As you prepare for your TOEFL Listening test, you’ll want to seek out the best TOEFL listening practice possible. Unfortunately, finding good TOEFL listening practice online is about as easy as trying to find a bear in New York City. There are a few out there, but there’s only one reliable place to find them: a zoo. There may be lots and lots of imitation bears—stuffed animals, paintings of bears, statues, costumes—but the only place you’ll find real bears (legally!) is in the zoo. In the case of the TOEFL iBT, the only place you’ll find the real, high-quality TOEFL listening practice is on ETS’s official website.
The official sample TOEFL iBT listening exercises from ETS’s free full-length TOEFL test are a great help and are the best examples of what you will hear on the day of your test. Altogether, there are 5 listening exercises, just as you’d find on the real exam.
TOEFL Listening Samples in the Test Sample Software
First, you can find some listening practice in the Listening section of The free full-length TOEFL practice test from ETS. This browser-based test is actually the only place you can find a realistic, free sample of the TOEFL. I don’t know of any other free sources that give a test-like experience.
There’s one way that this test is different from the real test, though—it has no timer. On a real TOEFL, you’ll see an onscreen timer that tells you how much time you have for each section or task. In this practice test, the real timer is described int he instructions but is not present onscreen.
TOEFL “Quick Prep”
TOEFL Quick Prep is actually no longer hosted on the ETS website, because it does not perfectly match the new format of the TOEFL that was rolled out in August of 2019. However, Quick Prep is still very useful, as long as you follow Magoosh’s advice on using older TOEFL prep materials.
The good news is that QUick Prep is still available outside of ETS.org, through the Web Archive website. On the archived “Quick Prep” page, you can find six more practice listenings: 4 lectures and 2 conversations.
There are also another six “listening” samples without mp3s, but they don’t provide realistic practice at all. Listening is very different from reading. (You can also get similar transcript-only Listening practice through ETS’s newer Listening practice sets.)
Unofficial TOEFL Listening Practice
There are plenty of unrealistic, unofficial imitations, of course, but there aren’t many practice listenings that accurately reflect the content, style, and level of English that ETS uses on the test. Be very wary of unofficial, free materials. They might be good for general English listening practice, but you probably won’t get realistic questions, and the recordings will almost always be different from what you’ll really get on the day of your test.
But that leads to another point: if you want to practice your English listening skills in general, there’s no reason to limit yourself to amateur recordings and poorly-written questions that just look a little like the TOEFL iBT. Instead, we can practice listening to anything academic. I highly recommend the lectures on www.TED.com for practice. American-born speakers are best. The best feature of TED is that if your listening skills are still very low, there are text transcripts of almost every lecture so you can read while you listen.
The lectures on TED are definitely more difficult than TOEFL recording, too. That’s not a bad thing, though—the best way to train is with difficult material.
TOEFL Listening Practice from Magoosh
Over the years, we’ve written a lot of posts that contain free listening practice materials. Here’s a list of our favorite resources.
First of all, check out our free TOEFL listening practice test video for exam-like questions in an easy-to-use format!
(NOTE: This video was created to reflect the older format of the TOEFL. Each individual task on the video does match something you’d see on the current exam, but the current exam will have five tasks, not 6.)
TOEFL-specific listening practice:
General English listening practice:
- Educational Videos to Practice Academic Listening
- Videos and Podcasts to Practice Listening
- Documentaries to Practice Listening
- Practice with Online Comedy Videos
The Main Point
If you’re looking for sample TOEFL listening material, head to the official site first. Unofficial, free samples are only really useful for general listening practice. If you’re practicing that, then don’t limit yourself to suspicious imitations: consume anything you can that’s academic and challenging. And don’t forget to check out Magoosh’s lessons and practice questions as well. 🙂
I have been looking for the sources to practice general listening skills and bumped into your article. Big thank you for recommending http://www.TED.com website. This is a great listening practice!!!
You’re welcome!
HI Lucas!
Thanks for your advice on finding reliable TOEFL listening practice material on the web. It is quite hard to find authentic TOEFL listening style exercises. Most websites make you believe you can have a real TOEFL test experience since they have plenty of conversations and lectures which are far of being TOEFL based practice. I downloaded the listening tracks from the ETS website and it’s been really useful since they are the makers of such test.
Thanks again for your help.
You’re more than welcome, Paco!
Hey Lucas!
Currently I am practicing the NOVA TOEFL 4 test book.
When I started doing listening section, I won’t able to do the note taking. My listening are good. But when I includes note taking practices, I always missed the points or I found myself far behind in noting the points ( especially in lecture section).
