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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.

No Ordinary Love — Sade: a listening comprehension exercise

This is a listening comprehension exercise based on Sade’s song, No Ordinary Love. Listen to the song and complete the lyrics by filling the gaps with one word in each gap. Feel free to stop (or even rewind) the video whenever you need to.

The difficulty of this task is about intermediate level (B1 on the CEFR scale).

Earlier we showed another exercise based on this same song: this is a text reconstruction task, where you have enter all the words on your own.

More exercises on this song will be coming later, including vocabulary and reading comprehension tasks, so don’t forget to come back.

And please remember to like our Facebook page to get updates and other useful links for learners of English.

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.

Lou Reed: Perfect Day – a listening comprehension exercise

The Lou Reed song Perfect Day was recorded in 1972 but became really famous only decades later, when it was featured in the film Trainspotting.

Your task is to listen to the song and complete the lyrics. If you can’t find a word, you can ask for a free letter.

The difficulty of this exercise is below B2 level (intermediate).

You’ll find other tasks based on this song here later.

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.

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.

Suzanne by Leonard Cohen – a gap-fill listening comprehension exercise

Again, a famous song (and also an old one!), but a different task type this time: you only have to enter the missing words, not the whole text of the song. This is not a difficult exercise since Leonard Cohen sings in an easily understandable manner and the song is fairly slow too – it’s around intermediate level, or B1 on the CEFR scale.

As usual, you can ask for hints by clicking on the Give me a letter button – please note that the free letter will be added in the gap where you have your cursor and that you’ll lose points with this option.

There will be other tasks based on this song later, including vocabulary exercises and the usual text reconstruction task type too. We’re also planning a reading text on the background of the song.

Tom’s Diner by Suzanne Vega – a listening comprehension exercise

The original version of this unique song is a cappella (with no music), which is quite rare in pop music. It was also published in several different versions and a number of other artists came out with their own covers too. Initially we had a concert version of the song for this task but then we decided to feature the original video instead as it’s easier to understand.

Your task is to listen to the song and write down the lyrics. It’s not very difficult: slightly below B2 level on the CEFR scale, which is between intermediate and upper-intermediate.

There will be other tasks based on this song coming later, so stay tuned.