Video summary

how I got 8.5 THREE TIMES in ielts listening//my secret for handling multiple choice questions

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and lessons

  • IELTS Listening can be harder than Reading because it assesses two skills at once:

    • understanding what you hear (listening)
    • understanding what you read in real time (reading questions + options while listening)

  • A key advantage to getting high Listening scores (8.5 three times) is front-loading reading—especially for parts that contain heavy multiple-choice content.

  • Reading strategy is different by section (Part 1/2/3 vs Part 4), depending on:

    • how much information you must read
    • how hard the section is

  • High Listening scores require more than IELTS-question practice:

    • you must be an active listener of real English (podcasts/news, fast speakers, difficult topics)
    • you need both general understanding of speech and detail tracking

  • Matching questions aren’t about synonyms; they test your ability to understand meaning in long sentences.

Methodology / step-by-step strategy (as described)

1) Use navigation to “pre-read” high-information parts (especially Part 2 & Part 3)

  • Goal: read Part 2 and Part 3 twice before the recording for each starts (for multiple-choice and heavy-option reading sections).
  • Why: Part 2 & Part 3 contain multiple-choice / many options, and incorrect reading knowledge can block correct answers.
  • Why not all parts twice?
    • Part 2 & Part 3: require lots of “at once” reading (questions + options).
    • Part 1 & Part 4: have less of the same immediate reading burden (or a different focus), so reading once is often enough before listening starts.

2) When Part 1 begins: use its reading time to pre-read Part 2

After you click Start Test:

  • Don’t start reading Part 1.
  • Use the bottom navigation bar to jump directly to Part 2 when Part 1’s audio begins.

During the time labeled “listen carefully and answer Questions 1–7”:

  • Read Part 2 questions + options quickly, aiming to finish most/all.
  • It’s okay if you don’t finish, because you’ll get another chance to read during the test.
  • Do not highlight keywords (too time-consuming).

Training goals:

  • Train a reading pace + short-term memory
    • read quickly, but not so fast you forget immediately
    • practice at home to find your optimal pace
    • improve memory by trying to recall what you just read repeatedly

3) Use Part 1 audio “extra seconds” to quickly finish Part 1’s own questions

Once you reach Part 1 (when the recording says to listen carefully/answer):

  • exploit the fact that conversations often spend a few lines on setup before reaching the key topic (e.g., “library”).

In that gap:

  • quickly skim Questions 1–7 without highlighting
  • focus only on what you need:
    • event names
    • opening time
    • fees

Reframe Part 1 as manageable:

  • it’s “daily life,” generally normal to handle listening while reading.

4) For subsequent time blocks, switch to the next hardest pre-reading target (Part 3)

Example approach:

  • For a block where you can read Questions 8–10:
    • choose the answers
    • then immediately move to Part 3 to start pre-reading

Why prefer Part 3 over part of Part 2?

  • The referenced Part 2 section is often matching, which may require less reading than Part 3’s many options.
  • The speaker explicitly considers Part 3 hardest (harder than Part 4), so it gets two reads before listening.

5) When Part 2 recording starts: do the “second read” for Part 2 (reduce reading load while listening)

  • When the recording begins Part 2:
    • you already read Part 2 once earlier
    • then you do the second pre-reading when given a time block

Benefit:

  • during listening, you keep glancing at options/questions less
  • you can focus more on listening because you already know the options well

Especially helpful for questions with long options (e.g., examples like Q12 and Q16).

6) Listening-skill training (not just IELTS practice): become an active listener

  • Claim: practicing IELTS questions alone won’t get band 8–9.

What to do instead:

  • Listen to English every day via podcasts/news (20–30 minutes daily).

Use challenging sources/topics:

  • Wall Street Journal tech news briefing
  • “your money” briefing
  • business-focused shows (challenging/difficult topics, competitive markets)

Build capacity with fast input:

  • include a fast-speaking English speaker (mentioned: Russell Brunson)
  • result: after that, test audio feels slower, making it easier to follow

7) How to answer using understanding “as a whole,” not just keyword matching

  • Don’t eliminate options only because you hear a few similar words.
  • Instead, determine meaning by understanding the full sentence/idea.

Example principle (e.g., “Why does he love traveling”):

  • you reject options by understanding the overall statement contradicts the idea
  • you select the correct option by understanding the overall logic (not relying on synonym recognition)

8) Matching questions: don’t over-trust synonym hunting

During time to read matching options:

  • read options carefully twice
  • but for locations (as described), sometimes read once

Belief:

  • Matching questions test your ability to understand long sentences and implied meaning, not “find synonyms” (e.g., “well-known/popular” as an example).

If time remains before recording:

  • use it to pre-read harder parts (the speaker mentions “squeezing in time” as part of getting 8.5 multiple times).

9) Part 3 handling (matching + multiple pre-reading)

  • For matching in Part 3:
    • use the given time to read questions + options twice
  • Continue using end-of-part time strategically:
    • after Part 2, use the checkpoint time + Part 3 reading time to prepare Part 3 carefully enough

10) Part 4 strategy: read more analytically (especially around blanks)

Use two time chunks:

  1. checkpoint time at the end of Part 3
  2. reading time at the beginning of Part 4

What to read first:

  • read the instructions
  • read the title for general topic (example: “Sense of Smell”)

During listening:

  • don’t over-read extra info beforehand; read only what supports tracking the speech

Focus on:

  • sentences that contain blanks
  • the information surrounding each blank (crucial)

Example reasoning process for blanks:

  • determine required grammar/part of speech from surrounding structure
  • e.g., if it says “Less developed in [blank] than…”
    • infer you likely need a noun/adjective form based on grammar
  • use patterns like “distinguished something from something” to identify that the blank likely needs a specific part of speech (e.g., adjective modifying a noun).

It’s okay if you can’t finish all 10 questions:

  • do some reading during listening if needed.

Overall conclusion (what they “basically did”)

  • Two major non-standard contributors to high scores:
    1. Improve reading skills
      • fast reading of questions/options
      • better short-term memory of what you read
      • strategic double-reading of hard parts (Part 2/3)
    2. Improve listening skills through daily active listening of challenging real content (podcasts/news, fast speakers), not just IELTS drills.

Speakers / sources featured

  • Speaker (narrator / IELTS test-taker): the person giving strategies throughout the video (no name provided in subtitles).
  • Russell Brunson: mentioned as the fast-speaking English input the speaker listened to.
  • Wall Street Journal: mentioned as a podcast/news source the speaker listened to.

Original video