Listening skills bother many. In fact, the section of listening in IELTS is considered to be the most difficult one, especially for the non-native speakers. Why? Because English as a second language is not given much importance. In countries like China and India, the dubbing of English movies, daily soaps, and cartoons into their regional language has taken off people's listening skills. Another nail in the coffin is IELTS' listening section is highly academic with jargon and sheer fluency.

How to overcome the barriers of English listening?

Accent, intonation, and pronunciation are the three factors you as an IELTS test-taker should consider focusing on. Different kinds of voices and pitches in the speeches should be carefully heard to score high in IELTS listening section. Without further ado, let's jump on to the best tips to improve IELTS listening skills.

Switch to English

Stop being in your comfort zone of language. As of now, everything you have around you is in your national language or mother tongue. The very first thing you should do is 'switch' from those languages to English immediately. There is no much effort required! You always had 'English' as a medium of instruction or entertainment, but you never bothered going for it. Switching to English means you should start the following things right now!

• English dailies or tabloids
• English movies
• English series or daily soaps
• English literature or books
• English news

Use subtitles
These days you have the technology to put the subtitles on. If you don't understand the speeches in English, you may tick on the subtitles. The text written at the bottom of the screen will help you understand each word spoken by a native speaker. Over the period, your brain will start recognizing the accent and intonation of any speech you are hearing.

Focus on lipsing
Though this practice may not directly help you score high in IELTS listening section, this is indeed useful to improve your listening skills. By paying an utter attention to the lips of the speaker, it will be easy for you to understand what is spoken. You may watch series or movies made for kids that have easier pronunciation and slow paced speeches. You may star with kids' movies and then switch on to documentaries.

Take help of technology
YouTube channels that teach English may help. There are many applications available on Google Play and iTunes that assist you to learn English. You may also specifically search for 'improve IELTS English listening' on Google and try a few websites.

Life is not beer and skittles! If you need to improve English Listening Skills for IELTS or your career, you really need to work hard. Follow the tips mentioned above, or you may ask your IELTS tutors who can get you some material to improve your language.