What accents will I hear?

ETS states that TOEFL listening uses a range of English accents, including US, Canadian, Australian and British speakers.

Are the conversations formal?

They are natural spoken English between students, or a student and university staff, so expect contractions, hesitation and everyday phrasing rather than written prose.

Listening: Listen to a Conversation

Listening: Listen to a Conversation is part of the Listening section of the TOEFL Essentials test. You get 2 questions and 2 minutes. It is scored by the number of correct answers.

Questions: 2
Time: 2 minutes
Prompts here: 12 published

Pick up the conversational vocabulary of campus life — requests, problems, arrangements and the polite formulas around them — so a two-speaker exchange stays easy to follow.

Conversations turn on what each speaker wants and whether they get it. The verbs of request, refusal and compromise are what carry the answer.

TOEFL Essentials · Listening

Conversation — Housing office

One of 12 published prompts · free, no account

Listen to a conversation between a student and a housing officer.

Audio transcript

In the real test you hear this once and cannot replay it.

Student: Hi — I got an email saying my housing application was incomplete, but it doesn't say what's missing. Officer: Let me look. What's your student number? Student: It's 4-4-1-9-0-2. Officer: Right. Everything's here except the guarantor form. It has to be signed by someone resident in the country. Student: That's the problem. My parents live abroad, and I don't really know anyone here yet. Officer: In that case you can pay a larger deposit instead — two months rather than one. Most international students go that route. Student: Is the extra deposit refundable? Officer: Fully, at the end of the tenancy, assuming there's no damage. You'd get it back the same way you paid it. Student: Then I'd rather do that than chase a signature. How do I switch? Officer: I'll note it on your file now. You'll get a revised offer by tomorrow morning.

Questions & answer key2 questions

Listening is scored by the number of correct answers. The audio plays once, so the skill being tested is holding detail while the next sentence arrives.

1Why does the student come to the housing office?
1. ATo pay a deposit she has already been charged.
2. ✓To find out what is missing from her application.
3. CTo complain about an email she received in error.
4. DTo ask for a different room.
Answer
B
She says the email told her the application was incomplete but not what was missing.
2What does the officer imply about the larger deposit?
1. AIt is unusual and may be refused.
2. ✓It is a common alternative for students in her situation.
3. CIt is cheaper than finding a guarantor.
4. DIt cannot be refunded.
Answer
B
"Most international students go that route" presents it as the normal path, not an exception.

Now do it yourself and find out where you land

You can check right and wrong on this page. What a page cannot do is tell you which question types you keep losing, under real timing.

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Questions people ask

What accents will I hear?: ETS states that TOEFL listening uses a range of English accents, including US, Canadian, Australian and British speakers.
Are the conversations formal?: They are natural spoken English between students, or a student and university staff, so expect contractions, hesitation and everyday phrasing rather than written prose.

The other 11 Conversation prompts9 free

·Conversation — Course textbookfree
·Conversation — Changing a modulefree
·Conversation — Booking a lab slot
·Conversation — Changing a meal plan
·Conversation — Fieldwork data
·Conversation — Lost locker keyfree
·Conversation — Peer tutoringfree
·Conversation — Replacing a student cardfree
·Conversation — Photography clubfree
·Conversation — Thesis extensionfree
·Conversation — Sharing project workfree

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