TOEFL Test Tips and Techniques

OVERALL TEST TACTICS:

1. Learn the section directions now. Use the time saved during the test to work on questions.
2. Successful answers to the earliest questions in computer adaptive versions of the test
will lead to higher scores.
3. Do not write on any test booklet or materials.
4. Use the process of elimination to decide which answers are wrong.
5. In the computer adaptive section, Double check your work and answer before you click on the screen bubble. You cannot skip any question and you cannot go back after you've answered a question.
6. Answer every question, making educated guesses if you have to. Just try to eliminate one or more choices before guessing.
7. Don't spend too much time on any one question. You should spend only seconds on the easiest questions, and hesitate to spend more than 1/2 minute on even the hardest ones.
8. Practice, practice, practice!
9. Bring a watch to the test center. You can't be guaranteed that there'll be a working clock there.
10. Bring a couple of IDs to the test center. Make sure at least one of the pictures actually looks like you. Also bring any authorization voucher you may have received from the Educational Testing Service. SPECIFIC SECTIONAL STRATEGIES
SENTENCE COMPLETION:

1. If there is no main verb, you should first identify the 'subject' of the sentence.
Then, you can eliminate any choice that does not contain a conjugated verb.
Further, any selected conjugated verb must agree with the subject (in number and tense).
2. If there is no main subject, you should identify what the verb in the sentence is.
Then plug in the choices and verify that the one you select agrees with the verb.
3. Eliminate choices that contain extra words, especially pronouns, verbs, or modifiers.
4. If the sentence contains a main subject and a main verb, you should eliminate any choice
that is an incorrect part of speech, or does not agree in form, number, or tense
with the rest of the sentence.
5. If the sentence contains neither a main subject nor a main verb, you can eliminate any
choice that does not provide both a subject and a verb, and does not agree completely
with the remainder of the sentence.

WRITTEN EXPRESSION:

1. Learn about verb tense and agreement. Each verb must agree (in tense, form, number)
with the noun it references.
2. Observe whether a noun is singular or plural. Learn the most common 'collective' nouns (such as money, or audience, or amount) that refer to a group or quantity of things or people.
3. Learn about pronouns. They must agree with the noun they replace in number, case, and gender.
4. Recognize when a pronoun is required in a sentence.
Missing pronouns are a common error that may be seen in questions.
5. Learn also when a pronoun is not necessary.
Extra pronouns are often added after a noun in a sentence, as they sometimes are in other languages.
6. Be wary of questions that use a noun in place of a verb form; many words look very close to one another.
7. Be wary of questions that confuse an adjective for an adverb, or a noun for an adjective.
8. Items in a list or series must be in the same grammatical form.
This usually appears as a series of sentence elements separated by commas.
9. When a sentence indicates a quantity of a countable noun, you should use words like fewer or many or number.
10. When a sentence indicates a quantity of a noncountable noun, you should use words like much, amount, or less.
11. When comparing two items, use the -er ending for comparisons.
12. When comparing three or more items, use the -est ending for comparisons.
source :

TOEFL Essays

If you are going to take the TOEFL on computer, you will now have to write an essay. The score you receive will be part of your score. In other words, if you write well, you will be able to raise your score by writing a good essay. However, if your other scores are higher, then the writing section can lower your score.

Many people ask us how much their scores count. TOEFL says that the essay is worth about 1/6 of your total score. In other words:

1 essay point = about 10 points toward total score

For example, after you take your TOEFL, you will receive a score that has a range of something like 207-270. If you get a 1.0 on your essay, then your final score will be about 217. If you get a 5.0 on your essay, your final score will be about 260.

It is very important for students to practice writing these essays before they take the test. You should practice as many times as you can. In the beginning, you should concentrate on the form of the essay, i.e., try to make it good. As you get better, you need to focus more on the accuracy, i.e., try to watch your grammar, spelling and punctuation. Finally, you need to work on your speed. Many students are able to create good essays, but need an hour or more to do so. On the TOEFL you only have thirty minutes. You can check out the official TOEFL web site for more information. You should also download a copy of their essay topics. You will need a copy of the Acrobat Reader to view these documents. Practice writing on these topics. Sometimes, you will get lucky--many TestMagic students had already practiced the essay they had to write on the real TOEFL!!
source : http://www.testmagic.com/knowledge_base/toefl/Writing/index.htm

Free TOEFL Study on the Internet

Taking the TOEFL is a necessary step for any non US educated student wanting to study at a North American university. It is also increasingly required from other educational institutions throughout the world as well as a desired or mandatory job qualification.

