TOEFL Scholar

Congratulations on your high score! I don't know of any program where the difference between a 119 and a 120 would make a difference, so my advice would be to not worry about trying to get a perfect score. The speaking and writing sections are probably the hardest, but without a sample from you, it would be hard to diagnose your mistakes. Furthermore, it is quite possible that your mistakes a performance based not knowledge based (which would make it difficult to get that perfect score). In other words, you probably have no systematic errors. Instead, your errors probably come from random mistakes when you are giving your responses on test day. Therefore, it seems like there would not be much to "correct." However, if you want you can listen to TOEFL speaking responses that would have received a perfect score in order to compare your responses. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions!

Hi Kilani, I would recommend getting an Official Practice Test online from ETS. Most TOEFL prep books work hard to give create test materials that are similar, but nobody other than ETS can give your real practice tests. This option is even better than the practice materials in The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test because the book only comes with an audio CD whereas these tests are taken online through the browser which is more realistic. The reading and writing section of these tests are also graded. However, the speaking and writing sections are not really graded properly (nobody actually listens to or reads your responses). Instead, they attempt to do it through computer programs. However, to supplement materials for the TOEFL speaking section, you can visit the link and listen to sample responses that would have received high scores and you can download a list of TOEFL speaking topics to practice. Also, depending on how you do on your practice test, consider taking an online TOEFL course to help get the score you need. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions!

This is interesting. I recall reading that the majority of English business conversations are between non-native speakers! Now that ETS is including these accents, I wonder if they will one day include accents between non-native English speakers. Especially with so many foreign professors at universities, this might be a better way to gauge the ability of foreign students to handle the language demands of university.

Hi Dento, The good thing about your score is that you did really well on the speaking section which many students say is the hardest section! However, in order to move from a 67 to between 90-100, you will most likely need more than 10 days. I personally would recommend The Complete Guide to the TOEFL iBT by Bruce Rodgers because I think it does a great job breaking down each section by question type. I also think the book has some great advice. However, I also think you need to get some help with a TOEFL teacher to improve your writing score. It is hard to say without seeing a writing sample, but I suspect that we could improve your score a lot just by working on the way you organize your essay. Feel free to reply to this post with a TOEFL essay, and I will go over it with you to help you get a higher score. Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Hi, it really depends on what program you are applying to and what the score requirements are. From my experience preparing students for the TOEFL, I have found that writing is one of the easiest sections to help students on. Your score on the reading, listening, and speaking sections are telling me that you have a strong command of the English language. Most likely, you are scoring low on the writing section because of poor organization and not developing your main ideas. Thankfully, these are the easiest things to fix! Please feel free to send a sample of your writing so I can get a better idea of how I can help you get a better score. If you need a topics to write about, download a free list of TOEFL Writing Topics published by ETS. You can then return to this forum and post your essay and I will take a look at it and go over it with you. Let me know if you have anymore questions!

It is great to see everybody getting together to help each other! To get the most out of your study partner, make a promise to correct each other's mistakes. You will never get better if you don't know when you are making mistakes. Also, I noticed that someone purchased the 400 Vocabulary Words for the TOEFL. It would be a great idea to practice using the words with your study partner.

First of all, congratulations on getting such high scores! Just know that the TOEFL is difficult and even native speakers would not be able to get a perfect score. That being said, it is difficult to know exactly how you could improve without seeing a sample of your writing and listening to a sample of your speaking. Feel free to send me a writing sample and I will tell you how you can improve your score. As for a speaking sample, visit the TOEFL speaking section of my website and use the voice recorder to record a response to a open choice or paired choice question. I will listen to your response and provide you feedback on it. However, in general, in order to improve your score on the speaking and writing section on the TOEFL, you will need to practice with a native English speaking in order to receive feedback on your responses. Please let me know if you have any other questions as I am always eager to help!

I would recommend using the Complete Guide to the TOEFL Test iBT Edition by Bruce Rogers. I recommend this book to my students because I think it does a good job breaking each question type down into parts. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

Hi Albania, Based on your scores of your last test and the scores that you need, I would recommend enrolling in a TOEFL course or working with a private TOEFL tutor. You basically need to work on all of the sections (Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening). The best thing to do is pick up a book and start working through it every day. Personally, I recommend The Complete Guide to the TOEFL Test iBT edition by Bruce Rogers. Continue to do reading and listening practice through the book. The hard part will be the Speaking and Writing section because you will need somebody who is fluent in English and familiar with the TOEFL to give you feedback. If you can’t work with a TOEFL instructor, try posting your essays on the forums to be edited and try to find a speaking partner to help practice with you. Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck!

