Listen to this post:  Reading Tips for a Maximum TOEFL iBT Score

Before you spend a large sum of money at an ETS testing center to take the TOEFL iBT, you should consider what level of reading proficiency will be needed to get a high score.

2. When reading academic texts in English, I can understand the most important points.

3. I can understand the relative importance of ideas when reading an academic text.

4. I can organize or outline the important ideas and concepts in academic texts.

5. When reading academic texts in English, I can remember major ideas.

6. I can understand how the ideas in an English text relate to each other.

7. When reading English, I can understand charts and graphs in academic texts.

8. I can quickly find information that I am looking for in academic texts in English.

9. When reading academic texts in English, I can understand them well enough to answer questions about them later.

10. When reading a text in English, I am able to figure out the meaning of words I do not know by using the context and my background knowledge.

Don’t panic if you feel less than competent in one, some, or all of these reading competencies. Here are some suggestions to help you demonstrate a strong command of reading proficiency.

To score high on the TOEFL iBT Reading section, you need to improve your ability to understand university-level texts and reading passages for three main purposes: to find information, for basic comprehension, and to learn.

First, frequently reading academic texts in natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and business provides excellent preparation for TOEFL iBT Reading. The Internet is a great resource for these materials; also, in libraries, you can check out books, magazines, and journals that are academic in style. Therefore, ETS suggests that the more academic the reading material is, the more it will prepare you.

Second, to improve your reading-for-basic comprehension TOEFL iBT Reading skills, ETS suggests the following:

1. Through an extensive system of using flash-cards, increase your vocabulary abilities.

2. Rather than carefully reading each word and sentence, practice skimming-the process of looking over a passage quickly to get a general feeling of the main ideas.

3. Increase your ability to skim quickly and to identify the major points of a passage.

4. Once you have skimmed a passage, read it more slowly and write down the main ideas, major points, and important facts.

5. Choose some unfamiliar words in the passage and try to identify the meanings by using the context.

6. Underline the pronouns used (he, him, they, them, it, etc.) and identify which nouns they refer to.

7. Practice making inferences or drawing conclusions based on what is implied in the passage.

Third. to improve your reading-to-find information TOEFL iBT Reading skills, ETS suggests the following:

1. Scan the passage to find and highlight important facts (dates, numbers, terms) and information.

2. Practice scanning frequently so that you can increase your reading rate and fluency.

Fourth, to improve your reading-to-learn TOEFL iBT Reading skills, ETS suggests the following:

1. Identify the passage as fitting into a writing genre: classification, cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, description, narration, etc.

2. Practice organizing a reading passage by doing the following-

Distinguish between the major and minor points by creating an outline of a passage.

If the passage describes the order of a process or is a narration, create an outline of the steps in the process or narration.

If the passage categorizes information, create a chart and place the information into the correct category. On the TOEFL iBT, you will be provided with a chart with possible answer choices, and you will be required to fill in the chart with the correct choices.

If you follow these suggestions for an extended period of time, you will be very surprised at how strong your reading skills will become.

Good luck!

For more information, go here:

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page23.html (Reading)

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http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page23.html (TOEFL iBT Reading)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page20.html (TOEFL iBT Listening)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page14.html (TOEFL iBT Pronunciation)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page17.html (TOEFL iBT Grammar)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page10.html (TOEFL iBT Vocabulary)

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Listen to the following audio file in which  I address challenges that students face with writing, speaking, and pronunciation of American English. Do you have some of these problems.  If you answer yes, how do you plan on overcoming these problems?

Enjoy! Writing and Speaking Challenges

For more information, go here:

http://michaelbuckhoff.com/page28.html TOEFL iBT Writing

http://michaelbuckhoff.com/page31.html TOEFL iBT Speaking

Listen to this post:   Are you ready to take the TOEFL iBT Fourteen Important Questions

“When should I take the TOEFL iBT?” asked one of my TOEFL iBT preparation students. My answer lies in the following fourteen questions:

1. Are you comfortable listening to academic conversations and lectures?

2. Can you catch the main idea and critical supporting points of these passages?

3. Do you regularly practice note-taking while listening the academic conversations and lectures?

4. Can you use advanced grammar structures in speaking and writing with a high degree of accuracy?

5. Do you regularly read for enjoyment (about 45 minutes a day)?

6. Can you catch the main idea and critical supporting points of academic reading passages?

7. Can you read at a speed of 200 + words per minute with a 60-80% comprehension?

8. Can you concentrate on a reading passage with few distractions?

9. Can you accurately summarize an academic reading passage without plagiarizing it?

10. Are you comfortable using the context when encountering unfamiliar vocabulary words in reading passages?

11. Can you write organized essays based on personal experience, readings, and lectures?

12. Do you regularly talk with native English speakers or fluent non-native English speakers?

13. Can you accurately and coherently summarize a reading and listening passage without plagiarizing them?

14. Can you speak 100-150 words a minute with clear pronunciation, especially in regards to word stress, intonation, and thought groups and blending?

If you can answer yes to most of these questions, then you are ready to take the TOEFL iBT. Good luck!

For more information, go here:

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/index.html (TOEFL iBT)

Listen to this post:  How to Improve Your Writing Skills for the TOEFL iBT

Do you fear college level writing assignments more than you fear the dentist? Is the writing section of TOEFL iBT bringing your overall score down? Would you like to improve your academic writing skills? If you have answered yes to one of these questions, pay close attention to the following tips for both the independent and integrated writing tasks for the TOEFL iBT.

Five Successful Habits for the Independent Writing Section of the

TOEFL iBT

2. You could also practice by stating an opinion or a preference and then by presenting reasons clearly and in detail. “Which do you think is better: living on campus in dorms or off campus in apartments?” is representative of an opinion-preference Independent Writing topic for the iBT.

