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TOEFL speaking and writing transitions: Stay organized; make clear connections of ideas; and make it easy for others to understand. If you can show clear connections of your speaking and writing tasks, you will be able to score much higher on the speaking and writing sections of the exam. So,  how do you organize ideas in a way that will help you get a higher TOEFL score?

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Using transition words

Transition words such as “moreover,” “however,” “therefore,” “similarly,” and so on can be used to connect ideas from one sentence to another or from one paragraph to another. Transition words are used to explain connections between two important points.

Transition word from one sentence to another: The reading passage explains three theories regarding child language learning. However, the speaker in the listening passage casts doubt on each of these theories.

Transition words in a paragraph:  First of all, the author in the reading passages argues that the imitation theory accurately explains how children learn languages.  According to this theory, children learn by imitating words that they hear from adults. Therefore, at least some language, argues the author, must be learned in this way. However, the speaker casts doubt on this theory.  According to him, children often use words that they have not heard before. For instance, a child who calls his father “lady da da” is using words that she has not heard before. Thus, the speaker concludes the imitation theory does not explain how children learn languages in these types of situations.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Including prepositions

Prepositions such as “due to,” “because of,” “in addition to,” despite,” “in spite of,” “next to,” “beside,” and so on can be used to connect ideas together within sentences.

Due to: Due to the rain, the soccer game was cancelled.

Because of: Because of the recession, thousands of workers were unemployed.

In addition to:  In addition to the imitation theory of child language acquisition, the speaker discusses how children can be reinforced or praised when speaking correctly and how they can be corrected or punished when speaking incorrectly.

Despite: Despite the rain, the soccer game was not postponed.

In spite of: In spite of spending less money on education per student, Singapore’s students outperform those in the United States in science and mathematics.

Next to: Next to the San Bernardino Mountains lies California State University, San Bernardino.

Beside:  Tomas makes sure that his alarm is beside his bed every night.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Writing with coordinators

Coordinators such as “and,” “but,” “so,” “or,” “yet,” “for,” and “so” are used to connect two independent clauses (main ideas).

And: The author in the reading passage explains three benefits of reducing taxes in the United States economy, and the speaker in the lecture casts doubt on each of those claims.

But: The author suggests that reducing taxes will encourage consumers to spend more, but the speaker in the lecture claims that lowering taxes will cause the Federal deficit to balloon out of control.

So: According to the speaker in the reading passage, animals sometimes change the color of their coats, so the predators trying the eat them will have difficulty seeing them.

Or: Kentaro had better register to take the TOEFL iBT, or he will not have enough time to submit his university application.

Yet: Su Jen likes dancing whenever she has free time, yet I have not seen her dance recently.

For: Animals being able to blend in with their environments, argues the author, makes it easier for them to avoid confrontation with predators, for these hungry beasts will attack anything that they can easily spot.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Using subordinators

Subordinating conjunctions are used to connect dependent clauses (support ideas) to independent clauses. Noun, adjective, and adverb clauses are three types of dependent clauses.

Noun clauses:  That the moon appears larger on the horizon than it does overhead is merely an optional illusion.

Adjective clauses: Earth, which is the third planet from the Sun, supports life so long as it doesn’t suffer irreversible damage from human activities.

Adverb clauses:  Although global warming is partly a result of naturally-occurring factors, our current warming trends, asserts the speaker in the lecture,  is mostly due to human interventions.

Make a special effort to use these dependent clauses as you do your speaking and writing practice.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Transitional sentences/topic sentences

Using transitional sentences can link one paragraph to another. “In addition to,” “like,” “similar to” are phrases used to link old and new information together.

In addition to: In addition to honesty and respect, a good roommate should also be clean.

Similar to: Similar to hurricanes, tornados can cause massive destruction on coastal and inland communities.

Like: Like the house of representatives, the United States senate can create laws for the president to approve or disapprove.

Understanding and using these types of transitional sentences are not only important to the speaking and writing sections. Recognizing these types of transitional sentences will also help you perform better on the reading and listening sections of the exam.

In reading and listening passages, these transitional expressions refer back to information already mentioned. It may even refer to information that may be implied.  Remember that the transitional part of the sentence “In addition to working well in groups and completing job tasks in a timely manner,” will refer back to something already mentioned or implied. Then the independent clause or main part of the sentence will introduce the new topic of the paragraph:  “A good worker should have sufficient knowledge and training in his career.”

“In addition to working well in groups and completing job tasks in a timely manner,” refers back to the key points of working well in groups and completing job tasks quickly, which were two topics previously discussed.

“A good worker should have sufficient knowledge and training in his career,” since this idea is framed in the independent clause, introduces the new topic of this paragraph or listening segment.

Listening Example Question about transitions/main ideas.

Listening to part of a lecture in a Geography class:

What was the topic of the previous lecture?

A.  India’s declining economic forces

B. World population trends

C. China’s population demographics

D. Chinese economic policies

Since the speaker uses the words “Like China” and since the speaker talks about India’s large population base in the main part of the sentence, it can be inferred that answer choice “C” is correct.

What is the topic of the new lecture?

A. India’s population trends

B. China’s population statistics

C. Economic policies of China and India

D. India’s innovative agriculture

Since the speaker uses the key words “India…country…enormous…population,” in the main part of the sentence, answer choice “A” is correct.

Reading Example Question about transitions/main ideas.

Long distance running is another cardiovascular sport in which athletes stretch the cardiac tissue of the heart through continuous exercise.  As runners run from one mile to the next, their hearts pump blood through the body.  The blood eventually gets pumped to the muscles where the mitochondria, or powerful cells, use that blood for energy. This energy helps the muscles to contract during movements, thus allowing runners to stay moving for longer distances without stopping.  To facilitate these movements, to improve the quality of the blood, and to help make the best use of the oxygen taken into their bodies, runners need to eat food conducive to helping them stay active.

1.What was the previous topic before this paragraph?

A. Disadvantages of long distance running

B. A different form of exercise

C. Stretching and flexibility exercises

D. World class athletes

Since the author uses the words “another cardiovascular sport” in the first line, it can be inferred that answer choice “B” is correct.

2.What is the main idea of this paragraph?

A. Athletic competition

B. Blood flow

C. Muscle movements

D. Long distance running physiology

Since the author uses the words “long distance running” in the first line and since the paragraphs talks about what happens to the body when it is running, answer choice “D” is correct.

3.What topic will the author most likely discuss next?

A. Oxygen tanks

B. Blood donors

C. Nutritious food for runners

D. Improving the longevity of long distance runners

Near the end of the passage, the author mentions that “runners need to eat food” which helps them to keep moving, so it can be inferred that the best answer is “C.”

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Repeating key words/synonyms

Repeating key words or using synonyms can help to transition from one idea to the next.  Notice how in the below essay how the writer repeats words and uses synonyms of the key words from the thesis.

Sample writing prompt: What change about your country would most benefit its citizens.  Use examples and reasons to support your point of view.

All countries want to help their citizens reach their full potential.  Citizens who earn middle class or upper class incomes will be able to pay taxes to help build their infrastructures such as building roads, schools, and other public building. Therefore, countries provide educational and work opportunities so that their citizens earn living wages.  Like other countries, my country wants to help its citizens succeed. However, we have many poor people. In fact, the poverty rate in my country is more than 35%.   As a result, if my country made one change, I would hope that it would make higher education more accessible to average citizens.  Allowing more people to get educated would reduce the poverty rate, it would make college graduates more culturally diverse, and it would create more tax revenue for the federal government. 

First of all, if my country made higher learning more available, many citizens would be able to rise from poverty.  Currently, about 35% of the citizens in my country are poor, which means they are making the equivalent of less than $1,200 US per month.  My friend Kana was a person who fit into this limited earning capacity.  Unhappy with her situation, Kana took advantage of a tuition grant from the government and pursued a Bachelor’s Degree with Accounting.  Then, Kana completed a graduate degree in Accounting.  After her graduate studies, Kana found a job working as an accountant. Now instead of earning less than $1,200 a month, Kana is earning $6,300 monthly, so she is no longer considered poor. In fact, she can be considered upper-middle class. If people in my country were given grants to attend college, they would be able to move out of poverty just like Kana.