Can you please give some hints/ tips?
Hi Prakash,
This is a common problem. There are a couple of things to work on. First, I want to encourage you to take only some notes. Yes, it is nice to have all of the details written down. But the listening is not very long, and you only have a few minutes to answer questions. For many details, your memory will be enough. Notes should be a memory aid, not the main way of keeping details. That means you should note the big ideas, not the small ones. If you write down just a few words about each major idea, that should be enough. The best notes are often quite short.
The second thing to improve is your note-taking speed. Realize that only one person needs to understand your notes: you. And even you only need to understand them for a few minutes. Never erase, never write full words, and never think about your penmanship. Get in the habit of only writing a couple letters of each word, just enough to remind yourself later, no more.
And really, the most important thing is practice. You will learn, with enough practice, what type of notes work best for you. Try different things. Everybody is a little bit different, so you’ll need to learn what’s best by experimentation.
Lucas
Hello. I am planning on taking the test next month. I was wondering if someone could answer my question about the listening section. Can you see/go over the questions before you start listening? Thank you very much!
You can’t see the questions before listening, sadly. That means you have to be very careful about listening closely and taking helpful notes. 🙂
Doing taking notes what are the most important points to take notes?
That depends on the recording that you listen to, but the most important notes in general are structural notes, especially for a lecture. That means you want to hear the main idea and the details that the professor talks about the most. Here are some blog posts that give helpful advice. 🙂
– https://magoosh.com/toefl/2014/balancing-notes-and-listening/
– https://magoosh.com/toefl/2013/tips-for-note-taking-on-the-toefl/
– https://magoosh.com/toefl/2014/note-taking-tips-for-toefl-conversations/
It takes practice to learn the amount of notes that is most helpful for you. Keep listening and taking notes, trying to understand the biggest ideas in each recording.
Thank you for recommending http://www.TED.com, it’s very helpful!
I’m glad to hear it! You’re more than welcome, of course.
im planning to prepare for a test in a week .
is that a good decision?
That depends on how much improvement you need! In general, though, I recommend taking longer than that to study. The TOEFL is a complicated test, and to become very familiar with it takes most students more than a week. And you score best when you know exactly what to expect. 🙂
I do agree if you want to learn more natually you need more much more time that’s right ,ir la tlme what measures everything as much time one dedicates to any matter as much better is going to be the results
Can you read the questions as you listen to the track in the listening section?
Good question! The answer is no, unfortunately. You must listen to the recording first, then answer the questions one-by-one, and you cannot listen again unless the test gives you a short repeat clip to ask about a specific sentence or phrase.
It’s really good to read your advices. I would like to get a help with my exam in the US Embassy next February. Unfortunately, The style of the exam is only listening. I therefor wonder if however you can recommend such a good website or anything to do as a preparation for this test. Thanks a lot.
I’m not familiar with the test you’re referring to, so I’m afraid I can’t give much advice on how to study for it! But in general, the best way to improve listening is to do it as often as possible. Try to find material that you can understand about 70% of. If you have transcripts, too, that’s even better. First listen without the transcripts, then listen again with them for maximum understanding. Good luck on that test!
Is it crucial that you must take notes doping the listening section of the Toefl test?
I definitely recommend taking at least some notes during the listening section, yes! You don’t have to take many, but there are many, many details in a recording, so having a few brief notes can really help you to remember the different parts of the lecture or conversation. Practice listening with different amount of notes to see what works for you. For most students, I recommend short, structural notes, and nothing more.
How many Full Tests should I solved to get a high score on Toefl IBT? I can’t find any free full Practice Tests online. Should I buy them from Toefl’s website? I just find them expensive and not sure how many volumes I need to buy.
How many full tests you should take depends on how much improvement you need and how much time you have before your test. There are no free, official practice tests, unfortunately, but there is some practice here: http://www.toeflgoanywhere.org/toefl-practice
If you want cheaper, full practice tests, I recommend the Official Guide. That comes with a CD that contains three full tests. The software is a bit different from what you will see on test day, but the material is extremely close, because it is official ETS material. 🙂
Hi. I have a question. Are all the lectures and conversations heard at once then you answer all the questions or do you hear a single lecture or conversation and then answer the questions for this particular lecture and so on?
Good question! You hear one recording at a time. So first you hear recording 1, then you get 5-6 questions on that recording. After you finish those questions, you hear recording 2. After you hear recording 2, you answer 5-6 questions. Hope that clarifies a bit. 🙂
Dear Sir,
I am going to attend the test on 9th May, 2015. I am completely new to the test. I would like to ask you few questions. Would you reply my questions?
