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.
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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

TOEFL iBT - Do You Need iBT English?

If you do need iBT English, then you realize that spelling is an important skill for the new TOEFL iBT.

Good spelling is paramount if you want to achieve an outstanding result on your TOEFL iBT Writing Test.

For course, some students studying for the TOEFL may have studied British English.

The spelling of certain words in British English is different than the words in American English.

In this case, it is important to know the American English spellings of words because the TOEFL is an American test.

For this reason, we have designed the following pages of spelling advice to help you achieve success on your TOEFL iBT Writing Test.

Our TOEFL spelling advice pages can be read on your computer monitor.

If you prefer, you can easily print them out instead. The perferct solution if you want printed reference materials!

more info : http://www.toeflibtcourse.com/need-ibt-english.htm

How to master Skills TOEFL iBT Advanced Grammar

Are you interested to Master Skills TOEFL iBT Advanced Grammar?

If yes,have you known the best place?

It goes without saying that having advanced grammar indicates that you have advanced English language skills in general.

And, it is natural that you want to do well on your TOEFL test. So, you may want to improve your TOEFL Grammar.

However, did you know that the TOEFL test covers American English grammar?

If you have studied British English, you will need to become aquainted with American English grammar for the TOEFL test.

Advanced American English Grammar is important for all sections for the new iBT TOEFL.

Excellent grammar skills are essential in order to comprehend the reading and listening passages on the new TOEFL.

Of course, you will also need advanced TOEFL grammar skills to excel on the writing portions of the TOEFL test.

That is because TOEFL examiners look for advanced grammar on both of your TOEFL essays.

But what about your speaking test on the new TOEFL? Yes . . . you will also need to have excellent grammar in order to achieve a high mark on the new test of TOEFL speaking.

So, why not start practicing your TOEFL grammar skills today?


more info :http://www.toeflibtcourse.com/mastering-skills-toefl-ibt-advanced.htm

TOEFL iBT - How to Prepare TSE Speaking Skills

Do you want to know more about TSE speaking skills? What is that? How to prepare it?

TSE stands for Test of Spoken English. The TSE portion of the test is associated with the old versions of the TOEFL, the CBT and PBT.

However, the new iBT speaking test is no longer called TSE. So the term TSE for relates to the older version of the exams.

The new iBT speaking test contains six separate tasks. You will wear a headset, and you will be asked to speak into the computer's microphone. This way, your spoken English is recorded for the test.

For each task, you will speak for 45 to 60 seconds.

You will speak in response to something you have read or listened to on the previous screen of the iBT test.

You will be given 15 to 30 minutes to prepare each spoken response. So the format is quite different than the TSE.

Our Practice Tests 1 and 2 for the iBT Course contain speaking tests that are similar in format and content to the actual TOEFL iBT.

In addition, our practice tests provide recorded examples of the spoken English language from high-level students. So you can listen to the example spoken response to see what is expected on you on your TOEFL exam day.

Please click on the links on the left-hand side of the screen to see FREE demonstrations of our practice tests.


more info :http://www.toeflibtcourse.com/toefl-tse.htm