sambosoul

Folks, I just got my TOEFL score yesterday, I achieved an overall score of 99 (R22/L21/S29/W27) I am happy and satisfied with this result as it meets the requirements of my desired universities (most of them require a score of 92). This is the best christmas gift I could have ever asked for :D Some additional information about my learning strategy: I just studied on the weekends for the last 4 months, but I did so intensively for 5-6 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. I used both the Kaplan iBT preparation software and the Cambridge software to get the experience of the real TOEFL test. Make sure that you use standardized speaking and writing templates. At the beginning of my journey, I thought "Yeah come on, you do not really need this to achieve a good score". But now I think, you do need it. I used templates for both speaking and writing and achieved a great score. In my opinion, that was not a fluke. Merry christmas to everyone :)

Hello Community, I thought it's my time to give something back to this wonderful community here. This week, I just got the first review of my independent writing task ever and I was totally surprised about the positive feedback. http://www.www.urch.com/forums/twe/135917-please-read-my-independent-writing-essay-1st-review-ever.html Therefore, I probably did something right in the way I prepare this writing task and I want to share my independent writing template with other TOEFL students. First, this template is probably nothing new to a lot of students. I am sure there are thousands of similar templates out there on the internet, but if just one student gains an advantage of it, it's already worth to write these lines. :encouragement: As Tino said in my review, personal experiences are very important to the score of your essay. Therefore, you should find two or three reasons to support/oppose the question, provide one or two examples and one personal experience. Question: The widespread use of the Internet has given people access to information on a level never experienced before. How does this increase in the availability of information influence life in today's world? Template: [TABLE] [TR] [TD]Reason 1:[/TD] [TD]faster and easier access to information[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Example 1: [/TD] [TD]wikipedia or other online literature[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Personal experience:[/TD] [TD]I used online literature (e.g. Harvard Business Review) during my bachelor thesis[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD]Reason 2: [/TD] [TD]better comparison and higher transparency [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Example 2: [/TD] [TD]ticket prices and hotel reviews [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Personal experience: [/TD] [TD]I like to read professional online magazine reviews before buying new technology gadgets. I like to check hotel prices and customer reviews before booking the room. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Personally, I think that this template is quite easy to learn and remember. Let's take a look at my essay now: In today's fast-moving world, the internet has become one of the most important ways how to access information about nearly anything a person wants to find out about. The internet gives the answer to nearly any question while offering a variety of services. The following paragraphs will point out how today's life is influenced by the vast availability of information on the internet. Firstly, the internet allows a faster and easier access to information that never before. Take, for example, a student who works on a class assignment or a research paper and needs to find appropriate information about his topic. The internet allows him to find proper online literature to get his work done in a time-efficient manner. Personally, I used a lot of online libraries as well as online literature when I worked on my bachelor thesis. Sources such as Harvard Business Review offer high-class research studies and quality-proven texts than I could use for my thesis. As a result, I could deliver a well-written thesis and I was rewarded with a very good grade. Secondly, the internet allows people to compare information such as prices or reviews, leading to a higher information transparency. For example, people can make a price comparison of the flight tickets and hotel rooms for the next holiday trip. Personally, I do a lot of price comparison on the internet, no matter if I want to go on holidays or just to get the cheapest deal on my next family gift. As a student, money does pay an important role and the internet helps me to cut expenses. Furthermore, I like to read customer reviews before I book a hotel room for my upcoming holiday trip. Or I always check reviews of independent online magazines about the newest technology gadgets in order to avoid any future disappointment. In summary, it can be said that the internet allows people to search for information faster and easier than ever before. Thanks to billions of internet users, information becomes ever transparent and reliable. Count: 337 words. That's it, my first little advice how to prepare your independent writing task essay. :encouragement:

Tino, Thank you so much for your review, I really appreciate it :encouragement: It's good to know that I am well-prepared to take and beat the TOEFL in mid-december. It's so difficult to get a valuable feedback about a writing essay since a lot of people are asking for a review here. Thanks again! You made my day! :apple:

no offense guys, but seriously...? 250 views and not a single comment? Come on, I've never gotten a feedback on a writing task before, I do not know whom I could ask else. Please give me a short feedback. Thank you.

Thanks for all the answers, I appreciate it. Just to make that clear, what's a prometric test center? I've never heard of that before. I have never taken a TOEFL test before, but I want to make sure that I behave appropriately during the test. I guess that it's allowed to ask the supervisor if I am allowed to use the scratch paper during the break, or?

Hi, Am I allowed to use the scratch paper during the break in order to prepare a structure for the following speaking section?

Hi guys, I've been studying for the TOEFL for ~ 7 weeks now while working full-time in my job. I've studied with the Kaplan IBT book as well as the Cambridge book. I did some practice tests with the Kaplan software and constantly achieved 22-24 in Reading and 22-23 in Listening. Today, I did practice test with the Cambridge preparation software (4th edition) and scored 21 in Reading and 21 in Listening. I think my performance is pretty consistent these days, now I want to raise my score... but I do not know how? I feel that my performance largely depends on the topics of the sections... I really hate marine biology topics or literature topics. Anyway, what can I do? I'm german, but I've been living and working in foreign countries for the last two years. These days, I work with british people in the office, so I do get enough speaking practice. Besides that, I watch english TV as well as read english things (mostly for work). Personally, my target is >79. I can beat it, but low 20s in each section do not leave room for any additional mistake... What can I do? Any help is appreciated. :)

Hi everybody, As I have been studying for the TOEFL for over 6 weeks, I'm currently trying to get some feedback on my independent writing essays. It is quite difficult for me to grade myself in the writing section, that's why I'm asking for some help here. I would appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on the following independent writing task. I've been practicing with the Kaplan software and I constantly get 22-23 points on reading and listening. But as I said, I hope to get some feedback on the writing task here :) Question: Success is only achieved by discipline and hard work. Answer: In today's fast-moving world, competition has become much harder, no matter in which part of a person's life, if it's in business or in private life. People are constantly looking for their best performance and trying to achieve both their personal and professional goals. Although discipline and hard work are major factors in the definition of success, I do not entirely agree with this statement, and the following arguments will point out the reasons for thinking so. Firstly, a successful person always needs a mentor. A mentor is a person who strongly supports another person in order to reach their targets and develop in both professional and personal areas. Without a mentor, it is much harder to get into the right positions that allows a successful career. Personally, I had a mentor when I was still studying in college. This person, the Managing Director, gave me the chance to work in an international company located in Bangkok, Thailand. Without this person, I would have never made it to this amazing place and therefore would have never had the chance to make those experiences. Secondly, a successful person also needs a fundamental social network. Knowing the right people at the right places is a major factor in order to climb up the career ladder in a short period of time. As a fact, this "Vitamin B" factor, combined with mentoring, is a crucial requirement to get successful in life. Interestingly, I also gained advantage from a social network. Fortunately, my mentor in Bangkok passed my CV to another Managing Director at another company site in Shanghai, China. Without this "Vitamin B", I wouldn't write these lines from my chinese home. In summary, it can be said that success is not only achieved through discipline and hard work. Although this personal attitude is a fundamental requirement, a supporting mentor as well as side effects such as social or business networks increase the chance to live a successful life. Thank you very much for your kind support. Any comment is highly appreciated :)