Do i hear the whole text first before writing the note for the listening text? or
Should i write the answer during the time of listening? Which one is appropriate?
Is note making important while listening the text?
That’s a great question, Pavan! Thanks for sharing it in the comments. 🙂
It is important to take notes as you listen. You don’t necessarily need to take extremely detailed notes—- you don’t want to be writing so much down that you’re distracted from what you’re hearing. So it’s especially important to balance good note taking with active listening.
Kate has a good Magoosh TOEFL Blog post on that here: https://magoosh.com/toefl/2014/balancing-notes-and-listening/
And of course, listening to conversations is a little different than listening to lectures. Our TOEFL Blog also has some good posts on specific ways to take notes for conversation vs. lecture.
Conversation: https://magoosh.com/toefl/2014/note-taking-tips-for-toefl-conversations/
Lecture: https://magoosh.com/toefl/2014/toefl-lecture-strategy-take-notes/
I hope this has helped. Good luck on the 9th!
Hi, I just took toefl and ran out of time before i could click the confirm button on the last question of the listening section. I had selected the bubble for the answer but didn’t click next/confirm. Would that selection still be counted as a response or will that question be recorded as ‘Not Answered’?
Unfortunately, unless you hit the “confirm” button on a listening question, the answer is not submitted, so it won’t be counted. On the reading section, there is no “confirm”—you only have to choose the answer—but on the listening section you have to confirm. But don’t worry—one question will be a minimal difference. It might actually make no difference to your score!
Hi Lucas,
I got IELTS before and we had the chance to look at the questions before and as well as during the listening. In TOEFL, I will hear the conversation or lecture, whatever, and will not be able to see any of the question unless the listening finishes you say, did I get your point right?
My God, so we have to take really good notess..
Yes, that’s right! Notes are very important for the TOEFL. 🙂
thanks,
You’re welcome!
Hi
I got 70 in my first exam about 3 month ago. Now i want to have another after one month. my scores were: listening 11. reading 19. speaking 19. writing 21. for next exam i want more than 90. can you guide me how i can improve my grade?
Sorry to hear your TOEFL score isn’t quite where it needed to be. That’s always a let down. 🙁 For you and other students who need to give their score a big boost, I always recommend carefully looking at exactly why you fell short of your target score the first time. Look at the question types and skills you feel the weakest in…. And also looking at your strengths, abilities you can build on in a retake. Be sure to take note of your own test strategy skills— sometimes simply getting better at strategies related to multiple choice selection, pacing, etc… can add several points to your score.
What are the maxmum number of scores that I need to obtain in each section in order to know that I passed and must be offered admission
Hi Emerie,
There is not a specific score that guarantees admission. Individual schools have set their own TOEFL score thresholds, so you will have to research them one by one to figure out what score you need. There’s a huge range of possibilities here: some schools require a score as low as 70 points, and others as high as 110. From a practical standpoint, the score required by the school you’re interested in should be considered a “good” score.
Good luck, and I hope your research leads you to some definitive answers. 🙂
Hi, Dear
I want to know about TOEFL test, If some body who has already passed the test , What to do next , Does it mean who pass the test the click go to the International University for real study or study only by online and pay the fees ?
best regards
Siephanh
Hi Siephanh,
Happy to help! 🙂
Passing the TOEFL is a great first step, but the TOEFL alone is not enough to get admission into a university for a real study program. If you want to study at the undergraduate level, you will need to send your application (including some essays, your grades and transcripts, etc.) plus any other small details the university wants. For a graduate program, you will have to do all of those things and, in addition, you probably need a GRE or GMAT score for many universities.
You should focus on the TOEFL first since it is typically a first threshold aspiring applicants must jump, but afterwards there will be more things to check off the list. Be sure to research the requirements at schools you want to attend to find the best answer to what must be done.
I hope that helps you get started! 🙂
hello, i am planning to take Toefl test after 20 days. i have been studying Toefl since more than one week. is it the enough time for me to give Toefl test
Hi Alisha,
Good question! Whether or not it is enough preparation depends largely on your current English level. Have you taken a diagnostic test to see what your score might be? That is a good way to determine if you are in a position to be able to get a good enough score or not. Good luck! 🙂
hello im taking toefl pbt next month and when i search for someone to help me i found you!…i wanted to download sample audios with qustions for the listening section and to practice offline , because the network arround me is poor to practice online.can you help me where to download them?
Hi Hilina,
Unfortunately, we do not have Magoosh downloadable audio content. I apologize for this inconvenience.