You have been studying English for a while and want to take an English language test. There are many options, but you believe TOEFL is a good choice for several reasons. It is widely accepted and trusted, showing that you have the English skills needed for jobs and higher education in English-speaking universities worldwide. It also helps with traveling abroad and communicating in one of the most widely spoken languages. Luckily, you have plenty of resources to help you achieve a high score in the TOEFL. So, what do you need to do to succeed in this exam?
Study the TOEFL format and try to feel comfortable with it. Whenever you take a test, any test, you should get familiar with its format to know what to expect on the day of the exam. This lowers your anxiety and helps you with your answers.
If you are taking the exam because you want to enter a higher education institution or university, check out the score required. The higher the score you need, the more you’ll have to prepare for the test. So, as we always say at https://www.scitudy.com: practice makes perfect! Practice, practice, practice! That’s the key to success.
You wonder what exactly you have to practice? The four sections included in the test. How? Here go some tips:
For the Reading section:
Improve your vocabulary:
Read extensively – newspapers, magazines, online articles. Choose a wide range of topics. Most passages in the reading comprehension section focus on academic subjects like physics, mathematics, biology, history, psychology, marketing, and more. While you don’t need in-depth knowledge of these subjects, it’s important to grasp the vocabulary used in each field. Language courses typically don’t cover these specific topics, so you’ll need to actively practice new words and expressions to enhance your vocabulary. As you delve into these topics, you’ll encounter numerous unfamiliar words. When you encounter them, try to understand their meaning from the context. If that’s not possible, use an English-English dictionary. Take the opportunity to explore synonyms, antonyms, and how prefixes or suffixes can alter the meaning of those words.
The questions in this section will test
your knowledge of vocabulary
your general comprehension of the texts
your ability to infer and make summaries of the information presented
This is the first section so, if you can handle these questions at a fast pace –good timing is a must in this test- and with confidence, you’ll feel much better to face the rest.
For the Listening section:
Try to get CD’s or podcasts that reproduce pieces from previous tests. Play them once and train yourself to listen fully from the start. Become an expert “note taker”: jot down main ideas, presentation and key details. When you listen to a conversation, pay special attention to distinguish between what the speakers state and what opinions they have. We have recommended you to listen to songs, watch videos without subtitles, listen to podcasts, etc. That is not enough for the TOEFL. You have to listen to academic passages/articles for the same reason mentioned when dealing with the reading section. Rather than listening to dramas, listen to documentaries which are more likely to appear in a TOEFL test.
For the Speaking Section:
Remember you won’t be in front of an examiner, but of a computer –something you should be quite familiar with as a WSE student. When you answer the questions, make sure to do it in an organized way, using transition words for the listener to follow your reasoning. You don’t need to have a “native-like” pronunciation, but try to use words you feel comfortable with and know how to pronounce well. Keep your answers simple: no elaborated sentences, precise vocabulary and only use idiomatic expressions if you are absolutely sure they are appropriate.
Three things are of the greatest importance for examiners:
how well you answer the questions;
what command of grammar and vocabulary you have;
how well you sound.
For the Writing section:
This section has two types of tasks:
Integrated writing :
reading a passage about a certain topic,
listening to a lecture related to the same topic,
and writing a short essay about what you’ve read and listened to.
Tip: Take notes while you listen summarizing the main points and trying to find how they relate to specific points in the reading passage.
To tackle this section it is important that you
learn how to paraphrase –use different words or expressions to express the same idea.
Improve your ability to find similarities and differences expressed in articles about the same topic.
Write summaries of different texts.
Independent writing task:
You will be asked to write an essay about familiar topics using your personal experience or beliefs. Remember all essays should have the following structure: Introduction, development, conclusion.
These are only a few of the strategies you should develop to pass this test with flying colors. Good luck!
To learn TOEFL vocabulary and phrases, you can prepare with scitudy.com.
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