Great question! First, it is really important to organize your essay. Let’s do a quick outline together. Question: You are planning to study abroad. What do you think you will like and dislike about this experience? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support answer. Paragraph 1: Introduction Thesis/Organizational Statement: If I was studying abroad, I think I would the opportunity to visit historical sites, but I would dislike the food. Paragraph 2: Topic Sentence: I would like to visit historical sites. Example 1: Unique historical site/museums Explanation: London is older, has more history, different type of architecture, etc. Paragraph 3: Topic Sentence: However, I would dislike the food. Example 1: Thai Food vs. Western Food Explanation: Thai food is spicy, sweet, and sour/Western Food is tasteless etc. Paragraph 4: Conclusion So, to answer your question, your main ideas are the topic sentences in paragraph 2 and paragraph 3. Separating you main ideas means that you write about how you would like to visit historical sites when studying abroad ONLY in paragraph 2 and you talk about how you would dislike the food only in paragraph 3. The reason why this way is better is because it is easier for the reader to understand. In addition, it helps you stay focused and develop your ideas. This will lead to better writing and a higher TOEFL score. Please let me know if you have any questions. I would also invite you to revise your essay and submit it again so I can give you more feedback. Good luck!

Hi Arsha, I think you did a great job on your essay. You really did an excellent job providing a strong thesis/organizational statement at the end of your introduction. Below is a revised version of your essay. In general, be careful when using new words and phrases that you are not familiar with. It is great to try new things when you are practicing, but on the exam, stick to what you know and feel comfortable with. Also, I would recommend not using unnecessary words. For example, "To sum up briefly, we may come to the conclusion that children..." can be change to "In conclusion, children...." By doing this, your writing will be easier to understand and you will save time that you can use developing your ideas. Overall, great work and let me know if you have any questions! No wadays, the upbringing of children is one of the most controversial issues among psychologists. No one can ever deny the importance of teaching a child responsibility. In general, these heated debates may be divided into two lines of thought. While some people think that children from young ages should become financially responsible, others hold the opposite view (perhaps state the opposite view). However, when it comes to me, I disagree with the statement and believe that when adults become mature, they can account for they financials. I think that there are a lot of cogent reasons for this choice, but, the two most common reasons are children like to have everything that they see and adults start to think about how to manage their money at university. First, children tend to spend a great deal of money to obtain whatever they want regardless of its price. Children do not think about how they can manage their amount of money or how much money they can save. They just want to play and become cheerful with whatever they buy. This hypothesis is supported with research. Psychological studies -published in 2010 in medical journal- demonstrate that these ages are the most sensitive period of an individual. If parents limit them with the amount of money, they will grow up by the lack of something in their mind. This obstacle would cause serious depression when they become as old as their parents. (This seems to contradict your argument that children should not learn to manage their money when they are young) Thus, children do not have the ability to coordinate their expenditures. In addition, adults learn more about economy and finance during collage years. Children cannot manage and responsible for their money until they are taught how to carry out that. Adults in the age of 18 have a turning point in their life. They become mature, their minds become fully developed and they are ready for complex studies. In this period, one of the mandatory lessons which everybody should learn, is the finance lesson. In this introductory course, people learn how to handle their money. This means that they become familiar with simple principles and concepts of finance such as; income, expenses, interest rate, and so on. With the basic knowledge of economics, we can expect from adults to be financially responsible. In summary, children cannot become accountable at young ages. They lack information until college years and have the tendency to buy too many things. At the end, it is my hope that all the adults and children eventually may have charge of their financial issues in the not too distant future.

Thankfully, this is completely correct. It would be really hard if you had to listen to three lectures and then do all of the questions at the end. Make sure you do listening practice everyday. There are plenty of materials in TOEFL prep books and sources that you can listen to on the web like NPR.

I think it is a great idea to find a study partner to work with. The more chances you have to practice speaking, the better. If you are able to find a speaking partner make sure you ask them to give you feedback on your mistakes. Let them know that it will not hurt your feelings to be corrected.

I am a TOEFL instructor and I would recommend The Complete Guide to the TOEFL Test IBT Edition by Bruce Rodgers. The reason why I like this book is because I think it does a great job at focusing on each question type individually which I think is important.

I think you did a great job expressing you ideas and using transitions. Improving your TOEFL writing score from a 22 to a 28 is possible but will take a lot of practice. My best advice to you would be to organize and develop your ideas a little bit better. For instance, choose one thing that you would like, and then one thing you would dislike. Perhaps you would like experience new culture. You could talk about how you enjoy learning about new cultures and how you would learn a new culture abroad by living there. Next, you could talk about how would dislike new foods. You could talk about how you may be forced to try new food that you do not like etc. The key is to organize your answer by separating your main ideas. It helps if you use separate paragraphs with topic sentences. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.