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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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Space Oddity by David Bowie — fill the gaps: a listening comprehension exercise (2)

This is another listening comprehension exercise based on David Bowie’s song Space Oddity. Your task here is easier: you just have to choose the missing words from a list.

The difficulty of this exercise is not much higher than B1 level (intermediate) on the CEFR scale because the words are already provided and also because the vocabulary level is not very advanced.

You can stop the video whenever you like if you need more time to find the missing words.

We have already published a couple of exercises based on this classic song but there’s more to follow. Here are the currently available ones:

A listening comprehension exercise — similar to this one, but you have to fill the gaps on your own instead of choosing from a list.
A text reconstruction exercise — you need to find all the words.

In the near future there will be more tasks, including reading comprehension and vocabulary exercises.

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.

Space Oddity by David Bowie — fill the gaps: a listening comprehension exercise

David Bowie’s Space Oddity is famous for many reasons: for example, it was recorded before the first Moon landing — which is pretty cool, considering its topic. It is also the song that was used for the first ever music video recorded in space, by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.

Your task here is to listen to the song and complete the lyrics; feel free to stop the video whenever you like.

This listening comprehension exercise is below B2 level on the CEFR scale (about intermediate level).

There will be more exercises based on this song, including vocabulary and reading.

Space Oddity by David Bowie — a listening comprehension exercise

This is one of the most famous songs ever recorded. Space Oddity by David Bowie features practically on every Top Songs list and is also found on Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

This listening comprehension exercise is at B2 level since the rhythm of the song is fairly slow and Bowie sings clearly enough to understand. The vocabulary is not very difficult, either, but you can alway ask for hints if you get stuck.

Listen to the song and enter the words you hear; feel free to stop the video whenever you like.