When planning to take the iBT TOEFL examination, there are a number of strategies, tips and tricks that you must be aware of in order to achieve your goals. In this article I will provide a brief overview with a few tips and tricks for each section.
TOEFL® iBT is:
- The Test of English as a Foreign Language. Internet-Based Test.
- A test that you take on a computer.
- A test of Academic English
- A speaking test that integrates reading and listening with speaking through a headset.
- A writing test that integrates reading and listening with typing responses on computer.
- All multiple-choice or multiple-matching in the Reading and Listening sections.
- More academically-oriented than IELTS™.
- More science-oriented than IELTS.
- Less Internationally-oriented than IELTS.
TOEFL® is not:
- A grammar test.
- Easier than IELTS.
- Marked by robots, although practice tests are! (See the bottom of this page).
How to prepare
- Do take a preparation course that offers a free diagnostic test to assess your level and your needs and has trainers who have had special training by an accredited institution. You also need a course that uses the appropriate hardware, software and networking to simulate the test. A course that does not follow a diagnostic, needs-tested syllabus will waste your time. An untrained English teacher will not be able to offer the necessary guidance and a course that uses only the traditional classroom environment and facilities will not prepare you adequately for an internet-based test.
- Do lots of homework and practice in your own time.
- Don’t book your test until you have taken a preparation course. There are plenty of tests and plenty of test centers.
- Don’t take a preparation course until your General English level is at least upper Intermediate.
How not to prepare
- Only study English twice a week.
- Use practice material designed for the old paper-based test.
Tips and tricks for the reading test
- You don’t have much time so don’t read all of the reading passage in detail.
- Read the instructions for each set of questions carefully as there are several different types of question, each with different rules.
- Read each passage quickly to get a general impression first then read the questions and locate the answers in the text.
Tips and tricks for the writing test
- Use a formal style for both of the writing tasks; don’t use conversational language, slang or contractions.
- Practice taking notes from lectures and summarizing reading passages quickly.
- Always write in paragraphs.
- Don’t copy any phrases or sentences from the question; use synonyms and paraphrases
- Check the word count before you submit your response.
- If the question asks you to discuss two opinions/positions, try do write an equal amount about each position.
- When the question asks you to support your position/opinion with reasons or examples, the plural “s” means you must give more than one reason/example to get a good score.
- In the integrated Writing question, you only need to summarize the reading passage, but you should try to get all the details of the listening passage.
Tips and tricks for the speaking test
- Practice talking about your home, your family, your work/studies, your hobbies, your favorite things etc but don’t be surprised if questions one and two ask you about something you don’t normally think about, or have no experience of.
- Practice speaking for 45 seconds with fifteen seconds preparation for questions one and two. The examiner will expect you to use all of the time available.
- Don’t try to memorize speeches.
- If you can’t think of the right word, use other words to explain what you mean. Don’t stop speaking!
- Practice taking notes from lectures and summarizing reading passages quickly for questions three to six.
- In questions three and four you only need to summarize the reading passage, but you should try to get all the details of the listening passage.
Tips and tricks for the listening test
- Taking good notes is essential. You don’t see the questions until after the listening passage has finished.
- There are several different types of question, so Listen for and note down main and supporting ideas, details, lists of items and examples of concepts or categories.
- Watch out for “exception” questions that ask you to choose items NOT included in the passage.
- Read each question carefully because there are several different question types.
- You will usually hear the answers in the same order as the questions so order your notes linearly.
Did you know?
- You have to complete all four parts of the test on the same day.
- TOEFL® is accepted my most universities but there have been issues with test security that may affect its acceptability for Immigration purposes. Check the requirements from your host countries Immigration website as well as the requirements from your place of study.
- Qualified trainers prefer not to, or in some cases are not allowed to give predicted scores, only feedback and advice on how to achieve your target.
- The scores given in a real test do not have a fixed relationship to percentage and practice tests cannot give a definite predicted score. This is because the scores are fixed after the test results are collected to allow statistical smoothing and standardization of the results.
- The speaking test is recorded and graded after the test by an examiner in another location. This means that your manner and non-verbal communication are not noted. However, being positive and natural will affect your delivery, so it might help to imagine you are actually talking face-to face.
