Listening master tips

#1 Most Important TOEFL Listening Mastery Tip (Notes)

You must take active notes focusing on subjects, verbs, and objects.

Listen to a sentence's subject, verb, and object and takes notes on that. Don't simply take notes on what you hear. Listen actively for these grammatical powerhouses of meaning. This requires a strong shift for most students. We'll teach you how to make that shift in this chapter.

 Chapter 2: TOEFL Listening Mastery: Taking Powerful Notes

*** Don't Feel Confused Or Stressed With The TOEFL Listening 

Attacking the TOEFL Listening

First and foremost, you must take good notes as you listen actively throughout the entire listening. Many students struggle with this. They take either no notes--so they miss important information--or too many notes--so they sacrifice understanding and comprehension. No matter what, take notes. Build the skill and you will improve.

Every now and then, a student will tell me that they score high and take no notes. They tell me that notes distract them. Immediately I think, well, you would score even higher if you did, but if your score is high enough, don’t change what works for you. However, if you’re reading this, then you want to get the best score that you can, so take notes.

If you find that notes distract you, experiment with your notes. It’s like saying that exercise makes you weaker. Yes, in the beginning it might, but over time it builds your strength immensely and you can’t be as strong as you can be without it. I hope that analogy makes sense.