These two listening practices focuses on listening for English names. This practice is important for students preparing for their IELTS test as well as other students studying English or planning to move to the UK.
Below are TWO LISTENING PRACTICE EXERCISES FOR NAMES.
You will find more useful tips for IELTS listening, after the practice exercise, lower on this page.
Instructions for Listening Practice
You should listen to the recordings and write down the names you hear.
Before you listen, please make sure you watch English Names Tips for Listening Video.
- Don’t forget to listen for titles. Some will have titles and other won’t. If there is a title, you must write it.
- Write down the complete name given.
- Some names will be spelled and others will not.
- You can learn some common English names here: Boys Name and Girls Names
- All free listening practice and tips: IELTS Listening Main Page
Capital letters: Please see this page: Using capital letters in IELTS
Listening Practice for Names 1
You will hear 10 names. Listen and write down what you hear.
Answers
Click below to reveal the answers:
Answers- David Darwin
- Mrs Alice Smith
- Balthazar Jones
- Sara Bartholomew
- Sean Bean
- Mr Frank Allenson
- A R Beevers
- James Chichester
- Mary Schooling
- Sir Paul McKellen
Listening Practice for Names 2
You now have a chance to listen again to 10 new names. Think about the mistakes you made in the previous practice and see if you can improve.
Answers
Click below to reveal the answers:
Answers- Dr Davis
- Richard Chamberlain
- Miss Victoria Halley
- Mr C J Billings
- Robert Powers
- Emily Jackson
- Nora Ingalls
- Mrs Caroline Castle
- Charles Pringle
- Emma Ford
Capital letters are not needed and are not marked so don’t worry if you use them or not. See this page: IELTS Exam FAQ
More IELTS Listening Practice
To get more tips and also free listening practice. See my MAIN IELTS LISTENING PAGE
Main IELTS Pages
Develop your IELTS skills with tips, lessons, free videos and more.
- IELTS Listening
- IELTS Reading
- IELTS Writing Task 1
- IELTS Writing Task 2
- IELTS Speaking
- Vocabulary for IELTS
Hello, Liz! I would like to know, can I write the titles and names in all capital letters like:
DR DAVIS
RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN
MISS VICTORIA HALLEY
MR C J BILLINGS
ROBERT POWERS
…
..
.
Well, am aware that you would be suggesting everyone write in capital letters for listening and reading sections. Have been going through all your good work and this is my first post. It will be a great help to me if you would clarify this doubt. Thank you.
I’m not sure what your question is. You have written your answers using capitals and you know I recommend this. So, what is your question? If I have already recommended something on this website, please don’t ask me to repeat it in a comment. I’ve spent loads of time writing page after page to give lots of advice and tips. Please learn from those pages.
how do we know if they say elise or Alice for internationals it is hard to find the difference between e and a
e = elephant a=apple 🙂
Hii Liz. I spelled Ms Victoria Halley and your answer said Miss Victoria Halley. Is Ms not the abbreviation for miss? If not then please let me know when you use Ms.
The title “Ms” is not the same as “Miss”. IT is not the same in meaning and it is not the same in pronunciation. Ms is for a women whose martial status we do not know.
Hi Liz, I am still confused with the Ms. and Miss. May I know which one should be used? I used Ms. instead of Miss.
For IELTS Listening, you write down the one you hear. Otherwise, there is no situation in IELTS where you would need to use them.
1-DAIVID DAWIN
2-MRS. ALIS SMITH
3-BALTHAZAA JONES
4-BAATHOO ONEW
5-SEAN
6-MR. FRANK ALLENSON
7-ARBEEVEAS
8-JONES CHICHESTEA
9-MARRY SHOOLING
10-MCKELLEN
Hello, teacher Liz. I got wrong with Ellis and Alice.
What’s the difference Tr??
“e” like elephant and “a” like apple.
Please which of these can be termed correct?
A.R. Beevers
A R Beevers
A previous lesson had the listening test answer “J.K. Rowling”
Both are correct.