Second of all, if most citizens had a chance to attend college, they would broaden their cultural viewpoints.  For instance, even though my friend Kana is from Japan and even though she  completed her undergraduate degree in accounting in the United States, Kana was required to take many general education courses such as English literature, geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology, gender studies, and race and racism.  As a result of these classes, Kana learned more about the world around her and not just her major accounting.  For instance, by studying in the United States, Kana learned a lot of American culture, which was very different from her native culture.  Kana, therefore, broadened her cultural viewpoints of American culture and also of the microcultures within the United States.

Third of all, citizens study who complete university studies will pay more taxes to the federal and local governments compared to those who only complete their high school studies.  To illustrate, the average salary of someone who only completes high school is $25,000.  However, workers who complete a bachelor’s degree earn approximately $60,000.  Those who complete graduate or professional degrees will earn about $95,000.  My friend Kana who has an MBA degree in accounting is earning about $75,000 right now.  The tax rate in my country is about 25%.  Therefore, someone earning $25,000 is paying about $6,250 in taxes annually. On the other hand, my friend Kana is paying $19,000 in taxes every year.  Her example shows that citizens who are given the chance to attend college will pay about 3 times more in taxes every year compared to those who don’t attend college.

To sum up,  I definitely feel that if my country helped more of its citizens attend college we would have fewer poor people, citizens with wider cultural perspectives, and a larger tax base from which local, provincial, and federal government could draw funds.  Therefore, this is the one change I hope my country can make for its citizens in the near future.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Having Grammatically similar sentences

Another way to connect ideas together within a paragraph is to use several similar grammatical sentences in a row.  If the grammar in the sentences are similar, then readers will assume the ideas in those sentences are also similar.

Another important quality in co-workers is that they share one another’s burdens.  For instance, at my last job, I was working as a marketer.  The CEO tasked my team of 8 with developing a slogan that our company could use to advertise its products in China. Our team remarkably shared our tasks as we completed this arduous project. We worked on developing a marketing strategy that would appeal to Chinese consumers.  We crafted a slogan in Mandarin to which consumers in China could relate.  We used graphics, video, and a sound script to communicate this message. Therefore, our team’s sharing these time-consuming tasks helped us to complete this project in about 7 days time, without any one team member having to do too much of the work.  Thus, being able to share our burdens is an important quality in co-workers.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Using extended example

In the above example about one change a country can make, the writer uses the example of the friend Kana who was given some financial aid from the government to attend college. Through paragraphs 2, 3, and 4, Kana was able to get out of poverty, she was able to become more culturally diverse, and she began paying more taxes to the federal government because of her financial success.  Discussing that one example effectively connects all of the body paragraphs together.  In addition, the writer shows depth by threading the example of Kana throughout the three body paragraphs.

TOEFL Speaking and Writing Transitions: Final tips

Over a period of a few months, practice what you have learned on this web page.  Make sure in your TOEFL speaking practice tests that you are using these types of transitions to connect your ideas together, Similarly, as you complete integrated and independent writing practice, use these techniques so it is easier for others to see how your ideas are connected.  

Good luck!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

 

 

 

 

 

The TOEFL integrated speaking practice on this web page will help you learn how to paraphrase someone’s else’s idea by changing the vocabulary, the word order, and the grammar of the sentences that you hear and read.

TOEFL Integrated Speaking Practice: What is a paraphrase?

Paraphrase means to rewrite someone else’s ideas using your own grammar and vocabulary using roughly the same number of words as the original source.

Original sentence: Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy.

Paraphrased sentences: Plants change light from the sun into a type of food through photosynthesis.

TOEFL Integrated Speaking Practice: Why do I need to paraphrase?

Integrated speaking tasks 3 and 4 require you to read a passage and then listen to a campus-related passage or a lecture. For integrated speaking tasks 5 and 6, you will listen to and then speak about a campus-related topic or lecture.  Your task is either to show how the listening and the reading passages are related or to explain the most important points of a conversation or lecture. As a result, you will need to paraphrase these ideas using your own vocabulary and grammar.  You cannot, however, simply repeat word for word what you have just read or listened to, for you will get a score of 0 if you do that. Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!

TOEFL Integrated Speaking Practice: Use different vocabulary

As you read and listen to campus-related or academic passages, you MUST be comfortable taking notes.  Because you cannot write as fast as someone speaks, you should be focusing on the most important points of the listening passage.  Inasmuch as you do not want to plagiarize a reading passage, you should be jotting down some key words about the passages as well.  Therefore, you will need an expansive vocabulary of synonyms as you paraphrase other people’s ideas. E-mail me at mbuckhoff@aol.com if you want a college-level list of 1,700 words.

For the remainder of this web page, let’s base our paraphrase on the following complicated sentence:

Long before Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, the Vikings from Scandanavia explored North America approximately 500 years prior to the adventurer’s famous journey.

Your first step in paraphrasing this sentence is to identify the most important words in the sentence. Then, you should use synonyms for some of the words. For example, “Christopher Columbus,” “discovered,” “America,” “1492,” “Vikings,” “Scandanavia,” “explored,” “North America,” “500,” and “prior” are key words that you should be paying attention to.

Now you need to think of some synonyms that you can use for each word:

Christopher Columbus = explorer

discovered = found (out)

North America or North Americas = the Americas

1492 = in the late 15th century

Vikings = Vikings

500 = five centuries

Prior = before

TOEFL Integrated Speaking Practice: Use different word order/grammar

In addition to using synonyms, you should also change the word order of the sentence. Thus, the paraphrased sentence can begin talking about the Vikings and end by discussing the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus.

Original sentence: Long before Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, the Vikings from Scandanavia explored North America approximately 500 years prior to the adventurer’s famous journey.

Paraphrased sentence: The Scandanavian Vikings ventured on the North American continent five centuries before Christopher Columbus’s trip to find America in 1492.

TOEFL Integrated Speaking Practice: Final Tips

Practice, practice, and more practice: That pretty much sums up your TOEFL preparation to improve your integrated speaking.  You should be reading and listening to passages.  Taking notes on the main and support points of those passages will help you to improve.  Using your notes, you should practice recording yourself giving 60 second responses. As you listen to your responses, keep in mind the following:

Make sure you did not leave out any important reading and listening passage points.

Do not mispresent or change the meaning of any information that you read or listen to. Your response must be accurate and complete.

You should not be using exactly the same grammar and vocabulary from the reading and listening passages.  Use the paraphrasing tips on this web page to help you improve.

Make sure you are clearly pronouncing all the words in your response. Do not use too many frequent pauses and hesitations.  Remember to vary your intonation so that it sounds natural.

Minimize your grammatical and word choice errors.

Good luck!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

Getting a high TOEFL speaking score will help you clear many healthcare credentials.  In addition, having a high TOEFL speaking score shows that you can speak clearly and coherently, with appropriate use of basic and advanced vocabulary. Consider Bruno, who needed to score higher than 26/30 on the speaking section. Understanding his difficulties may help you to reach your desired speaking score.

High Speaking Score: Taking the test multiple times!

Journeys toward high speaking scores can be very frustrating and difficult.  Bruno had taken the TOEFL exam five times, and he scored well on all subtotals. However, he always came up short with a score of 22-23 on the speaking section. Bruno could not figure out why he could not score higher.

High Speaking Score: Consulting a TOEFL Speaking Mentor

After spending a $1000 on five different TOEFL exams over a period of about six months, Bruno found a TOEFL speaker mentor named Michael Buckhoff. Buckhoff is an English composition and linguistics professor at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Furthermore, Buckhoff teaches TOEFL preparation at CSUSB under the auspices of College of Extended Learning. Buckhoff also has been teaching TOEFL preparation online for about 10 years.  At no cost, Buckhoff asked Bruno to send him a copy of his TOEFL score report from Educational Testing Service. Buckhoff analyzed  Bruno’s score report and found several important weak points:

• Language-use problems with vocabulary and grammar on both independent tasks.
• Problems elaborating on main ideas during independent tasks.
• Intonation and pacing issues with independent speaking tasks and integrated tasks 4 and 6
• Inaccuracy or incompleteness in content of the most important points from a reading or listening passage on integrated tasks 4 and 6

To address these issues, Buckhoff recommended that Bruno join his TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp course for a two month period.

