From 6 to 9: Transform Your CELPIP Listening Skills with Note Taking

I am convinced that becoming an effective note taker is one of the top things, if not the top thing, that you need to be practicing in order to change your score from a 6 to a 9 on the listening section of the CELPIP. I'm also convinced that note taking will transform your ability to listen to and understand English in general.

But note taking can be tough to figure out.

I know I've talked about this before, but one of the toughest challenges of taking notes is being able to listen and write your notes at the same time. You know what I mean?

Either I'm focusing on what I'm writing and therefore losing what's happening in the audio, or I'm hyper focused on the audio but not writing anything down.

That right there is what I aim to do with you today to help you to begin to bridge that gap between listening and writing about what you're listening to at the same time. Like I said a moment ago, I think this could be what is holding you back with your listening scores on the exam. Because here's the deal.

I promise you that you won't be able to succeed on the listening section of the CELPIP without taking notes. The audio is too long and the details are just too many for your memory alone. You need to take notes to support yourself.

So that's what you're going to get out of today's episode 3 Practical Strategies to help you build your listening and note taking skills at the same time so you can change your six to a nine on the listening section of the CELPIP. Let's dig in. Well, hello there and welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast.

This is the podcast for motivated English learners who want to speak English fearlessly and learn practical tips and strategies to conquer the CELPIP exam.

I also love the feature encouraging interviews with regular people, people just like you, who are working towards becoming fluent in English so we can learn from their experiences together. Who am I?

My name is Aaron Nelson and I've been an English teacher for over 17 years and I'm a certified CELPIP trainer and I now help students prepare for the CELPIP exam through online classes. The first thing I want to get you to do is to get on the same page with yourself.

Have you ever heard that expression I want to make sure that we're on the same page? It means that you and someone else are in agreement about something.

Getting on the same page with yourself means that you take some time before you try taking notes to work out your own note taking language. Here's what I mean. Don't wait until you're actually trying to take notes to be thinking about how you're going to write information down.

Like what kinds of abbreviations will I use? Or what kind of shorthand will I use? Or what symbols will I use?

Taking time to set this up with yourself before you need it will save you lots of time and stress during the exam. And there's one more thing to this.

Once you've settled on your note taking approach, you should actually try to use it a few times in your practice sessions to make sure it works the way you need and want it to. And if it doesn't work, meaning it doesn't help you to save time and capture key details as you listen, give yourself permission to change it.

This is your strategy, after all. Make it work for you. Just because you've seen someone else abbreviate a word one way doesn't mean that you have to do it that way too.

If it doesn't seem to make sense to you, create and feel comfortable with your own style. Okay, that's step one.

Make sure you're on the same page with yourself about how you'll be taking notes before you actually start taking notes in your practice sessions, and for sure before you need it in a high pressure situation like the CELPIP exam. And once you've settled on the system you'll use, actually use it a few times to make sure that it works. Next, prep your paper.

The exam will give you some helpful details about what you're about to listen to.

It will probably tell you about the characters that you're going to hear speaking, if they are male or female, and likely it will tell you a little bit of information about their roles or the situation that they're in. Use this information to set up your notes by creating a table. Use one column per character.

For example, if there are two women and one man about to talk, divide your notes into three columns. Label each one accordingly. If you know their names, maybe try writing the first letter of their name at the top of their column.

Make column one, for example, speaker number one, make column two speaker number two, and column three, speaker number three. You get the idea, right?

Once the audio begins, organize your notes by writing key details each person mentions under their response respective column. I talk about this in other episodes and I'll link to it in my show Notes today. But this is such an important step, which is why I'm repeating it.

Organizing your page before you actually begin listening will help you know where to write what you're listening to, and it will help you to find that information later when you're trying to answer the questions. Here's a little bit about what to write. First and foremost, you need to be taking notes.

Don't fall for the trap of thinking I don't need to take notes, you do. There's just too many details coming your way for you to remember. So please, please take notes. Okay? Okay.

Now you might be saying, I know I need to take notes, but what do I actually need to write down? That's a great question, and I'm glad you're asking it.

If you've listened to any Celpip webinars on their YouTube channel, you'll hear them talking about paying attention to key details. Here's a great way for you to find what those key details are. Use the five W's I know, I know.

I talk about the five W's all the time, it seems, but it's one of the simplest and most effective strategies you can use to help you find tune your listening skills in English and to make sure that we're on the same page with this. Did you see how I use that same page to see that we're on the same page with this?

The five W's answer who, what, when, where, and why of what you're listening to.

And finding the answer to these 5W questions will help you identify a great deal of of the most important or key details of any audio that you're working with.

