考友1: 107

Finally, I got it!
Hi All,,,
I've just received my TOEFL score this morning and proudly, I got 107 ...

I am so happy and wish you a the best,,,,
I will post some useful stuff I did that really helped me in the speaking section, because I used to get 23 ....

Good Luck to you all........................
Thanks Dacral,,here are the tips that I've learned.............

Well, I first took the exam in 2006 and did very well except for speaking 23, then I took the test 2 times in 2007 with the same score 23...I felt very upset and thought I would never make it...so I forgot all about TOEFL until this year and I know this is too late so do not do like me, u should never lose hope...any way...
I only signed up for the test 10 days earlier and this is when I started to practice so even if your test is very soon, you have plenty of time to practice....
I only did practice for the speaking part and a litte bit for the writing part...

For the speaking part...
I only watched videos posted on youtube..it is really a very great web site and has all what you need... i think that the narrator is just the same as the one in the real test so it is a great opportunity to know what to expect.... SO THANKS YOU TUBE AND ALL THE POPLE WHO POSTED USEFUL THINGS FOR US............
AND MOST IMPORTANT I found out that in order to get a high score in the speaking part...it is not enough that you are able to speak good english, I do!!!! and when I talk to people even native speakers, they think that I speak very good English but when it comes to the test, I used to get 23,,, now I realized that you need to answer in A CERTAIN FORMAT and once you practice, you will master speaking with this format without knowing that you actually do...

Here are some of the videos that I watched....
YouTube - TOEFL Speaking Improve your Score on Question 6
YouTube - TOEFL Speaking question 6 part 1 (4 samples)
YouTube - iBT TOEFL Speaking Questions 1 and 2 Tips
YouTube - iBT TOEFL Speaking Question 4 (3 Examples)
YouTube - TOEFL speaking question 5 part 2 (4 samples)
YouTube - TOEFL SPEAKING question 4 (3 samples)
YouTube - TOEFL SPEAKING question 4 part 2 (3 samples)

There are more vidoes on the right side of the page, you can see them too...
I practiced for about 5 hours a day, watching these video, learning the tips and then test my self by using a timer to read and prepare and then record my answer few times for each question to improve it..and when u listen to any of these videos, u need to listen to one question at a time and then answer it because some of these videos have 5 or more questions so do not try to listen to the answers,, you need to practice answering on your own before u listen to the sample answer posted.....
When u listen back to what you have recorded, then u will check if you have followed a certain format or not, did u say enough resoning, any grammatical mistakes, then u will pay attention with more practice.....

On a piece of paper, I wrote down the certain general format for each question, then I practiced using it when I watched these videos..........

Question One:
In my view,.................... for a few reasons, First,........................... for example (here, try to mention something personal from your previous experience, if you can't REMEBER: FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT,,yes, us imagination)
Second,..............................for example......................................That' s why .......

if you think that the question does not fit in this beginning sentence (In my view..) at least you still need to mention two reasons,,,

Question TWO:
I experienced a new format (do you agree or disagree with the following statement....)

You need to start by stating your opinion clearly ( I agree that ..................... or I disagree that................ for the the following reasons, first, ............................. for example........., second,............................... for example............... that's why I agree/disagree that........)

for example. do u agree that people should wait until they become above 30 years old before getting married (I just made this question up, but you would expect similar general topics)

Sample answer: I do agree that people should wait until they become above 30 years old before getting married for the following reasons; first, younger people are not yet ready. for example, they need to finish their study and get a stable job, otherwise they won't be able to afford their kids needs financialy and emotionally. Second, people need to be mature to able to stabilize their marriage, for example, those who get married at youger age tend to fight more often which may raise divorce rate

Question Three
Usually reading text about certain school ad, then listening to a conversation between two students,,the question is about the ad and what was the Man's/woman's opinion and why?

Simply read the text in 45 seconds (I don't write any thing until I finish reading, u want to make sure that u have read it all..this one is easy to remember so do not worry if u did not have time to write down any notes) but for the listening part, u need to write down simple notes while listening:

woman/man likes/dislikes
reasons: 1st.................... ex...............
2nd................... ex..............

When u speak, You need to start like this:

The school ad is about ........... The woman/man likes/dislikes the idea for the following reasons, first, she/he thinks that.........for example....., second or she/he also thinks that....... for example......... that's why she/he........

IN ALL QUESTIONS: PAY ATTENTION TO THE GRAMMER, IF YOU USE PRESENT TENSE, THEN KEEP USING IT, IF YOU USE PAST TENSE, THEN KEEP USING IT

I feel tired but I will continue for the other questions in my next post.....let me know what you think about what I have posted and I will be happy to answer any questions except if u ask me about what were the real questions that we had in the test as u all know, we are not allowed to.....
Good Luck to you all
I found the Longman's book to be most helpful, that's the one we used in the prep course. The CD is also fine, the complete tests felt closest to what I actually got on the exam. I also used the official TOEFL book, but only the CD, I didn't have time to go through the book itself.