High Speaking Score:  Taking two pronunciation diagnostic pre-tests and a final post-test

After joining Buckhoff’s TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp course, Bruno completed his first pronunciation pre-test for vowel and consonant sounds. He sent the voice recording audio file to Buckhoff at mbuckhoff@aol.com.  About a day later, Buckhoff listened to and evaluated his pre-test.  In fact, the TOEFL speaking mentor told Bruno that he needed to focus on 7 specific lessons in order to pronounce his vowel and consonant sounds more clearly.  Bruno practiced those video lessons over a 1 month period and sent voiced recording exercises to Buckhoff, who gave Bruno further tips on how to reduce his non-native speaker accent.

Similarly, after mastering the vowel and consonant sounds, Bruno completed a  second pre-test.  The second pre-test diagnosed problems that Bruno was having with syllable division and grammatical word endings. In addition, the second pre-test focused on word stress and sentence rhythm. Finally, the second pre-test looked at Bruno’s intonation and thought groups and blending. Bruno completed this second pre-test and sent the 13 minute audio recording to Buckhoff at mbuckhoff@aol.com. About 24 hours later, Buckhoff prepared a video evaluation and sent it to Bruno. This time Buckhoff recommended 14 lessons for Bruno.  Bruno went through every video lesson and recorded the mastery exercises and sent these audio files to Buckhoff, who provided further feedback to help Bruno continue to reduce his non-native speaker accent.

Finally, Bruno completed the pronunciation post-test and got the thumbs up that he had mastered all the pronunciation activities in his course. However, it had taken Bruno almost two full months before he could achieve this result.

High Speaking Score: Sending independent and integrated speaking practice tests for evaluation

Bruno learned that he could complete independent and integrated speaking practice tests daily. Other TOEFL courses would not evaluate or score any speaking practice tests that he had recorded. Also, based on the analysis of his TOEFL score report, Bruno knew that he needed to practice the two independent tasks and integrated tasks 4 and 6. Therefore, each day, Bruno would send a 45 or 60 second speaking task to his TOEFL mentor who would listen to, evaluate, score, and provide 4-8 minutes of audio feedback.

After every practice test, to help Bruno get a high TOEFL speaking score, his mentor would recommend specific pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and speaking lessons. Each recommended lesson helped Bruno strengthen a weakness that he was having with his speaking.  For example, after completing a few practice tests, his TOEFL speaking mentor realized that Bruno was using mostly simple sentences with one subject and one verb.  As a result,  Buckhoff recommended grammar lessons 3, 5, 7, 12, and 15  . These lessons helped Bruno learned compound sentence structures. Also, studying these lessons helped Bruno to use complex sentences involving noun, adjective, and adverb clauses. After reviewing these grammar lessons, Bruno learned how to create sentences with multiple clauses.

And so it went. Bruno began completing dozens and eventually hundreds of speaking practice tests. Each time he got specific feedback and lessons that he would review.  After about 8 weeks, Bruno got more organized in how he presented his ideas. He was speaking clearly with fewer pauses and hesitations. In addition, he had better and more precise control over his grammar and vocabulary. Finally, he delivered more accurate complete responses for the integrated speaking tasks 4 and 6. Therefore, Buckhoff recommended that Bruno re-take the TOEFL exam for the sixth time.

High Speaking Score: Taking the exam for the sixth time after 3 months of intense speaking practice

Bruno had been getting some positive feedback. In fact, he had been consistently scoring between 26-28 points on his independent and integrated speaking practice tests.  After consulting with Buckhoff, Bruno decided to register to take the TOEFL for the sixth time. He was not disappointed when he received his TOEFL score report: Reading = 27, Listening = 28, Speaking = 28, and Writing = 30.

Bruno expected to have strong subtotals in the reading, listening, and writing sections, so he was not surprised. However, even though he knew he had improved a lot in his speaking, he was surprised when he saw he had scored 28. It was an improvement of about 6 points from his last TOEFL exam that he had taken.

Michael Buckhoff, http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

mbuckhoff@aol.com

 

 

Online TOEFL sample questions can help you get used to the ETS’ official exam.  In this article, you will see sample independent speaking and writing tasks. In addition, you will see models of how you should answer these types of questions.  Seeing model responses will give you an idea of what you need to do so you can get the highest score possible:

Online TOEFL Sample Questions:  Paired-Choice Independent Speaking Task

In this type of TOEFL speaking question, you will be asked to choose between (or among) 2-3 choices.

Sample question:  What do you think is better: studying alone or studying with a group? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

General  Tips when answering this type of question

• Restate the speaking prompt in introduction of your response
• Choose one of the choices, and do NOT try to discuss both options.
• Use personal examples to explain your ideas. If you do not have any personal examples, make some up.
• Avoid the “you” or second person point of view. 

Online TOEFL Sample Questions: 45-Second Model Response

Audio response:

Listening script: I prefer to study alone since I have fewer distractions and since I can study more efficiently.

First of all, studying alone has fewer distractions.  For instance, last semester, I prepared for a vocabulary final exam. Since I was studying alone, I was not distracted. If I had been studying in a group, I would have been distracted by others.

Second of all, I also prefer to study alone since I can do my homework more efficiently. I spent about 2.5 hours, for instance, preparing for my vocabulary final exam. Having no one else to talk to, I wrote down each word plus its definition onto notecards.  I did not have to engage in small talk with anyone, so I finished preparing for this test much more efficiently than if I had been studying with others.

Therefore, my personal preference is to study alone.

Online TOEFL Sample Questions: Independent Writing Task

This writing task will ask you to draw on your personal experience. Further, you will need to explain whether you agree or disagree with some type of idea.

Sample Question: “Not complaining when you have difficulties is a good rule to follow.”  Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

General Tips when answering this type of question

• Restate the writing prompt as part of your thesis.
• Repeat each key point from thesis in topic sentences of body paragraphs 1-3.
• Use a specific example in each body paragraph to develop your argument.
• Use transition words in each body paragraph so it is easy to understand how your ideas are connected.
• Avoid the “you” or second person point of view.

Online TOEFL Sample Questions: Five Paragraph Model Response

Introduction:

People respond to adversity differently. During a difficult ordeal, some people may choose to complain about their difficulties. They believe that complaining about these obstacles will help them persevere. On the other hand, other people choose not to complain about their difficult situations.  They think showing negativity will only compound their difficulties. Personally, not complaining will ultimately foster better relationships at work, it will help me to avoid being depressed, and it will make me a more productive person. Therefore, I wholeheartedly agree that it is wise not to complain when I have difficulties.

Body:

First of all, if I do not complain about my difficulties, I can have better relationships at work.  To illustrate, I have a colleague where I work who complains a lot about other co-workers.  Last week, for example, she overheard a conversation of two colleagues who were discussing whether or not it was necessary to build a wall at the Mexico/California border.  She was offended that the one colleague was in favor of having a wall built, so she complained to her boss about the conversation that she overheard.  Eventually, since she complained a lot about a lot of things, she could not get along very well with other co-workers. Unfortunately, her negativity got her fired since she did not have good relationships with others at her job.

Second of all,  complaining about my difficulties will only make me sadder.  Last month, I had a car accident while driving to work. The accident was my fault, so I had no one to blame but myself. However, I did not complain about the car wreck since I knew it would not change the outcome of what had happened. I also did not complain because verbally displaying this type of negativity makes me sadder.  When I complain, it makes me concentrate so much on the difficult situation that I forget about all the positive things happening in my life. For example, even though I had that car accident, I had a good job, a beautiful family, and a wife who supported me. As a result, I did not complain about the car accident because it would have only made me sadder.

Finally, I prefer not to complain too much because it affects my productivity. For illustrate, if I had complained a lot about the car accident, I would have neglected my family.  My son wants me to read to him every night before he goes to bed. If I had complained a lot about the car accident, I might not have read to him that night.  Perhaps, I might not have emptied the garbage or mowed the lawn that day. When I complain, I become negative. When I am negative, I do not feel like doing chores around the house nor do I feel like being sociable with my family or my spouse. Complaining, therefore, limits my productivity.

Conclusion:

To sum up,  I agree that it is a good rule not to complain much about the difficulties I face. Rather, being positive will help me to get along better with others at work, it will help me to avoid depression, and it will help me to be a more productive individual.

