B2 level | EnglishFiles.com

Space Oddity by David Bowie — a listening comprehension exercise

This is another listening comprehension exercise based on the David Bowie song Space Oddity, but the format is different this time: you have to add the missing words within the video itself, not in a separate frame.

You can also stop the playback or even go back if you need to, but you can’t see the whole lyrics on one page. Some of you might find this design easier to work with — I’m interested in your opinion, so please tell me which version you prefer below when you’ve finished the task.

The difficulty of this task is about B2 level (upper-intermediate).

Please click here to share your opinion about the design of this exercise — do you prefer this design or the earlier one?

These are the previous exercises (with a different design — please check them out to compare and vote above) we currently have based on David Bowie’s Space Oddity:

Listening comprehension text reconstruction
B2 level gapfill exercise
Vocabulary exercises based on the words and expressions in the song
A slightly easier gapfill task (the missing words are listed)

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Hey Jude by The Beatles — a listening comprehension gapfill

The Beatles are considered to be one of the greatest rock bands ever, and their song Hey Jude is certainly one of their most famous pieces.

In this listening comprehension gapfill exercise, you have to listen to the song and enter the missing words. You can also get letter hints if you’re stuck.

If you need more time to enter your answers, feel free to stop the playback or even rewind it.

The difficulty of this exercise is slightly below B2 level (upper-intermediate) since the vocabulary is not very advanced, the song is not very fast and Paul McCartney’s singing is easy to understand.

There will be more tasks based on this song coming soon, including a reading comprehension exercise on its background.

We have another Beatles song to help you improve your English listening comprehension: Eleanor Rigby. This version is a text reconstruction exercise (you need to add all the words) and this one is the well-known listening comprehension gapfill.

And please don’t forget to like our Facebook page to get updates and find other useful stuff for learners of English, including links and videos.

The Sound of Silence — a listening comprehension exercise

One of the greatest songs ever written, no doubt. This is a live concert version, recorded in 1981 during the famous Concert in the Park, a free event held in Central Park in New York.

Listen to the song and fill the gaps in the lyrics. You can also get a letter hint if you can’t find a word. Feel free to stop playback any time you need.

The difficulty of this task is probably slightly higher than B2 level (upper-intermediate) because the vocabulary is fairly advanced and the imagery of the lyrics is probably not that easy to comprehend.

We have another listening comprehension exercise based on a Simon & Garfunkel song: The Boxer, which is also very famous.

There will be more exercises built around The Sound of Silence, including vocabulary and reading comprehension tasks as well as various difficulty level listening exercises, so please check back.

And please don’t forget to like our Facebook page to get updates and find other useful stuff for learners of English, including links and videos.

Hello by Adele — a listening comprehension exercise

Hello is one of Adele’s greatest hits: it broke the Vevo Record by achieving over 27.7 million views within a 24-hour span and it reached the number one spot in almost every country.

This is a listening comprehension exercise based on the song: watch the video and complete the lyrics by filling the gaps. Feel free to stop the playback whenever you need to. You can also ask for letter hints if you can’t find a word.

The difficulty of this task is around B2 level (upper-intermediate) as the vocabulary is not too difficult and Adele’s singing voice is fairly easy to understand.

A previous exercise on EnglishFiles.com featured another famous Adele song, Someone Like You.

There will be more exercises based on both these songs, including text reconstruction, reading comprehension and vocabulary exercises, so please check back.

And please don’t forget to like our Facebook page to get updates and find other useful links for learners of English.

Space Oddity by David Bowie — vocabulary exercises

The vocabulary exercises below are based on the lyrics of David Bowie’s song, Space Oddity. Start with an easy matching exercise and then you can choose from five different task types (in the bottom right corner, where it says “Choose a Study Mode”): Match, Learn, Test, Flashcards, Spell – you can probably guess how each one works but try them all.

We have a number of exercises based on the song Space Oddity by David Bowie; here’s the list:

A listening comprehension gapfill (B2 level)
A text reconstruction listening comprehension task (B2 level)
An easier listening comprehension gapfill (B2 level)

Coming soon: another listening comprehension gapfill and a reading comprehension task, followed by more vocabulary exercises.

Lou Reed: Perfect Day – gapfill listening comprehension exercise #2

Your task is to listen to Perfect Day by Lou Reed and complete the lyrics.

This listening comprehension task is slightly more difficult than a similar one based on this same song as there are more gaps here and some of them are a bit difficult.

The difficulty of this exercise is around B2 level on the CEFR scale.

An easier listening comprehension task based on this song is found here: Lou Reed: Perfect Day – a listening comprehension exercise.

You will find more tasks based on this song here later, including a text reconstruction listening comprehension exercise and vocabulary exercises too.

Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen: a listening comprehension exercise

This Leonard Cohen song is not only beautiful but is also a good way to improve your listening skills. It shouldn’t be very difficult to fill the gaps as they are fairly common words – the tricky thing is to understand the whole of the song, but that should be a different lesson.

For now, it’s enough if you listen and complete the text:

The difficulty of this task is below B2 level – somewhere between intermediate and upper-intermediate.

There will be more tasks based on this song, so check back soon.

a-ha — Take On Me: a listening comprehension exercise

Norwegian band a-ha came out with a brilliant new version of their classic Take On Me. Your task is to listen and complete the text – you only have to choose from a list of words.

This exercise is around B2 level on the CEFR scale.

John Lennon: Imagine – a listening comprehension exercise

Imagine is probably one of the most famous songs ever written by John Lennon.

In this task you have to complete the lyrics of this song after listening to it – the good news is that you only have to choose the missing words from a list.

The difficulty of this exercise is around B2 level on the CEFR scale, which is approximately upper-intermediate level.

There will more tasks based on this song later, including vocabulary exercises too.

Vocabulary exercises based on the U2 song One: drag, forgive, raise

We’ve had a number of exercises based on the U2 song One earlier, starting with a listening comprehension task, then a reading text on the background of the song, which was more of a vocabulary exercise, then two collocations tasks on the word blame, and a word formation exercise on the word disappoint.

The tasks in this post will help you learn how to use the words drag, forgive and raise.

The difficulty level of these tasks is slightly below B2 level (between intermediate and upper-intermediate).

There will be more vocabulary exercises based on this song.