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byShubhankar Das Content Writer - Study Abroad
Improving your TOEFL listening practice involves a combination of tips and strategies. Listen to a variety of English audio by following podcasts, news, TV shows, and YouTube videos. TOEFL exam listening practice includes improving your note-taking abilities to identify key points. Focus on expanding your grammar and vocabulary knowledge. Solving regular TOEFL listening practice tests must be an important part of your daily study schedule. Achieving a listening score of 20-22 can be easy. If you are focusing on achieving a 25+ listening score, following TOEFL listening tips and tricks properly could be very helpful. Getting TOEFL listening tips and tricks from expert mentors or successful students can lead you to a better score.
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TOEFL Listening Preparation Tips
You need to understand the prompts for your ease with English. TOEFL Listening score measures many different factors. Go through the below steps to prepare yourself for the TOEFL Listening test.
Recognize Intonation
You need to be able to recognize the international rhythm of English. You don’t have to study intonation as much as you would for TOEFL Speaking. Being able to understand the tones of important words and sentence transitions helps to understand what you hear.
Distinguish Between Sounds
You don’t need to study every sound as intensely. But you should be able to differentiate between distinct sounds in English, such as “d” and “t,” “b” and “v,” “l” and “r,” etc.
Practice Paraphrasing
During your practice as you listen to TOEFL lectures, conversations, and audio recordings, do think about other words the speaker could have used. TOEFL Listening measures how you listen to the conversation or lectures happening in the classroom. Proper TOEFL listening tips can help candidates to improve their TOEFL scores.
Time Management
Mostly test-takers take 10–20 seconds per question, and that’s the timing you should ideally aim for. You need to learn to quickly consult your notes, you should be able to avoid running out of TOEFL Listening time on test day.
Don’t leave any Questions Unanswered
An important thing to remember is that you won’t lose marks for an incorrect answer. So you make sure to answer every question. Even if you’re not sure of the answer, you can guess. This is a good strategy for maximizing your score. In the Listening section, the answers are multiple-choice, so choose the most likely response.
TOEFL Listening Practice Resources
The more you practice from the TOEFL Listening materials, the easier it will be to keep your focus on test day. Longman TOEFL audio, Manhattan prep TOEFL audio, and more have a variety of posts that can help you familiarize yourself with lectures and conversations on tons of topics. Longman TOEFL listening mp3 download is easily available along with the Longman listening answer key. Getting guidance from online and offline courses for TOEFL test may lead you to better results. Here are just a few resources for your help with various TOEFL listening topics:
TOEFL Listening Practice: Entertainment
- Practice for TOEFL with movies and TV
- Learn English by watching or listening news
- Boost your English listening abilities with videos and podcasts
- Improve listening speed with movie one-liners
TOEFL Listening Practice: Academic
- Watch or attend lectures
- Using TOEFL lectures and real lectures in your preparation
- Alternatives to YouTube for TOEFL listening practice
- Learn to listen without transcripts using minute science
TOEFL Listening Practice: Other Resources
- English question words quiz
- Phrasal verbs in TOEFL listening
TOEFL Listening Note-Taking Tips
Practice pacing with what you hear while taking notes attentively but quickly. This would include understanding which information is important and which one is ignorable. Include note-taking while practicing TOEFL listening to your TOEFL study plan to ensure a high score. The note-taking strategy during TOEFL Listening is such a powerful tool. You need to make a balance between listening and taking notes. Make sure to write only the important points. You can draw a flowchart to track your order of TOEFL listening.