Good luck!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

Online TOEFL Preparation Course

 

 

TOEFL business English requires a good knowledge of English. This knowledge goes beyond the requirements for academic and personal situations in which you are using English. Scoring high on the TOEFL exam can demonstrate to future employers that you have a good level of English.  Many businesses require TOEFL business English. For example, the federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy  (FSBPT) require its non-native English speaker job candidates to have a combined score of 63 on the reading, listening, and writing sections of the exam.  In addition, these TOEFL business English testers need an overall score of 26 on the speaking section of the exam. Therefore, what type of proficiency will they (and you!) need to have in order to meet these TOEFL business English proficiency requirements?

TOEFL Business English: Reading Skill

FSBT requires a composite score of 63 on the three sections. Hence, you will need minimum academic proficiency. Approximately 50-60% of TOEFL business English test-takers will score higher than you in these three sections. First, it is somewhat likely or likely that you can understand academic reading passages. However, you may have trouble with conceptually-dense reading passages. Moreover, you may have trouble understanding information in reading passages that is not explicitly stated.

TOEFL Business English:  Listening Skill

Second, it is likely or somewhat likely that you can understand most information in listening passages. For example, you can probably understand main and ideas and support points in listening passages so long as it is explicitly stated.  However, you may have some trouble with information which is not directly stated.

TOEFL Business English: Writing Skill

Third, it is somewhat likely or likely that you can summarize the most important points of an academic reading and listening passage. Also, you most likely can write on an assigned topic. As you write, you can probably organize your ideas around a central theme. Then you can provide some supporting details for these ideas.  You may, however, have some problems with sentence structure, word choice, and grammar. But those language-use issues usually do not prevent others from understanding you.

TOEFL Business English: Speaking Skill

Fourth, scoring 26+ on the speaking section ranks you in the 86.2% of all students who take the TOEFL exam. In other words, of all the 1000’s of students who take the test, only 14% score higher than 26/30. Therefore, what independent and integrated speaking skills do you need to have in order to reach this standard?

To score this high, you will need to be able to do the following:

Your speaking responses answer the questions completely.

You have extremely clear pronunciation with some minor problems with intonation or  problems with some vowel or consonant sounds.

Any pronunciation problems that you have do not affect your ability to be understood by others.

You have good control of both basic and advanced vocabulary and grammar.  Most importantly, you speak naturally sounding English with some minor errors, all of which do not affect your meaning in any way.

You need to accurately and completely explain the most important points of reading and listening passages. During speaking tasks 3-4, you are able to explain how the information in the lecture is connected to the information in the reading passage without misrepresenting any information.

Your responses are well-developed and organized. Also, it is easy to see the connection of your ideas.

TOEFL Business English: Speaking Improvement Tips

Finally, FSBT requires a high speaking score because you will be working with patients who speak English. Further, FSBT wants you to be able to speak very clearly since many of these patients are elderly and do not hear so well. Therefore, you will REALLY need to be able to speak clearly with these elderly patients since they will already have trouble hearing you in the first place.

Like I said before, scoring 26+ on the speaking section puts you in the top 14% of all testers.  In a sense, you should be trying to do things that most TOEFLers would never do. 86% of the millions of TOEFL business English testers will never score as high as you. You will need to be the best of the best. “Happiness does not come from doing easy work,” Theodore Rubin said, “but from the afterglow that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.” The following are ideas that you can do to score higher than 26 on the speaking section.

• Join Toast Masters and begin making speeches at your weekly meetings.
• Change phone, iPad, computer, and any other devices you use into all English settings.
• Listen to Podcasts and other types of lectures while you drive. Then try to orally summarize the information.
• Read newspapers, magazines, and books. Take notes on the passages, and use your notes to orally summarize the information.
• Join a TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp course so that you can qualified feedback from a speaking specialist.
• Make an effort to learn new vocabularies and grammar structures.
• Make an effort to speak English at least 12-14 hours a day until you reach your goal.  Find opportunities to speak English with native speakers.

Good luck!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOEFL Vocabulary is important in all sections of the TOEFL exam. Therefore, make an effort of building your vocabulary base. Your goal should be to learn about 2000 college level words. Follow the link if you want to good list of 1,700 TOEFL words.

In this article, I will focus on small number of vocabulary words known as reporting verbs. During the TOEFL integrated speaking and writing tasks, you will be explaining information. This information will be coming from reading and listening passages. Using reporting verbs will help you to explain these important points from the perspective of the author or the speaker. Furthermore, explaining the points of the reading and listening passages from the writer’s and speakers points of view will mark your speaking and writing tasks as summaries. Summary writing, a neutral form of academic writing, is most appropriate for these writing tasks.

 

TOEFL Vocabulary: Writing Task without Reporting Verbs

Businesses should encourage their employees to attend all meetings so that employees can get the necessary instruction to complete their jobs efficiently. In addition, attending meetings can help employees build rapport with other co-workers so that workers can get along better without conflict. On the other hand, meetings, especially those longer than one hour, will hurt the productivity of workers. Therefore, meetings should be shortened in most cases to less than an hour, and employees should carry out most communicative tasks by email or phone instead of conducting this business in formal meetings.

In this passage, readers will assume that all these ideas are the opinion of the writer because no voice markers are used.  Therefore, this paragraph appears to be argumentative, an  inappropriate tone for the integrated speaking and writing tasks.

TOEFL Vocabulary: Writing Task with Reporting Verbs

The author in the reading passages argues that businesses should encourage their employees to attend all meetings so that employees can get the necessary instruction to complete their jobs efficiently. In addition, attending meetings can help employees build rapport with other co-workers, adds the author, so that workers can get along better without conflict. On the other hand, the speaker in the listening passage believes that meetings, especially those longer than one hour, will hurt the productivity of workers. Therefore, meetings should be shortened in most cases to less than an hour, asserts the speaker, and employees should carry out most communicative tasks by email or phone instead of conducting this business in formal meetings.

In this passage, however, readers will assume that the author is summarizing the most important points of a reading passage.  As a result, this paragraph is summarizing someone else’s ideas, which is an appropriate tone for the TOEFL integrated speaking and writing tasks.

TOEFL Vocabulary: Tips on Using Reporting Verbs

• In most cases, use simple present tense reporting verbs.
• Use a variety of reporting verbs for your integrated speaking and writing tasks.
• Make sure that your reporting verbs fit meaningfully into the context of the sentence.

I will include an alphabetical list of reporting verbs with their definitions and sample sentences so you can see how they can be used in TOEFL integrated speaking and writing tasks.

TOEFL Vocabulary “A-B” Reporting Verbs

Acknowledge:  To admit or accept something is true or that  a situation exists.

The speaker in the listening passage acknowledges that some natural factors may be contributing to global warming, but he believes that human activities are accelerating this warming trend.

Admit:  To accept and agree unwillingly that something is true or that someone else is right.

The author in the reading passage explains that even long meetings are important for employees to attend. However, long meetings, admits the author, may cause some workers to become bored.

Agree: To have the same opinion as someone else.

The author in the reading passage claims that irresponsible parents who homeschool their children will give these kids a lesser quality education. While the speaker in the listening passage agrees that irresponsible parents may cast a negative net over homeschooling, the speakers believes that most parents who homeschool their children do not fit into this category.

Analyze:  To examine or think about something carefully in order to understand it.

The author and the speaker in the two passages analyze the effects of the Internet on civilization by explaining whether this new technology has positive or negative effects.

Argue: To state by presenting clear reasons and evidence that something is true.

Even though the author explains that reading all documents in their entirety is necessary, the speaker in the listening passage argues that employees should only focus on the main and most important support points in the documents that management gives employees to read.

Assert: To state firmly that something is true.

The author in the reading passage recommends that, when bears attack, victims should run away as fast as possible to get away.  In contrast, the speaker asserts that running away from  bears will trigger predatory responses in them causing them to chase their victims. Since bears can run as fast as 35 miles per hour, the speakers observes, victims will not be fast enough to outrun these giant predators.

Believe: To be sure that something is true or that someone is telling the truth

When bears stand on their hind legs, believes the speaker, they are not preparing to attack. Rather, these immense mammals are sizing up their victims and may be trying to intimidate them.

TOEFL Vocabulary “C” Reporting Verbs

Claim: To state or assert that something is true, often without providing evidence or proof.

The author in the reading passage claims that the retreat of glaciers between 2000 and 2008 is accelerating 22 times faster than in the past.

Comment: To express an opinion or reaction to something. 

Artic foxes’ fur coats whiten as winter approaches.  This change of color, comments the speaker, acts as camouflage to protect these cunning animals from larger predators.

Concede: To admit that something is true after first denying it. 

