How to deal with the accent problem in IELTS listening

There are many spoken languages in IELTS listening, so can students distinguish different accents? Let's take a look at how to deal with the accent problem in the IELTS listening test.

Listening accent

In fact, various accents have their own characteristics. For example, the British accent has a clear pronunciation and a fixed tone. Just like a gentleman, it is introverted and calm. American accent is casual, sometimes the tongue is swallowed up in a few sounds, and the tone fluctuates frequently. If you meet enthusiastic people in the midwest, a simple hello, how are you today, can also be ups and downs, feeling that if you don't give him a soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Sorry, audience.

Although there are great differences between British and American accents, the most obvious difference between American and British accents in IELTS listening is the difference between R-roll tongue sounds and vowels:

For example, in English, the r after vowels does not roll, while American sounds roll every r, and the English pronunciation is/? /and/? :/place, basically become similar to/? /and/a sounds:/

For example, caution sounds a bit like "cut", while the normally pronounced letter A of /A:/ in English sounds is biased in American sounds. The voice of

For example, class, ask and advance, American consonants are vague, and unvoiced consonants are easy to be voiced. The word letter can be easily pronounced as ladder.

Australian accent sometimes sounds inexplicable. Although it is similar to the British accent of members of the Commonwealth, there are two main differences. First, /ei/ will be issued as /ai/. There is a very popular joke about Australia about this. An Australian was walking down the street in London, looking down at his mobile phone and almost being hit by a car. The driver was very angry and shouted, Are you here to die? Did you come to die on purpose? ) The Australian said innocently, "No, I came yesterday." No, I came yesterday. Because the Australian accent pronounced "day" as "die", Australians thought the driver was asking him if he would come today. )。 Secondly, /e/ can be pronounced as /i/, which sounds very uncomfortable. For example, next will become nixt, and December will become December.

Indian English is also very strong. Indian boys speak English fluently and at an amazing speed. There are no rolling tongues, plosive sounds and unvoiced consonants, so P is B, T is D, K is G, R is L, and their tones are relatively easy to recognize. I agree-> I swear, me too-> I fight, car-> Gar, man-> Thank you very much-> Thank you very much. I'm 30 years old. I am dirty.

It is not so funny when these interesting accents are mixed together in the exam, because the mixed accents greatly increase the difficulty of the listening exam, and it is even more difficult for us to choose the answers we want from strange accents. So how should we face such a situation?

First of all, mentality is very important.

If you want to play a good hand, you must play well along the cards in your hand and practice repeatedly with high intensity to create a pair of harmless ears. Just read the articles shared by friends, such as "Getting English Listening in Five Minutes" and "Breaking IELTS Listening in Ten Days". Don't take it seriously If there is such a shortcut, the language test will be meaningless. Usually watching movies and chasing dramas, in addition to paying attention to lucky rolls and house of cards, you can also watch the three fools make a scene in Hollywood and pay attention to Bollywood. Besides, you can also go to the database of English dialects such as International English Dialect (/Global Map) and listen to English accent samples collected around the world. Listening to the most exotic English accent, Indian English and Australian English are nothing.

Secondly, examination skills are also very useful for distinguishing English accents in IELTS listening test.

Like predicting the answer. Taking time to read the exam questions can determine the context of the dialogue and monologue, infer the possible dialogue scenes, and of course help to guess the key words, so the probability of making a mistake is very small. For example, when two Australians say hello, of course, no one will ask, "How did you die today?" In addition, it is also useful to listen carefully to keywords such as numbers, names and time. These words are often the key information, but the accent of these words has little effect. Paying attention to these keywords can get twice the result with half the effort

If some accents are difficult for you to distinguish, the dialogue is not in the right state at the beginning. Don't be nervous. One of the characteristics of an English speaker is that he likes to repeat information. For example, the question and answer in dialogue may be due to the different structure of brain circuits. The party who answers often reorganizes the other party's questions or information in his own language, then digests it and finally gives the key information. So when reading the exam questions, you can also try to paraphrase yourself and find out what the speaker will say next. It's quite possible that the first two sentences he wants to say are on your mind.

In short, the IELTS listening test does not need to be implemented in every word and sentence. Don't be nervous, it's most important to focus on the key points. No matter how many accents there are, isn't it still English? Let's rock!

How to deal with it

First, let go of the resistance to international accents.

Many students will subconsciously resist hearing strange accents and find it impossible to understand them. However, it needs to be clarified that the accent of non-native English speakers in IELTS listening test will not be serious enough to affect understanding. Will reflect some pronunciation characteristics of this accent, such as: Indian English T and D, K and G, P and B. If you want to adapt to the accents of these countries, you can usually watch more related American dramas and movies, such as American dramas with Indian and Japanese characters, or some English movies in Bollywood, and listen to some related audio of Cambridge IELTS, so as to eliminate the resistance to these international accents.

Second, master the characteristics and pronunciation rules of English, Australian and American sounds.

Let me remind you that, on the whole, British English will receive more reserved pronunciation than American English, with a smooth tone and less fluctuation; American English pronunciation will be more relaxed and casual, and the tone will fluctuate more. From the pronunciation point of view, there are obvious differences between English pronunciation and American pronunciation in whether the letter R rolls tongue and the size of vowel mouth in words: in English pronunciation, most words with R do not roll tongue, while in American pronunciation, except the word Mrs., all letter combinations with R roll tongue; English pronunciation is normal/? The letter o of/has an American accent/? /sounds, such as gods, boxes, shops, etc. , and the normal pronunciation of the letter A/A:/ in English sounds a little/? /voice, such as class, asking questions, moving forward, etc. As a member of the Commonwealth, the pronunciation of Australia bears obvious British pronunciation marks, but the two syllables of /ei/ and /e/ in Australian pronunciation are obviously different from British pronunciation: /ei/ will become /ai/, for example, place will be pronounced as /plais/, and mate will be pronounced as/mait/; And the sound /e/ will become /i/, for example, member will be pronounced /ri'mimb? /。

In a word, students need to practice consciously and be familiar with the pronunciation characteristics of these accents and the disturbing sounds that are easy to appear. For example, they should follow the paragraphs that imitate the relevant accents in the real questions, and try to reflect the corresponding rules as soon as they hear the accents, so as to shorten the reaction time in the exam and improve the efficiency and accuracy of doing the questions.