TOEFL · Guides · October 30, 2026 · 8 min read
TOEFL Listen to a Conversation (2026): practice, question types and note-taking
Listen to a Conversation is one of the four task types in the TOEFL iBT Listening section since January 2026. You hear a short conversation between two people, usually students, a student and a staff member, or neighbours and friends in town, and then answer a few multiple-choice questions. The audio plays once. The questions ask what problem someone has, what they decide, what will happen next, why a speaker says something and how a speaker feels. The conversations are short and natural, much shorter than the three-minute office-hours dialogues of the old TOEFL. To score well, follow the problem and the solution, notice when a plan changes, and listen for the reason behind each decision.
How the task works
| Listen to a Conversation | |
|---|---|
| Section | Listening, about 29 minutes in total, two-stage adaptive |
| Audio | one short conversation between two speakers, played once |
| Setting | campus life (housing, classes, clubs, library, jobs) and everyday town situations |
| Questions | a few per conversation, four options each |
| Notes | allowed |
| Other Listening tasks | Listen and Choose a Response, Listen to an Announcement, Listen to an Academic Talk |
The Listening section has about 47 items in about 29 minutes, some of them unscored try-outs. ETS says it uses a mix of AI-generated audio and voice actors, with several English accents. Because the section adapts, the second stage depends on how you do in the first, so conversations early in the section are worth extra care.
The section also includes Listen and Choose a Response: you hear one line (“Did you finish the reading for tomorrow?”) and choose the most natural reply. It trains exactly the skill conversations need, hearing what a line does (asks, refuses, suggests, apologises), not only what it says. You can drill it separately in the Listen and Choose a Response practice.
What a conversation sounds like
Most conversations follow the same arc:
- Opening and problem. “Hi, I was hoping you could help me. My card isn’t opening the lab door.”
- Details and options. The other speaker asks questions, explains a rule, offers two possibilities.
- A turn. One option does not work: “That office is closed on Fridays”, “Actually, I already tried that.”
- Decision or next step. “So I’ll email the coordinator today and come back on Monday.”
The decision almost always comes in the last third. If you stop listening carefully after the problem is stated, you miss the part most questions are about.
What the questions ask
| Question type | Typical wording | Where the answer is |
|---|---|---|
| Main topic or problem | What are the speakers mainly discussing? What is the woman’s problem? | the first few lines |
| Detail | What does the man say about the deadline? | anywhere, said in other words |
| Decision or next action | What will the student probably do next? | the last lines |
| Function | Why does the woman say, “Well, that’s one way to do it”? | the tone and the context, not the words |
| Attitude | How does the man feel about the new schedule? | adjectives, tone, words like honestly, at least |
| Inference | What can be inferred about the club? | two facts put together |
In a function question, the literal meaning of the line is usually a wrong option; the right answer says what the speaker means by it. “Well, that’s one way to do it” can mean “I don’t think that’s a good idea”.
How to take notes
You do not need full sentences. Use a fixed layout so you can find things fast:
| Who | Problem / want | Options | Decision / next |
|---|---|---|---|
| W (student) | locked out of lab, card | ask desk ✗ (closed Fri) | email coord. today |
| M (staff) | temp card? | back Mon |
Tips that make notes useful:
- Write the problem in four words or fewer. It anchors everything else.
- Mark rejected options with ✗. The questions love options that were mentioned and then ruled out.
- Write numbers and days as you hear them. “Room 214, Thu 3 pm” is easy to lose.
- Leave space at the bottom for the decision. Write it the moment you hear it.
- Note feelings with a sign: + for pleased, − for annoyed, ? for unsure.
If writing makes you miss what comes next, write less. Notes are there to hold numbers, names and the final decision, not the whole conversation.
Sample conversation with questions
This script and its questions were written for this guide. Read it once, cover it, then answer from memory, as in the test.
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and an employee at the campus bike shop.
Student: Hi. My bike’s back tyre keeps going flat. I pumped it up yesterday, and this morning it was flat again.
