Submitting ...
CELPIP Listening Part 1: Problem Solving
Tips & Strategies
How to Listen Effectively
Following the dialogue
Listen in full-sentence mode, not vocabulary mode
- Listen for the complete idea of a sentence rather than focusing only on individual words.
- This will help you understand the speakers' ideas more clearly.
Avoid focusing too much on vocabulary
- Vocabulary is useful, but only for some specific questions.
- Hearing a familiar word does not necessarily mean that it connects to the question.
Listen and repeat ideas in your mind
- Mentally repeat important ideas as you hear them.
- This can help you absorb information and remember it.
You can take notes
- You will be given a notepad, so notes can help you remember important information.
- You can write notes in your own language; your notes are not graded.
- Make sure writing does not interfere with listening.
Put yourself in the situation
- Imagine the context and situation while the speakers are talking.
- Ask yourself what you might do if you were in the same situation or had the same problem.
- This can help you understand possible actions and solutions.
What Information to Focus On
Context, main ideas, and details
Understand the Problem or Situation
This will help you understand the context.
- Identify the speakers and their roles. Who has the problem or situation?
- Identify the kind of situation. Is it at a store, between friends, or at work?
- Pay attention to tense: past, present, or future.
Understand Possible Solutions, Advice, and Suggestions
Understand what solutions to the problem are offered.
- Direct information can include dates, times, things, and actions.
- Indirect information can include advice, suggestions, possibilities, necessities, wishes, needs, and future actions.
Focus on Ideas More Than Vocabulary
This will help you understand the questions and answers more clearly.
- Connect ideas to the problem and possible solutions.
- Do not choose an idea only because you heard the same words.
- Use vocabulary association to connect related words and retain the larger idea.
Listening to the Questions
Understanding the question focus
Repeat the question to better understand it
- Mentally repeat or rephrase the question so you are clear about exactly what it is asking.
Focus on who the question is related to
- Identify which speaker the question is asking about.
- Keep the speakers' roles and ideas separate.
Focus on the specific part the question is asking about
- Understand the connection between the question and the relevant part of the dialogue.
Questions are usually related to
- The problem or situation
- Specific information such as dates, times, costs, or things
- Reasons for the problem or situation
- Solutions, suggestions, or advice
- What does one of the speakers suggest?
- Actions taken to solve the problem
- What does the person do?
- What will the person do?
Responding to the Questions
How to select answers
Avoid Selecting Answers Only Because of Words You Heard
Answers often contain words from the dialogue.
- Answer choices can use familiar vocabulary while expressing a different idea.
- Connect words together with the complete idea before choosing.
Focus on the Idea of the Answer More Than Its Words
Understand what each answer is suggesting.
- This is especially important for longer answers and questions about suggestions or advice.
- Some answers are indirect and must be understood from the dialogue rather than from one exact sentence.
Eliminate Wrong Answers
Finding wrong answers can be as important as finding the correct one.
- Eliminate answers that do not connect properly to the question or dialogue.
- For the remaining choices, compare what is different between them before selecting your answer.
Selecting the Answers
Identifying differences
Focus on Grammar
- Similar ideas can be changed by using a different tense: present, past, future, or present perfect.
- Modals can also change the meaning: could, may, might, should, would, have to, need to, and must.
Focus on Opposite Ideas
- An answer may contain an idea from the dialogue but connect it to the wrong person.
- An answer may also use familiar information while expressing the opposite meaning.
Focus on Vocabulary Association
- Similar words may appear in an answer without correctly connecting to the question.
- Correct answers may use synonyms instead of the exact words you heard.
Focus on Meaning and Indirect Answers
- Some answers require understanding the complete context rather than one specific piece of information.
- Pay attention to what the speakers are suggesting, implying, or planning.
- Expressions, idioms, and slang can communicate more than their literal words.