Human activities seem to be having a large impact on the eroding of the glacial ice in the polar regions.  However, some of this climate change, concedes the author, may be due to natural factors.

Conclude: To arrive at an opinion or judgment based on reasoning; to bring something to an end.

The author concludes that homeschooled children do not get quality education because they are often taught by irresponsible and unqualified parents.

Confirm: To establish the truth or correctness of something that was previously believed, suspected, or feared to be the truth. 

The author in the reading passage defines the concept of inflation, and the speaker in the lectures uses an example to confirm the truth of this economic principle.

Consider: To carefully think about something before finally making a decision. 

The speaker considers whether the critical period theory applies to most child language acquisition cases.

Criticize:  To points out the faults or someone or something in a disapproving way.

The author in the reading passage explains three theories about adult language acquisition, and in the listening passage, the professor criticizes each theory.

TOEFL Vocabulary “D” Reporting Verbs

Describe:  To give an account of someone or something, including the relevant characteristics, qualities, or events.

In the lecture, the speaker describes glaciers as being compressed multi-layered sheets of ice with a density about 1/2 as thick as water.

Disagree: To give an opinion or argument that is different from others. 

The author believes that following the steps in the writing process is too time consuming. However, the speaker disagrees with this assertion and claims that using the writing process will help employees to write more efficient and polished reports.

Discuss: To talk or write about someone or something with a group of people, taking into account a variety of beliefs and perspectives. 

The author in the reading passage defines photosynthesis, and the two students in the listening passage discuss the concept further by providing some examples.

Dispute: To argue about something, often in an emotional, heated way. 

Even though the author in the reading passages theorizes that dinosaurs might have become extinct due to overdosing on toxic plants, the speaker in the lecture disputes this notion claiming that there is no evidence to prove or disprove this claim.

TOEFL Vocabulary “E-F” Reporting Verbs

Emphasize: To give special importance to someone or something. 

The speaker emphasizes that there is no way to know what dinosaurs ate because their livers and stomachs did not fossilize. Therefore, scientists can not find out whether or not dinosaurs died because of overdosing on toxic plants.

Explain: To make an idea, argument, or issue clearer by revealing more facts and details. 

In the lecture, the speaker explains how glaciers form in colder regions on steep angles where  ample snowfall accumulates over time.

Express: To communicate a thought or idea through gestures and conduct. 

The woman expresses to the man how she feels about the new policy regarding bicycle parking on campus.

Find out: To discover or perceive something by chance;  to recognize or discover the existence of something.

In the listening passage, after the man finds out about the woman’s problem with the biology class, he recommends two solutions to help her:  She can join the weekly study group, or she can go to the professor’s office to get ideas on how to prepare for her upcoming exam.

TOEFL Vocabulary “I-P” Reporting Verbs

Illustrate: To explain or make something clear by using pictures, examples, statistics, comparisons, or any other information to clarify the idea.

In the reading passage, the author defines the concept of survival of the fittest, and in the lecture, the speaker gives an example to illustrate the concept.

Interpret:  To understand an action, mood, idea, or way of behaving as having a certain significance or meaning; to explain the meaning of actions, words, or information. 

In the lecture, when bears get on all fours, slap the ground several times with their paws, and begin to grunt, the professor interprets this behavior as the precursors to charges to their prey.

Maintain: To cause or enable a state of affairs or condition to continue; to provide someone or something the necessities of life for existence. 

Even though some contrary evidence suggests that natural factors may be part of the cause for the rapid melting of glaciers, the professor maintains that in large part global warming is mostly due to human activities.

Note: To notice or pay particular attention to something.

The author notes that the rapidly melting glaciers in the tropic regions have caused the glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro to melt at a much faster pace than in the past.

Observe: To notice or perceive something as being important. 

In the lecture, the professor observes that most bats in captivity live almost twice as long as those living in the wild.

Oppose: To strongly disapprove of something, even trying to prevent it from happening by argument.

The author in the reading passage explains three dangers of social media on society, and in the listening passage, the speaker opposes each of those points.

Point out:  To talk or write about something that is important.

During their discussion, the man and the woman point out that prohibiting bicycle parking near classrooms will discourage students from biking.  As a result, the speakers add,  students will go back to using their cars, which is unhealthy for the environment.

TOEFL Vocabulary “R” Reporting Verbs

Refute: To prove a statement, theory, or idea to be false

The author in the reading passage explains three theories regarding the extinction of dinosaurs, and the speaker in the lecture refutes two of the three theories as being speculation.

Remark: To say something as a comment; mention

After the man explains why he prefers final exams days extended from 3 to 7, the woman remarks that having more time for these important exams will result in better performances among the student body.

Report:  To give a spoken or written account of something that has been observed, investigated, or studied.

In the article, the author reports that an ongoing problem with irresponsible cell phone use will result in a new policy on campus restricting phone use during class lectures.

Respond: To say something in reply to something or someone else.

The man claims that limiting cell phone use during class will minimize distraction and encourage participation since students will not be looking at their phones; however, the woman responds to this assertion  by saying that cell phones are sometimes needed when emergencies arise.

TOEFL Vocabulary “S-W” Reporting Verbs

Show: To display or allow to be perceived qualities, emotions, or characteristics.

In the reading passage, the professor explains three different types of earthquakes, and in the listening passage, the speaker shows how an earthquake affected a bridge in San Francisco during a temblor that occurred in 1994.

Speculate: To form a theory or guess about something without having firm evidence or proof.

Even though no evidence can prove or disprove his ideas, the professor speculates that dinosaurs might have become extinct because of a gradual warming trend which caused their testes to fail to function, thereby prohibiting them from reproducing.

State:  To say something clearly or definitely in speech or writing.

The author in the reading passage states that advertising can affect consumers’ behavior in that these customers tend not to buy items about which they have not heard anything.

Suggest: To put something forward for consideration.

In the lecture, the speaker suggests that advertising also affects people’s behaviors politically inasmuch as these voters tend to vote for candidates who have heavily advertised themselves.

Think: To have a particular idea, belief, opinion about someone or something.

In the listening passage, the woman thinks that encouraging students, faculty, and staff to bicycle on campus will result in a cleaner environment and a healthier lifestyle.

Write: Mark letters, words, or symbols onto a surface such as paper with a pen, pencil, or similar instrument.

The author in the reading passage writes that the International Atomic Energy Agency has difficulty monitoring what countries are doing with the enriched uranium that they have processed.  For example, it is difficult to know, writes the author, whether these countries are using the uranium for nuclear weapons or for energy.

TOEFL Vocabulary: Final Tips

Put this short TOEFL vocabulary list onto note-cards so you can study them more effectively.

As you complete your speaking and writing practice tests, make an effort of using these reporting verbs.

Consider joining a TOEFL course  in which you can get language-use feedback on the speaking and writing practice tests that you are completing.

Good luck!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

 

TOEFL preparation involves getting a good study plan. You should base your plan on your current TOEFL score or practice test score.  In addition, you should base your study plan on what target score you need. This includes specific subtotal scores.  As you begin completing the lessons in your study plan, you will be completing speaking and writing practice tests.  To help you improve your speaking and writing language use, consider the following tips.

TOEFL Preparation Tip: Keep sentences parallel

Parallelism shows that you can control and balance the grammar within your sentences.  For example, notice the parallelism within the following sentences:

Infinitives: A roommate who is honest can allow me to have complete trust, to be able to leave my belongings unattended, and to know that my roommate will not hide his feelings when he is upset.

Dependent clauses:   Because I want complete trust, because I want to be able to leave my belongings unattended, and because I do not want my roommate to hide his feelings, I prefer a roommate who is honest.

In addition, you can use parallelism to highlight or unify ideas within a paragraph.  In this case, several similar-sounding sentences in grammar, readers or listeners will assume, are also similar in ideas.

TOEFL Preparation Tip: Model paragraph with parallelism

In the below paragraph, the writer uses several yes/no sentence questions to explain the problems that may occur when living with a dishonest roommate.

First of all, the most important characteristic of a good roommate is honesty. Think about the following questions about roommate who is not honest. Do you want to live with a roommate who will lie to you about whether or nor he will help you pay the rent at the end of the month?  Do you want a roommate who will use your electronics and clothes without your permission? Do you want a roommate who will go into to your bedroom to sift through your personal belongings when you are at school? Of course, no one wants a roommate who does any of these things, which illustrates why honesty is so important.