Employee: Sounds like a slow leak. We can replace the inner tube, but we’re pretty busy today. It wouldn’t be ready until Thursday.
Student: Thursday? I need it to get to my job across town tomorrow morning.
Employee: Okay, well, there’s another option. We run a free repair class tonight at six. You’d fix it yourself with our tools, and a mechanic helps you. The tube costs eight dollars.
Student: I’ve never done anything like that. Is it hard?
Employee: Not really. Most people finish in half an hour. And next time it happens, you won’t need us.
Student: Honestly, that sounds better than waiting. Can I sign up now?
Employee: Sure, just write your name here. Bring the bike at ten to six.
1. What is the student’s problem? A. His bike was damaged in an accident. B. One of his tyres keeps losing air. C. He cannot find the bike shop’s repair class. D. His bike is too slow for a long trip.
Answer: B. He says the back tyre “keeps going flat”. The employee’s “slow leak” confirms it.
2. Why does the student not choose the shop repair? A. It costs more than he can pay. B. The shop does not have the right part. C. It would not be finished in time for work. D. He prefers to learn repairs at home.
Answer: C. The repair would be ready on Thursday, but he needs the bike for his job tomorrow. A is a trap: price is mentioned only for the tube in the class. D twists the class into home learning.
3. Why does the employee say, “And next time it happens, you won’t need us”? A. To suggest a benefit of the class B. To complain that the shop has too many customers C. To warn that the shop may close soon D. To say that flat tyres do not happen often
Answer: A. The line answers the student’s worry (“Is it hard?”) by adding a reason to take the class: he will learn to fix it himself. It is a persuasion move, not a complaint.
4. What will the student probably do next? A. Leave his bike at the shop until Thursday B. Put his name on the list for the evening class C. Buy a new bike for his job D. Pump up the tyre and ride to work
Answer: B. He asks to sign up, and the employee says “just write your name here”. D is what he did before the conversation, and it did not work.
Common traps
- The rejected option. Thursday repair, the price, the earlier pump-up: all were mentioned, none is the decision.
- The literal reading of a function line. Ask what the speaker wants to achieve with the line, not what the words mean alone.
- Stopping at the problem. The problem is one question; the decision and the reasons are often two or three.
- Missing a turn word. Actually, but, well, the thing is, unless signal that what comes next changes the plan.
- Attitude from one word. A speaker can say “great” sarcastically. Use the tone and the next line to check.
How to practise
Listen to short, real dialogues: university podcast episodes with student guests, radio call-ins, scenes from campus-set series. After each, say aloud in one sentence: the problem, the decision and the reason. Then practise with test-format audio that plays once, and score yourself. Do a few Listen and Choose a Response items before each session; they warm up the ear for tone and function.
For the other Listening tasks, see Listen to an Announcement and Listen to an Academic Talk. Everyday texts in Read in Daily Life test the same skill on paper: the plan that changes. The same campus topics come up in the Take an Interview speaking task and in Listen and Repeat. For the whole test, see the TOEFL iBT format, TOEFL scores, how to prepare for TOEFL and TOEFL sample questions.
Practise conversations in the Nomto room
The Listen to a Conversation practice in the Nomto TOEFL room plays campus and town conversations once, as in the test, with the test timing. Answers are checked instantly, and every question has an explanation in English, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Turkish or Indonesian that points to what the speakers said. A free account includes 10 Reading and Listening items, Listen and Choose a Response among them. To see your level in the adaptive section, take a Listening or full mock test, which reports your band on the 1–6 scale and the comparable 0–120 total.
Common questions
Can I replay the conversation? No. The audio plays once, so your notes and your memory of the decision are all you have when the questions appear.
Can I take notes in TOEFL Listening? Yes. Keep them short: the problem, rejected options, numbers and the decision.
How long are the conversations in the 2026 test? Short: a problem, a couple of options and a decision, much shorter than the old three-minute conversations. Plan to hold the whole exchange in your head with a few notes.
Are all conversations about university life? Many are, but some take place in everyday situations off campus, such as a shop, a neighbour or a club.
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