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The book isn't that important. But the CD that comes with it, is. You can of course,
torrent the CD content, but having an updated CD helps.
#2 Familiarize with the pattern of TOEFL
While preparing, I realized that TOEFL is hard because it's a complicated exam. I found
its structure very complicated. The listening and speaking sections, especially are very
demanding. The Speaking Section is hard, because it's a standardized extempore! To do
well in TOEFL, eliminate the element of surprise by knowing which type of question
after which one. Invest as much time as you have to, in this step.
#3 Start by preparing for Speaking Section
Speaking Section comes and goes at a surprising speed. The sequence of sections in the
exam is - Reading, Listening, [break], Speaking and Writing. The Speaking Section
takes about 20 minutes, and needs enormous concentration. In the actual exam, testtakers start speaking at the same time and it's hard to keep their answers out of your
mind (even with noise-cancellation headphones) while attempting this section.
First of all, realize that Speaking Section is not a conversation. In IELTS, you've a
conversation with a certified examiner. In TOEFL, you speak into a microphone and
your answer is recorded. This is awkward because, while you're being recorded every
word you say is permanent. And the time for each answer, to each question varies. Some
are 60 seconds, some are 2 minutes. Right at the start of the answer, you'd have to pace
yourself so as to make all the points.
Doing all of these require instincts. It's like learning to catch a ball. On paper, it's a hard
exercise. You've to measure the trajectory of the ball, taking into account gravity and
have to pace yourself based on how far you're from the estimated point of balls arrival.
In real life, these things are easy, because we play a lot of cricket! And that's what you'd
have to do with Speaking Section of TOEFL.
Install a recording app on your mobile. Take the TOEFL book, read the tips they give
for attempting the Speaking Section. Then answer the questions. If the question says
you've 30 seconds to prepare, practice the notemaking for 30 seconds. Notefull videos
on YouTube are excellent places to learn the note-taking skills.
Answer the question in a uniform tone. You shouldn't be excited while answering the
question or shouldn't answer it in a monotone. Use the inflections of a BBC News
anchor and not of Arnab Goswami. The CD will have recorded examples. Listen to
them, and speak like them. In the speaking section, fluency and consistency have higher
weights than content of the answers. If you're asked a question, where you think you can
make a lot of good points, don't attempt to say everything that you come up with. You'll
run out time! (happened with me, and cost me 3 points!)
#4 Prepare taking notes for listening section
I'm a voracious note taker. I wrote down everything that was being said in the lecture.
There are tips as to which points you should concentrate, but I noted down everything
that listened to! Your notes would be shorter if you read "how to take notes in listening
section" blog somewhere, but I skipped their advice. It's an impractical way, but you'll
get 30/30 in the exam, if you write down everything that was spoken in the question!
#5 Prepare the Writing Section like GRE analytical writing
TOEFL's writing task is easier than GRE, because all then want from you is a cohesive
structure in your writing. Avoid spelling mistakes like plague and grammatical mistakes
like the Ebola. You're not expected to be a grammar Nazi, but you should avoid
common grammatical mistakes. The foremost point - Type as much as you can! Higher
word count = higher marks. However, don't boost the word count by unnecessary words
like, "So" or using a large number of adverbs. While practicing writing section, use the
Hemingway. It has improved my writing considerably.
There is an integrated writing task in this section, which comprises of listening to a
lecture and writing about it. There's no need to make notes on the details mentioned the
lecture, because the transcript will be available while you attempt the task. Use the
lecture to note points, and design a structure to your writing while the lecture goes on.
Before the lecture ends, you should've figured out where the lecturer wanted the
students to focus.
#6 Do 2 Reading Sections before the exam
Reading section is long. It's Breaking Bad-style long. You're not expected to have
patience to practice many passages. But, practice at least two. Reading section has only
one complicated part - Writing the Summary of the passage. Practice this part for as
many passages as your patience permits, because this is the only place where you can
lose marks.
A month is a reasonable time to prepare for TOEFL. However, if you get a 100 or 90 or
110 depends on how much time you've spent with English. I prepared for ten days, with
intensive focus on the pattern of the exam. My final score was 117, with 27 in speaking
section (from my answer, you probably have deduced that I'm paranoid about that
section!).
I owe all of those marks to my GRE preparation, 4 years of watching every Emmy
wining English TV Series, and novel reading (I wasn't an avid reader though. With an
average of three books a year, during my college).
So, do not be stressed. TOEFL can be hacked, but you have to approach the exam
preparation scientifically.
The TOEFL iBT has 4 sections.
Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing
1. READING SECTION:
To prepare yourself for the reading section, read a whole lot of books (not in that week,
but in your whole life). I have developed rapid reading by reading plenty of books. Any
books will do for that matter. you should just have the patience to sit and read a
thousand words in a single stretch. If you develop that skill then the reading section is a
piece of cake. Now in the week before the exam, start going through different types of
paragraphs which are similar to the ones appearing. For at least 2 days in that week
concentrate on reading, yes just reading. You can check out the book list below for
TOEFL Reading:
Ivys Reading 15 Actual Tests Toefl iBT
Speak slowly and clearly. Do not, I repeat DO NOT elongate your speech by
adding umm,hmmm, eh, or any other dragging bits. As long as you speak
clearly, youll be given a good score.
Speak in English with your friends and/or family. Speak in English with
everyone you meet. Ask your friends to correct you if you have made a mistake.
