New to toefl ~ ! How can I start studying??

[farhan]

Hello!

i am new in toefl someone help me how can i begin my tofel preperation . And which book i use.

bye

thanks in advance

 

 

 

Edited by - farhan on 01/27/2002 12:03:13

[Erin]

Hi, farhan,

 

Of course we think the best way to prepare is to study with us at TestMagic. However, if that is not possible, we can recommend the following study plan.

 

One of the best ways to prepare for the test will be to receive our practice questions via e-mail. To do this, just go to:

 

http://www.TestMagic.com/FreeStuff/newsletter.htm

 

The first thing for you would be to get some good books and prepare yourself for the test. If you are not really familiar with the test, the most important thing to do is become familiar with the test. The best way to do this is to practice, practice, practice.

 

To practice, you need to get copies of the REAL ETS tests. Since the TOEFL changes a lot with time, you should get the latest materials. Right now, the newest publication that ETS has is the TOEFL Preparation Kit. It has six tests with tapes and a short computer TOEFL test on CD-ROM. These paper tests will help you, but they are different from the new TOEFL. You can go to:

 

http://www.TestMagic.com/Knowledge_Base/book_recommendations.htm

 

for a list of recommended books and software to help you study. You can click on the links to buy the books from Amazon.com. Amazon.com is the best place to buy your books if you are not in the United States; TestMagic does NOT ship books to outside the United States. You should check with Amazon.com for how to order and pay for your books.

 

Since you will take the test on computer, you really need to practice the computer test. It is very different from the paper test! It has several types of questions that are not on the paper test--for example, you are required to write an essay on the computer test; in the reading section, you will have to add a sentence to a passage in the best location; and the listening section is *much* harder than it was before. TestMagic has a computer program with over 1,000 questions at TestMagic for our students to use and practice with. It is excellent! This program is very hard, but TestMagic has it.

 

Preparation courses are also helpful. You should make sure that your teacher is familiar with the TOEFL and can answer your questions in a way that you can understand. Ask the school to observe a class before you sign up. If you are in San Francisco, we would be happy to help you get your score!

 

Here are some things that we would teach you at TestMagic:

 

We focus on your score only. What does that mean? It means that we will teach you all the tricks, strategies and patterns for the TOEFL, and only for the TOEFL. In other words, we will NOT waste your time with things that are not related to the TOEFL. Many American teachers waste time talking about things that are not related to the TOEFL--for example, the focus on pronunciation, make you read the newspaper, or show a video in class; things that are not directly related to the TOEFL. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we can show you lots of tricks to raise your score.

 

Here's a TestMagic tip:

 

When you see these answer choices on the Structure section...

 

A) to evolve

B) evolving

C) evolved

D) was evolved

 

...90% of the time, the answer is either:

 

B) evolving

C) evolved

 

because TOEFL is testing active voice (-ing form) or passive voice (-ed form). In other words, when you see both the -ed form and the -ing form in a set of answer choices, the answer is probably one of the two.

 

We have lots of strategies like this. We have some other strategies for the Listening and Reading Sections as well. We will teach you what kinds of topics you will almost always hear and what kinds of answers are usually correct. In other words, we will show you how to guess the correct answer even if you don't know the answer (this is most helpful for the listening section when you didn't understand or the reading section when the passage is too difficult). We call this TestMagic Intelligent Guessing.

 

Finally, you should take every chance you have to study, read and practice your English. I think one of the most important parts of preparing for the test is reading and learning vocabulary. Most people don't do this. Reading is the backbone of language learning--it's like learning Tai Chi to improve your Tae Kwon Do, or jumping rope to improve your boxing.

 

I think that's about it. I hope this information has been helpful to you.

 

Hope that helps!!

 

Please post here if you have any more questions!!

 

Erin

 

Erin Billy

TestMagic.com

San Francisco, CA USA

[farhan]

hello!

thanks erin for co-operation

I am thankful for u if u give me ur msn address.I will be talking u there.

thanks in advance

 

farhan

 

i am the best

[Erin]

Hey there farhan,

 

I don't use any of those instant messaging things; no time!

[tasneemshaikh]

Hi erin .this is tasneem.

I have My toefl iBT next mnth,

My question is that in speaking section toefl iBT ,are thing n question are same as in TSE question? Like as previously there used to come stories ,n graphs n we had to speak about them .Are these kind of question included in speaking section of new toefl iBT.

ill be waitng to hear from u about it .Thanks.

tasneem.:(