Learn how to improve your Toefl listening skills with these tips to help you prepare for the TOEFL iBT® test and university study.
Practice listening to something in English every day, and gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.
Listen to different types of materials.
Listen actively. Try to answer the following questions:
who
what
when
where
why
how
Listen passively to get the general idea of what's being said.
Keep a listening log (a list of everything you listen to in English each day/week).
Write a 1-sentence summary to remember the main idea of what you heard.
Write down new expressions, idioms and vocabulary that you hear.
Use dictation and other exercises to help your listening ability.
Ask an English speaker to dictate an article to you. Good sources of material are podcasts, magazines or online articles or textbooks.
First, write down exactly what you hear.
Then, only take notes on the important points that you hear.
Do information gap exercises, using unfamiliar content and complex structures.
Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.
Visit places where you can practice listening.
If possible, enroll in an English class.
Go to a museum and take an audio tour in English.
Follow a guided tour in English in your city.
Call or visit a hotel where tourists stay, and get information in English about room rates, hotel availability or hotel facilities.
Call and listen to information recorded in English, such as a movie schedule, a weather report or information about an airline flight.
Watch or listen to TV programs and podcasts recorded in English.
Some helpful TV channels to listen to are CNN®, Discovery Channel® and National Geographic®, as well as soap operas or situation comedies.
Do this with a friend and talk about the program together.
Watch movies or other videos online (turn off the captions!) or go to a movie in English.
Listen to an audiobook in English.
Listen to English-language recordings that come with a transcript. Listen to each recording at least 3 times:
The first time, take notes about the main ideas you hear.
The second time, read the transcript and listen for the ideas you wrote down.
The third time, write down any words and phrases that you didn't understand, and look them up.
Practice speaking English with others.
Exchange language lessons with an English speaker who wants to learn your language.
Begin to prepare for academic situations.
Visit academic classes conducted in English.
Record lectures or presentations, and replay them several times.
Listen to short sections several times, until you understand the main points and the flow of ideas.
Stop the recording in the middle, and predict what will come next.
Become familiar with the organization or structure of academic lectures.
Pay attention to the difference between main ideas and details presented.
Listen for the general (main) ideas.
Pay attention to details — facts, examples, opinions.
Pay attention to the structure.
Lecture or presentation — introduction, body and conclusion
Narrative story — beginning, middle and end
Learn to recognize different styles of organization.
Theory and evidence
Cause and effect
Steps of a process
Comparison of 2 things
Think carefully about the purpose of the lecture.
Try to answer the question, "What is the professor trying to accomplish in this lecture?"
Write down only the information that you hear. Be careful not to interpret information based on your personal understanding or knowledge of the topic.
Develop a note-taking strategy to help you organize information into the main points and supporting details.
Make sure your notes follow the organization of the lecture.
Listen for related ideas and relationships within a lecture, and make sure you summarize similar information together.
Use your notes to write a summary.
Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between ideas and the importance of ideas.
Listen for expressions and vocabulary that tell you the type of information being given. Think carefully about the type of information that these phrases show:
opinion — I think, It appears that, It is thought that
theory — in theory
inference — therefore, then
negatives — not, words that begin with "un-," "non-," "dis-" or "a-"
fillers — non-essential information — uh, er, um
Identify digressions — discussion of a different topic from the main topic — or jokes that are not important to the main lecture. It's OK not to understand these!
Listen for signal words or phrases that connect ideas in order to recognize the relationship between ideas. Think carefully about the connection between ideas that these words show:
reasons — because, since
results — as a result, so, therefore, thus, consequently
examples — for example, such as
comparisons — in contrast, than
an opposing idea — on the other hand, however
another idea — furthermore, moreover, besides
a similar idea — similarly, likewise
restatements of information — in other words, that is
conclusions — in conclusion, in summary
Pay attention to the connections between examples.
When you hear 2 details, identify the relationship between them.
Write a sentence connecting the examples, using the appropriate connecting word.
Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is important. Important key words are often:
repeated
paraphrased — repeated information but using different words
said louder and clearer
stressed
Pay attention to body language and intonation patterns used to express different emotions.
Emotions are often expressed through changes in intonation or stress.
Facial expressions or word choices can indicate excitement, anger, happiness or frustration.
Listen to how native English speakers divide long sentences into "thought groups" to make them easier to understand — a thought group is a spoken phrase or short sentence. Thought groups are separated by short pauses.
Listen to sets of thought groups to be sure you get the whole idea of the talk.
Listen for pauses between important points.
Listen for numbers you might hear in prices, times or addresses.
Listen for verbs and other expressions that show if an event is happening in the past, present or future.
During a lecture, pay attention to words that are written on the board.