Can Watching Netflix Help Improve Your TOEFL iBT® Listening?

When it comes to preparing for the TOEFL Listening section, many learners feel stuck with textbooks and practice tests. However, learning a language is not only about structured exercises. Daily exposure to natural English plays a crucial role in developing listening skills. Netflix, with its rich collection of shows, offers a fun, immersive way to build this ability. 

Watching English-language series trains the ear to catch different accents, speeds, and real-world vocabulary. It can even boost comprehension, note-taking, and inference skills, which are essential for scoring high. Let’s learn how Netflix can turn entertainment into a powerful learning tool.

Benefits of Watching Netflix for TOEFL Listening

Here are the key benefits of watching Netflix, helping you improve vocabulary, comprehension, note-taking skills, and boost your  TOEFL Listening iBT performance: 

1. Exposure to Natural English

Netflix shows often feature everyday conversations, idioms, slang, and casual speech patterns. These elements help build an understanding of how native speakers actually communicate. This experience prepares you better for the academic and casual conversations found in TOEFL Listening tasks.

2. Improved Vocabulary and Pronunciation

Listening to dialogues repeatedly introduces new vocabulary naturally. Seeing words used in context helps with deeper understanding. At the same time, hearing proper pronunciation and intonation patterns strengthens your own speaking and listening abilities.

3. Better Comprehension of Different Accents

TOEFL Listening includes a range of English accents, such as American, British, and Australian. Watching shows from various countries trains your ears to pick up different pronunciation styles, making you more comfortable during the exam.

4. Enhanced Note-Taking Skills

Shows with complex storylines, like mysteries or political dramas, force viewers to remember key details. This strengthens your ability to take quick notes while listening — a vital TOEFL skill. Learning to catch main ideas, supporting points, and important transitions becomes second nature.

5. Development of Inference and Prediction Skills

Characters often hint at things without saying them directly. Picking up these subtle clues during shows helps train inference skills. These abilities are crucial for answering TOEFL questions that ask about speaker’s attitudes or unstated implications.

6. Increased Attention Span

Regularly watching episodes that last 30-60 minutes improves your concentration. TOEFL Listening sections are long, and sustaining focus is necessary. Training the mind to listen attentively over longer periods can lead to better performance.

10 Netflix Shows to Improve Your TOEFL Listening Skills

Here are ten recommended shows, along with why each one can help sharpen different aspects of your listening ability:

1. Friends

Why Watch:
This classic sitcom is packed with everyday conversations, slang, humour, and real-life situations. The dialogue is relatively slow and clear, making it perfect for English learners. Listening to casual exchanges also prepares you for campus-related conversations in TOEFL.

2. The Crown

Why Watch:
An excellent choice for getting used to British accents. The speech is formal, with rich vocabulary and historical references. It trains your ear for complex sentence structures, perfect for academic lectures on TOEFL.

3. Our Planet

Why Watch:
This documentary series narrated by Sir David Attenborough offers exposure to formal, academic English. It mimics the language style used in TOEFL lectures, covering topics like science and the environment.

4. Stranger Things

Why Watch:
Conversations between teenagers and adults make it a balanced choice. You'll hear casual dialogue, emotional tones, and problem-solving discussions. Background sounds also challenge you to stay focused — just like noisy listening passages.

5. The Queen’s Gambit

Why Watch:
Excellent for learning how to follow long discussions, understand emotions through tone, and absorb technical vocabulary (chess terminology). It sharpens prediction skills, helping with inference questions.

6. Sherlock

Why Watch:
Fast British accents, logical reasoning, and complex narratives push your listening skills to a higher level. Watching Sherlock forces you to catch important clues quickly, building skills needed for TOEFL lectures.

7. Mindhunter

Why Watch:
Set in the late 1970s, this series about FBI agents involves professional interviews and detailed conversations. It helps train focus on structured dialogue, academic vocabulary, and psychological topics — themes common in TOEFL Listening.

8. Emily in Paris

Why Watch:
If you want a light-hearted show with American and European accents mixed together, this is perfect. The show also introduces workplace communication styles, helpful for understanding conversation-based TOEFL tasks.

9. Breaking Bad

Why Watch:
Dynamic dialogue, scientific terms, and emotional exchanges make this series challenging and rewarding. You learn to focus even when accents change or when multiple speakers talk at once, much like real TOEFL listening sections.

10. The Social Dilemma

Why Watch:
This documentary mixes interviews with dramatizations, offering exposure to both formal and informal speaking styles. Listening to experts discuss technology and society is great preparation for TOEFL’s lecture-heavy listening tasks.

Turning Netflix into a learning tool makes TOEFL Listening practice more engaging and effective.By exposing yourself to real conversations, diverse accents, and natural English, you build true confidence. Stay consistent, choose your shows wisely, and watch your listening skills grow stronger every day.

Additional Resources:

• TOEFL Test Listening Score Calculation: Grading Criteria, Score Interpretation
• How to Keep Up with Fast Speakers in TOEFL Listening Tasks
• Balancing TOEFL Preparation with a Busy Schedule
• 10 Useful Topics to Practice TOEFL English Speaking Skills
• Benefits of Shadowing Techniques to Improve TOEFL Listening Scores