Listening comprehension
Recordings short and long, each heard twice: the message, the details and the opinions, answered in English.
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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 the listening paper works
Listening is Paper 1 and a quarter of the GCSE: 50 marks, 35 minutes at Foundation and 45 at Higher, each including five minutes' reading time at the start. Every recording is played twice, with pauses. Most questions are set in English and answered in English or by choosing; one section is set in Gujarati. You never have to write in Gujarati, and there is no dictionary.
Use the reading time to predict what you will hear
Read every question before the first recording. Underline what each one asks for (who, when, why) and think of the Gujarati you might hear: a question about the weather primes you for વરસાદ, તડકો and ઠંડી.
Use the two hearings for two jobs
On the first hearing, get the gist and jot rough notes. On the second, check the details and fill the gaps. If you had an answer after the first, use the second to make sure of it.
Pick out the message, the details and the opinions
Questions ask for the overall message, a detail such as a time or a place, or an opinion and its reason. Opinions come with મને ગમે છે, મને નથી ગમતું, મારા મતે and મને લાગે છે કે; keep listening after કારણ કે, because the reason is often a mark of its own.
Listen for past, present and future
Time words such as ગઈકાલે, હમણાં and આવતા અઠવાડિયે, and verb forms such as ગયો, જાઉં છું and જઈશ, place an event in time. A question about last weekend is answered by what happened, not by what the speaker usually does.
Expect a change of mind
Speakers often mention one thing and settle on another: અમે સિનેમા જવાના હતા, પણ છેવટે ઘરે રહ્યા means they stayed at home. પણ, છેવટે and હવે signal the change, so wait for the end of the sentence.
Be quick with numbers, times and prices
Write numbers as digits the moment you hear them, and know how times are said: સાડા સાત is half past seven and પોણા નવ quarter to nine. Prices may be in pounds or rupees: પાંચ પાઉન્ડ, સો રૂપિયા.
Listening comprehension key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Gist
- The overall message of a recording: what it is mainly about, without every detail.
- Detail
- A specific piece of information, such as a time, a price or a place.
- Distractor
- Something mentioned that sounds like the answer but is not, such as a plan the speaker then changes.
- Time frame
- Whether something happened, is happening or will happen, shown by time words and verb forms.
- Opinion
- What a speaker thinks, positive, negative or mixed: મને ગમે છે, બહુ કંટાળાજનક છે.
- કારણ કે
- Because: the reason after it is often a separate mark.
Common mistakes in Listening comprehension
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Writing down the first time or price you hear.
Speakers often correct themselves or compare two. Wait for the end of the sentence, and use the second hearing to check.
Answering with what the speaker usually does when the question asks about the past.
Listen for the time frame: ગયા રવિવારે and past forms such as ગયા or રમ્યા give what happened.
Missing a negative such as નથી or ક્યારેય નહીં.
One short word turns yes into no. Listen to the end of the verb, where Gujarati puts નથી.