TOEFL Listening Dictation Practice

The TOEFL listening dictation practice will help prepare you for the listening, speaking, and writing portions of the exam.  All these sections have listening passages. Therefore, this blog post will give you some tips for improve your listening comprehension. Then you will have TOEFL listening dictation practice with sentences with 5-10, 11-20, and 20-30 words.

TOEFL Listening Dictation Practice Tips

Before you will be able to paraphrase important points from a listening passage, you will need to know exactly what the speaker has said. Therefore, you will be able to accurately and completely re-explain important points during the TOEFL speaking and writing sections of the exam.  Here are some tips to improve your listening dictation skills:

1. Break up sentences, as you listen, into smaller parts such as clauses and phrases. Then write down each part. For example, if you hear the sentence, “Last night, I went to the movies with my friend.”, you can break the sentence into three parts:

• Prepositional phrase: Last night
• Independent clause: I went to the movies
• Prepositional phrase: with my friend

2.  A speaker will use a slightly higher inflection at the end of each thought group. Then the speaker will use a falling tone when getting to the end of the sentence. As you listen to a sentence, write down each thought group that you hear. To illustrate, listen to and read the following sentence paying attention to the tone throughout the sentence:

Bears, in most cases, will not attack unless a human gets between the mother and her cub.

Following the pauses in speech, you can learn tonal changes separating the different parts of the sentence:

• BeARS= rising tone
•  in most caSES = rising tone
• will not attACK = rising tone
• unless a human gets between the mother and her cub

3. A speaker will also separate numbers into thought groups using rising tone on each group of numbers except the last. Write down each group of numbers. For example, listen to the following phone number, especially to the pauses and tone that the speaker uses:

• (909) =rising tone
• 880 = rising tone
• 0332 = falling tone

4.  Make an effort to improve your spelling.

• For example, practice your independent and integrated writing tasks on a computer so you can spell-check your practice tests.
• In addition, spend about 30-45 minutes reading magazines, newspapers, and books.
• Take spelling tests on the Internet.
• As you study your 1,700 TOEFL Vocabulary List, practice spelling the words that you are studying.
• Sometimes when you are watching television, use the close caption option. Pay attention to how the words are spelled.

5.  Improve your knowledge of English Grammar. This will help you put the words into the correct order as you listen to them.

6. Practice makes perfect, right?

• Practice the listening dictation exercises on this web page.
• Then once you have mastered this page, you can begin TOEFL integrated speaking and writing practice, which will be more difficult.
• Once you practice that web page, you may be ready for my TOEFL Speaking and Writing Feedback Service.
• Finally, if you want more personal tutoring, you could buy some TOEFL Skype lessons.

TOEFL Listening Dictation Practice Quizzes: 5-10 words (Easy)

First, get some paper and a pen. Second, write down each sentence you hear. Third, compare your sentence to answer.

1.

AnswerPlants convert sunlight into energy that is used as food.

2.

AnswerThe lecture clearly casts doubt on the self-determination theory.

3.

AnswerThe imitation theory has three advantages.

4.

AnswerMore than 8.5 billion people live in the world.

5.

AnswerMore rain occurs in warm storms coming from Hawaii.

6.

AnswerLast year the High Sierra mountains received deep snowfall.

7.

AnswerA woman proposed marriage at a Yankees’ baseball game.

8.

AnswerControlling one’s anger is vital in a marriage.

9.

AnswerDoctors recommend a brisk walk every day for 45 minutes.

10.

AnswerSubstituting meat for fish is a healthy choice.

11.

AnswerUsing more advanced grammar will increase your TOEFL speaking score.

12.

AnswerPracticing karate will improve your fine motor skills.

13.

AnswerDisneyland has increased its prices dramatically over the last year.

14.

AnswerGetting qualified feedback from a TOEFL tutor increases your score.

15.

AnswerSkim the first line of each passage to get the main idea.

16.

AnswerAchieve a reading speed of 300 words per minute.

17.

AnswerIntegrate means to combine information from reading and listening passages.

18.

AnswerVary your tone during the speaking section of the TOEFL.

19.

AnswerSeparate TOEFL task two in five separate paragraphs.

20.

AnswerDo not use informal grammar and vocabulary during TOEFL writing.

Listening Dictation Practice Quizzes: 11-19 words (Medium)

First, get some paper and a pen. Second, write down each sentence you hear. Third, compare your sentence to the answer.

1.

AnswerThe professor passed back the graded exams to 31 students, most of whom did not score lower than 60%.

2.

AnswerThe reading passage explains three strengths of the self-determination theory, and the speaker in the lecture questions the theory.

3.

AnswerThree contributors to global warming–water vapor, carbon dioxide, and chlorofluorocarbons–trap heat in Earth’s inner atmosphere.

4.

AnswerAbout three times a year, snakes shed their skin, at which time they are most vulnerable to predators.

5.

AnswerProfessor Kim, who teaches Chemistry courses, requires his students to complete a fifteen page lab report.

6.

AnswerBicycle riders should wear a helmet, be dressed in reflective gear, and have a headlight and a rear light.

7.

AnswerFrom 2016-2020, California has had ample rainfall during the winter season, hence ending a seven-year drought.

8.

AnswerBecause of the potential of head injuries, many high schools are no longer offering football.

9.

AnswerAthletes preparing to play soccer must develop an aerobic base by completing weekly 3-5 mile runs.

