/family-vocabulary-part-3/

Are you the oldest in the family? http://www.highlevellistening.com/family-vocabulary-part-4/

Divorce vocabulary: http://www.highlevellistening.com/family-vocabulary-part-5/

TRAVEL VOCABULARY AND LISTENING C1

LET'S STUDY VOCABULARY TO TRAVEL

At the airport: http://www.highlevellistening.com/travel-vocabulary-part-1/

How to budget: http://www.highlevellistening.com/travel-vocabulary-part-2/

Types of vacation: http://www.highlevellistening.com/travel-vocabulary-part-3/

5 More types of vacation: http://www.highlevellistening.com/travel-vocabulary-part-4/

How often do you get time to take vacation? http://www.highlevellistening.com/travel-vocabulary-part-5/

SOCIAL MEDIA VOCABULARY AND LISTENING C1

Thinking about improving your listening practice and your knowledge of vocabulary on social media:

Try these links:

 facebook: http://www.highlevellistening.com/social-media-english-facebook-vocabulary-part-1/

twitter and going viral: http://www.highlevellistening.com/english-social-media-vocabulary-part-2/

haters and trolls: http://www.highlevellistening.com/english-social-media-vocabulary-part-3/

youtube: http://www.highlevellistening.com/english-youtube-vocabulary/

internet slang: http://www.highlevellistening.com/social-media-vocabulary-english-internet-slang/

FREE TIME AND HOBBIES VOCABULARY AND LISTENING C1

Learn vocabulary on free time and hobbies in the following links:

Talking about your likes and dislikes: http://www.highlevellistening.com/free-time-vocabulary-part-1/

Talking about tv in English: http://www.highlevellistening.com/free-time-vocabulary-part-2/

Talking about sports and the outdoors:http://www.highlevellistening.com/free-time-vocabulary-part-3/

Spending time with friends: http://www.highlevellistening.com/free-time-vocabulary-part-4/

Free time vocabulary: http://www.highlevellistening.com/free-time-vocabulary-part-5/

VIDEO BOOKS

Have you ever thought about using video books with subtitles to improve your listening, grammar and vocabulary English skills?

You have some links here:

https://agendaweb.org/listening/video-books.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/video-books2.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/video-books3.html

LET’S READ

Have you ever tried to use audiobooks to improve your English?

They are a great resource for ESL students. If you listen and read at the same time, you’ll improve your reading comprehension skills and of course you’ll learn how to pronounce words in English.

Choose books that are easy to understand so that you can get involved in the story and about a subject you like or you’re familiar with.

My favourite website is: http://english-e-books.net/

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING 2: PODCASTS

Most of my students need more listening practice and podcasts are a good way to improve your English.
What is a podcast? It´s an audio file and sometimes a video program that can be streamed or download from the internet to your computer, mobile phone or tablet, typically available as a series, new instalments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.

Here are some podcasts for learners of English:

- 6 Minute English: 
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english

- English in 10 minutes: https://englishin10minutes.com/

- Global News Podcast: 
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nq0gn/episodes/downloads

 - Radiolab: http://www.radiolab.org/series/podcasts/

 - Ted audio podcasts: https://www.ted.com/about/programs-initiatives/ted-talks/ted-talks-audio

 -  Podcasts in English : https://podcastsinenglish.com/

 - Englishclass101: https://www.englishclass101.com/

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING 1: LISTENING TO MUSIC

 “Without a song, the day would never end; without a friend, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend- without a song” So I keep singing a song. – Elvis Presley

Some years ago one of my students asked me, “ why do you want us to learn English by listening to music?” My answer was “It works, you learn everyday language and up-to-date colloquial speech, you improve your pronunciation and your understanding, and of course, listening to music and singing songs is enjoyable!

Here you have some links you can use to improve your English:

- https://es.lyricstraining.com/en: it shows YouTube videos and provides subtitles. Choose the video of a song you like, then select your game mode ( esay, medium or hard) and start listening. Simple to use, no registration is necessary. It’s my favourite website.

-  talkingdictionary.clubefl.gr: has youtube music videos and interactive exercises.

- https://www.esolcourses.com/topics/learn-english-with-songs.html: choose one of the videos and practice your English listening skills.

- lyricsmode.com: good website for accurate song lyrics to print-o