rainy_cloud Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Hi all, I had this posted in" just finished TOEFL" but I posted here again to share it may be in a better way... 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 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:tup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musbah Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 congratulation for your high score, and thanks for submitting help. wish you the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacral Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Thanks again, Rainy-cloud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 Hi Sorry because I wanted to reply to your message you sent me but I couldn't so I am going to try again....congratulation for your high score, and thanks for submitting help. wish you the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musbah Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 (edited) thanks for attention! Edited May 25, 2010 by Musbah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted May 25, 2010 Author Share Posted May 25, 2010 OKay, sorry that it took me few days to continue but I was a litte bit busy....Any way... For Question number four: You have 45 seconds to read certain passage then a lecture to listen to..for me, I find it difficult to read and take notes in 45 second so again I read first until the end then write if i have any time left, in this one, it is more difficut than Q3 because that one is realtively easier if you did not take notes while reading but this one you need to write down the main word and simple definition from what you have read..try to practice!!! (when you take notes, divide the paper into two columns first one summarize reading, second one for listening) I found this video very useful.. which directs you to this web site: NOTEFULL. I practiced how you need to formualte the answer and make sure that I ponited to what the passage is about and then CLEARLY pointed to what the lecture is about.... In the above web site,, they have suggested certain sentences to begin with which I found very useful... (step 1) The article talks about . . . (step 2) which the passage describes as . . . (step 3) The lecture provides an example of . . . to illustrate this. (step 4) The professor explains that . . . He states that . . . By the way, I did not buy any material over the internet, I only watched free stuff..so do not try to buy things if you have short period of time before the test especially if your score is close to 26 then you only need to work on improvements..... Question number Five: I think this question is not bad compared to other questions..... it contains a conversation between two students discussing certain problem, when you take notes ..write what the problem is and then they usually have two solutions for it, write them down..... then they ask you to describe the problem, what the solutions are, and which one you would choose and why? Start like this: The woman's /man's problem is .......... (The two solutions that have been suggested are: first,................. second...........................) or you can say ( the man/woman suggests that she/he can ................ or ..................................) for me, I would choose the first/second solution because I think that.......................... and .....................( try to mention 2 reasons why you would pick one solution over the other) Question Six: It has a lecture to listen to that talks about main topic and subtopics with examples..... I learned a lot from this video... YouTube - TOEFL Speaking Improve your Score on Question 6 then apply what you learned by practicing with more videos such as Hope that was useful for you guys....and good luck to you all...... By the way, I have a problem regarding replying to private messages ..I can not reply to any so if any one had ever faced similar problem, please help me with this,,,, So for thoose who e-mailed me.... Regarding the reading section: last question... well, for me I never read the whole passage, I want to use my time to start answering the questions and by doing so, I read the passage at the same time, so once the passage pops infront of me, I scroll down until the end to let me go to the first question..so when it comes to the last question (I do not really like this one) but I read each one and try to see if it is familiar to what I have read or not,, some time, you feel that you did not hear about this information, some time, it is a very minor one or is the opposite ,,some time, I have to go with my best guess... now I see that it is not only summary, some time they let you match things with two groups they mentined and I find this one easier than the summary.... Hope that was useful..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacral Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Thank you for your time and suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 you're welcome Dacral... and good luck ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginie Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Hi Rainy-cloud, Congratulations for your success! Thank you for sharing your experience, your posts are definitely very useful. Thanks again and all the best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musbah Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Hi again whats the best way of getting notes through the speaking section! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted May 27, 2010 Author Share Posted May 27, 2010 Thanks Virginie for your comments....:) and Musbah, here is my advice when taking notes.......... You need to take notes while listening, but remember, you do not have time to write down every thing!! remember it is note-taking (when you practice, you can evaluate your notes if they were enough for the answer) and the most imposrtant is to have organized way for note-taking... if you don't, then it would be very difficult to refer to them while answering the question since you only have short time to prepare your answer.... Also, using arrows (for example when you refer to types) and abbreviations (such as ex. for example), will help you saving time. Also, when you practice, you can develop your own abbreviations as long as you know what they mean.. remember no one will read your notes so you can write any thing that you only care for... for me, some time, if I got a new word that I am not sure how to write down, at least I tried to write it in a way that I can pronounce it afterward or some time I would choose writing down in my native language if I feel I dont have time...you can always do what it suits you... If there are reading and istening passages for the same question, I used to make a line in the middle of the page, on the right side, I wrote down notes from the reading and on the left side, I wrote down notes from the listening.... Hope that was easy to follow...any questions??? