Listening Comprehension
What the listening section asks
Saitama's English listening items are broadcast in English and played once. They typically ask you to choose a picture, select a reply, or answer a question about a short dialogue or announcement. The test is not a memory test: the answer choices tell you what to listen for.
Core moves
- Before the broadcast, read the choices and underline differences: times, places, prices, actions.
- Predict the question word: who, when, where, why, how.
- Track the final decision. Speakers often mention a plan, then change it with but, actually, instead, or because.
- Write only keywords; do not try to transcribe.
Worked example
Script: "I usually take the bus to school, but today I'm walking because the buses are stopped by heavy snow." Question: How is the speaker getting to school today? Choices: by bus / by train / on foot. Reasoning: usually take the bus is background; but today signals the real answer; walking = on foot. Answer: on foot.
Traps
- Choosing the first-mentioned option.
- Missing negatives: not, never, don't have to, no longer.
- Confusing similar sounds: 13/thirteen vs 30/thirty; 15 vs 50.
- Doing time math incorrectly: "the day after tomorrow," "next Friday," "half past."
- Ignoring a second speaker's correction.