To illustrate, my friend Tomas, who attends the University of Mississippi in Oxford, had a roommate who stole money from his wallet while Tomas was at school taking a midterm exam in sociology.  While he was gone, his roommate went into his bedroom and searched through Tomas’s dresser drawers until he found some cash that Tomas was hiding.  Tomas asked his roommate about the incident, and the roommate lied about not having taken the money. Fortunately, suspicious that his roommate might have been snooping around in his room, Tomas had installed a secret camera in his room.  Sure enough, Tomas saw on the camera when his roommate had gone into his room and started searching through Tomas’s drawers until he found the cash. Had he been living with an honest roommate, none of this would have happened.

TOEFL Preparation Tip: Show syntactic variety

Using a combination of simple, compound, and complex sentences will help show the TOEFL iBT human raters that you have good control of your language use.

Simple:  First of all, the most important characteristic of a good roommate is honesty.

Compound: Tomas asked his roommate about the incident, and the roommate lied about not having taken the money.

Complex: If he he had been living with an honest roommate, none of this would have happened.

Compound/Complex: Honest roommates who live with me will not enter my room without permission, and they will pay the rent on time.

Generally, use simple sentences to emphasize  a single idea. Use compound sentences to combine two main points not important to stand alone. Furthermore, use complex sentences to combine main ideas with support ideas.

TOEFL Preparation Tip: Fronted present and past participles

Also, you can use fronted past and present particle phrases. These sentence style choices will show that you are using a combination of basic and advanced grammar during the speaking and writing tasks.

Fronted past participles + subject + verb: Tired after having run a marathon, Kent decided to go to bed a couple of hours early.

Kent, tired after having run a marathon, decided to go to bed a couple of hours early

Kent, who was tired after having run a marathon, decided to go to bed a couple of hours early.

Kent was tired after having run a marathon. He decided to go to bed a couple of hours early.

Front present participles + subject + verb:  Deciding to postpone the exam, the professor spent most of the time during class clarifying any terms and concepts with which the students were having difficulty.

The professor deciding to postpone the exam spent most of the time during class clarifying any terms and concepts with which the students were having difficulty.

The professor who decided to postpone the exam spent most of the time during class clarifying any terms and concepts with which the students were having difficulty.

The professor decided to postpone the exam. She spent most of the time during class clarifying any terms and concepts with which the students were having difficulty.

TOEFL Preparation Tip: Appositives, negative and hardly negative adverbs, and prepositional phrases of location

You can use appositives and negative and almost negative adverbs at the beginning of the sentence. Further, you can use prepositional phrases of location at the  beginning of the sentence.  These sentence style choices will help you to score higher on the TOEFL speaking and writing tasks. However, make sure that you use these structures appropriately and correctly. 

Appositives + subject + verb:  A woman of integrity and intelligence, Susan was voted the most likely to succeed in her high school.

Susan,  a woman of integrity and intelligence, was voted the most likely to succeed in her high school.

Susan,  who is a woman of integrity and intelligence, was voted the most likely to succeed in her high school.

Susan is a woman of integrity and intelligence.  She was voted the most likely to succeed in her high school.

Negative adverb + aux + subject + main verb: Never have I seen a more productive worker than John.

I have never seen a more productive worker than John.

John is the most productive worker I have ever seen.

Almost negative adverb + aux + main verb + subject: Rarely ever do I come to class late.

I rarely ever come to class late.

I usually come to class on time.

I do not come to class late often.

Preparation phrases of location + aux verb + subject + main verb: Next to a desk was an antique old lamp from my father.

An old antique lamp from my father was next to  an old desk.

TOEFL Preparation Tip: Keep sentences concise

Every word you write or say should meaningfully contribute to the ideas that you are presenting. Therefore, you should avoid redundancies, the “be” verb overuse, and hedges and conversation fillers. Also, whenever possible, reduce your clauses to phrases and your phrases to single words.

Do not be redundant.

Obviously, you do not need to say something twice.  Nor should you repeat synonyms right after a word.

Redundant:  The reading passage discusses and explains macroeconomics.

Revised: The reading passage discusses macroeconomics.

Avoid overusing the “be” verb.

In some cases, you can recast your sentence so that you do not need to use the “be” verb.  In these cases, your goal should be to use an active, descriptive verb stating the action.

With “be” verb: The soccer team was victorious.

Without be verb: The soccer team won.

With “be” verb:  The audience was electrified by the soccer game.

Without “be” verb: The soccer game electrified the audience.

Eliminate hedges and conversation fillers.

During your TOEFL speaking and writing tasks, you may be tempted to use hedges and conversation fillers. Words like “I think,” “It is my opinion that,” “Um,” “Ah,” and “You know” do not help you to advance your ideas. Simply put, these unneeded words disrupt your presentation of ideas, even weakening your argument in some cases. Conversation fillers can act as pauses and hesitations during your speaking responses. Therefore, try to reduce them as much as possible.

Conversation fillers: Uh…studying with a group..you know…is better than studying alone.

Without conversation fillers: Studying with a group…is better than studying alone.

Hedges: It is my opinion that I think one solution to reduce air pollution in my city is to make public transportation mandatory during commute hours.

Without hedges: To reduce air pollution,  my city should make public transportation mandatory during commute hours.

Minimizing hedges and conversation fillers will give you more time to spend on developing arguments.  Forty-five seconds is a limited time to answer a TOEFL independent speaking. Therefore, you need to make every word and every second count. That way you are showing the TOEFL  iBT human raters that you have good topic development and delivery.

Reduce clauses to phrases and phrases to words.

Another TOEFL preparation tip is to reduce dependent clauses to phrases.  Furthermore, consider reducing some of your phrases to single words.

Adjective clause:   The professor who is a graduate of Harvard University regularly gives seminars on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Adjective clause reduced to an appositive: The professor, a Harvard University graduate, regularly gives seminars on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Adjective clause: Kent’s boots which were made of lizard skin cost him $250.

Adjective clause reduced to a single word: Kent’s lizard-skin boots cost him $250.

As you begin completing TOEFL speaking and writing practice tests, consider these TOEFL preparation tips. Keeping your sentences parallel, having sentence variety, and being more concise will help you to improve your language-use.  It may be hard at first to incorporate these techniques. However, as your practice, you will improve.  Make sure you are regularly recording your voice so you can  evaluate your performance according to these TOEFL preparation guidelines.

Good luck!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

Online TOEFL Preparation Course

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ve come to this web page for TOEFL learning videos, right? And that is exactly what you will find. In fact, I will include TOEFL learning videos. They will help you improve your vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills.

TOEFL Learning Videos for Vocabulary Practice

You will never be able to learn all the vocabulary words that will appear on your TOEFL exam.  Thus, you will need to have some effective vocabulary guessing strategies.  In fact, watch the following video so you can learn about what to do during the TOEFL exam when you see unfamiliar words:

TOEFL Learning Videos for Pronunciation Practice

In order to score high on the speaking section, you must have a good delivery. In other words, you need to be able to speak clearly. One main area to help you speak clearly is word stress.  For example, you should make the stressed syllable in the words you speak clearer, longer, louder, and higher pitched.  As you practice the lesson in the following video, read out loud with the speaker as you pronounce the words in this lesson. Make sure you are putting the stress in the correct syllable of the word.

TOEFL Learning Videos for Grammar Practice

Part of improving your speaking and writing scores on the TOEFL iBT comprises having better control of your basic and advanced grammar. For example, you should use adjective clauses in your speaking and writing tasks. The dependent clauses will show TOEFL iBT human raters that you can use complex sentences.  The following video will teach you the difference between “that” and “which” in non-restrictive and restrictive adjective clauses. As you watch the video, practice writing down some of the sentences.

TOEFL Learning Videos for Reading Practice

To succeed on the reading section of the TOEFL exam, you will need to become familiar with its structure and format.  Also, there are specific test-taking strategies of which you must be aware.  In the following video, you will learn some helpful tips of the reading section of the exam and how you can prepare for this section of the exam.

TOEFL Learning Videos for Listening Practice

Listening appears on the listening, speaking, and writing section of the TOEFL exams.  Not getting the most important points in note form will put you at a disadvantage. For example, if you do not have good notes, you will have difficulty organizing coherent responses.  As a result, you will have difficulty meaningfully responding to the integrated speaking and writing tasks.  To help you develop a sound note-taking system, watch the following video. Be sure to take time over the next few weeks to practice what you learned.  So spend 25-45 minutes daily listening to news, documentary, science, and history programs.

