Practice listening to English to bring ideas together

Some lectures take a stance and talk about the position that they feel most strongly for. Other lectures like to talk about many ideas and different topics.  It is a good idea to listen for keywords from your lectures that will help you decipher if they are organizing their lesson in one structure or the other.  Write down words that show a cause/effect relationship, compare/contrast or the steps to a process.

Watch TV in English

You can develop your English-language listening skills through a couple of different ways in order to increase your chances for success on the TOEFL test. Listening to the radio, CDs, Podcasts, or recordings of lectures or news reports are a great way to improve your listening skills. However, watching TV in English can be more beneficial because it engages you into the story.  You should focus on watching TV shows, movies, or news channels in English.  The Internet is also a great place to find useful listening material.  Check out www.bbc.co.uk/radio or www.npr.org.   

Notice and become familiar with a speaker’s tone

In all languages, tone or inflections of one’s voice are used to highlight certain keywords in our communication. Figuring out a speaker’s tone is very important to get a good grasp of the speaker’s message. Focus on listening to the tone of each speaker in an English-language conversation in order to gain the most from it. Are they speaking in a more formal or casual tone? Are their voices peaceful or more emotional?