TOEFL
PREPARATION
The TOEFL is one of
the most difficult tests you will ever take in your life! Here is a list of ten
things that will help you get the highest score possible on the TOEFL iBT, and
fulfill your dream of studying at an English-speaking university.
1. Make sure you understand the TOEFL!
The TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is an English proficiency
test produced by an American company called ETS. It is a test that measures
your English reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills, and your ability
to succeed at an English-speaking university.
Each section has a score of 30, for a total overall score of
120. You don’t pass or fail the TOEFL. Each university requires
non-native speakers to get a specific score. Sometimes universities require a
specific score for each section of the test, for example 24 out of 30 in the
speaking section. Before you begin studying for the TOEFL, it’s a good idea to
know the score that you need to achieve.
2. Be prepared!
You should give yourself 6 months – 1 year to be fully prepared
for the test, especially if you have never taken the test before.
o When you sit down at the computer to take the
test, nothing should be a surprise. You should know every reading question,
every listening question, every speaking task, and every writing task on the
test. You should know exactly what you have to do to answer every question
properly.
o You should also know the exact score you need
to achieve for each university you want to apply to. (Some schools require just
an overall TOEFL score, but some schools require specific scores in each
section.) You should know exactly what you need to do get the required score.
o Do not try to prepare for the test alone. At
the very least, you need a textbook:
o Even if you use a textbook, it’s really
important to work with a teacher, either in a course or in private lessons. You
need someone to help you with your pronunciation, and to assess how you’re
doing in the speaking and writing sections. Talk to friends who have taken the
TOEFL. Who did they study with? What score did they get? What would they have
done differently? Check at a university or college near you. Do they offer a
TOEFL course? There are also several TOEFL instructors online. Do you know
anyone who has studied with them?
3. Read Everything. Listen to Everything.
I cannot stress this enough. When you are preparing for the TOEFL, it is not
good enough to just listen to and read things that you enjoy and are interested
in. You need to read widely to build your vocabulary. On the TOEFL you will
read passages or listen to lectures on everything from astronomy and American history
to psychology and biology!
o The TOEFL has teamed up with a company
called Lexile to help you find books at your reading
level. If you have taken a TOEFL practice test or the actual TOEFL and you know
your reading score, you can type in your score and Lexile will suggest books in
the topic of your choice at your reading level.
o Three excellent resources on the Internet
are BBC
News, NPR, and VOANews.
Many of the articles on the VOA and NPR websites also have .mp3 files, so you
can also use the articles as listening lectures.
o This is a book you may find useful to help you
build your vocabulary and improve your reading skills:
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The 400 words are divided into 8 themes and
40 lessons. For example, in the ‘Money’ section, the lessons are: Financial
Systems, Wealth and Social Class, Personal Property, Employment,
International Trade. There are 10 words in each lesson, and each lesson
contains definitions of each word, usage tips, and three exercises using the
words. It’s available in paperback or for your kindle.
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4. Learn how to take good notes.
This is an essential skill you will need for the listening, speaking and
writing sections of the test – AND a skill you will need later on at an
English-speaking university.
In each section where listening is required, you can only listen to the clip ONCE! You cannot go
back and listen to it again and again. You will then have to answer questions
on what you heard (listening section), speak about what you heard (speaking
section), or write an essay based on what you heard (writing section). Therefore
you will need to take good notes! People who take good notes get higher scores
on the TOEFL.
This is a skill that
takes a lot of practice.
o Don’t try to write down anything and
everything you hear. Don’t just write down words that you understand. Write
down the essential information that you will need to
understand the lecture later
o Use symbols and shorthand. Everybody develops
their own system for this,
o Another great resource you can use to practice
listening and note-talking is Ted Talks. These are talks given on wide variety of topics from a wide
range of speakers. They last anywhere from a few minutes to 30 minutes.
o If NPR, VOA and TED Talks are too long for
you, practice note-taking with the shorter clips from Listen a Minute.
When you sit down to take the test, you will get 3 sheets of
paper. Every time you put up your hand, the proctors are supposed to give you 3 more sheets of paper, but
that doesn’t always happen. It may take a while for a proctor to see your hand,
if they are paying attention at all. Use your 3 sheets of paper wisely! Don’t
use all 3 pages on a single lecture or conversation.
5. Make sure your pronunciation is clear.
On the TOEFL, it’s OK to speak English with an accent. Your pronunciation
doesn’t have to be perfect, but you need to speak clearly and be understood.
The speaking section
measures three things:
o How well you answer the question and complete
the task
o The grammar and vocabulary you use
o How you sound
o You can hear yourself speak and evaluate your
response
o You can get used to speaking to a computer! If
you prepare for the test in a classroom or from a book, it may feel a bit
strange talking to a computer.