TOEFL Learning Videos for Speaking Practice

One thing is for certain.  The speaking section has six tasks and lasts only 20 minutes. However, for many, it is the hardest section of the exam. Many things can go wrong. Each problem, therefore, can lower your score. Sometimes test-takers have pronunciation problems which can lower their scores. Others have problems organizing and creating content for the independent speaking tasks. In the following video, you will learn how to avoid two types of language-use problems.

TOEFL Learning Videos for Writing Practice

The independent writing task requires you to have a good organization.  For example, you will need a sharply-focused thesis, around which you can organize the body paragraphs of your essay. The following video will teach you how to write a perfect paragraph.  You will learn the seven most important things in an organized paragraph.  You should practice applying these tips as you complete independent writing practice tests.

The TOEFL learning videos on this page were provided to you by Michael Buckhoff. He is the founder of an Online TOEFL Course. Buckhoff’s TOEFL course is called “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT.”  If you join his course, you will get another 694 video, pdf, and web page lessons. In addition, you will be able to submit pronunciation, speaking, and writing practice tests daily for evaluation. All of these services are provided at a low cost for you. This TOEFL specialist will not give up until you have reached your target TOEFL score!

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

Michael Buckhoff offers TOEFL help for students who need to pass the TOEFL iBT. Buckhoff is the course creator and founder of an Online TOEFL Course. His course is called “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT.”

TOEFL Help: Tell Buckhoff your goals

This mentor asks that you send him (mbuckhoff@aol.com) the following information:

Dear Michael,

My current TOEFL score or practice TOEFL score is___/120.  My subtotal scores are reading__/30, listening___/30, speaking___/30, and writing___/30.

My target TOEFL score or practice TOEFL score is___/120.  My subtotal  target scores are reading__/30, listening___/30, speaking___/30, and writing___/30.

Please let me know what I need to do to reach my target score and subtotal scores in the TOEFL exam. Can you please tell me how long it will take me to reach my TOEFL goal? I do not want to keep taking the TOEFL exam over and over.

Thank you,

First and Last Name

If Buckhoff can get these answers to this information, he will be able to offer TOEFL help in two important ways:

1. He will tell you how long it will take to reach your target score and subtotal scores.
2. You will get a personalized learning path. This path will give you TOEFL practice daily for the recommended period of time.

If you have not taken the TOEFL exam, Buckhoff will recommend that you take a full-length four hour practice test. It is important that your speaking and writing tasks are accurately scored by TOEFL specialists. As a result, Buckhoff will recommend a web site that offers realistic, accurate full-length practice tests.

TOEFL Help: Vocabulary Practice

Once enrolled in one of Buckhoff’s TOEFL course, you will complete a vocabulary e-book plus practice tests.  At the completion of this section, you will learn 1,700 TOEFL words so that you can read, listen, speak, and write more easily.

TOEFL Help: Pronunciation Practice

The TOEFL help you get in this section is accent reduction.  You will complete a pre-test so your TOEFL speaking mentor can diagnose problems that you are having with vowel and consonant sounds.  In addition, you will complete another pronunciation pre-test. This pre-test focuses on syllable division and grammatical word endings. Furthermore, this pre-test will determine whether or not you have problems with word stress, sentence rhythm, and intonation. Finally, completing this pre-test will help you understanding what problems you are having with thought groups and blending.   After studying the recommended lessons to help you speak more clearly, you will complete a post-test so you can get feedback one more time with your pronunciation

TOEFL Help: Grammar Practice

To support your speaking and writing abilities, you will also get grammar instruction after joining one of Buckhoff’s Online TOEFL Courses.  You will take a diagnostic grammar pre-test to find what problems you are having. Then you will study specific grammar lessons to address those weak points.  Lastly, you will complete a grammar post-test to see if you have any lingering grammar issues.

TOEFL Help: Listening Practice

TOEFL help in the way of 40 listening practice tests will help you to improve your listening. You will also learn all the listening question types and strategies for answering them. In addition, you will learn how to take notes and how to make the best use of your notes during the TOEFL exam. All in all, you will get helpful tips on how to improve your listening comprehension.

TOEFL Help: Reading Practice

Arguable the most valuable TOEFL help that you will get is reading help.  The reading section consists of 70 speed reading practice tests. These practice tests will help you improve your reading speed from 100 to 350 words per minute. The benefits of reading at 350 words per minute with 60-80% comprehension are absolutely priceless:

Finish TOEFL reading passages much faster so you have more time to spend answering the questions.

Have better comprehension of what you read while reading academic texts much faster.

Read your college-level assignments 20-60% faster.

In addition, other reading lessons will help you to familiarize yourself with the TOEFL reading question types and the strategies for answering them.  Finally, you will also learn some note-taking strategies so that you can understand and get in note form the organization of TOEFL style reading passages.

TOEFL Help: Writing Practice

You will also get TOEFL help with your writing. And it is not just by watching a lot of videos explaining strategies for answering the independent and integrated writing tasks.  You will be able to complete up to 40 independent and 43 integrated writing practice tests. Each practice test you complete is carefully read and evaluated by a TOEFL writing specialist. The specialist will score your writing practice tests. Then the specialist will e-mail you your writing score along with some brief comments explaining why you got the score you did. Unlike Magoosh and many other TOEFL prep web sites, you (the enrolled user) can complete a writing practice test every 24 hours. Students who purchase the premium writing course will get 60-minute video correction and diagnostic feedback on ONE independent and ONE integrated writing practice test.

TOEFL Help: Speaking Practice

The most popular part of Buckhoff’s TOEFL materials, the speaking course offers TOEFL help in the form of 300+ independent paired-choice and free choice tasks. Further, you can also complete 20 integrated speaking practice tests. In fact, while you are a student, this course will allow you to submit practice tests from anywhere on the Internet such as TOEFL Practice Online (TPO).  In all cases, you will be able to submit speaking practice tests every 24 hours while you are enrolled. After each practice test, a specialist will download your e-mail audio and evaluate it. The specialist will provide audio or video comments so you can understand why you received the score you did.

Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com

http://onlinetoeflcourse.com

On this web page, you will get the online TOEFL listening practice to help you score higher on the listening section of the TOEFL iBT. Therefore, keep reading to learn more about the listening section of the TOEFL exam. You will also see 7 different question types on the listening section of the exam. Near the end of this web page, you will test your performance by completing an online TOEFL listening practice test.

Online TOEFL Listening Practice: What will happen during the listening section

During the listening sections, you will listen to lectures, classroom discussions, and conversations. Moreover, you will answer approximately 34-51 questions.

Online TOEFL Listening Practice:  Understand the Listening Question Types

During the listening section of the TOEFL exam, the test may present up to 7 question types to measure you understanding of what you heard.

TOEFL Listening Question Type 1: Listening Gist-Content and Gist-Purpose Questions

To get the gist of something, you need to understand the main point or key idea. Therefore, gist-content questions ask you to identify the main topic or main point of the lecture, classroom discussion, or conversation.

Example gist-content question:

What is the main idea of this lecture?

a. Formation of the Sun
b. How plants convert sunlight into energy
c. Plant pigmentation
d. Ozone layer of the stratosphere

Gist-purpose questions on the listening section of the TOEFL exam ask you to identify what the primpary purpose of the conversation or lecture is. The TOEFL exam uses phrases like “mainly about”, “mainly discussion”, “why does the student…?”, or “what is the main purpose?”.

Example gist-purpose question:

Why does the student consult an academic advisor?

a. To register early for the next term
b. To see if he can retake on of his classes
c. To talk about a grade greviance
d. To find out why he did not get his grades

Two important tips for the gist-content and gist-purpose questions

1. During the TOEFL listening section, you will NEVER be asked a gist-content and gist-purpose question in the same passage. The listening passage will only list one of these two types of questions.

2. In both types of questions, you may have to choose 2 of the 4 answer choice To improve your understanding of main idea gist and purpose questions, listen to academic lectures as often as you can.

The TOEFL likes to use lectures from many different subject areas. As a result, here are some ideas for your online TOEFL listening practice:

• Therefore, listen to science, business, arts, math, social science, English lectures.
• At first, practice listening to short lectures on topics with which you are familiar.
• Then practice listening to longer lectures on unfamiliar topics. Listen to the lectures as many times as you need to. That way you will have a good understanding of the information.

