{"id":3067,"date":"2016-04-13T09:30:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T16:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=3067"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:43:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:43:48","slug":"overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Boredom in TOEFL Listening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I hear from students who complain that they are having trouble paying attention to TOEFL Listening because some of the lectures are <em>boring<\/em>. There\u2019s no shame in finding certain academic topics boring\u2014in fact if boredom is the main reason you have trouble catching all of the details in a TOEFL audio track, you\u2019re probably more like a native English speaker than you realize.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it\u2019s very important to be able to listen attentively and catch important details in TOEFL lectures. If you can\u2019t learn how to get past your boredom with lectures that are just a few minutes long, you\u2019ll have a LOT of trouble making it through university courses where the subject matter isn\u2019t your favorite or the professor is a dull speaker.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Turn the listening task into a \u201cfact hunt\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>When a lecture isn\u2019t interesting you and you feel yourself becoming more and more passive, start listening for specific things. By carefully listening only for the most important facts, your passive listening becomes active. And the listening task stops being about the subject matter. Instead, the listening task turns into a game\u2014a game where you hunt for facts that might be important, and learn to \u201cthrow away\u201d less important words and phrases.<\/p>\n<p>On the TOEFL itself, this becomes a matter of recognizing speaking patterns\u2014understanding that TOEFL lectures <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/reading-a-toefl-lecture\/\">are structured a lot like<\/a> written essays that are being read out loud. See how much you can \u201cthink like a writer,\u201d recognizing the way the professor is structuring his or her ideas, and predicting which facts will be important in the question set. Because TOEFL lectures are <em>so<\/em> predictable in structure, this can be a very rewarding activity. You\u2019ll be alert as you direct your attention to where it needs to go and <em>only<\/em> where it needs to go, dodging the most boring and least important parts of a talk.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Develop an interest in academic topics<\/h2>\n<p>This may sound overly simple\u2014I\u2019m basically telling you that if you find something boring, <em>stop <\/em>finding it boring. This is easier said than done, of course, but it\u2019s not impossible! In fact getting past boredom and learning to love new topics is an important skill for any successful student, and for any well-rounded person.<\/p>\n<p>TOEFL lectures focus on a variety of academic topics, but they especially focus on economics, business, history, and science. Go through TOEFL practice materials, both from companies like Magoosh and from official ETS sources. Skim transcripts of lectures before you listen, and write down the subjects of the lectures. Then research the subjects yourself. You can probably find some aspect of any subject that is <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/studying-english-movies-4-good-websites\/\">interesting to you<\/a> in some way\u2014or you can find a particularly funny, interesting writer or speaker who has something to say about an academic subject found on the TOEFL. You may also be able to find a movie or TV show that covers a TOEFL-like subject in an entertaining way. You get the idea.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I hear from students who complain that they are having trouble paying attention to TOEFL Listening because some of the lectures are boring. There\u2019s no shame in finding certain academic topics boring\u2014in fact if boredom is the main reason you have trouble catching all of the details in a TOEFL audio track, you\u2019re probably more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13616],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-3067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listening"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Overcoming Boredom in TOEFL Listening - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overcoming Boredom in TOEFL Listening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I hear from students who complain that they are having trouble paying attention to TOEFL Listening because some of the lectures are boring. There\u2019s no shame in finding certain academic topics boring\u2014in fact if boredom is the main reason you have trouble catching all of the details in a TOEFL audio track, you\u2019re probably more [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-13T16:30:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:43:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/\",\"name\":\"Overcoming Boredom in TOEFL Listening - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-13T16:30:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/overcoming-boredom-in-toefl-listening\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Overcoming Boredom in TOEFL Listening\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\",\"name\":\"David Recine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Recine\"},\"description\":\"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3067"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}