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Exam skills: Paper 1 Listening

In the listening paper you never write full sentences in Arabic: at most a word or short phrase. Your job is to catch the meaning, especially the small words that change it.

The paper

Words that change everything

Negatives: لا (don't), ما / لم (didn't), لن (won't), ليس (isn't), لا يوجد (there isn't).
Time words: أمس (yesterday), اليوم (today), غدًا (tomorrow), الأسبوع الماضي / القادم (last / next week), سـ / سوف (will).
Opinion turns: لكنّ (but), مع ذلك (however), أفضّل (I prefer).

Sounds to tell apart

Some pairs sound close but mean different things: ح / ه (حَلّ solution, هَلْ question word), ع / ء (عمل work, أمل hope), ق / ك (قلب heart, كلب dog), ص / س (صيف summer, سيف sword), ط / ت, ض / د.
Use the reading time to underline key words in the questions and predict the vocabulary you will hear.
Worked example

You hear: لن أذهب إلى الحفلة غدًا لأنّي مشغول. What won't the speaker do, when, and why?

  1. لن = won't.
  2. الحفلة = the party; غدًا = tomorrow.
  3. لأنّي مشغول = because I am busy.

Answer: He won't go to the party tomorrow because he is busy.

Key idea

50 marks, 35 minutes (Foundation) or 45 minutes (Higher), each including 5 minutes' reading time. One section has questions in English, the other in Arabic. Listen for negatives (لا، ما، لم، لن، ليس) and time words.

The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.

Check you have got it

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