My recommendations (worked for me, try out if they would help you when you prepare):

Reading: scroll through the text first, don't waste more than 1,5 - 2 min on that. Don't try to understand what it's all about, it's just to get a general idea of the text. On the prep course we were told to do the easiest questions first (1. vocabulary and reference; 2. inserting a sentence, simplifying a sentence; ...; leave the summary table last)

Listening: notes are the most important. Keep them as detailed as possible. When practicing, it wouldn't be bad to try to do as much listening stimuli as you can in one try (on the test you'll have 9, a full hour and a half)

Speaking: don't really know how to help here regarding how to come up with what you'll say  For the independent part, keep in mind that your replies don't have to be intelligent or even true, it's just about keeping a (more or less) clear structure. For integrated parts, don't try to say everything you heard/read because you don't have the time. Leave enough room for your opinion when asked about it (around 10 sec).

Writing: you can even write more than what's recommended (it was not my intention to write more than 150-225 or 300 words, I just couldn't stop myself ) If reading and listening contradict each other, write in that way too, turning arguments for/against sth into separate paragraphs. Structure is the keyword. In the independent part, it's also about giving some examples. Be descriptive when supporting an idea.

About the prep course: my guess is in each country there is an institution that deals with it, in my case it's the same institution where I took the TOEFL test, and they also assist with scholarships. Ask around....

Hope this helps! 

116/120 - September 25 - Here is what I did.
Just received my TOEFL IBT scores for the 25th of September test date.

116/120 with 29 Reading / 30 Listening / 28 Speaking / 29 Writing

This was my first attempt and I was quite nervous and I wouldn't have expected such high scores not in my wildest dreams, but here I am, almost maxing out the TOEFL on the first try.

I remember what I wanted to know before taking the TOEFL about other people and not the test itself.

I'm a 21 year old male from Romania, I never took private English lessons or any sort of English tutoring, all my English language skills come from school, highs school but more importantly the internet, films, books and music.

I have never travelled to England or any other English speaking country. I have never talked to an native English speaking person face to face, just over the internet a few times (mostly in on-line games).

How I prepared:

Time it took me: exactly 3 weeks.
Organization: created a .txt file on my Desktop named TOEFL which had a schedule for what I will be doing each day of the training:

i.e - Day 3: YouTube movies - learn basic format of the test + 20 minutes of listening to an English podcast + read out loud 3 articles on scientificamerican.com
Day 4: TEST: 1x Listening, 1x Reading (I used Barron's TOEFL software, not the books, not the audio, just the software, it's the best).

Materials: Barron's software (I tried Longman, Kaplan, Cambridge - rubbish, Barron is the best) - you can buy it or steal it from the torrents, your choice.

Audio recordings (files with two students talking or lectures in English)

Podcasts in English

Scientific articles from scientificamerican.com (read out loud)

Installed extensions to Google Chrome: After the Deadline - Checks spelling and grammar, and Dictionary - very useful - make sure you check every word unknown to you, or even the ones you already know but not fully understand, you might learn synonyms that way.

I uploaded to my phone some audio recordings and kept listening while I was doing something else: i.e driving, eating, thinking about the immortality of the soul.

Whenever I didn't feel like studying, and felt like watching a film, I made sure the film was in English and with no subtitles, or better yet, English film with English subtitles.

I asked a friend to talk with me ONLY in English for 3 weeks, my best friend, so wherever we went, we talked English, this is kinda tricky but this helped me more than anything.

Other things I did: I practised note-taking intensively, I practised paraphrasing and I learned new idioms I didn't already knew. I also made sure I know the format of the TOEFL IBT 100% accurate.

I practised the speaking section on YouTube doing the questions there, as well as the ones included in the Barron's TOEFL IBT Software.

I made sure I went to bed at 22:00 before the test day, I made sure I ate a hefty breakfast, I made sure I satisfied all my needs (coffee, smoke, bathroom). This is important.

I made sure my mouth wouldn't be dry before speaking section.

This are all small things maybe but they got me trough it.
One more thing: it may seem like much, but believe me if you organize them in such a manner I did you will spend about 45 minutes each day for 3 weeks in front of your computer doing each thing. I usually sat down at the computer, did what I usually do, did what I had to do for the test, like 45-50 minutes interruption and then got back at what I did previously.

Two more important things: I kept 2 of the Barron's Software TEST untouched until 2 days before the test, and did one FULL test each day for the last two days. True, it took me about 4 hours for each test, but the last two days are important, make sure you behave the way you would behave in the actual test (no interruptions, no thinking at food, no talking to anyone, no TV no anything, just like your room becomes the test room). This gave me confidence.

I wish you all the best, and I wish you all succeed like I did.
Petras I. Florin.