While it is true that the TOEFL is an extremely difficult test there are a number of resources to help students prepare for the test. Luckily the Internet has an ever expanding treasure trove of study materials. Most of these areas require registration and payment however a number of the sites do offer some free services. If you are interested in taking the TOEFL it will probably be necessary to purchase some of these services. This guide shows you a number of the free services available on the Internet. By using this feature you can get an excellent headstart on your studies without paying a dime.
source: http://esl.about.com/cs/toefl/a/a_toefl.htm

TOEIC Strategy

The TOEIC LISTENING SECTIONS (4 parts) and a READING SECTIONS (3 parts) are quite different. In fact, the different parts of the READING SECTIONS are quite different from each other. The same goes for the LISTENING SECTION. But what are some good strategies that we can use to do well on the TOEIC exam? Here is a more detailed look:
LISTENING SECTION (100 Points)
PART I – Photos (20 Points) Test takers will be asked to look at pictures and choose the answer that corresponds to what they hear. This section is by far the easiest on the TOEIC. If you are not good at photos, you are in trouble. Concentrate on the subject of the sentence – is it an object or a person? Plural or singular? Many times on the TOEIC you can get the questions correct without knowing lots of specialized vocabulary. Let your MBA GLOBE professional TOEIC instructors take you through the Photos section. We know how to raise your score dramatically.
PART II – Questions / Response (30 Points) Test takers will be asked to listen to a question then choose the correct response. With MBA GLOBE's special TOEIC listening section methods, you will be able to raise your score to the level you need to be successful on the test. Part II requires a specific strategy that is particular to MBA GLOBE's TOEIC training program. Ask us more for details.
PART III – Short Conversations (30 Points) Test takers will be asked to listen to a very short dialogue or exchange then choose the correct response. One of the harder parts of the test. Keywords and time-management strategies are important here.
PART IV - Short Talks (20 Points) Test takers will be asked to listen to a long conversation lecture type talk then choose the correct response. This is probably the hardest section of the whole exam – lucky for you it's only worth 10 percent of the total score. The best strategy here is to manage your time carefully and listen for details.
READING SECTION (100 Points)
Grammar (60 Points)
PART V - Fill in Blank (40 Points) Test takers are asked to choose the right word to go in a blank space.
PART VI - Find Error (20 Points) Test takers are asked to find the error in the sentence.
For both PART V & PART VI, you will have to review the questions and their grammatical aspects with MBA GLOBE trained professional TOEIC test preparation specialists if you want to do well on these sections. Trying to do a grammar review on your own will only result in frustration, lost time or even worse.
Reading (40 Points)
PART VII - Reading Section (40 Points) Test takers are asked to answer questions about a reading passage. Students are encouraged to read as many TOEIC-type reading passages as they can and review them with MBA GLOBE's own TOEIC Reading Section specialists. Only by studying the TOEIC reading section using special MBA GLOBE Reading Skills improvement methods can you ever hope to succeed.
TOEIC is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS) , who does not endorse, nor is affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this web site.

source:http://www.parismba.com/ENG/toeic/toeic_strategy/index.htm

IELTS

Warning don't take the TOEIC exam until you read this.
10 score Killers that You NEED to know right away!
Discover How to Overcome them and get a GREAT SCORE!!!

TOEIC Secrets, Tips and Strategies Revealed - Part 1
This article is an excerpt from my free report which will available on the website for download shortly...

TOEIC Strategies Revealed
An Educational Supplementary by Mr. David Dalton

Hi, I really glad you decided to let me to share this valuable information with you. My name is David Dalton and before we get started I would like to take this opportunity not only say thanks but also to congratulate you. For what? Good question! for having the initiative and desire to succeed. Many other ESL students have no doubt seen the advertisements or received an email from friends or tutors inviting them to take advantage of this practical straightforward TOEIC report.