Hi Liz,
I spelt the last name in the second recording as Ema, but you spelt it as Emma. I also found out they are pronounced the same way.
Are they both correct?
The common spelling is Emma. If the spelling is different from the common spelling, it will be spelled out letter by letter in the recording, or you will hear “my name is Emma, with only one m.” If you don’t hear the spelling in that way, you must use the common spelling: Emma.
Hi Liz,
Apologies in case somebody has already asked this question as I cant go through the whole comment section.
My doubt is that in the video where you have given tips for the names to be written we wrote J.K.Rowling and full stops where as we had initials but here in the above case I see no full stops for “Mr C J Billings” so wanted to know how does this work ?
The dot between initials or between title and family name are optional.
Its very interesting and helping.
Thanks liz, I had the same confusion
Thank you. I appreciate your explanation.
pls can i also spell
Darwin as Dawin
more so how do i go past the part of
Sir Paul… the pronunciation is a bit difficult.
last can you mail me on your paid service?
The pronunciation would be different. “ar” sound instead of “A” sound. I don’t really have paid services. There are over 300 page of free lessons and tips on this site (read HOME page instructions). I also have Advanced writing task 2 lessons which you can purchase – see RED BAR at top of site.
thanks so much. i really appreciate you
Could it also be Dr Davies? with “e”.
Thanks
Davies and Davis are not pronounced the same. One has a long vowel and other other short.
1.Dr.Davis
2.Richard Chamberlain
3.Mrs. Victoria Halley
4.Mr. C.J Billings
5.Robert Powers
6.Emily Jackson
7.Nora Ingalls
8.Mr. Caroline Castle
9.Charles Pringle
10.Ema Ford
I wrote Doctor Davis. Is this correct?
We never write “Doctor” as a title in English.
Hi Liz,
Can I put dots in between initials or is it not mandatory?
IT is not mandatory, but make sure each letter is very easily read.
Hello Liz!
Sorry if somebody has already asked this question but what is the difference in pronunciation of “miss” and “ms” ? How can I identify in listening part whether it’s miss or ms? I know that their meaning isn’t the same. For audio 2 name 3 I wrote down Ms Victoria Halley when the correct one is “miss”.
Thanks for all your great work here! The materials are extremely helpful!
MISS and MUZ
I have a colleague with name Alys and when the recording mentioned Alice, former spelling came to my mind. I speak to her on regular basis and have found it to be pronounced in the same manner.
It is a rare and unusual spelling which I have never seen before. The name Alice is 99% of the time spelled as I have written it.
1. David Dawin
2. Mrs. Alis Smith
3. Balthazaa Jones
4. Baathoo onew
5. Saan Been
6. Mr. Frank Allenson
7. Aa Beeveas
8. Jones Chichestea
9. Marry Schooling
10. Mckellen
Do Liz own any ielts institute ?? If yes where ? I would glad if liz open institute in my state 😅😅 i will be become partner 😁
Amazing help Liz… Thank you so much
Do not fully agree with these two practice exercises, as there are ambiguous names such as DAVIS/DAVIES, EMELY/EMILY, JONES/JOHNS. These should be spelled otherwise it is entirely left to personal decision. Do you agree? tHANKS
Davis and Davies are actually pronounced differently. Jones and Johns are also pronounced differently. The official spelling of Emily is Emily, not Emely. If the spelling changes, IELTS will highlight that in the recording by spelling each letter.
Thanks for your reply 🙂
Thanks a lot mam..
for ur valoauble information
It’s very useful for who want more score in IELTS.
Hello Liz, today was my exam, and I worry about one of the answers I gave in the listening part. The woman spelled initials J.R, but i wrote it without the dot JR, is that a mistake?
It’s fine.
Wow,I was wondering about this,as I also wrote my ielts today(also without the dot).
Thank you Liz,your material is so very helpful!!
So basically, what it means is that it doesn’t matter whether you use the dot or not, right?
Like if I writs Mrs. as opposed to Mrs or Mr. as opposed to Mr or Ms. as opposed o Ms.
