Hi, I am Humphrey and I have scored 117 in TOEFL iBT within 3-week preparation. How did I do that ? Let’s start from the beginning.
The TOEFL iBT has 4 sections.
ReadingListeningSpeakingWriting1. 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:
2. LISTENING SECTION:
To describe the listening section, it has 6–9 passages, each containing 5–6 questions, which lasts about 60 – 90 minutes. The conversations varies from simple conversations between 2 students to a lecture on a subject. Do not worry, you are not needed to have a knowledge on the spoken subject. All answers are in the conversations.
When in the exam, you are given a sheet of paper to take notes. If you are good in note-taking, then you are all set for this section; otherwise, its best to shortly write the whole conversation here. Believe it or not, I had written down the whole conversations during the exam. Now to tackle the questions, just refer to your notes and click away on the right answers. In all the listening conversations there’ll be an american accent. To get used to this, watch a whole lot of Hollywood movies (my count – 400). Understand the accent, understand what is being talked about here, then the answers will form themselves.
In the week before your exam, go through the listening samples. Plenty of samples are available on YouTube. You can also download the books below to test your TOEFL LISTENING Current level before sitting the test:
TOEFL IBT Activator Listening Advanced
Mosaic 1 Listening/Speaking Class
Mosaic 2 LISTENING/SPEAKING Class
TOEFL IBT Activator Listening Expert
Developing Skills For The TOEFL IBT: 2nd Edition Intermediate Listening
How To Master Skills For The TOEFL IBT: Listening Basic
TOEFL Listening Practice By Kaplan
Mastering Skills For The TOEFL IBT: Advanced Listening
Toefl IBT Activator Listening – Intermediate
Heinle & Heinle TOEFL Test Assistant: Listening
LinguaForum Hooked On TOEFL IBT Listening
LinguaForum TOEFL IBT Insider Listening
TOEFL IBT Navigator: Listening
Basic Skills For The TOEFL IBT 1 Listening
Basic Skills For The TOEFL IBT 2 Listening
Building Skills For Toefl IBT Beginning Listening
3. SPEAKING SECTION:
Always LISTEN to the instructions given before EACH section. In this section you are supposed to speak. The exam records your voice and sends it to the evaluator. Before beginning the section, your voice will be calibrated.
Now in this section, you will face 6 tasks with 6 questions in each task. You are expected to speak for about 45 seconds to 60 seconds. Bear in mind to:
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, you’ll 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:
Mastering Skills For The TOEFL IBT Advanced – Speaking
A1 TOEFL IBT – Speaking
Developing Skills For The TOEFL IBT: 2nd Edition Intermediate Speaking
How To Master Skills For The TOEFL IBT: Speaking Intermediate
Building Skills For The Toefl IBT Beginning Speaking
TOEFL IBT Activator Speaking Advanced
LinguaForum Hooked On TOEFL IBT Speaking
TOEFL IBT Navigator: Speaking
Basic Skills For The TOEFL IBT 1 – Speaking
Basic Skills For The TOEFL IBT 2 – Speaking
Basic Skills For The TOEFL IBT 3 Speaking
Perfect Phrases For The TOEFL Speaking And Writing Sections
4. 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>
<Point 1 in passage and how lecture refutes it>
<Point 2 in passage and how lecture refutes it>
<Point 3 in passage and how lecture refutes it>
Though a conclusion is not required, but if you feel compelled to write one, then a couple of sentences should do it. The expected word count for this essay is around 250 words, but the score will get a boost if you have a high word count. I would recommend 350 – 400 words.
TOEFL Writing Task 2:
There are around 200 topics for Task 2. The expected word count here is 300 to 350 words. I would recommend a 400 – 500 word essay here.
Let me, in detail, describe to you on how to write this essay. There are 2 types of styles, 4 paragraph essay and 5 paragraph essay.
The 4 paragraph style contains, 1 introduction, 2 body, and 1 conclusion.
The 5 paragraph style contains, 1 introduction, 3 body, and 1 conclusion.
You can choose which ever style you want. The 4 paragraph style is used when you don’t 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:
Mastering Skills For TOEFL IBT Advanced – Writing
A1 TOEFL IBT – Writing
TOEFL IBT Activator Writing Advanced
Barron’s Writing For The TOEFL IBT By Lin Lougheed
The Writing Template Book For Toefl
Developing Skills For The TOEFL IBT: 2nd Edition Intermediate Writing
Sample Essays For The TOEFL® Writing Test
LinguaForum Hooked On TOEFL IBT Writing
TOEFL IBT Navigator Writing By Justin Oh
NorthStar Focus On High Intermediate Focus Reading And Writing
Building Skills For The Toefl IBT Beginning Writing
Perfect Phrases For The TOEFL Speaking And Writing Sections
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.
Official Guide To The TOEFL Test 4 Edition
Cambridge Preparation For The TOEFL Test 4th Edition (Book & CD-ROM)
Check your Vocabulary for TOEFL
Barron's How to Prepare for the TOEFL with CD-ROM
Free Download Longman Introductory Course for the TOEFL Test: iBT
Free Download Cracking the TOEFL IBT PDF with Audio CD, 2009 Edition
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
You can Download all of these book on website:
https://wiki-study.com/toefl-books