1.

Take Notes

Taking accurate notes quickly is the most important skill on the TOEFL. It is both a mental and a
physical skill. It is physical because by moving your hand faster and writing faster, you can write
more notes than another person can. Additionally, it is mental because you need to summarize
sentences, shorten words, identify the most important parts of a sentence and throw out
unnecessary statements.

Write down:

– Main points that the lecture has said

– Details about main points

– Facts that are difficult to remember, but can be asked about (often in the conversations there is
one question about an inconsequential fact from the beginning)

Do not write down:

– Function words (like ‘the’ or ‘a/an’)

– Words signaling the organization of the passage (‘The first reason the Maldives are beautiful is…’
or ‘The main idea is..’)

2. Know the Organization

First, there are two main structures:

Lecture or Presentation where there is a clearly defined Introduction, Body and Conclusion, and
Narrative where there is a Beginning, Middle and End.

Then we look at the different styles of organization:

 Theory and Evidence

 Cause and Effect

 Steps of a Process

 Comparison of Two Things

When you are listening, remember to listen for the General Ideas as well as the details: Facts,
Examples and Opinions.
3. Signals

We may have mentioned it above, but signals are very important to pay attention to when you are
listening to a TOEFL conversation or lecture.

ETS lists words that signal type of information in the phrases below:

 Opinion (I think, It appears that, It is thought that)

 Theory (In theory)

 Inference (therefore, then)

 Negatives (not, or words that begin with ‘un’, ‘non’, ‘dis’, or ‘a’)

 Fillers (non-essential information like uh, umm, or er)

Additionally, keep an eye out for conjunctions and signal words like:

 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)

Remember that often the speakers will use pauses and changes of speed to provide clues as to
how to organize and group information.