TOEFL^® Essentials™ Listening Section

The TOEFL^® Essentials™ Listening questions measure your ability to understand conversations and talks set in academic, personal and public contexts. Speakers have accents from North America, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

There are 30 to 45 questions, and the section takes 21–34 minutes to complete.

Task Types

• Listen and Reply
  Listen to a question or statement as part of a short exchange between 2 speakers. Select the most appropriate response.
• Listen to a Conversation
  Listen to a short conversation between 2 speakers and answer 2 questions about the conversation. The conversation may be on topics such as dining, entertainment, health, housing or travel.
• Academic Listening: Announcements
  Listen to a short academic-related announcement and answer 2 questions about it.
• Academic Listening: Talks
  Listen to a short academic-related talk (100–250 words) and answer 4 questions about it. The talks may be on topics such as history, art, business or science.

A Closer Look