© Build your IELTS Listening test vocabulary
Part 1: familiar vocabulary
1. Days of the week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Quick Tip: Wednesday is commonly misspelled.
2. Months and seasons of the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
winter
spring
autumn
summer
Quick Tip: The first ‘r’ in February is often forgotten. If you struggle with spelling, you can choose to write the date using numbers as long as these numbers are written in the correct format. E.g. ‘the 10th of February, 2020’ = 10/02/2020
Quick Tip: the final ‘n’ in autumn is often forgotten as we don’t hear the silent ‘n’.
3. Shapes
circle
square
rectangle
triangle
cylinder
oval
Quick Tip: Shapes can be used when we refer to places in a city, King George Square, so it’s important that you can spell common shapes.
4. Transportation
automobile
truck
tractor
tram
subway
airplane
train
bicycle
car
pedestrian
passenger
commuter
Quick Tip: ‘ commuter ‘ is often misspelled, confusing it with ‘computer’!
5. Colours
red
orange
yellow
green
blue
purple
white
black
brown
Quick Tip: Colour spelled with a ‘u’ is the Canadian/British spelling. In the US, it is spelled ‘color’ without a ‘u’. Both are correct and a matter of preference.
6. Verbs
suggest
develop
borrow
persuade
discuss
review
concentrate
believe
crash
Quick Tip: Sometimes verbs are conjugated for gender, tense, etc. The difference could give you an incorrect answer.
7. Adjectives
beautiful
necessary
fantastic
comfortable
convenient
wonderful
terrible
temporary
permanent
knowledgeable
exciting
boring
difficult
easy
Quick Tip: Make sure that you note adjectives that have double consonants (ss/mm). It is easy to miss a letter.
8. Numbers, times, and currencies: commonly appear in Part 1 of the listening test. Recording the corresponding number or symbol is suggested because this will help eliminate the possibility of spelling the word incorrectly.
For example, thirty dollars is the same as $30 on the listening test. Also, six o’clock and 6:00 are the same as well. Finally, ten thousand and 10,000 are also both correct. Writing the number or symbol allows you to feel more confident that you have not made a spelling mistake.
Quick Tip: When deciding on whether the answer is 30 or 13, listen to the stressed syllable. If it’s 13, the stress is on the second syllable ‘thir teen ‘, if it’s 30, the stress is on the first syllable ‘ thir ty’.
Quick Tip: Copy the correct symbol from the Listening question to make sure you are using the correct currency. If you use ‘$’ instead of ‘£’, the answer will be incorrect.
Part 2: a monologue, speech or talk
1. Rooms in buildings
kitchen
bathroom
bedroom
living room
dining room
lounge
library
gymnasium (gym)
cafeteria (cafe)
classroom
waiting room
reception
ticket desk
storage room
theatre
2. Place markers
street
road
avenue
lane
drive
court
place
terrace
way
There is some vocabulary you should be listening for, but may not have to write down when doing a map question in Part 2, which will allow you to follow the map more easily. Make sure you know where these direction words point to.
3. Directions and prepositions of place
north
south
east
west
up
down
right
left
straight
across from
between
beside
diagonal
corner
opposite
adjacent to
near
past
before
after
4. Verbs
turn
move
continue on
walk
cross
pass
start
finish
end
stop
go straight ahead
5. Places on a map
tennis court
river
courtyard
laboratory
building
bridge
road
path
traffic lights
bench
seat
table
basketball court
running track
swimming pool
beach
forest
garden
castle
Part 3: a conversation between people
1. School terms
presentation
project
teamwork
pairs
organisation
outline
proofreading
experiment
reference
lecture
tutor
teacher
attendance
specialist
knowledge
faculty
bachelor’s
master’s
schedule
management
leadership
questionnaire
statistic
percentage
laboratory
school
university
college
Quick Tip: North Americans pronounce ‘laboratory’ in three syllables: lab-bra-tory. British English speakers pronounce the same word using four syllables: lab-or-a-tory.
2. Subjects in school
Mathematics (Maths)
Science
English
Physical Education (PE)
Art
Music
Geography
Biology
Chemistry
History
Quick Tip: When students study a subject at school, their school year is divided into terms or semesters. They have breaks or holidays between each term.
3. Subjects in university
Commerce
Science
Psychology
Engineering
Marketing
Sociology
Medicine
History
Geography
Architecture
Law
Philosophy
Economics
Education
Quick Tip: When students study at university, their university year is divided into semesters. They usually have exam blocks at the end of each semester following by a break. They can study part-time or full-time and combine it with employment.
4. Examination
assessment
test
revision
pass
fail
repeat
supervise
supervisor
assess
exam
results
degree
certificate
Part 4: a university lecture
1. Health
vegetarian
vegan
healthy
unhealthy
leisure
disease
vitamin
protein
carbohydrates
exercise
treatment
obese
overweight
fit
doctor
check up
medicine
vitamin
pandemic
virus
cure
vaccination
2. Animals and their habitat
mammals
reptile
primates
predators
prey
mountain
jungle
forest
island
pond
river
stream
zoo
pet
endangered
species
ocean
sea
3. Continents and Countries
North America
South America
Asia
Africa
Europe
Antarctica
Australia
Oceania
England
Canada
China
United Kingdom
Germany
Mexico
Switzerland
4. Environment
global warming
disaster
earthquake
tornado
blizzard
hurricane
pollution
temperature
drought
flood
cyclone
volcanic eruption
deforestation
desertification
bush fires
5. Government
politics
leader
politician
senator
mayor
laws
regulations
senate
president
society
individual
council
rules
Quick Tip: The word ‘society’ is one of the most commonly misspelled words on the IELTS test.
6. Energy
nuclear
oil
coal
hydro electrical power
natural gas
solar power
source
generate
electricity
dam
windmill
wind turbine
renewable
non-renewable
Quick Tip: Remember to check your spelling of nuclear, it is often written as ‘unclear’, a simple typo that result in an incorrect answer.
7. General
appointment
cooperation
employment
government
exhibition
occupation
aluminum
century
decade
millennium
individual
creativity
guarantee
satellite
opportunity
licence
frequently
calendar
different
Quick Tip: The words ‘government’ and ‘different’ are two of the most commonly misspelled words in the IELTS test. Also, ‘aluminum’ is pronounced with four syllables in North American English: a-lu-min-num. It is pronounced with five syllables in British English: al-u-min-i-um.