10.

AnswerOnce winter sets in, Oak Hills, California residents no longer need to water their grass and outdoor plants.

11.

AnswerVaping, according to health experts, is harmful to users’ lungs because some of the ingredients are oil based.

12.

AnswerChina is no longer accepting plastics, so many countries will have to figure out how to eliminate recyclable waste.

13.

AnswerCade excels in all his school subjects and even won the district science fair three years in a row.

14.

AnswerQualified as a Certified Public Accountant, Professor Jones has been teaching in the business department for ten years.

15.

AnswerBigfoot, a lengendary half-man and half-beast, was supposedly first spotted in Northern California by some hikers in the 1970’s.

16.

AnswerKent and Jane always celebrate Christmas at her parents’ house in Boulder, Colorado.

17.

AnswerMost states set their own laws regarding the legalization of marijuana, but federally it is illegal to smoke pot.

18.

AnswerChina and India, the two most populated countries in the world, have very different forms of government.

19.

AnswerThe Snake River in Idaho, meandering along a path for more than 230 miles, is a popular trout fishing spot.

20.

AnswerThe Center for Global Innovation, recently built at California State University, San Bernardino, offers adult classes for ESL students.

Listening Dictation Practice Quizzes: 20-29 words (Difficult)

First, get some paper and a pen. Second, write down each sentence you hear. Third, compare your sentence to answer.

1.

AnswerRising in the east and setting in the west, the Sun is the lifeblood for all plants and animals on Earth, for plants convert sunlight into energy used as food.

2.

AnswerThe reading passage explains that earthquakes can sometimes cause giant, destructive tsunamis when the Earth’s crust is pushed upward at the bottom of the ocean.

3.

AnswerThe Kangaroo Rat, which converts its food into nourishing water, can go its whole life without ever having to drink from a stream, lake, or some other water source.

4.

AnswerOn hearing the news that some students in the class had cheated, the professor decided to have students re-take the exam for the sake of fairness.

5.

AnswerDrivers should take extra precautions when driving in the rain, for hydroplaning–when the car’s tires loose contact with the road–can cause drivers to lose control.

6.

AnswerThe midwestern area of the United States, where most of corn is grown, has enough wind to power the contigious lower states, so many push for cleaner energy.

7.

AnswerThe Christmas season, one of the happiest times of the year, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, whom many believe is the savior of all mankind.

8.

AnswerOne of the most industrious people in the world, the Japanese often work 60 hours a week, and the students may attend school 45 hours weekly.

9.

AnswerUsing weed control in late winter will prevent excessive weeds in spring and early summer, but users must follow the herbicidal instructions to prevent injury.

10.

AnswerSince Hannah’s birthday is so close to Christmas, her family and she celebrate her birthday on Christmas day, hence giving her more presents than her siblings.

11.

AnswerGeorge Washington, who is the first president of the United States, got his notoriety as a general in the Revolutionary War.

12.

AnswerFreddy Mercury, the lead singer for Queen, one of the most revered classic rock bands from from the 70’s and 80’s, was considered a very talented vocal artist.

13.

 

AnswerInasmuch as the crowd was delighted with the soccer game, they began cheering for the players in an effort to motivate them to perform at a higher level of competition.

14.

AnswerHurricane Maria, a category 5 hurricane, pummeled Puerto Rico, hence causing billions of dollars in property damage and a loss of 100’s of its residents.

15.

AnswerThat the moon appears larger at the horizon than it does overhead and that the sun appears much smaller when it is high in the sky are merely optical illusions.16.

AnswerAlmost suffering a defeat, the soccer team scored two goals in the last minute of the game in what is believed to be one of the most exciting games ever watched.

17.

AnswerMany production companies have reproduced the movie King Kong, but the remake from 2006 is the best interpretation of the old classic from 1933.

18.

 

AnswerIn Hawaii, after the volcanic eruption which spewed billowing clouds of smoke and ash, at least twelve people were injured, most of whom were treated for smoke inhalation injuries.

19.

 

AnswerFraming your independent writing task around a three-point thesis and using clearly marked topic sentences will make it easier for TOEFL iBT human raters to understand your organization.

20.

 

TOEFL Pronunciation Practice

 

Now that you have had extensive TOEFL listening dictation practice, you can also use this web page to practice your pronunciation. Simply, use these execises in reverse.  While listening to the script, click on “Answer,” read with the speaker:

•  Pause in the same parts of the sentences as the native speaker.
•  Like the native speaker, blend each thought group together.
•  Use a rising tone at the end of each thought group except the last one in the sentence.
•  For more practice, use my TOEFL Pronunciation Resources web page

TOEFL Services to Help You Reach your Dream Score

Depending on your budget and you specific needs, choose among the following services to help you finish the TOEFL once and  for all:

• TOEFL Speaking and Writing Feedback Service: Get audio and written speaking and writing feedback from a qualified TOEFL mentor with more than 31 years of teaching experience.
• TOEFL Skype Lessons: Study TOEFL prep face to face with Michael Buckhoff.
• Online TOEFL Courses: Choose among 1, 3, 6, and 12-Month TOEFL courses.

All these services inlcude unlimited access to STEALTH, “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT.”

Happy Holidays!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

1-760-947-4755

 

 

 

Answer20. The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives announced two articles of impeachment–abuse of power and obstruction of congress–against President Donald J Trump, who vehemently denies any wrong doing.