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knok · 12-09-2006, 08:21 PM

Hi friends,

Who will take iBT one Dec 15, 3 pm.? I will take it at Tukwila, WA. I heard that the test center is not good. ETS moved me from Lakewood to this test center.

For the first 2 questions, since we have only 45 seconds to talk about, is it okay to give only one reason ?

I'll have a vacation for 3 weeks because Kaplan is remodeling but they put students to study in a construction site. Yesterday, I got a headache because of a new wet paint and untidy conditions in my classroom. The construction may be continued until the middle of Jaunary or longer than that. I asked the manager to find a place to study but he could not change it. During studying, I can hear "Tum, Tum, Tum" from the construction. Anyone who wants to start with Kaplan, please wait. I may register for another 4 weeks to finish 16 weeks. The TOEFL iBT course is about 16 weeks. Then, it will be repetitive. I think that finding a tutor is a better way to improve our score.Kaplan's teacher commented to me that my problem was all about timing. It is boring to study writing, reading, listening and vocabulary that youn already know.

Then, I will take the TOEFL iBT until April and if I cannot make it, I will stop taking it. It is a waste of time. FPGEE process is just another way to ruin my career.

It is obvious that ETS cannot give enough test date and proper justification of my English. There should be other ways of measuring our English such as IELTS or NABP offers its own speaking test. It is a chaos when we try to register for it repetitively. The graders of iBT should grade the test easier so that many people won't compete to register in a good test center.

I try to register for January but the ETS web site is down all the time. Does anyone know about the test center in Pallupya, WA ? Is it good or bad? I register for February 26 in Mountlake Terrace 7 p.m. That day I may have to sleep during the day and take the test at night. Last time, I fell asleep during the listening section when I took the test starting at 7 pm. Why does anyone say something about a stupid test time at 6 pm. or 7 pm.? This monopoly organization should not exist.

It seems that there are not many choices. Thank you and good luck.

Knok

Tseprep · 12-10-2006, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knok

Hi friends,

Who will take iBT one Dec 15, 3 pm.? I will take it at Tukwila, WA. I heard that the test center is not good. ETS moved me from Lakewood to this test center.

For the first 2 questions, since we have only 45 seconds to talk about, is it okay to give only one reason ?

I'll have a vacation for 3 weeks because Kaplan is remodeling but they put students to study in a construction site. Yesterday, I got a headache because of a new wet paint and untidy conditions in my classroom. The construction may be continued until the middle of Jaunary or longer than that. I asked the manager to find a place to study but he could not change it. During studying, I can hear "Tum, Tum, Tum" from the construction. Anyone who wants to start with Kaplan, please wait. I may register for another 4 weeks to finish 16 weeks. The TOEFL iBT course is about 16 weeks. Then, it will be repetitive. I think that finding a tutor is a better way to improve our score.Kaplan's teacher commented to me that my problem was all about timing. It is boring to study writing, reading, listening and vocabulary that youn already know.

Then, I will take the TOEFL iBT until April and if I cannot make it, I will stop taking it. It is a waste of time. FPGEE process is just another way to ruin my career.

It is obvious that ETS cannot give enough test date and proper justification of my English. There should be other ways of measuring our English such as IELTS or NABP offers its own speaking test. It is a chaos when we try to register for it repetitively. The graders of iBT should grade the test easier so that many people won't compete to register in a good test center.

I try to register for January but the ETS web site is down all the time. Does anyone know about the test center in Pallupya, WA ? Is it good or bad? I register for February 26 in Mountlake Terrace 7 p.m. That day I may have to sleep during the day and take the test at night. Last time, I fell asleep during the listening section when I took the test starting at 7 pm. Why does anyone say something about a stupid test time at 6 pm. or 7 pm.? This monopoly organization should not exist.

It seems that there are not many choices. Thank you and good luck.

Knok

Hey Knok,

Best wishes and good luck on Dec 15, Happy Holidays!

summar · 12-10-2006, 03:28 PM

Me too , i will take my ibt test on the 15th of Dec, and i don't know if i'm prepared for it or not ??!

Tino · 12-11-2006, 07:42 PM

Hey Knok, you seem to have the worst luck! I hope you can get your score this time.

I assume for the first two questions you mean the "independent speaking" task, where you are asked for your personal experience. These questions are the easiest in the sense that you only have to relate your personal experience, you do not need to answer based on the material given to you.

These questions are typically something like:
"If you could live anywhere, where would you live?"

There is no reason that you have to give two reasons. I never saw this strategy in any book, and never heard about it in any class. 45 seconds is short, so if you can fill 45 seconds with 1 reason, use one reason! If you talk fast and need 3 reasons, then use 3. They are only testing your English, they don't care about your reasons actually.

