Back to Course

Improve your IELTS Listening score

0% Complete
Last activity on May 24, 2023
  1. WELCOME
    Welcome to IELTS Online Listening
  2. Meet Your Course Trainers
  3. Course Overview
  4. Using the Platform
  5. IELTS LISTENING TEST
    IELTS Listening Test
    2 Topics
  6. LISTENING SKILLS AND STRATEGIES
    Introduction to Skills and Strategies
  7. General Skills and Strategies
    6 Topics
    1. Check Your Knowledge
    2. Listening for Main Ideas
    3. Listening for Specific Information
    4. Guessing Unknown Vocabulary
    5. Recognising Synonyms
    6. Lesson Summary
  8. Skills and Strategies for Part 1
    6 Topics
  9. Skills and Strategies for Part 2
    4 Topics
  10. Skills and Strategies for Part 3
    4 Topics
  11. Skills and Strategies for Part 4
    6 Topics
  12. QUESTION TYPES
    Introduction to Question Types
  13. Common Strategies for All Questions
  14. Multiple Choice Questions
    8 Topics
  15. Matching Questions
    8 Topics
  16. Labelling Questions
    8 Topics
  17. Completion Questions
    8 Topics
  18. Sentence Completion Questions
    8 Topics
  19. Short-answer Questions
    8 Topics
  20. IELTS PRACTICE TESTS
    IELTS Listening Mock Tests
    2 Topics
  21. COURSE CONCLUSION
    Overall Tips for a Greater Score
  22. Congratulations on Course Completion
Improve your IELTS Listening score General Skills and Strategies Guessing Unknown Vocabulary
Lesson 7, Topic 4
In Progress
Lesson 7
0% Complete

Guessing Unknown Vocabulary

Guessing Unknown Vocabulary

Another important skill needed in all parts of the listening test is guessing unknown vocabulary. 

When you listen to different topics, you might hear words that you don't know the meaning of. You don't need to understand every word in order to be able to answer the questions.

Let’s look at two strategies for guessing unfamiliar vocabulary: using context and looking for related words. 

Using context

When you hear a word that you don’t understand, try to guess its meaning from the context; that is, the words around it.

Let’s see if you can guess the meaning of words using context.

Activity

Read the sentence below and answer the questions that follow.

The abundance of rain after such a long drought made the farmers rejoice because they knew their crops would not fail.

Looking for related words

Another method for guessing unknown vocabulary is to look for related words. Some words are related because they are in the same category (e.g. clothes: shirt, shoes, singlet, pants). 

If you know one word in the passage, you can make a logical guess that some of the other words may be related to it.

Consider the sentence below. What do you think the words in bold mean?

The country’s mining industry not only focuses on diamonds, but also copper, quartz and mica.

  • mining
If you don’t know the meaning of ‘mining’, you could guess that it’s an industry connected to diamonds.
  • mica
You can guess that it is some kind of material similar to diamonds.

Let’s see if you can guess the meaning of a word using related words.

Activity

Read the sentence below and answer the question. 

The successful candidate is required to produce reports, spreadsheets, emails, patomes and other office correspondence.

Lesson 7, Topic 4
In Progress
Lesson 7
0% Complete

© Macquarie University | CRICOS Provider 00002J | ABN 90 952 801 237