Infer![]()
Write Often![]()
Write What You Understand, Not What You Hear![]()
Structure Your Notes
Write Often
Write What You Understand, Not What You Hear
Structure Your NotesTOEFL Listening Study-Plan for 2-weeks
Following a proper study plan can structure your listening section preparation. Your 2 week TOEFL study plan must include reading books and solving sample papers. Here is a sample TOEFL Listening study plan, that you can modify as your timetable:
| Week One | |
| Day 1: Preliminary Practice Test | 16.5 minutes total to answer the questions of all five recordings. Practice listening to the recordings. |
| Day 2 | Go through TOEFL listening books |
| Day 3 | Take Practice test |
| Day 4 | Go through the pre-recorded listening sample audios |
| Day 5 | Listen to the podcasts |
| Day 6 | Take mock-test |
| Day 7 | Rest |
| Week 2 | |
| Day 1: Second Practice Test | 16.5 minutes total to answer the questions of all five recordings. Stop the timer when you are listening to the recordings |
| Day 2 | Go through TOEFL listening academic resources |
| Day 3 | Take Practice test |
| Day 4 | Go through the pre-recorded listening sample audios |
| Day 5 | Listen to the podcasts |
| Day 6 | Take mock-test |
| Day 7 | Rest |
TOEFL Listening Books
The TOEFL Listening preparation books focus on topics that need more attention and help you to build your weakness into strengths. TOEFL preparation books are a helpful option during self-preparation. The best TOEFL books contain numerous practice papers, thorough information on TOEFL exam patterns and scoring, valuable tips, and test-day guidance as well.
- TOEFL Official Guide PDF: Check Book PDF
- Cambridge Preparation for TOEFL: Check Book PDF
- Barron’s TOEFL iBT PDF: Check Book PDF
- Kaplan TOEFL iBT Premier: Check Book PDF
TOEFL Listening Practice Papers
Solving previous year’s TOEFL practice questions, giving mock tests, will enhance your English skills of learning and listening. But, your preparation should not just be limited to practicing previous papers. Exposure to varied sources will lead to an increase in your ability to listen. Here are a few practice tests PDFs for your further help:
TOEFL listening includes 28 questions, and you will get a raw score for giving a correct answer. Candidates with a good grasp of the English language and with good practice easily achieve a high score on TOEFL listening. Following proven TOEFL listening tips and tricks from experts can shape your study schedule and improve your score.
FAQs
Ques: How can I improve my TOEFL listening?
Ans: To improve TOEFL listening, create a proper TOEFL listening study schedule, practice note-taking skills, and develop a good understanding ability of passage structure. Watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, and take practice tests to improve your TOEFL listening abilities.
Ques: How to get 30/30 in TOEFL listening?
Ans: To get 30 out of 30 in TOEFL listening, improve your note-taking, time-management, and grammar and vocabulary skills. Taking practice tests regularly can lead you to a higher score.
Ques: How to score listening in TOEFL?
Ans: TOEFL listening includes 28 questions, and you will get a raw score for giving a correct answer. Your final score will be reported on the 0 to 30 level, and achieving a score of 25+ is considered a good score.
Ques: How do you take good notes for TOEFL listening?
Ans: To take good notes during TOEFL listening, pay attention to the speaker’s tone of voice, and focus on new and unfamiliar words. Using symbols and two-column layouts can be very helpful.
Ques: Is 27 a good score in TOEFL listening?
Ans: TOEFL listening score ranges on a scale of 0 to 30. If you achieve 27 in the listening section, it shows an advanced level of proficiency and is accepted by the top-ranked universities worldwide.
Ques: Why is TOEFL listening hard?
Ans: The difficulty level of TOEFL listening varies by individual. Candidates with a good grasp of the English language and with good practice easily achieve a high score on TOEFL listening.
Ques: Is TOEFL listening easy?
Ans: TOEFL listening section may be challenging due to its variations in accents. Candidates with a good understanding of the English language and preparation can easily achieve a good listening score.
Ques: How to teach TOEFL listening?
Ans: You need to listen to the main point at first and pay close attention to words and transitions. Take regular listening practice tests to improve your note-taking and time-management skills.
Ques: What is a good TOEFL listening score?
Ans: The total TOEFL score ranges from 0 to 30, and achieving a score of 25+ is considered a good score. You can get admission to some of the top-ranked universities worldwide with a 25+ TOEFL listening score.
Ques: How can I practice TOEFL listening?
Ans: To effectively practice TOEFL listening, you need to listen to the recording perfectly. You also need to improve your understanding of unfamiliar words and improve your note-taking abilities.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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