TOEFL Listening Question Type 2: Inference Question

This type of TOEFL listening question asks you to answer something based on what is indrectly stated or implied in the convesation or lecture. Phrases such as “What are the implications of….?”, What does the speaker imply…?”, “What can be concluded from this conversation?”, and “It can be inferred from this conversation that….”

Example inference question:

What can be inferred from the following statement from the lecture?

Then you will listen to part of the conversation or lecture again: (Professor: First of all, I will let you know more about the behavior of brown bears by first talking about the behavior of grizzly bears.)

a. Brown and grizzly bears share similar behavioral characteristics.
b. Brown bears eat mostly vegetarian diets.
c. Brown bears’ behaviors are different from grizzly bears.
d. Brown bears are primarily meat eaters.

To improve your inference skills for the listening section of the TOEFL iBT, try the following for your Online TOEFL listening practice:

• Find recordings of speakers who have different viewpoints on the same topic.
• Pay close attention to the words the speakers use to explain their view points. Are the words negative or positive? How do the speakers imply these negative or positive ideas without saying these viewpoints directly.

TOEFL Listening Question Type 3: Organization Question

In this case, you need to understand how the lecture is organized. “Why does the professor mention…?” and “Why does the professor discuss….?” resemble the organization type question you will see during the listening section of the TOEFL iBT?”

Example organization question:

Why does the professor mention the different phases of the moon?

a. To explain how far Moon is from Earth
b. To show that the moon orbits Earth roughly one time monthly
c. To illustrate why Earth has high and low tides in the ocean daily
d. To explain why Earthquakes have more intensity near the Pacific Rim of Fire

Organization questions often ask about the examples used in an academic lecture.

As a result, pay attention to examples that the professor uses.

Ask yourself, “Why is the professor using these examples?” In addition, speakers typically explain the organization of a passage by using signal words as clues to help you understand the introduction, major ideas, examples, summaries, and conclusions.

For your Online TOEFL listening practice, listen to words such as first, second, third, next, and then can help you pay attention to the order of events mentioned in a lecture. In other cases, speakers may use cause-effect (“therefore”, “hence”, “thus”, “as a result”, and so on) and comparison/contrast (“similarly”, “in the same manner”, “likewise”, “in contrast”, “unlike”, “however”, and so on) to show how the ideas are organized.

TOEFL Listening Question Type 4: Attitude Question

Attitude questions on the listening section of the TOEFL exam often ask you how the speaker feels about something. In other words, you need to understand the speaker’s attitude toward the topic. “What is the speaker’s atttitude…?” “What does the student think about…?” and ‘What can be inferred about….from this conversation?”

To help you answer this type of question, pay attention to the tone of the speaker’s voice and pay attention to the following phrases and their meanings:

“What I think…?

‘It seems to me…”

A TOEFFL attitude question refers to how valid the speaker’s argument is or how sure (or unsure) the speaker is of the facts.

Example attitude question:

What attitude does the professor have when she says this: (You will listen to “Well, you just don’t see other planets or celestial bodies out there like Earth that have all the necessary ingredients for life.”)

a. Life might exist in other parts of our universe.
b. Other planets in our solar system may support life.
c. Earth will not be able to sustain life in the future.
d. It is unlikely that life exists outside of Earth.

• To help you improve your online TOEFL listening practice, continue to practice listening to news, science, history, and documentary segments.
• Believe it or not, listening to comedy programs is an effective way to improve your listening comprehension in this area. While you listen, play close attention to each speaker’s tone of voice:

Is the speaker calm or emotional?

Relaxed or nervous?

Certain, uncertain, or confused about something?

Enthusiastic or bored?

What can you learn about the speaker’s tone of voice?

TOEFL Listening Question Type 5: Connecting Content Question

Connecting content questions require you to know how the ideas in a listening passage are connected. For these types of questions, you may have to complete a table or chart. Therefore, you will need to be able to put together information from different sentences or from different parts of the conversations or lectures. To answer connecting content questions correctly, you need to understand be able to do/understand the following:

• Steps in a process
• Cause/effect relationships
• Classification organization
• Make a predication

Example connecting content question:

Why does the professor act surprised when he discusses the possibility of microbes on Mars? Click on two answers.

a. Because it suggests that Mars might be able to sustain life.
b. Because it means no further discoveries are needed on Mars.
c. Because scientists may make similar discoveries on Mercury and Venus.
d. Because the Red Planet may be able to support a lunar colony.

To make the most of your online TOEFL listening practice,, listen to 4-5 minute news, science, history, and documentary audio segments.

Stop the recording at 30-60 minute intervals and practice summarizing what you just heard.

Then try to predict what will be talked about next.

TOEFL Listening Question Type 6: Function Question

Function questions ask you to identify the meaning of a statement according to the context of a conversation. To illustrate, the real meaning of the statement is different from the surface or literal meaning. For example, if you are talking to someone in a library, and someone nearby says, “You are talking loudly.” What s/he might be saying is, “Please talk more quietly.”

Surface or literal meaning: “You are talking loudly.”

Real Meaning: “Please talk more quietly.”

It is easy to identify this type of question on the listening section of the TOEFL exam:

“What does the professor mean when he says…?”

“Why does the student say….?” You will be able to listen to part of the conversation again

Example function question:

What does the woman mean when she says “Getting a low score is not the end of the world.”
As you look at the answer choices, think about the context of the conversation.

a. She hopes she doesn’t score so low next time.
b. She believes that her exams later on will be easier.
c. She still has time to raise her grade in the course.
d. An impending disaster might occur soon.

As you practice listening to conversations and lectures, which is a great for online TOEFL listening practice, try to understand what the speaker is doing when s/he says certain things: direction, recommendation, complaint, agreement, disagreement, question, and confirmation. In addition, with these types of language functions, the speakers often do and say things below the surface. Your goal is to get practice identifying the function of what is said with less effort. Consequently, it will be easier for you to answer these types of TOEFL listening questions.

TOEFL Listening Question Type 7: Detail Question

The detail TOEFL listening question asks you about facts from the listening passage; therefore, it is a directly stated question. Phrases like “according to” and “what is” are often stated in this type of question. This type of question will usually focus on detail concept and not minor detail information.

Example detail question:

Which marketing strategy does the professor believe is most effective?

a. Facebook advertising
b. Organic social media advertising
c. Content marketing
d. Email marketing

As you heed my advice by listening to news, history, documentary, and science segments, identify the main idea of the talk first. Then pay attention to the details and facts in support of that main point. Lastly, remember not to worry much about the minor detail information.

Online TOEFL Listening Practice: Complete a practice test to measure your comprehension

 

1. What is the main idea of this talk?

a. The inner solar system
b. Interstellar gas dust
c. The origin of meteorites
d. The formation of the universe

Answerc

2. What can be inferred from the following statement: Click to Listen

a. Without meteorites, scientists would have a limited understanding of planetary material.
b. Meteorites are not necessary for understanding the formation of our solar system.
c. Our sun would not exist without meteorites.
d. Meteorites do not exist in our solar system

Answera

3. Which of the following are important facts related to the formation of our solar system? Choose two answers.

a. The solar system formed after the Big Bang.
b. Old meteorite samples were not part of the solar system that we know.
c. The sun did not become a part of our solar system.
d. The solar system formed when a cloud of interstellar dust and gas collapsed.

Answera and d

4. Why does the professor mention meteorites and nebulas in his lecture? Click on two answers.

a. Because both are part of the planetary material in our solar system
b. Because both materials came from the sun
c. Because meteorites and nebulas help us understand how our solar system formed.
d. To show how the two types of materials only recently came into existence

Answera and c

5. What would sometimes happen when the temperatures in a solar nebula got very high?
a. Particles would freeze.
b. Debris would be scattered throughout the solar system.
c. The dust would evaporate.
d. The matter would turn into rain.

Answerc

6. What is true about meteorites which are produced in different areas of a solar nebula?

a. They will be forced out of our solar system.
b. They will have a similar make up.
c. They will have the same structural properties.
d. The celestial bodies will have slightly different chemical properties.

Answerc

This article and practice test are written by Michael Buckhoff–the founder, owner, and materials writer for the Online TOEFL Course “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT”