IGCSE English 0510 · Common mistakes
Listening traps in 0510 (Component 2)
Updated · by the Fahmazing team
Every listening question is multiple choice, and the wrong options are built to catch you. Knowing the usual traps makes them easy to spot.
The speaker changes their mind
A speaker often suggests one thing, then corrects it. Listen for words like actually, in the end, oh wait, no, rather.
What time does the train leave?
"It's at ten past nine… oh no, sorry, they've changed it. It's twenty past now."
Answer: twenty past nine.
Free lesson: Distractors: when speakers change their minds
You hear every option
In picture questions you may hear all four things mentioned. Only one matches the question exactly. Decide what the question is really asking before the recording starts.
Free lessons: Exercise 1: short extracts with pictures · Predicting before you listen
Missing the attitude
Some questions ask how a speaker feels. Listen to tone as well as words: "Well, it was… fine, I suppose" is not enthusiastic.
Free lessons: Speakers' opinions and attitudes · Implied meaning and purpose in speech
Matching speakers too fast
In Exercise 4 there are eight statements for six speakers, so two are not used. Do not lock in an answer after the first sentence: wait until the speaker finishes.
Free lesson: Exercise 4: matching speakers
Slips on the answer sheet
You get 6 minutes to transfer answers. Go question by question and check the number each time. One skipped row can move every answer after it.
Free lesson: Exercise 5: the interview