EIKEN Grade 5 Listening: Pictures, Responses, and Short Conversations
What the Listening section tests
The EIKEN Grade 5 Listening section tests understanding of short spoken English at CEFR A1 level. You hear basic questions, requests, and short conversations about everyday life, then choose the correct picture or response. The language is simple, but the audio moves on, so you must know what detail to listen for before each question starts.
Core rules and concepts
- Part 1, picture selection: the pictures usually differ in one clear point: time, place, action, number, color, or weather. Look at those differences before the audio begins.
- Part 2, response selection: you hear one short line and choose the best reply. Identify the line type: greeting (Hello), question (How old are you?), request (Open the window, please), or statement (I like dogs).
- Part 3, short conversation or talk: listen for one or two concrete facts, such as a name, day, price, or location.
- Common information: numbers, times, days of the week, family words, food, school items, places in town, and daily actions.
- Contrast words: but, today, actually, and not often change the correct answer.
Worked example
You hear: I usually walk to school, but today I'm taking the bus.
Question: How is the speaker going to school today? Pictures: A) walking, B) by bus, C) by train
Reasoning: Usually walk describes a habit, not today. The word but signals a change, and today tells you the current action: taking the bus. The correct picture is B. If you listen only for walk, you will choose the trap in A.
Traps that cost marks
- Two details, one question: the audio may mention a sister and a brother, but the question asks only about the brother.
- Teen and tens numbers: thirteen versus thirty, fifteen versus fifty.
- Similar sounds: walk and work, ship and sheep, cat and cap.
- Wrong action in a similar picture: a person may be holding a book when the audio says bag.
- Answering too early: wait for the end of the line, because speakers sometimes correct themselves with No or Actually.
- Part 2 grammar mismatch: How old are you? needs I'm twelve, not It's twelve or Yes, I am.