1.

Practice Paraphrasing and Inferring Meaning

As you listen to TOEFL lectures, conversations, and audio recordings in practice
and on practice tests, think about other words the speaker could have used. This
will come in handy on test day, when the correct answer choice is often a
paraphrase of the text, instead of an exact quotation. Similarly, there may also be
times when the speaker uses a word you don’t know. That’s okay! Use inference
skills to get to the correct answer.

2. Listen Better by Taking Good Notes

The fastest way to answer questions more accurately on the TOEFL Listening
test? Become a good note-taker. Learn to keep pace with what you hear, taking
notes attentively but quickly. This includes knowing which information is
important and which information you can probably ignore. Effective note-taking
also involves proper pacing. Check out more on these note-taking strategies
below!
While these general tips will set you on the right path for success on test day,
another way to raise your score in this area is to become familiar with the test
format. The Listening section has very specific types of passages and questions,
and understanding them before you set foot in the test center will lead you to a
more comfortable experience!

3. Don't write answers too quickly

A lot of students fall into this trap: as soon as they hear the needed information,
they take it for the correct answer. But sometimes this information is
repeated or corrected further in the section. Example:
Sam: Thank you! I've received your email. So it is loren-hanson@gmail.com.
Loren: No-no! You have mistaken, it is loren-hamson@gmail.com, spelled with
M.
Sam: Oh, I'm sorry...

4. Check for silly mistakes

After each section you have 30 seconds to check your answers. It is important to
check spelling, plurals and word forms. Remember that only correctly written
answers will gain points.
 5. "Plug in" the situation

Try to get an idea of the situation. Before each part you will be given a short
introduction: 'Now, you will hear a dialogue between…' or 'you will hear a lecture
on…' This information is not written on the question paper, so be attentive. Note:
who are the speakers, why are they speaking and where are they. This will make
understanding the rest of the recording much easier.

6. Listen for pleasure.

Some students think that if you keep doing Cambridge First past papers, you will
improve your listening score. But this is not usually the way it works. It’s not that
straightforward.

Apart from expanding your general range of lexis and grammar, you also need to
improve your overall listening skills and get used to different accents and contexts.
One way to develop your listening away from exams is to listen for pleasure. Try to
find something you like listening to, whether it be movies, football matches, the
radio or even podcasts. The most important thing is that you listen to something
you’ll enjoy and not something that is of little interest to you.

7. Improve your general listening skills

The goal of IELTS Listening section is to test your listening skills. Don't use
practice tests to improve your score: it's not enough! They will help you to become
familiar with the test, but won't much improve your listening abilities. It is much
more effective to do various listening exercises, listen to general listening materials
(radio reports, TV-shows, documental programs etc) and only after that do IELTS
Listening practice tests.
 8. Know the Questions
Know how to answer the different types of TOEFL Listening questions. Understand
the different requirements and strategies for questions related to
detail, attitude, function, organization, main ideas, inference, categorizing, and so
on.

9. Word types

Skip over the questions and decide which type of word fits in each gap. Is it a
noun, verb, adverb or adjective? Write 'N' for noun, 'V' for verb and so on. This will
help you to focus on the specific word forms while listening.
 10. Learn to listen for paraphrased language.

You won’t usually hear the answer in exactly the same words as in the
question. The keywords that give you the answer will usually be a paraphrase of
the words used in the question. What is paraphrased language? Well, it’s
expressing the same thing in a different way by using different vocabulary,
grammar and even word order.