Listening comprehension
Recordings in Mandarin, each heard twice, with the questions in English: the gist, the details and the opinions, answered in English or by choosing.
Learn
Listening comprehension, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how AQA's listening paper works
With AQA, listening is Paper 1 and a quarter of the GCSE: 35 minutes and 40 marks at Foundation, 45 minutes and 50 marks at Higher, each starting with five minutes to read the paper. It is one section of comprehension. Every question is in English, and you answer in English or by ticking or choosing a letter, never in Chinese. Each recording plays twice with pauses built in, and you can make notes at any time. Some questions appear on both tiers.
Know how Pearson Edexcel's listening paper works
With Pearson Edexcel, listening is also Paper 1, worth 50 marks at both tiers: 35 minutes and 14 questions at Foundation, 45 minutes and 10 questions at Higher, each including five minutes' reading time. Four questions are shared by the tiers. The questions are in English, you answer in English or by choosing, and you never write Chinese. Each extract is heard twice. Edexcel also records the paper in Cantonese; this course practises Mandarin.
Use the reading time to predict what you will hear
Read every question before the first recording and note what each one wants, such as a time or a reason. Then think of the Chinese that might come up. A question about getting to school primes you for 坐公共汽车, 坐火车 and 走路. On the first hearing, get the gist and jot notes in English or pinyin; on the second, check the details and fill the gaps.
Hear the tone as part of the word
In Mandarin the tone belongs to the word, so two syllables that differ only in tone can mean different things. 买 (mǎi, buy) dips and rises, while 卖 (mài, sell) falls. 四 (sì, four) falls sharply, and 十 (shí, ten) rises. When two words sound close, the rest of the sentence usually tells you which one you heard.
Listen for the time words and the negatives
A Chinese verb never changes its form, so the time frame comes from other words. Time words sit near the start of the sentence, before the verb: 昨天, 上个周末 and 去年 for the past, 明天 and 明年 for the future. 了 or 过 after a verb marks something that has happened. 不 and 没 come just before the verb and are quick to say, so 我没去 (I didn't go) can slip past.
Expect a change of mind
Speakers often mention one thing and then settle on another, and 但是, 可是 or 所以 usually signals the switch: 我想去看电影，可是电影票太贵了，所以我们去了公园。 They went to the park. Wait for the end of the sentence before you write.
Pin down numbers, times and prices
Write numbers as figures the moment you hear them. The tens come first, so 十四 is 14 and 四十 is 40. Clock times use 点: 两点 is two o'clock, 八点半 half past eight and 三点一刻 quarter past three. Dates go month then day, as in 十月九号. Prices are said in 块 and written in 元, and in phone and room numbers one is often said yāo.
Answer in clear English
Write your answers in English, never in characters or pinyin. Give as many details as the marks ask for: one answer for a one-mark question, two for two. Your English needn't be perfect, but the meaning must be clear, and an extra detail that contradicts your answer can cost the mark.
Listening comprehension key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Gist
- The main point of a recording, without every detail.
- Detail
- A specific fact a question asks for, such as a time, a price or a place.
- Tone
- The pitch pattern of a syllable. Mandarin has four tones and a neutral one, and a different tone can mean a different word.
- Time word
- A word like 昨天, 现在 or 明年 that places an action in time. It usually comes before the verb.
- 因为
- Because. What follows it is a reason, and a reason is often worth a mark.
- 但是 and 可是
- But. Both often mark a change of mind, so the answer may come after them.
- Distractor
- Something mentioned that sounds like the answer but isn't, such as an option the speaker turns down.
- Reading time
- The five minutes at the start of the paper for reading the questions before the first recording.
Common mistakes in Listening comprehension
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Mixing up 四 (four) and 十 (ten), or 14 and 40.
Four falls and ten rises. In a number the tens come first: 十四 is 14 and 四十 is 40. Write the figure at once, then check it on the second hearing.
Writing the answer in Chinese characters or in pinyin.
Answers must be in English. If you caught a Chinese word, turn it into English before you write it down.
Writing down the first option you hear.
Speakers often change their minds after 但是 or 可是. Use the second hearing to check what they finally chose.
Answering a question about the past with what the speaker usually does.
Check the time frame the question asks about, then listen for the time word and for 了 or 过 after the verb.
Missing a short 不 or 没 before the verb.
A negative is one quick syllable and it turns the meaning round: 我去 is I go, 我不去 is I'm not going. Listen hard to the word just before each verb.