TOEFL iBT tips
Got my TOEFL scores a few days back. Managed a 111. Now quite a lot of people have asked me about the material I used for my preparation for TOEFL and the minimum time required for preparation.So I thought why not write a post here so that it would help others with similar queries.
For those you have no idea what TOEFL is all about, you can start here.
Well, I used the Barron’s TOEFL iBT CD for my TOEFL preparation. Thats it! I must say that giving GRE before TOEFL made things a little simpler for two sections in particular : Reading and Writing. But even otherwise, the reading and listening sections should be a cakewalk for anyone with decent english. The writing section is not that hard. But it might require a little practice for those of you who aren’t used to writing a lot. The speaking section, in my opinion, is relatively more harder than the rest of the sections. Unfortunately, the Barron’s CD does not provide you with a utility through which they can judge your speaking ability. Therefore, judging your speaking ability can be a little difficult as you have no idea as to what is classified as a poor/decent/excellent response. In such a scenario, it is better to use the sample responses that are available on the ETS – TOEFL site and use that as a benchmark to rate your responses. This will also give you a fair idea as to what the evaluators are looking for while they hear your response.
Now with regard to the minimum time required for preparation, I gave myself one week ( I used to work during the day and prepare for about three hours in the evening). It might sound a little less for some of you. But it depends. I took my GRE before my TOEFL and I thought that because the reading and the writing sections on the GRE are relatively harder, I could spend more time preparing for the speaking and listening sections. The choice is yours!
Well thats about it! All the best to all TOEFL takers! Ping me if you have any queries.
Interesting post! I agree with your assessment: there’s no excuse for not scoring high on the reading and listening. I’ve noticed that one big problem with speaking and writing is the seemingly subjective nature of the scoring.
By the way, if anybody needs help with TOEFL writing, feel free to check out my site: http://www.cz-training.com/toefl/practice.html
Hi
I have been using the Longman software for TOEFL preparation and I find it much easier than the Barron`s one. Can you give me information which of these softwares is closer to the real test ? Did you find the reading and listening easier than the Barron`s model tests ?
Thank you
Nadia, I have not heard about the Longman software to be quite honest.
Actually I did not bother using any other software apart from Barron’s. In retrospect, I would say Barron’s was very close to the real test. The reading and the listening sections are almost on par.
I did not really bother too much about the writing section as I was through with my GRE by this time and I did not think preparing again was necessary.
Like I have said in the post, the speaking section seems the toughest of the lot and it makes good sense to listen to the sample responses on the ETS site to get a feel of what the evaluators are really looking for.
Hope this helped