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musbah Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 and Musbah, here is my advice when taking notes.......... You need to take notes while listening, but remember, you do not have time to write down every thing!! remember it is note-taking (when you practice, you can evaluate your notes if they were enough for the answer) and the most important is to have organized way for note-taking... if you don't, then it would be very difficult to refer to them while answering the question since you only have short time to prepare your answer.... Also, using arrows (for example when you refer to types) and abbreviations (such as ex. for example), will help you saving time. Also, when you practice, you can develop your own abbreviations as long as you know what they mean.. remember no one will read your notes so you can write any thing that you only care for... for me, some time, if I got a new word that I am not sure how to write down, at least I tried to write it in a way that I can pronounce it afterward or some time I would choose writing down in my native language if I feel I dont have time...you can always do what it suits you... If there are reading and listening passages for the same question, I used to make a line in the middle of the page, on the right side, I wrote down notes from the reading and on the left side, I wrote down notes from the listening.... this is the answer I was waiting for thank you sweet! but in the reading passage of questions 3 and 4, I think the 45 seconed will just be enough for reading the whole text not more, there still no further enough time to write any note. what we are to do in such acase? is comprehending the general ideas in the fast reading will be enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted May 27, 2010 Author Share Posted May 27, 2010 I like to read the whole thing before writing to make sure that I have read everything........ well, in Q#3, 45 seconds are enough to read and take notes,,,because it is usually about certain school announcement so it is relatively easy one even if you don't take notes, you can remember what you have read... But in Q#4, 45 second are just enough to read the passage especially if it is about something that is not familiar to you..so read first the whole thing and even if the 45 seconds are over, start writing few notes while the narrator says: NOW listen to a part of a lecture.... (since you know what the narrator will say before the lecture starts) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musbah Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 I do agree ... thank you in advance wish you the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amuri311 Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 Hi, thak you very the helpful tips. Do you have any advice how to deal with writing? Thnk you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LishaD Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 I want to know if you can use "they" instead of "she or he" or "she/he" when speaking or writing an essay? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 if the question asks about one person, then you have to use he or she not they... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LishaD Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 thanks Rainy so helpful. Just took the test. How do you answer when the speaking no. 1 question is negative such as "Tell me why you dislike this forum?" instead of " which do you prefer. Reading posts on the forum or finding out things from the book?" I just made it up but that is just for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 well, I can answer like this... ( this is only an example, but it is not really true:p "In my opinion, I dislike this froum for a few reasons, first, I find it disorganized, for example, it takes me so much time to find ceratin topics that I am interested in. Second, it has limited features for its members, for example, it does not allow us to receive e-mails from each other or use chat as a way to communicate. That's why I dislike this forum." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amuri311 Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Hi, can you please tell us about any useful information for passing the integrated writing . Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musbah Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 I want to know if you can use "they" instead of "she or he" or "she/he" when speaking or writing an essay? thanks Hi! I have a similar problem, but to use the Plural pronoun for singular reference will not solve it any more. the Problem is that, when I have to refer for a singular person in the Writing practice, I find my self covering the essay with -he/she- or -his/her-, the repetition of this expression for a lot times when referring for the singular get me angry and lower the quality of my essay. how to deal with this problem in a case which minimizes using that expression for a lot of times, or a pronoun which can refer for both the singular M or F at the same time. I don't know if my question is clear or not! thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LishaD Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 wow. That's good. Thanks! In my case I wasn't expecting a negative question so I was blank in coming up with answer such as why I dislike about this and that... difficult to imagine and fake something that you don't dislike. So I used the thing I like with a negative answer and didn't work. well, I can answer like this... ( this is only an example, but it is not really true:p "In my opinion, I dislike this froum for a few reasons, first, I find it disorganized, for example, it takes me so much time to find ceratin topics that I am interested in. Second, it has limited features for its members, for example, it does not allow us to receive e-mails from each other or use chat as a way to communicate. That's why I dislike this forum." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivona Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 Hi rainy cloud! I'm keep receiving the same score as you before..23!!! Have you ever tried to send for rescoring with this amount of points??? Is it worth trying or I'll just waist my money? Anyone??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted June 17, 2010 Author Share Posted June 17, 2010 Hi rainy cloud! I'm keep receiving the same score as you before..23!!! Have you ever tried to send for rescoring with this amount of points??? Is it worth trying or I'll just waist my money? Anyone??? Hi Ivona,,, I never asked for rescoring,,but I regret not doing it at least one time to see if there would be any change,,especially one time I did much better than the test before because I missed one question but still got the same score so I felt it did not make any sense ... But honestly, I do not feel that my English got better than before.. that time I used to live in US and I pacticed English much better than now,,, the key is that I payed more attention to the way that you need to answer each question and that made the difference so believe in your self and in your language skills because I am sure that you speak very good and practice more to be more relaxed and sound natural when you speak.... One advice I learned that when you start answering any question, start with a SMILE :) on your face and that helps you to relax and sound natural and it worked,,try it :grad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainy_cloud Posted June 17, 2010 Author Share Posted June 17, 2010 wow. That's good. Thanks! In my case I wasn't expecting a negative question so I was blank in coming up with answer such as why I dislike about this and that... difficult to imagine and fake something that you don't dislike. So I used the thing I like with a negative answer and didn't work. I know this feeling and I experienced it my self and I felt it was difficult to imagine something you do not like when you actually have the opposite feeling ...but try to keep things simple and try to practice how to fake things... One time, when I practiced with american friend, he asked me about a problem I faced and how I solved it..you know I started saying that I had a fight with my husband and .... so he smiled and said you can simply imagine that one time you had a flat tire when you were out of town, and some body stopped to help you and... so I felt that I need to think simple thoughts to make it easy on my self:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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