These tips are from the book Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL TEST, iBT: ISBN 0-13-195051-7 ----- the author, Deborah Phillips, is a world-wide know TOEFL expert. If you do not have this book, go get it. Personally I don't think Kaplan is that great for TOEFL. They focus more on SAT and GRE and GMAT prep for Americans, and English as a Second Language stuff is not their priority. Plus they are WAY too expensive. Just IMHO. Anyway, tips from the Longman book for the first 2 speaking questions:

1)Be familiar with the directions (of course!)
2) Dismiss the directions as soon as they come up to save some time
3) Read the question carefully and answer exactly as asked (part of the grade is whether you understand the question fully)
4) Organize your response very clearly
5) Use transitions
6) Stick with vocab, structure and grammar that you know. (now is not the time to show off something that you may not use correctly)
7) Speak slowly and distinctly. It is better to speak clearly so that you can be understood than to race through your response so that you will say more
8) Watch your time on the title bar of the computer screen.

My own tips:
1) Relax, ignore the rest of the test takers, and jump in to the answer.
2) If it helps, imagine a friend in front of you, and talk as if you are speaking to your friend
3) If you mess up or something, just keep going. Don't get reflective and start thinking backward about what happened. In natural speach we just speak automatically without thinking back constantly about what we just said. Free your mind and move forward. Don't look back, you can do that AFTER the test!

Good luck!

Tino

12-09-2006, 08:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
knok TestMagic Guru Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: USA Posts: 3,100	iBT on Dec 15, 2006 Hi friends, Who will take iBT one Dec 15, 3 pm.? I will take it at Tukwila, WA. I heard that the test center is not good. ETS moved me from Lakewood to this test center. For the first 2 questions, since we have only 45 seconds to talk about, is it okay to give only one reason ? I'll have a vacation for 3 weeks because Kaplan is remodeling but they put students to study in a construction site. Yesterday, I got a headache because of a new wet paint and untidy conditions in my classroom. The construction may be continued until the middle of Jaunary or longer than that. I asked the manager to find a place to study but he could not change it. During studying, I can hear "Tum, Tum, Tum" from the construction. Anyone who wants to start with Kaplan, please wait. I may register for another 4 weeks to finish 16 weeks. The TOEFL iBT course is about 16 weeks. Then, it will be repetitive. I think that finding a tutor is a better way to improve our score.Kaplan's teacher commented to me that my problem was all about timing. It is boring to study writing, reading, listening and vocabulary that youn already know. Then, I will take the TOEFL iBT until April and if I cannot make it, I will stop taking it. It is a waste of time. FPGEE process is just another way to ruin my career. It is obvious that ETS cannot give enough test date and proper justification of my English. There should be other ways of measuring our English such as IELTS or NABP offers its own speaking test. It is a chaos when we try to register for it repetitively. The graders of iBT should grade the test easier so that many people won't compete to register in a good test center. I try to register for January but the ETS web site is down all the time. Does anyone know about the test center in Pallupya, WA ? Is it good or bad? I register for February 26 in Mountlake Terrace 7 p.m. That day I may have to sleep during the day and take the test at night. Last time, I fell asleep during the listening section when I took the test starting at 7 pm. Why does anyone say something about a stupid test time at 6 pm. or 7 pm.? This monopoly organization should not exist. It seems that there are not many choices. Thank you and good luck. Knok Last edited by knok : 12-09-2006 at 08:38 PM.

12-11-2006, 07:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tino TestMagic Guru-in-Training Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 803	Hey Knok, you seem to have the worst luck! I hope you can get your score this time. I assume for the first two questions you mean the "independent speaking" task, where you are asked for your personal experience. These questions are the easiest in the sense that you only have to relate your personal experience, you do not need to answer based on the material given to you. These questions are typically something like: "If you could live anywhere, where would you live?" There is no reason that you have to give two reasons. I never saw this strategy in any book, and never heard about it in any class. 45 seconds is short, so if you can fill 45 seconds with 1 reason, use one reason! If you talk fast and need 3 reasons, then use 3. They are only testing your English, they don't care about your reasons actually. These tips are from the book Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL TEST, iBT: ISBN 0-13-195051-7 ----- the author, Deborah Phillips, is a world-wide know TOEFL expert. If you do not have this book, go get it. Personally I don't think Kaplan is that great for TOEFL. They focus more on SAT and GRE and GMAT prep for Americans, and English as a Second Language stuff is not their priority. Plus they are WAY too expensive. Just IMHO. Anyway, tips from the Longman book for the first 2 speaking questions: 1)Be familiar with the directions (of course!) 2) Dismiss the directions as soon as they come up to save some time 3) Read the question carefully and answer exactly as asked (part of the grade is whether you understand the question fully) 4) Organize your response very clearly 5) Use transitions 6) Stick with vocab, structure and grammar that you know. (now is not the time to show off something that you may not use correctly) 7) Speak slowly and distinctly. It is better to speak clearly so that you can be understood than to race through your response so that you will say more 8) Watch your time on the title bar of the computer screen. My own tips: 1) Relax, ignore the rest of the test takers, and jump in to the answer. 2) If it helps, imagine a friend in front of you, and talk as if you are speaking to your friend 3) If you mess up or something, just keep going. Don't get reflective and start thinking backward about what happened. In natural speach we just speak automatically without thinking back constantly about what we just said. Free your mind and move forward. Don't look back, you can do that AFTER the test! Good luck! Tino _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Housing for International Students in California

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12-10-2006, 03:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
summar Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 4	Me too , i will take my ibt test on the 15th of Dec, and i don't know if i'm prepared for it or not ??!

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