- Make sure your study time is well-organized. Use a wall calendar or your phone calendar to create a timetable that will help you make the most of your study time by dividing the hours you have available for studying into what you will learn, practice, and strengthen for separate skills. Figure out which schedule works best for you to study during the weekdays and on weekends. Some individuals need to wake up early since they are early birds and want to study early in the morning (before work), and others may be night owls and feel it’s best to study later (after work.) Once you select a study time, keep to your schedule and be rigorous about studying at those designated times so you will not procrastinate.
- Designate your quiet study spot: select a place to study where no one bothers you as any noisy distraction can make it challenging to focus. It will affect the amount of information you recall.
- Drink water or tea while you study to rehydrate you. It is known that using the brain uses energy and dehydrates the body, so not taking into enough liquids can affect your concentration. It may even make it harder to recall or retain the information you study. Shoot for having a glass of water every hour.
- Eat a healthy snack prior to studying. Since food–particularly fruit or vegetables which have natural sugar rather than a cup of caffeinated coffee–feeds the brain energy, you can focus better for intensive periods of time.
- Take breaks while you are studying. For instance, if you take a few minutes break after a 25-minute activity, the affect will be better on your brain retention. Or, resting five minutes each hour to walk around and stretch out, the movement you do will circulate the blood to the brain, making it better to recall what you studied. It will also keep your juices flowing to help you focus on more study time if you have an intensive 3-hour session, for example.
- Be sure to comprehend what you study. Do not memorize it, rather understand the meaning to apply it to your next practice and real exam.
- Ask a native coach or a peer who is fluent for help if you find something difficult.
- After you study, review again the next day to go over what you studied so you can recall the information within 24 hours.
- Take practice tests: you need to simulate exactly as the exam is on the test day, and there is no better way to get ready for a real TOEFL exam than taking practice tests on a regular basis. You will be able to learn the vocabulary language you need to be familiar with on the exam, and you will also familiarize yourself with the type of exam questions for each section and practice strategies that will help you be more comfortable and hence more confident on the actual exam day when you confront the real test.
- Participate in a study group or work with a native-speaker to get insight and feedback into your weaknesses to strengthen those. For example, if you have instructors, friends, peers, colleagues, or classmates who speak fluent English, join with them in a group to practice your language skills. It will help motivate you to study more often.
TOEFL
Tips for each TOEFL section
Reading
For the reading questions, focus on the areas that the questions relate to. The questions come in the order they appear. You should be ready for the kind of questions you will be asked. Many of the readings have a main idea question and at least two vocabulary questions are in each reading in addition to some detailed questions and inference questions. Skim the reading, go through the questions, then read for detail. You won’t have time to reread the entire passage. In the speaking and writing sections, you have to show that you have a good grammar ability, so be familiar with key academic vocabulary, but in the reading section, you do not have to know every single word in a passage to get the right answer to the questions. Practice reading with no dictionary.
Listening
On the real test, you will only hear everything one time, so you will need to simulate this and train your ears to listen fully the first and only time. When you are practicing for the listening sections, only play the listening ONCE. On the exam day, the clock will not start until you start the answers. Do NOT look at a listening question after you have decided on an answer since you cannot change it. Listen for main idea at the start, compare/contrast points, key points to support the main purpose and details such as when, where, how, and why.
Speaking
You can pause for a second when you respond. Try to fill as much of the time as possible with your speaking response. If you have a few extra seconds you can make a few second summary to conclude. You will have a lower score for poor pronunciation, so AVOID advanced words that you cannot pronounce correctly. Improper vocabulary and idioms also bring a lower score so be sure you know how to use an expression properly BEFORE you use it on the exam.
Writing
The first task in the writing section, you will need to integrate ideas from the reading and lecture and show their relationship, so study former practice tests and model essays, so you can know how to relate contrasting viewpoints on the same topic from different authors or a writer and a lecturer.
Keep your writing simple and clear! There is no spell check, so type accurately to avoid many typing errors. Do not use big vocabulary and advanced punctuation that you are not sure of.
Plan your essay before you write it. Your plan will save time so you have a well-organized writing. When you practice essays, find a format that you are comfortable writing. Use the same format/structure each time. For example, your thesis might always be in the third sentence of your introduction. You might always end your conclusion with a question. Make sure to use lots of examples to support your essay. Transitional words and phrases will make your writing easier to read. Memorize a list of transitions and know how to type them with no errors. At the end, leave a little time to revise what you wrote.
CONSULTSUS WRITING 