Or C.J. / C.J / CJ , they are all correct in ielts, right?
In modern English, the dot isn’t important – use or or not use it – your choice.
Hello! I answered Mrs. (with a period) and A.R. Beevers instead of A R Beevers. Are my answers considered as wrong?
Your answer is correct. A dot is not needed.
Liz , thanks for wonderful tutorial.
As per your video tutorial , you insisted to put dots in initials ( J.K.Rowling i remember) . But here the answer 7 does not contain dots as in AR Beevers ?? Should it be A.R.Beevers instead as asked above
Thanks for your patience and kind help
Dr.Jatin Talwar
It is not necessary to use dots between initials. I did it in the video because it makes the letters easier to read – that’s all. Anything that makes things easier to read is a good thing.
First of all i’d like to say thank you so much ,nevertheless i still have a question ;what will happen if i misspell only one letter of the name given or even spell the first name correctly but the surname incorrectly?
thanks in advance
Spelling must be correct.
In IELTS, or English in general, would writing Z and 7 with a small stroke through them be correct?
It’s a good question. The key is to make your answers very easy to read. I can’t answer this for you because there are no rules about it. Just make a decision that makes it easy for your answers to be marked.
Hi Liz ,
Thank you so much for your lesson, much appreciate that. may i ask you please , can i write Ms instead of Miss?
No, they are not the same.
Hi Liz
First of all, I would like to thank you very much for you wonderful website, for your tips, advices and for everything you are doing for us 🙂 I have a question with exercise 2, can I write Doctor instead of Dr? I wrote Doctor Davis and the answer is Dr Davis
Regards
Sure. DR is a standard way to write the title doctor. Also note I recommend using all capital letters for your listening and reading answers.
Hi.Thanks for your useful lessons and practices. I want to know How can I download your listening files?
Sorry, my audios are not for downloading. You need to stream them online.
Dear liz
Thans for this reallh helpful lessons .. i have a problem with differentiation in spelling between B and P .. so what can i do to avoid this??
Get used to names with P ad B letters. It’s not easy to distinguish the difference. Try this lesson: https://youtu.be/-45fGnSj8Fk
Hi liz.
you are truly a great tutor.
can i get all lessons and practice material of SPEAKING section. its hard to find everything.
if you can help me out in it.
looking for your prompt answer
All main pages are accessed through the red bar at the top of the website. Here is the main speaking page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-speaking-free-lessons-essential-tips/
Dear Liz,
Your lessons had been so useful for me. Thank you so much.
But, I couldn’t point out the difference between Norah ( Norah Jones – Singer ) and Nora or Emilie ( Emilie Livingston – Dancer ) and Emily ? These are also popular names and I thought the wrong options instead of right answers. How can we understand the difference by listening ? Do you have any suggestion ?
Regards,
If there is any confusion with spelling, IELTS will spell it out so you can write down the letters.
Thank you for your prompt answer Liz,
HY liz, is it compulsary to write preposition ..
for eg;( in) morning or
(the) train
( at) 5pm……
`
Watch the video on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-listening/
Hi Liz,
First of all, I always use your materials while studying and my biggest weakness which is confused spelling between ‘a, e, i’. Can you add more practices to spelling names?
Thank you
You can find a list of common names on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/vocabulary/ and all my listening exercises on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-listening/. But I’ll try and make a new listening practice for names soon 🙂
Really Helpful!
Hi Liz.
For names with initials is it acceptable to write A. R. Beevers instead of A R Beevers?
Sure, it’s fine to use dots.
Hi Liz,
In one of your listening lesson, you mentioned clearly to use dots(.) between initials of Name; whereas here you are referring initials without dots are also fine? Can you please let me know your concluding remarks about how to write initials ?
Thanks in advance.
The dots make it easier to read – it’s a recommendation, not a rule.