Like I mentioned in the previous step, when you're taking notes about a conversation with multiple speakers, make sure you record the information according to who is speaking and try to record the information in the order that you hear it. The questions that you're going to face after the audio plays will ask you about things in the order that they were talked about in the segment.

What I'm trying to say about that is that they're not going to be jumping all over the place with their questions. By organizing your notes and keeping them in order, you'll find it so much easier to locate the key details that you're being asked about later.

And remember, these key note taking hacks Number one never ever use full sentences. Two avoid writing a, an, and and the. You can just leave it out and it'll be just fine. Remember, your notes are just for you.

Use cursive when you're writing, not printing.

Cursive flows faster because you're not lifting your pen from the paper each time you're printing a letter, so it's just going to be faster for you, so try using cursive. Another point neatness doesn't matter as long as you can read it.

Nobody else is going to be reading your notes so it can be messy like a doctor's handwriting. It doesn't matter. Neatness does not count as long as you can read what you've said. That's all that matters.

Another point to never try to write every single word that you're listening to. Instead, try focusing on the five W's the who, the what, the when, the where and the why, what you're hearing.

And lastly, make sure that you use bullet points and divide your page into columns depending on the number of speakers who are going to be speaking. And here's the challenging part. Work towards being able to listen and write at the same time.

Try your best to listen to whatever audio that you're working with, but without stopping. Step Number three what to do after you take notes My final step for you is what you do with your notes after you're finished.

When you're practicing your note taking skills, I challenge you to add a speaking exercise to help you solidify what you just heard, as well as to get some extra speaking practice in. To do this, as soon as your practice audio finishes, use your notes to actually retell what you just heard, but in your own words.

Your goal is not an exact retelling, but how you'd summarize what you heard for a friend or for a co worker if they hadn't heard what you just listened to. And here's a bonus, add your opinion about the story too.

And for a little bit of extra practice, try recording yourself as you're speaking about this and see if you can give your summary in say 90 seconds or so. Okay, let's summarize what we've done together so far.

To do well on the listening section of the CELPIP, you've got to be building your note taking skills. Being a good note taker will play a big part in you turning that six into a nine.

And to become a great note taker, first get on the same page with yourself. Set up your own note taking language before you actually begin practicing taking notes, and for sure before your exam day, agree with yourself.

What abbreviations, symbols, etc. That you're going to use to record information again. Don't wait to figure this out until your exam day. You should be crystal clear on it well before.

2. Be listening for key details. You'll often find those vital details by trying to answer the 5Ws of any audio you're working with.

And once again, the five W's are who, what, when, where, and why. As you're writing those answers, never use complete sentences. Use bullet points and the note taking language you settled on in step number one.

And of course, don't stop or pause your audio as you write. Your aim is to write and listen at the same time. And like I've said in previous episodes, it's okay to build up to that.

Like, if you're not used to listening and writing at the same time, it's okay to pause and write. Pause and write for a little bit. But always try to extend the time that you that you use to be writing.

Try to try to expand that without pausing the audio is what I'm trying to say here. Increase the amount of time that you are listening and writing at the same time before you hit pause. Make it longer and longer.

And finally, after each practice session, use your notes to help you retell what happened in the audio in your own words. Again, your goal is not a verbatim retelling here, but instead imagine yourself telling your best friend or your co worker about what you just heard.

A summary with as many key details as you can fit in. You can even try recording your retelling and give your opinion about it to help you with speaking practice as well.

Now, did I do the job I set out to do today? My goal was to help you to master the challenging art of writing notes while listening at the same time. What do you think? Did we do it?

I think I'm missing one final part to this and it's the least exciting of all, but it ties this all together. That last thing to do. And can I get a drum roll here please? That last thing to do is to get your reps in. Get your reps in. This strategy works.

It's powerful and I've seen it transform my students listening skills quickly, like within a few months. But the secret to making it work is in doing it repeatedly. That's what I mean by get your reps in. Not just once a week, but daily.

The more times you can engage in this kind of practice, the more your listening skills will grow. And it doesn't have to be a long time.

Each time you practice either like 10 or 15 minutes of focused practice like this each day will make a big difference for you if you are consistent with it. Thank you for listening to today's episode.

Before you go, I've got a free listening guide with helpful note taking templates you can use as you practice taking notes. It's totally free and you can grab yours by Simply going to CELPIPsuccess.comresources to download your copy today.

That's CELPIPsuccess.comresources, where you'll be able to download a free listening guide with templates that you can use to help you as you're practicing with your note taking. Thank you for listening to today's episode, and I hope I'll see you again back here next Tuesday. Bye.