You did what many won't do - You took action!

I firmly believe that if you diligently apply yourself to the strategies laid out in this report, or anything in life for that matter, you will succeed. Now that you've already shown me that you're willing to do more than many I ask you now to go one step further. How? Simply exercise that attitude throughout the various exercises and strategies I set before you. Even if they seem trivial or tedious, please do yourself a favor and trust me. They work!

If you listen to my ANL (audio newsletter) then some of this information probably sounds familiar. If you don't already tune in I encourage you to check it out as each week I seek out ESL Experts and ask them the questions that me and my listeners want to know. Additionally, I take an in-depth look at important aspects of learning English as a second language and review many of the latest study aids available.

So let's get started...

Know thine enemy – two of the Top Ten Score-Killers

The First Score-Killer: Not using the language

Speak English! I do not say this as a joke or to be mean. Simply put to improve your TOEIC score you need to use the language. You must speak and listen to English as much as possible. You must set fear and pride aside and speak. Don't be afraid to talk, if someone doesn't understand you, no problem just repeat yourself.

Repetition is the foundation of learning.

I firmly believe that it's really important for you to hear English not only from others but even more importantly from yourself. You need to train yourself up in all things connected with the language including the mechanics of speaking.

Only repetition can do this so speak, speak, speak...

Decision Number 1

Our 1st decision is to speak, I want you to say this simple but powerful phrase to yourself each and every morning.

“Today I will speak English, maybe tomorrow I'll speak 'insert your language' but Today I speak English!”

Engage in conversations, listen to the news, both radio and television, and although it might seem rude, eaves drop on conversations of native speakers and even butt in with a question or a comment. I will go into this in much futher detail in upcoming articles.

The Second Score-Killer: Not finishing the test

Finish the Test! Time - “time is of the essence”

Time management is fundamental to achieving a high TOEIC score. Among the students I polled one thing that stands out is the inability to complete the test.

Decision Number 2

Our 2nd decision is “I will finish the test”

You must make a conscious decision that you will finish the test.

Since all questions are of equal value on the TOEIC, you cannot allow yourself to waste too much time on questions that you cannot solve within a reasonable amount of time. The question that is very difficult and time consuming for you is also the one your most likely to get wrong, so if you have to move on don't sweat it. Remembering our second decision “I will finish the test”.

Let's do some simple math.

Listening Comprehension

time = 45 minutes – questions = 100
time per/question? - 27 seconds

Reading

time = 75 minutes – questions = 100
time per/question? - 45 seconds

27 seconds! 45 seconds!! getting the picture!!!

Any question in which you use more than what is alloted for that segment you are borrowing time from the next question. The answer to your problem is simple do not go into time debt! If you allow a time debt to accumulate than you end up in two possible scenarios:

you don't finish and all remaining question are worth 0!
you make random selections and take your chances.

Neither of these are the way to a high score.

The order of the questions do not necessarily indicate the level of difficulty, put another way, the first questions are not necessarily simpler to answer than the last. This assumption can tempt you to want to read over everything first and answer the ones you know or feel are the easiest. This is completely natural, but you must not do this. Why? Because it can lead to a lower score as you will be using up your most precious commodity...time! This is an excellent strategy for testing that is not time sensitive, however you do not have the luxury of time on the TOEIC.

Well then, if I can't use too much time on difficult questions and I can't read ahead looking for easier ones to fill in then...what do I do? Good question, I glad you asked.

You need to implement two time management techniques:
What are they? check back tomorrow and I'll cover them in detail. So for now be sure to stick to your decisions.

Your 1st decision is “Today I will speak English, maybe tomorrow I'll speak 'insert your language' but Today I speak English!”

Your 2nd decision is “I will finish the test”

See you soon, Mr. D

David Dalton
Warning don't take the TOEIC exam until you read this. 10 score Killers that You NEED to know right away! How to Overcome them and get a GREAT SCORE! www.esltoronto.net manner. To find out more go to www.esltoronto.net

source : http://www.hampstead-english.ac.uk/en/courses/ielts/