Got 9/10. However the tenth question is dicey. The Sir and Paul sounds like one word. So I thuoght I heard “Sapple”
funny 🙂
same happened with me its sounds like “Spaul” to me 🙁 and i got shocked when i saw answer :). It seems my ears need further tuning
Lol same happened to me, I was so confident before passing the test. Now, I started to panic.
🙁
Hi Liz,
Which is the correct one?
cultural center/ cultural centre
Which spelling is preferable in writing the answer for listening test?
Both are fine.
Thanks a lot…….
I have 1 mistake in the second recording
I wrote Cassel instead of Castle 🙁
thanks for this tutorials
very helpful
Dear liz
I have one doubt, in your recording for practicing names you have mentioned Sara Barthooomew, whereas in the answer sheet it’s Sara Bartholomew.
Can you help me on this aspects.
Rectify me if I am wrong.
I got it, it’s my mistakes.
Thanks
your second record improved my listening skill before first recording and i wrote all names with clear spells. Thank you very much. And i am following all your videos to make sure that i can do this. preparing my self ..
thank you once again Mam liz <3
Hi Liz,
Is it okay to use a period in front of Mrs., or Mr.? For example, Mrs. Caroline .Or does is have to be Mrs Caroline
You can use a dot or not – it’s your choice. But usually we don’t use it nowadays.
Hello Liz, thank you for creating an extremely useful website. I took some listening tests from British council’s website. When they spell out a word(in British accent), the ‘a’ exactly like ‘i’. I wonder why they pronounce ‘a’ like ‘i’, although I understand that this happens because I am not very used to British accent. So in my answer sheet i wrote ‘Miteo’ and ‘Helendile’ while the actual answers were Mateo and Helendale. So, I am guessing my answer would be marked wrong, right?
Spelling mistakes will mean the answer is marked wrong. Sorry. They are both extremely unusual names and even I wouldn’t be sure how to spell them.
Hello mam,
If i am using all capital letters in listening then what i need to use for mr, miss etc. Do i need to use like this. MISS TARAN . Is it correct.
Thank you..
Yes.
Liz,you’re simply the best teacher I have ever come across in the whole world.
It’s a great blessing to have you teach us.
I appreciate you!
Please, my question is, can Sir Paul McKellen be also written as SIR PAUL MCKELLEN?
It is fine to use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
Thank you Liz.I asked because of how the McKellen was spelt with both capital and small letters.
Now I understand.Using capital letters is the safest way to go.
Thank you for your prompt reply!
I will finish practicing all listening lessons and this one’s the first.
My results – I got A score in practice 2 even I doubted the spelling of Emma if it has one M or two Ms but I trusted my gut and made Emma Watson as an example. For practice 1, I misspelled one (family)name and that is McKellean. Lesson here is I need to be attentive next time.
Thanks Liz and more powers!
Hi Liz,
I find your website very useful. I have my exam in a few days.
I just wanted to ask when are we supposed to use ‘Ms’ before a female’s name and when are we supposed to use ‘Miss’? Till now, I considered them one and the same.
Thanks a lot for your help, and keep up the fantastic job of selflessly helping others!
Miss = unmarried women / Ms = marital status unknown
Hi Liz,
Thanks for sharing great inputs. These sessions are really helpful, especially when we have limited time to prepare. I have a query on titles- Can Ms be an alternative for Miss?
No, Ms and Miss are different.
thank you liz for the information.
if in the exam i write ” EMILLY” instead of ” EMILY”. will that be considered wrong??
If there is an official spelling of the name “Emily” with two Ls, then your answer would be acceptable.
Thank you Liz… I’d like to know IELTS stand on names with controversial spellings…. The single L versus double L debates in names like Philip, Allison, Marshal, Elliot, Russell, Michelle, Lilly, Collin and so on. There are other names in this category such as Mathew vs Matthew… What do we do in instances where we don’t know the ‘right’ spelling
If the name is not spelled out, you will be able to use any official spelling of the name – single or double “L”.
Dear Teacher,
Thank you very much.
This Site very useful for me.
Tharaka from Sri Lanka.