Watch a American movies and learn how different people pronounce different
words.
Do not complicate your vocabulary. Try to communicate clearly. Learn a few
synonyms for the words you already know.
Practice daily with the authentic materials. You can download some of the great
materials for TOEFL speaking section below:
YA LOS BAJ
WRITING SECTION:
TOEFL Writing Task 1:
Most of the task will involve a reading passage with 3 paragraphs. Very rarely will it
exceed this length. The structure of the passage should be as follows:
<introduction paragraph>
You can choose which ever style you want. The 4 paragraph style is used when you
dont have many points to argue with, but are very good in producing word count. the 5
paragraph style is used when you have more ideas than word count.
-Use everything you can to increase word counts.
-Use your personal experiences and worldly examples in the essay. This helps build
word count and give the essay more meaning.
You can practice Writing with the following books:
YA LOS BAJ
There are a lot of best-selling TOEFL books which aim to improve 4 skills in TOEFL
test. You can download to practice at home before 2 weeks taking the test.
YA LOS BAJ
You can follow the schedule below to practice TOEFL in a weekly basis.
Monday Reading
Tuesday Listening
Wednesday Speaking
Thursday Speaking
Friday Writing
Saturday & Sunday Revision & Test
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Prachee Priyadarshinee
Written 12 Jul 2015
1)Take a full practice test to know how much you can score without preparation. There
are many free tests available online. However, these may not include tips and tricks for
reading section.
2)You can buy a good book that covers sample questions,tests and scoring tricks. I used
Princeton Review's Cracking the TOEFL Ibt with audio CD and really liked it. The
CD contained a lot of questions on speaking and listening sections.
3)If you've prepared for GRE, your vocabulary should be reasonably good. If not, go
through at least Barron's 330 wordlist or Practice tests and resources for high school,
college and graduate tests.
NOTEFULL can be used for practice.
All the best!
3.8k Views View Upvotes
TOEFL exams over a period of a year or so. And they typically have been using English
for many years by reading newspapers, listening to lectures, watching TV and movies,
and speaking to native English speakers.
If you have not taken the TOEFL exam before, then you should take a full-length iBT
TOEFL practice test so that 1) You can mark your level by getting an overall and
subtotal scores in the reading, listening, speaking, and writing sections. 2) You can
become more familiar with the structure and format of the TOEFL exam. 3) You can
develop the endurance, concentration, and strength needed to complete a five hour
English test. In fact, ScoreNexus, among many other web sites, offers full-length
TOEFL iBT practice tests at a fraction of the cost of the official TOEFL exam. If you
choose ScoreNexus, give them my discount code so you do not have to pay full price:
MBuc2f42v5.
Once you have either an official TOEFL score or a practice test score, make a comment
at my Online TOEFL Course web page, so I can recommend a study plan best suited to
your academic English strengths and weaknesses. You can also see some of the TOEFL
study plans I have recommended at my You Tube Channel.
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Working hard for this last part is probably key to get a good TOEFL score -- I am pretty
sure that's the section where the average is the lowest. But it is also a good skill to
acquire for your studies and professional life. Nobody likes to teach or work with
people who write like penguins.
Good luck!
1.9k Views View Upvotes
Pragati Rastogi
Written Feb 13
I started my prep for TOEFL one day before the test and scored 110.
So don't panic, 30 days is more than enough to score well in TOEFL.
You can check my answer at:
What is the best way to get ready for TOEFL (IBT) with 3 weeks left?
I followed this website NOTEFULL strictly. Follow any one book/website don't do too
many things. The website provides very useful techniques and gives information about
the catch in each question (which I mentioned earlier). Notefull videos are god! They
have done a detail analysis of each question that comes in TOEFL and have broken it
down to simple answers. Go through their videos and follow them to the T and I
guarantee you will get above 100.
I strongly recommend you use it! All the best!
1.1k Views View Upvotes
and tricks required for speaking section (lot of YouTube videos out there!!).
With some practice you will easily get 24 and above. Remember to speak clearly and
cover the required topic as much as possible.
I am an average student with average English skills and i got 111(r-29,l-29,s-25,w-28)
just by some practice on note taking and 1-2 practice tests.
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Karan Thakkar, Author at www.mygradapp.org- the common app for grad schools
Written Jun 13
TOEFL is an exam that may not need any separate preparation or training. Given that
you have already spent a lot of efforts for the preparation of GRE verbal section, the
same will prove useful here. If you have a decent English and read newspapers daily,
the only preparation you may require to do is to solve a few practice test papers before
you go for the exam and even 1015 days should be enough for this. You can get more
information on preparation tips here. Yes, you can get a 100+ score but you need to
prepare well and do well at the test as well.
To know more about TOEFL, read this blog post - TOEFL
If you have any more questions regarding graduate school admissions, you can post
your questions on Forum
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Anonymous
Written Jul 16
Ok, Toefl is an easy exam. All you need to do is look at a couple of practice tests, a
couple of sample papers and you are all ready to go. I have given it twice with no
preparation and ended up scoring 118+ on both occasions. Do not stress out about it.
Relax and give the test.
297 Views
Shabir Khan
Written Apr 10, 2015
I took the exam and did great . because of my busy schedule i was unable to take a
physical class . so i searched online and after some time found this website EnglishBaba
- Learn English in 12 months . The quality of lessons and specially the daily reading/
quizzes helped me a lot . those people pushed me like a teacher would do in the class .
1k Views