Secrets to Improving Your TOEIC Listening Skills and Boosting Your Score by 200 Points!
Discover 5 effective TOEIC listening strategies to improve your Listening score by over 200 points. Tips for vocabulary learning, dictation, active listening, and practicing native-speaker pronunciation.
I. The Importance of Listening Skills in the TOEIC Exam
Listening is the first section of the TOEIC exam, accounting for 495 out of 990 points, or 50% of the total score. For many students, especially Vietnamese students, this skill is always a source of anxiety because:
- I couldn't clearly understand the native speakers' accents, especially British, American, and Australian accents.
- I heard it but didn't understand the context.
- I don't know how to choose the answer quickly within the time limit.
In fact, if you practice correctly, Listening is the easiest section to improve your score quickly – you just need to apply the right strategy and practice regularly.
II. Detailed Structure of the TOEIC Listening Section
The TOEIC Listening section consists of 4 parts, with a total of 100 questions to be completed in 45 minutes.
| Part | Section Name | Number of sentences | Characteristic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Image | 6 sentences | Listen to a description of a picture. |
| Part 2 | Questions and Answers | 25 sentences | Listen to the question, choose the appropriate response. |
| Part 3 | Conversation | 39 sentences | Listen to the short conversation between the two people. |
| Part 4 | Speech | 30 sentences | Listen to a monologue (radio broadcast, announcement, etc.) |
III. Reasons why many TOEIC learners lose points in the Listening section
- Lack of basic vocabulary on common topics (airports, hotels, meetings, etc.).
- Without practicing listening comprehension: you get used to hearing slow sounds, but you can't keep up with the actual speed.
- Don't practice Parts 3-4 strategically; just listen once and then check the answers.
➡️ Solution: You must study strategically, focusing on each section, and practice interactive listening instead of just "listening for the sake of knowing."
IV. Effective TOEIC Listening Practice Strategies: 5 Breakthrough Steps
1. Strengthen foundational vocabulary by topic.
Learn vocabulary by topic: office – travel – bank – hotel – conference...
→ You will better understand the context and avoid being left behind due to a lack of vocabulary.
✨ The Lingoland app for TOEIC Test features sets of 600+ and 1600+ TOEIC vocabulary words organized by topic, complete with flashcards and easy-to-understand examples.
2. Practice listening and transcribing (dictation)
This applies to Parts 2, 3, and 4:
- Listen and write down what you hear.
- Compare the transcript to detect missing words.
- Listen again to catch up with the speed.
🔥 Tip: Do this for 10 minutes every day – you'll see a noticeable improvement after a month.
3. Listen actively – Don't just listen for the sake of listening.
Don't listen once and then look at the answer! Try this method instead:
- Listen once: Guess the main idea, choose the answer.
- Listen a second time: Listen carefully to each detail to understand why it's right/wrong.
- Listen a third time: Listen again with the transcript to correct any misunderstandings.
🎯 The practice feature on Lingoland allows you to rewind the audio, view the transcript, and see the logic behind the answers.
4. Practice predicting content before listening.
For Parts 3 & 4, read the questions before listening to know what information you need to look for:
- Who is speaking?
- The said?
- Is there any mention of time/place/solution?
📌 On the Lingoland for TOEIC Test app , this section is designed to accurately simulate the real exam interface: you can read the questions before the audio plays.
5. Listen to different voices.
TOEIC uses not only American accents but also British, Australian, and Canadian accents. You should listen to a variety of accents through:
- Podcast (BBC, ABC Radio, NPR)
- YouTube (TED-Ed, VOA Learning English)
- The app features multi-accent voice training.
VI. Why should you practice TOEIC listening with the Lingoland app?
👉 Lingoland for TOEIC Test is an app for learning TOEIC in the standard test format, featuring:
- ✅ Practice all 4 parts of TOEIC listening – from basic to advanced.
- ✅ Simulated real exam interface + detailed explanations for each question
- ✅ Authentic TOEIC native speaker audio, with rewind and transcript support.
- ✅ In-depth TOEIC vocabulary set by topic + smart flashcards
- ✅ Personalized study schedule helps you set daily listening practice goals.
💥 Special feature: The Listening practice test is 90% similar to the real exam format, with automatic scoring and learning progress tracking.
📲 Download the Lingoland for TOEIC Test app today to master TOEIC listening skills and achieve your desired score!
📲 Learn anytime, anywhere – learning TOEIC online has never been easier!