10 Tips for Successful TOEIC Listening and Reading Preparation
1. Evaluate Your Level for Free
The best way to start is to download the TOEIC Examinee Handbook and try to read it up to page 7. Then stop! (Otherwise you’ll accidentally read printed transcripts of the audio questions of the online sample test provided by ETS).
Then, take the sample test from the ETS site to evaluate both your listening and reading skills. Then, take a rest.
After 1-2 days, take a second test of 45 TOEIC training questions that’s online for free.
Compare the results between these two tests. Did you do better the second time?
Congratulations! We’ll see how that’s even possible in tip #2.
If you didn’t improve between the practices, don’t worry — we have ways (tips #3 and #4) to help everyone get better.
In any case, make sure you check all commented answers that show up once you finish the 45 TOEIC training questions test. These comments will explain why wrong answers were wrong, and why correct answers were correct. This is very useful information to have.
While the ETS sample test doesn’t come with commented answers, the ETS site links to official, ETS-approved but paid online preparations that do.
It’s your decision whether or not you want to pay for that.
One other great — and free — source of information is the TOEIC Facebook page. Every week, they publish a tip on preparing for the test, together with sample questions and comments.