You’re welcome 🙂
OH dear,
This website is very essential to me.I have learnt so many things from there…specially thanks to u Liz Madam
You’re welcome 🙂
OH dear,
This website is very essential to me.I have learn so many things from there…specially thanks to u Liz Madam
You’re welcome 🙂
Dear Liz,
I want to ask you something,i am going to take IELTS test next month.And i speak with stammer,i mean to say that i speak with stop and atop.Because it’s my tongue problem,i can’t speak with fluently.Please tell me it’s will create a band problem or not??
please tell me i am so confused☺️
This will affect your score for fluency. Contact your test center and ask if you can submit a doctor’s certificate.
Thanku very much
hi
Did test center require a certificate for the student who has tongue problem?
Hey Liz,
Can you please clear if writing down Dr. Mr. or Mrs. is right? or we do not need to put a full stop after Dr Mr or Mrs?
also is it right to write Ms. Vitoria Halley instead of Miss Victoria Halley?
You do not need to write the dot after names these days. However, you can if you want.
Thank you for your prompt response. I have my exam tomorrow!
Good luck!
Hi Liz,
I tried another browser and I was able to complete second test. Thanks for you fabulous website 🙂
I’m really pleased you found a way to view it 🙂
Hi Liz,
The second recording keeps stopping at minute 1:37. Unfortunately, I am not able to complete this test. My connection is fine, but I don’t know what is wrong. Thanks for your valuable learning website.
Hey Its great ,i am little deaf but im using a hearing aid but i find it very hard to score more than 10 in listening task is there any way i could improve my score ? Thank you
If the problem is hearing, does it help to increase the volume? In the test, you can ask for the volume to be increased. If this is a medical condition, contact your local test center and discuss the situation with them.
Hi LiZ
Many thanks for creating this website , I sat my test yesterday ,speaking I had topic about advertisement and in writing pat 2-it was about why do criminals continue doing crime after their stay in prison ,what could be done to avoid them,I approached they way you discussed it ,it worked like a charm ,keep up the good work
I hope you get good results 🙂
hi,
LIZ i want to appear in IELTS test at the end of the APRIL 2017, my reading and writing skills are not good please help me.
thank you.
regards aroosha
This is the main page for reading: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-reading-lessons-information-and-tips/ and the main page for writing task 2: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/
dear Liz
your each topic was so useful for me , i am now learning from your site only. can you describe pie chart and other comparison chats for academic writing task 1
All writing task 1 tips, model answers and lessons are on the main writing task 1 page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
Hi Liz you’ve been of great help. I’ve been following you for quite sometime and almost achieved my desired score but couldn’t make it in listening as I was prepared to appear only through the headsets. But ironically had to answer with hall speakers.
My scores were L7 R7 W7.5 S7
I’m reappearing for 8th April’s test hopefully will get my desired scores.
Thank you for your support. You are doing a great job.
You’ve done so well getting these results. Well done! It’s never good to go to a test center which uses loud speakers – it’s very distracting and often not good quality. Hopefully you can find a better test center and get the results you need. Good luck 🙂
Hello Liz and Sameera,
I have booked my test on 8th April at center ALI in Montreal, Canada.
I came to know from my friend that in this center, they do not provide individual headsets and listening is done in the hall with a speaker common to all test takers. Also, hall room is not enough isolated to avoid disturbances from outside.
Is it valid? If it is not where we can make a note or complain?
Niranjan
Unfortunately some test centers still use lour speakers instead of headphones. This is a reason why it is important to check other test centers and make the choices that suit you.
Dear Liz,
Want to thank you for your wonderful work! , I stick with you for few months and I am glad I have made my desired score (li= 8.5, sp= 7.0, wr= 7.5, re= 7.0)
Very well done!! You should be proud of your score. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hi. congratulation about your score..!!! It is so well…Do you have free time for speaking?
Thanks for this recording. I did a single mistake in
Recorder 1 but in 2 I made 3 mistakes.
That’s very good overall.
Thank you so much!
You’re welcome 🙂
Thank you teacher Liz.