6. Get Used to a QWERTY Keyboard
The final section on the TOEFL is the writing section. You will need to use a
QWERTY keyboard to type your responses into the computer. It’s called a QWERTY
keyboard because the top row of letters starts from the left with the letters
QWERTY. LOOK CAREFULLY!
You should practice as
much as possible with a QWERTY keyboard.
Learn Touch Typing
Most people type by using the ‘hunt and peck’ method: you hunt (look) for the
letter you need on the keyboard, and then peck (hit) it with a finger. When you
learn touch typing, you will learn how to use all your fingers to to type
WITHOUT looking at the keyboard! It’s a much faster method of typing, but it
takes a lot of practice. Touch typing is not essential for
the TOEFL, but it definitely helps you type faster.
7. Learn how to write an English Essay
There are two writing tasks. The last task, and the very last thing you will do
on the TOEFL, is type a 300-word essay within 30 minutes.
Practice this essay as
much as possible!
o Learn the traditional form of an English essay
o When you start practicing this essay, don’t
worry about time. Begin by taking as long as necessary to write a good essay.
o Once you are able to write a good essay, start
timing yourself and getting faster at it, until writing a 300-word essay within
30 minutes doesn’t even worry you!
North American writing
tends to follow the same form:
o Introduction – this introduces your essay, and
tells the reader your opinion and what you are going to talk about in your
essay
o Body – 2-3 paragraphs that support your
opinion
o One paragraph = one thought; the first
sentence of the paragraph explains what the paragraph is about, and the rest of
the paragraph uses clear, specific examples to illustrate your opinion
o Conclusion – a paragraph that summarizes your
essay
Understanding the
traditional English style of writing an essay will help you in almost every
section of the TOEFL. If you know that one paragraph = one thought, you can
understand the structure of the reading passages better. You will also need to
state an opinion and support your opinion with clear, specific examples in the
speaking section.
Here are some more
points to remember:
o Answer the question that’s being asked! Don’t
try to change the question. If it asks you to make a choice, make a clear
choice – don’t try to argue both positions. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
answer. Your essay is scored on how well you answer the question.
o Type your outline in the essay space on the
computer! You waste time if you write it by hand and then type it.
o Keep it simple and be specific!
8. Practice, practice, practice.
This is the best tip I can give you. Students are always looking for a trick or
a secret they can learn to help them do better on the TOEFL. This is it! Once
you know the TOEFL inside and out, the only thing that can help you get better
at it is to keep practicing it!
o There are 4 practice tests available on the
ETS TOEFL website (http://toeflpractice.ets.org/).Do at least one of these tests before you
take the TOEFL so you can get used to taking the test on a computer
9. Learn how to relax!
You’re probably laughing at this tip, but this is very important! A lot of
people find this test quite stressful. Let’s be honest: it’s not an easy test!
It is important to remain calm and relaxed throughout the test.
Before the test:
o If possible, visit the testing centre ahead of
time. Make sure you know where you’re going and how long it’s going to take you
to get there. The last thing you want to do is get lost or stuck in a traffic
jam on the way to the test!
o Don’t try to ‘cram’ the day before the test.
Just relax and rest.
o Get a good night’s sleep
The day of the test:
o Eat a good breakfast!
o Before you leave your house and on your way to
the test, make sure you warm up your brain! Reading something in English for 30
minutes (something you have read before – no need to stress yourself out before
the test!) and listen to English. Make sure your brain is thinking in English
before you start the test!
During the test:
o Take deep breaths throughout the test. Make
sure your breathing is normal.
o There is a 10-minute break between the
listening and speaking sections. Use this time to use the bathroom if you need
to, eat a snack, and do some stretching to relieve the tension in your back and
shoulders!
o If you miss a question or you feel like you
didn’t do well in a section. Don’t worry about it. Just go onto the next
section like it’s a new test. This is where being prepared for the test helps.
For example, if you know how many questions you need to answer correctly to get
your required score in the reading section, then missing one question is not a
problem.
Remember, you can
always take the test again!
10. Take the test at least twice, if not more.
No one will ever know your TOEFL score unless you tell them.
The university you want to attend won’t know if you’ve taken the test once or
10 times. They will only know the score you tell them. Don’t worry if you get a
low score the first time – no one will ever know but you! You can keep taking
the test as many times as you need to.
Students rarely get
the score they need on the first try. Taking the TOEFL can be a quite shock the
first time you try it:
o The test goes by very, very fast!
o Some test centres are very large with lots of
people taking the test at the same time. There is a lot of noise and a lot of
distractions.
o Someone may have started the speaking section
while you are still listening. You might be trying to write an essay while the
person next to you is doing the speaking section.
o You may not be able to get the proctor’s
attention to get more paper or to get help with your computer