- The speaking test is graded “holistically” which means that the overall fluency, organization and clarity of your answer are more important than accuracy of grammar and vocabulary or your accent.
- There is an official online ETS TOEFL® test practice service which uses a software program to give a predicted score for writing and speaking!
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Toefl Speaking Practice Jakarta
As a previous TOEFL student and now teacher, I find your articles very helpful. I especially like the fact that you are freely providing information to people who prehaps can’t afford to take English Today’s programs. Keep up the great work!
Dear Matthew, do you know how can I stop to being nervous before speaking part? I know the word in bahasa, but cannot translate fast enough. Thank you
Dear Asep,
It is natural to feel nervous speaking in a foreign language and the key to overcoming this is to practice, practice and then practice some more, the iBT TOEFL speaking section has 6 question types and for each question type there is a template that you can practice the questions with, Youtube has many examples of suitable answers for each and every iBT TOEFL speaking question. It is also important to practice these templates while using a timer.
Here is a sample question for question number 1
Toefl Speaking Practice
Question1
The iBT TOEFL Speaking Section has two independent questions. Question 1 is a question based on personal experience or opinion. You will have 15 seconds to prepare and will need to speak for 45 seconds.
Example Questions
• What’s your favorite restaurant?
• What’s a popular national holiday in your country?
• What’s your favorite movie? Describe it and explain why it is your favorite.
For this question there is only one source of information and that is you.
Now let’s look at a note taking technique that I recommend you use because it is simple and consistent. The key to mastering the iBT TOEFL speaking section is to take simple notes and consistently use the same method over and over until it becomes automatic.
Simple Outline
Main Idea
(S1) Supporting Idea 1
(S2) Supporting Idea 2
Now let’s try this simple outline with the question “What is your favorite movie? Describe it and explain why it is your favorite movie.
Simple Outline
(MI) 51st Date
(S1) Romantic
(S2) Funny
Keep this brief because you only have 15 seconds preparation time. Shorthand knowledge is very useful and if you have studied it please use it here. If you haven’t, please consider learning it as it will benefit your test taking skills.
If you noticed, I used adjectives for the supporting reasons because they make us think. I choose to use romantic and funny because it is easy to expand on this. For example, the first reason I liked it was because it was romantic and it provided me with many methods to impress my wife. Secondly, it was extremely funny and it helped me forget my problems and stress.
Your notes are not what you are going to say, they are prompts to guide you and help you remember the structure of your 45-second talk.
Step 1: Begin your answer with the question. You will lose points if you go off topic and this ensures that you start on topic and that your first sentence is grammatically correct. A strong start is important so always repeat the question in your answer for all speaking questions.
1. My favorite move is 51st Date with Adam Sandler.
After you have answered the question, I recommend that you use this sentence “ I have two reasons for my opinion” It gives you time to collect your thoughts and also structures the rest of the question.
(1) My favorite move is 51st Date with Adam Sandler. (2) There are two reasons for my opinion. (3) The first reason is that it is romantic and I learnt many ways to impress my wife. In fact, I used one of the techniques from the movie on Valentine’s Day and she was really impressed. (4) In addition, it was really funny and it helped me forget my problems and stress. I always watch comedies when I feel stressed and I find that this helps me focus on my work the next day. (5) These are the reasons why the best movie I have ever seen is 51st Date with Adam Sandler. In my opinion he is the funniest actor on TV and this was his best movie.
Please take note of the underlined and numbered sentences, when timed the combined underlined sentences take about 22 seconds to read which will amount to 50{87f0c958c74bd471c016e24ed0ca91171b02792da1fdb790bb16580321fb9170} of your mark in the independent speaking section. If you perfect this simple and consistent outline then you can guarantee a mark 50{87f0c958c74bd471c016e24ed0ca91171b02792da1fdb790bb16580321fb9170}. If you make some simple grammar and word choice mistakes with the further explanation during the remaining 23 seconds, then you will probably get 75{87f0c958c74bd471c016e24ed0ca91171b02792da1fdb790bb16580321fb9170} for each answer. This greatly improves you chance of scoring well in the TOEFL Speaking section.