Are you taking the TOEFL but aren’t sure how to prepare? There are lots of TOEFL exercises you could do, but it can be hard to know which ones are the best and will help you get the score you want on test day.
In this guide, we go over the eight best TOEFL exercises that you should absolutely make part of your study plan.
The 8 Best TOEFL Exercises
There are many kinds of practice exercises for the TOEFL, depending on which skill(s) you’re trying to improve and how you learn best. Below are the eight best types of TOEFL exercises. Together they cover all the skills you’ll need to maximize your score on the exam.
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Tip 1: Read Prep Books
If you’re not sure where to start with your TOEFL exercises or you want to brush up on some content before answering practice questions, a TOEFL prep book is the best place to start. A high-quality TOEFL prep book will explain each of the main skills you’ll be tested on, what the questions will look like, and how to answer them more easily.
They’ll also include lots of practice questions and often several full-length exams. Prep books are usually a great combination of practice questions and content review, and they can help you with every section of the test.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Focus on the areas you need to improve the most on. If you feel pretty solid with your English skills but struggle the most with say, speaking, then you should spend the most time on the Speaking portions of your prep book.
- Make use of the practice questions. Prep books are a great source of practice exercises for the TOEFL, so use them!
- Choose the prep book that best suits your needs. Some TOEFL books are written for people looking for a perfect score, some for people who need to do a lot of revision, some for people who only want more practice questions, etc.
Tip 2: Take Complete Practice Tests
No matter how strong your English skills currently are, how much you want to improve, and which areas you want to improve in, everyone studying for the TOEFL should take some full-length practice tests. Complete practice TOEFLs are the best TOEFL test exercise to get a sense of what the actual exam will be like, how you handle taking such a long test, how well you’re doing, and where you need to improve.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Take at least three practice tests, one right when you begin studying for the TOEFL to see how well you’d currently score on the test and where you need to make improvements, another test in the middle of your preparation, and another test close to the end of your studying to see how much you’ve progressed and which areas you still need to strengthen. If you have time, we recommend taking one or more additional practice tests in the middle of your studying to keep checking how well you’re doing and make sure you’re on the right track.
- When you take a practice TOEFL, it’s important to take it under realistic testing conditions to ensure your score is as accurate as possible. This means taking the exam in a quiet room, all in one sitting, and with the correct timing.
- As many of your practice tests as possible should be official sources since you can be sure these are a good representation of the real TOEFL. Below we give examples of high-quality practice tests to use.
Tip 3: Answer Specific Question Types or Problem Sets
For more targeted practice for certain areas of the test, you should answer practice questions on specific TOEFL topics. For example, if you’re struggling with the Listening section, answer problem sets of Listening questions in order to get more experience with the questions and learn where you’re making mistakes. You should be answering practice questions throughout your TOEFL studying.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Each time you go through a problem set, go back over every question you answered incorrectly and figure out what you did wrong and why the correct answer is what it is. This may sound tedious, but it’s the best way to prevent yourself from repeating the same mistakes.
Tip 4: Study Flashcards
Flashcards are a great way to memorize new information, and on the TOEFL, they’re the best way to learn important vocab words. Vocabulary is tested on all sections of the TOEFL, especially Reading, and if you don’t have a strong vocabulary you’ll likely struggle to understand questions and their answer choices. Flashcards are a more interesting and faster way to learn new words than just reading them off a list.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- We recommend using the waterfall method when studying your flashcards and when using this TOEFL test exercise. The waterfall method involves making different piles of flashcards depending on how easily you learned the definition of the word. It makes you focus more on the words you struggle the most with so you learn them faster.
Tip 5: Read Articles
TOEFL Reading practice exercises are important since you’ll need to do quite a bit of reading on the TOEFL. There’s obviously the Reading section, with several passages to analyze, and some Speaking and Writing tasks require you to read and think critically about passages as well.
Reading regularly will help you strengthen your critical reading skills and understand the main points and minor details of these passages more easily. TOEFL Reading passages come from university-level academic texts and passages, so these are the types of articles you should be focusing on during your reading.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Read actively. It can be tempting to just drag your eyes across the page, but you’re not going to learn much doing this during your TOEFL reading exercises. To read actively, stop every few paragraphs and think about what you’ve just read. What points is the author trying to make in the passage? How is she supporting those statements? Are there any words you aren’t sure of? Really think about what you’re reading during this TOEFL exercise in order to gain the reading skills you need for the test.
- Use a variety of sources and subjects for your reading materials. The TOEFL passages will come from numerous sources, so make sure your practice reading materials do too. Even if you love reading novels and hate science, be sure to include some scientific articles so you’re prepared for that style of writing on the exam. At a minimum, your reading materials should include science, literature, and history texts written at a university level.
Tip 6: Listen to Podcasts
Think practicing your listening skills means listening to recordings of boring lectures for hours on end? Think again! Listening to podcasts is a great TOEFL exercise to strengthen your listening skills and learn about a topic that you find interesting at the same time
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Listen to a variety of English accents. Speakers on the TOEFL may be from North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand, so you should aim to listen to each of these accents so you are familiar with how they sound before the exam.
- You should also take some notes while you listen. On the TOEFL, you’ll only hear audio clips once, so it’s important to be able to take notes on key information so you remember it when you get to the questions. Start practicing this skill now by taking quick notes during these TOEFL Listening exercises.
Tip 7: Write in English
Many English learners, even if they speak and understand the language fluently, still make frequent mistakes while writing in English. The best way to prevent this is to write regularly in order to strengthen this skill. Writing in English could mean answering TOEFL Writing prompts, keeping a diary in English, having an English-speaking pen pal, or any other way you can think of that gets you writing in English. Also, there are many TOEFL exercises online to help you with this.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Try to have someone check and comment on your writing. You probably won’t be able to have every piece you write checked over, but for any practice Writing responses you complete, it’s helpful if someone with strong English skills looks it over so they can point out any errors you made.
- Alternate between TOEFL Writing prompts and free writes. You should definitely practice TOEFL Writing prompts in order to become comfortable with them, but don’t feel like that’s the only writing practice you can do. Free-writing, on whatever topic you’d like, is also helpful writing practice, especially if you’re interested in the topic you’re writing about.
Tip 8: Join a Speaking Club
The Speaking section is often the most intimidating section of the TOEFL; you’ll need to speak clearly and fluently for a set amount of time on a specified topic in order to get a high score. The more Speaking practice you have, the more confident you’ll be on this section, so one of the TOEFL exercises you do should absolutely involve speaking.
You can join a conversation club where you’ll talk face-to-face, or you can join one of the ever-growing numbers of online speaking groups/lessons for English learners. Online groups are often easier if you have a busy schedule and/or aren’t in an area where you can easily find other people to practice your English skills.
How to Get the Most Out of It
- Record yourself when you speak. It may feel a bit weird to record what you say and listen back to it, but this is a great way to critique your speaking skills. Are you speaking at a good pace? Do you take a lot of pauses? Are you speaking loudly enough to be heard? Are there any words you need to improve your pronunciation of? Make improvements wherever you can to improve your Speaking score on test day.
- Expand on your answers. While it may feel like a relief to respond to a question with a one-word answer then sit back while the other person speaks, this isn’t how the TOEFL will go. During the exam, you’ll need to speak for 45-60 straight with minimal pauses. So, to get better at this, make sure to elaborate at least some of your answers and try to speak for up to a minute.
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