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- How to kickstart your TOEFL Preparation?
- TOEFL Reading Section
- TOEFL Listening Section
- TOEFL Speaking Section
- TOEFL Writing Section
Wondering how to start your TOEFL preparation? What questions exactly will you face on the test day?
How do you prepare for each section so you do your best? Know the formats for each TOEFL exam section and manage time appropriately so your preparations are at their best.
Let’s jump right in and get some answers!
One of the best ways to start your preparation is by knowing the structure and question types in each section of the TOEFL.
How to kickstart your TOEFL Preparation?
When thinking of TOEFL Preparation, you must ensure to cover these 4 points:
Extensive English Practice
Learning the TOEFL test format
Picking good TOEFL Preparation materials
Taking TOEFL Practice Tests
a) Extensive English Practice for TOEFL:
The TOEFL exam is an English proficiency test. It is all about your fluency and how well you know the English language. So, it is obvious that your TOEFL Preparation must start with improving your English skills.
How do you do that?
To start with, work on your vocabulary. Improving your Vocabulary does not have to be a dull affair. There are a ton of Vocabulary apps on the Play Store to pick from.
One such app is the Vocabulary App, which is also among the highest-rated on the Play Store. The App includes all the words you need to learn to take your Vocabulary to the next level and improve your TOEFL Speaking and Writing scores.
Besides learning from the app, what you can do daily is:
Read the newspaper every day. Pay close attention to every word. Google the meanings of words you do not understand.
Don’t limit yourself to newspapers; read articles from reputed magazines and online publications.
If you have the time, pick up a novel! Or, you can go the technical route and pick up a book about word learning.
These resources should be more than enough to help you improve your English skills and will be a great way to kick-start your TOEFL Preparation.
b) Learning the TOEFL Test Format:
You cannot start your TOEFL preparation without taking into account the format of the TOEFL test.
The format of the TOEFL test is as follows:
Section
Estimated Timing
Questions/Tasks
Description
Reading
35 minutes
20 questions
Read passages and respond to questions.
Listening
36 minutes
28 questions
Answer questions about brief lectures or conversations
Speaking
16 minutes
4 tasks
Talk about a familiar topic and discuss material you read and heard.
Writing
29 minutes
2 tasks
Read a passage, listen to a recording, and type your response.
State and support an opinion in an online classroom discussion.
c) Picking good TOEFL Preparation and study materials:
There are several good TOEFL classes – both online and offline. The benefit of enrolling in these classes is that you will get the right study material and professional guidance on how best to prepare for the TOEFL test, and you don’t have to worry about creating a study plan for yourself, as these courses will take care of that for you.
d) Taking TOEFL Sample Tests:
Whatever the score you’re aiming for, you must practice as much as possible. So, take as many TOEFL practice tests and see where you’re going wrong. Make sure you’re taking timed tests – this is very important because the TOEFL is a timed exam, and plenty of students lose points simply because they’re unable to keep time.
Prepare. Practice. Repeat.
This should be your mantra for your TOEFL Preparation. This should be your mantra when preparing for anything. With the right tools, the right mindset, and the right feedback, acing the TOEFL test should be a breeze!
TOEFL Reading Section
Structure of the Reading Section:
First, we have the TOEFL Reading section. This is a quick recap of the structure: It has a score range anywhere between zero to thirty points and includes two reading passages, each approximately 700 words long, with 10 questions per passage. It should take about 35 minutes to complete the Reading section. You can go back and forth within the section.
Now, let’s take a quick look at the question types. As you know, these are reading comprehension questions. They are all based on a passage.
First, there is the ‘Multiple Choice Question’. You will encounter these types of questions to identify some information that is given in the passage. You will have – The ‘detail-oriented question’ requires you to identify a particular detail. Inference questions Questions that test whether you understood the purpose for which something was said, Questions that test your vocabulary, Questions that test whether you understood what something refers to in a passage, Questions that require you to identify a simplified version (‘essential information’) of a sentence in the passage and Questions that ask you to identify a detail that is NOT specified/mentioned in the passage.
Next, you will face questions in which you are required to insert a new sentence from outside the passage.
You have to take this new sentence, figure out where it best fits in the passage, and then plug it in there. Finally, some questions require you to accurately summarize what you read in the passage. All of these are, of course, passage-based. So, as a rule of thumb, do not use information from outside the passage. Stick to what the passage says as much as you can.
Extracts of academic material from university-level texts that introduce a discipline or topic on a variety of subjects; subject knowledge is not required.
TOEFL Reading Preparation:
There are many ways to improve your Reading score in the TOEFL test. First and foremost, you need to improve your reading speed to do well on this section. As mentioned earlier, the passages that you will encounter on the test are not short. You will need to get used to reading fairly lengthy, academic passages within a short span.
Make reading a habit – even when reading this blog, try not to skim over anything. This habit will help you a great deal.
Improving your Vocabulary should be a priority as well. Or you may find yourself stumped by unfamiliar English words in the TOEFL Reading passages you encounter.
Make a list of any unfamiliar words you come across while reading passages, as part of your TOEFL reading practice.
TOEFL Listening Section
The Listening Section is scored on a scale of zero to thirty points.
Lectures: You’ll listen to 3 lectures, each lasting between 3 to 5 minutes. Some lectures may include classroom discussions. Each lecture is followed by 6 questions.
Conversations: You’ll hear 2 conversations, each approximately 3 minutes long. Each conversation is followed by 5 questions.
You are allowed to take notes on any audio item during the test to aid in answering the questions. The total time to complete the Listening section is approximately 36 minutes.
Once you have answered a question and moved on to the next question, you cannot go back to the previous one.
So you have to be even more careful, starting with the listening section, because for the rest of the test, you cannot go back to any of the attempted questions.
So, how does the Listening Section work?
Well, you begin by listening to a recording of a lecture or conversation from an academic environment. After that, you have to answer a set of questions for each audio that is played.
If you first get a lecture, then you’ll have to answer a set of questions based on the lecture. Similarly, if it is a conversation audio, it will be followed by a set of questions based on the conversation. Remember that you cannot re-attempt any questions once you have submitted.
TOEFL Speaking Section
Structure of the Speaking Section:
The speaking section is worth anywhere between zero – thirty points.
Question 1: Independent Speaking Task
Questions 2–4: Integrated Speaking Tasks
Preparation Time: 15–30 seconds of prep time before each response.
Response Duration: Responses last either 45 or 60 seconds.
The Speaking section takes approximately 16 minutes to complete.
For an ‘Independent task,’ you will be given a general question asking you to express and give reasons for your opinion/choice. You have to elaborate on your preference and support your opinion/choice/preference with reasons.
Then you will have three ‘Integrated’ tasks. One of the tasks will present a campus situation, and the task will require you to read a passage about the announcement/any campus-related information, then listen to a conversation, and then speak about the same by summarizing the speaker’s opinion in context.
The other Integrated task will provide you with any academic topic where the reading passage will introduce you to a concept/phenomenon/or process any academic topic. The audio following the short passage will elaborate on the same topic. You will be required to summarize and synthesize the information that you have read and listened to in your response. In the third type of Integrated task, you will listen to a lecture on any academic topic and summarize that lecture in your response. Please note that your response should summarize the topic with appropriate elaboration and examples as mentioned in the lecture.
As you can see, you have a total of four tasks. All four tasks do not require you to have prior knowledge of any academic topic. The information that is required to attempt these tasks will be provided in the question. Also, be mindful that you only use information that is given to you in the passage and audio.
TOEFL Speaking Section Preparation:
Before each task in the speaking section, you will have preparation time before you record your response. You should practice for the TOEFL speaking section so you can use that time wisely.
There will be a time limit for reading the passages, so you will not be able to see the passage again. You will have only less than a minute to read each passage, so you must focus and take notes within the time limit.
TOEFL Writing Section
There are two writing tasks.
Integrated writing task (20 minutes)
Writing for an Academic Discussion task (10 minutes)
The Integrated Writing task tests how well you can analyze the relationship between the lecture and the passage. It does not test your ability to convey a personal opinion.
An effective response of this type is usually somewhere between 115 to 250 words.
For the integrated type, you will first read a passage on any academic topic. After reading, you’ll listen to a related lecture that either contrasts or complements the passage’s content, like presenting a counterargument or a solution to a problem described in the passage. Following both the reading and listening, you’ll have 20 minutes to answer a question that asks you to connect ideas from the passage and the lecture. You have an advantage in this section over the other sections because the passage will be displayed again once the question is presented. But this should not stop you from taking notes while you read the passage for the first time.
The “Writing for an Academic Discussion” tests how well you can state and support an opinion in an online classroom discussion. An effective response must be at least 100 words long.
With good language skills, a thorough understanding of the test, and enough practice, you would not have trouble acing the test.
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