Preparing for the TOEFL Test. Tips for Achieving the Highest Score.

Preparing for the TOEFL Test. Tips for Achieving the Highest Score.

At the time of writing this article, I have had 18 years of experience preparing students for all of the different international exams, but the one exam that I have had the most experience and success with has been the TOEFL test. During this time, I have taught over 1000 students both in the classroom and online, and have learned so many tips and strategies about the test that they are too extensive to include in one article.

The TOEFL test, like the IELTS test, is one of the most important English exams in the world for the reason that it is able to open the door to virtually unlimited educational, professional and immigrational opportunities for people from countries all around the world. For this reason, when preparing for the test, it must be done the right way as mistakes can be disastrous ultimately changing lives in a negative rather than positive way.

Taking the TOEFL is almost always a stressful experience. You need to get a specific score, they pay a lot to take the test, they prepare for months, the test center may be noisy or crowded or they might not have slept well the night before. There are many factors that can affect the final score that a student achieves, and ultimately there is nothing that can be done to avoid most of these situational things, but beginning to prepare for the TOEFL test well in advance is one of the best things that you can do to reduce their level of stress on test day. 

Here are 15 TOEFL preparation strategies that have been effective for me.

Practice

When preparing for the TOEFL test, you are almost always aiming for a pre-determined score in order to achieve a specific goal. During the TOEFL test preparation, you can only know if they are nearing their objective by taking practice tests. Practice tests will also help you to get a feeling for the test environment, question types, and constraints that will be faced with on test day.

Without a doubt, the best way to prepare for the TOEFL test is by enrolling in a preparation course, generally 3 months in duration, at a reputable language institute. In these courses, you learn all about the test whilst practicing with authentic materials under the supervision of an experienced teacher. If you are serious about your preparation and are determined to achieve your objectives, then you can`t go past a professional preparation course.

For self-preparation, practice test materials are available either virtually or in physical books that are available at all good bookstores. A word of warning though, be careful of the online materials that you practice with as many of them, whilst following the correct structure of the TOEFL test, do not demonstrate an adequate level of Academic English ultimately leading to a false sense of security in your preparation.

Finally, the TOEFL test has a very specific structure (See diagram below). Learn it and understand it through and through so that on the day of the test, you have a complete understanding of every section, every question type, times, and expectations.

In private classes, verify your teachers' qualifications

If you have decided to take private preparation classes, a popular choice for many test-takers, ask your teacher to prove that they have a sufficient level of English. Many English teachers possess a level of English that is lower than the student that they are preparing, and ultimately this will be detrimental to their preparation. All good English teachers have taken international English exams, so ask them to produce their certificate. For TOEFL preparation classes, the teacher should be able to produce a certificate that shows that they have at least a C1 or C2 level of English on the CEFR. If the teacher shows a certificate for a B1 or B2 level exam, and the student is looking to achieve a C1 score on their TOEFL test, then the teacher is not qualified to prepare that student, and would have an adverse effect on their test results.
 

Tips for maximizing your score on the TOEFL test
Understanding the TOEFL speaking section
Tips for learning vocabulary for the TOEFL and IELTS tests
Tips for achieving a high score in TOEFL
40 practice questions for the TOEFL speaking section
Connecting words for the TOEFL writing test
Writing for success in the TOEFL test.
The essential grammar rules for the TOEFL test.

Also, ask the teacher how much experience they have had to prepare students for the TOEFL test. With private classes, it is essential to make sure that your teacher is an honest, well prepared, experienced professional rather than an English teacher who is just looking to earn a little bit of extra money through private classes. Statistically, less than 10% of English teachers have the C1 / C2 level of English needed to teach TOEFL correctly.

Finally, ask your teacher what preparation materials they have. An experienced, well-prepared teacher will have a good selection of books and programs ready for their students to use. If your teacher says that they exclusively use websites, apps, and online materials, then they are not well prepared, and probably do not have the professionalism or experience required in order to prepare students correctly. 

Reading skills.

Read every day, even native English speakers build their vocabularies by reading. The TOEFL test is based upon Academic subjects and vocabulary, so the more broadly you read, the more exposure you get to concepts and vocabulary and the more you build your reading comprehension skills.

Read as much English (both academic and non-academic) materials as you can.  Newspaper and magazine articles are an excellent source of English reading materials. Look to increase your vocabulary knowledge.  Developing flashcards and utilizing glossaries of textbooks are good places to start. Analyze the structure of academic texts.  Understand how to find main ideas, supporting details, and connections between ideas and sentences.

Listening skills

You should be listening to something in English every day.  When you are listening, make sure to try and understand the main idea and ask yourself questions (who, what, when, where, and why) about what you are listening to.  Watch English speaking television programs or videos, attend English classes, and look for opportunities to practice listening in English.

Listen to podcasts: There is a lot of English-language talk radio online, whether you like the BBC or NPR, comedy, or news. Listening to native English speakers speaking English at their natural speed will develop your listening comprehension. You can also develop your speaking skills by playing back parts of the podcast and trying to mimic the pronunciation of the speaker. Understanding a recording is more relevant for the TOEFL test, is harder than understanding a video because there aren’t the same visual context clues. That makes podcasts better for listening comprehension practice than watching movies or TV shows in English.

Note-taking

During the TOEFL, you only get to listen to audio clips only once. You will then have to answer questions, speak, or write on the subject you heard about. Because you cannot replay the audio, you need to become a good note-taker. Your goal is to learn to take notes in real-time, without missing anything the speaker is saying. Try with a variety of different audio clips of different lengths and levels of complexity, then listen to the clip again and see how accurate your notes are. Pay attention to things that may seem elementary like the layout of your notes and the legibility of your handwriting. Being able to take notes confidently and record all the important pieces of information in real-time will be a huge help to you on your TOEFL test, but also in your future studies.

Speaking skills

Try to find opportunities to speak with people who natively speak English.  You should attempt to speak English at least weekly. Make sure you use good pronunciation and clarity.  Audio recordings (books on tape etc.) are excellent sources to learn pronunciation and intonation skills.

Practice by answering TOEFL practice questions, recording them on your cell phone, and then playing them back for self, or teacher evaluation.

Below is a link to 40 different TOEFL practice questions.

https://englishforyoutheteachersvoice.blogspot.com/2020/06/improving-your-score-in-toefl-speaking.html

Study smart not hard

TOEFL Test preparation requires you to study smart – not hard!  To study smart, you need to:

* Study when you are the most alert
* Understand what’s on the test
* Focus on the material that you don’t know
* Develop a flexible study schedule


Practice makes perfect

It is vital that you practice for the TOEFL test as much as possible ff you want the most confidence.  To make the most out of our TOEFL practice test, try some of the following approaches:

    * Learn the test and it`s structure until you understand it completely. This helps to reduce the possibility of any situational stress that may occur on the day of the test.

    *Fully understand all the questions that you got wrong in your practice activities by evaluating them with your teacher.

    * Take exams with self-imposed time constraints – this will help you ensure that you know the material

    * Try to tackle one section of the exam at a time

Read the questions twice

Read each question twice before you look at the answers.  Read each answer twice before you answer.  People often read questions too fast resulting in incorrect answers.  The same goes for answers.  Don’t miss the question because you misread some of the terms.   You should also be careful not to over-read the question.  Questions are generally straight forward and don’t require a “stab in the dark” to answer them correctly.  In other words, don’t over-read the question and look for a “theoretical” answer versus a “common sense” answer.

Jumping to conclusions

Some questions on your TOEFL test require very careful analysis as they are designed to confuse you.  Some of the wrong answers may appear to be right at first glance.  Don’t fall into the same trap that many test-takers do by choosing the most obvious, yet misleading answers.  Also, there may even appear to be more than one right answer!  If this is the case, make sure to choose the best answer based on what is in the question (not based on your assumptions). Never forget that the most important thing is to answer the question in its entirety.

Trust yourself, the first answer is usually right

Trust yourself!  Select your best answer only after you have carefully read the question and answer twice.  Don’t change any answers unless you find an obvious error that you are sure about.  Your first answer is usually the right answer.

Pace yourself

Although the time limits on the TOEFL Test should allow you more than sufficient time to finish your exam, it is still important to correctly pace yourself.  Determine how much time to allow for each question.  For example, if you have 30 minutes to answer 15 questions, then you have about two minutes per question.  After every few questions, check the time to see if you are still on schedule.  Don’t dwell on questions that you don’t know – just eliminate some answer choices and make an intelligent guess.  Conversely, don’t rush questions that you think you know – read them twice and pick the best answer.  Over-confidence and careless mistakes are often what separate a superior score from an average score.

Have an answer for every question, but guess intelligently

The TOEFL Test does not penalize you for guessing.  You should make sure that you answer every question, even if you are unsure of the answer or have to guess.  In every question in the reading and listening section, there are always 2 answers which are obviously wrong, and by eliminating them, then you have a 50% chance of choosing the correct answer from the 2 remaining choices. 

Improve your typing skills

The writing section of the exam requires you to type your answers on an unfamiliar computer with a QWERTY keyboard. If you spend all your time struggling with the keyboard, you’re not going to have much time left to write a good essay. It seems like a simple skill, but many people forget to prepare for it. Make sure you can type quickly in English on a QWERTY keyboard well before your test date. There are lots of free online websites to help you to learn or improve your typing.

Adopt a positive attitude

Your attitude when it comes to preparing and succeeding at your TOEFL Test is the most important factor that you can control.  You need to be positive and have confidence.  You need to believe that you will score high on your exam.  While you are taking your exam, you need to have confidence and relax.  If you come across an answer that frustrates you – just skip it and come back to it later.  DO NOT PANIC!  If you are well prepared and know the true reality of your English skills, then you should have nothing to worry about.

Well, I hope that these tips help you with your preparation for the TOEFL test.

Good luck with your TOEFL test.