3. Practice planning and writing an essay for each topic. Practice planning, writing, and revising each essay within the 30 minute time limit.

4. Practice prewriting techniques in you which you think about and list ideas related to a topic. Practice this BEFORE you begin writing your essay.

• Identify one main idea and some main supporting points to support that main idea.
• Create a sharply focused thesis statement and use it as a blueprint for the ideas presented in each developmental paragraph of the essay.
• Use sufficient explanation and detail to develop the main supporting points of the essay.

5. Aim to write a minimum of 300 words for the Independent Writing section.

1. Understand how to write an effective summary.

• Take notes on the information in the listening and in the reading passage, especially discussing how both materials relate.
• Synthesize (combine) the information in the listening and in the reading passage, especially discussing how the materials relate.
• Explain how the ideas in the listening and reading materials are similar, how one idea expands upon another, how the ideas are different, or how ideas contradict one another.

5. Locate listening and reading materials on the same topic. The material, located on the Internet, in the library, or in your TOEFL book, can present different or opposing views.

So, after having put into action these tips for a period of time, maybe completing an essay examination isn’t so bad after all.

For more information, go here:

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page28.html (TOEFL iBT Writing)

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Listen to this post:  Stop Daydreaming and Start Reading

You sit down on your couch and begin reading your homework assignment. But before you finish the first page, you call a friend about a gathering later on. Then you refocus yourself and begin reading again. However, since you can not remember what you just read, you start reading again from the top of the page. For a moment, you look out the window: a red robin is perched on your window sill, children are playing soccer next door, and a neighbor is walking her dog. You are noticing everything around you except the words that you are supposed to be reading. Then you start reading the same page for a third time only to discover that you have a craving. Giving into your craving, you abandon your book altogether in search of something tasty. Thirty minutes have passed and you are still on page one of your reading assignment! Has this ever happened to you?

An underlying problem with this situation is that you are not able to concentrate when reading, so it is easy for you to be distracted. Additionally, you do not have a good reading system that will help you to remember what you have read. So how do you improve concentration and develop an effective approach to your reading assignments? Without an ability to concentrate and without an effective reading plan, you will not do well on the TOEFL iBT.

You must do large amounts of extensive reading both from a text and from a computer screen in order to develop concentration.

Do not translate all the words from English into your own language.

Do not use a dictionary to look up all the words you don’t understand.

Do not read slowly and translate each word.

Do not try to understand all the words on a page.

Do not approach every reading assignment the same way.

Remember that your goal, when practicing reading, is to read daily for 45 minutes or more without stopping or taking breaks. Reading nonstop daily for an extended period of time will prepare you for rigiorous TOEFL iBT reading passages.

For more information, go here:

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/index.html (TOEFL iBT)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page31.html (TOEFL iBT Speaking)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page28.html (TOEFL iBT Writing)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page23.html (TOEFL iBT Reading)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page20.html (TOEFL iBT Listening)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page14.html (TOEFL iBT Pronunciation)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page17.html (TOEFL iBT Grammar)

http://www.michaelbuckhoff.com/page10.html (TOEFL iBT Vocabulary)

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TOEFLer,

Your Paypal order has been canceled. Why did you change your mind?

All the best to your TOEFL iBT success!

Michael Buckhoff

TOEFLer,

You have just purchased S.T.E.A.L.T.H., my 7 Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT. Your lesson information will be sent to you shortly.

As you begin your lessons, remember that I am here to help you. You may post comments and questions after each lesson, and I will answer them as soon as possible. It is my goal to help you, to coach you, to instill confidence in you so that you can improve your academic English skills and score high on the TOEFL iBT.

I am honored to have you as a student!

Warm regards,

Your TOEFL iBT instructor Michael Buckhoff

Listen to this post:  Five Summary Tips for a Higher TOEFL iBT Score

During the TOEFL iBT, you will be heavily tested on your ability to summarize reading and listening passages. For example, the listening and reading sections will ask you main idea and detail questions. The speaking section will require you to orally summarize the gist and details of listening and reading passages. Finally, the writing section will stipulate that you write accurate summaries of reading and listening passages. Before you take the TOEFL iBT, ask yourself five questions:

1. “What Is a Summary?”

• Summarizing presents only the main ideas of TOEFL iBT listening and reading passages, without the details and examples.
• It is made up of words supplied by the writer.

2. “What Is the Purpose of a Summary?”

• Summary allows you to condense large amounts of writing from a source into your own speech or writing.
• Summaries should provide balanced coverage of a source and should avoid any hint of agreement or disagreement.

3. “How a Summary Should be Done?”

• Notice the title (these often state the main idea)
• Read the essay once, quickly, for meaning and to identify confusing words.
• Read the essay again, understanding key ideas and writing down notes and questions in the margins.
• Identify the author’s thesis or main point. Identify the points the author offers in support of the main point. Be careful to distinguish between the most and least important points; your summary should include only the most important ones.
• To help you understand what the author thinks is important, notice which ideas get the most coverage. Which are explained most fully? Read with special care the topic sentence of each paragraph and the first and last paragraphs of the work.
• Remember that some ideas may be implied, not directly written

4. “What Should a Summary Include?”

• The author, title, and source of the original`
• The main idea or thesis of the original in your own words
• The most important supporting ideas or points of the original in your own words

5. “What Should a Summary Not Include?”

• Specific facts or statistics
• Specific details, examples
• Your opinion of the text

Listen to this post:  How to Develop Strong Vocabulary Skills for the TOEFL iBT Without Using a Dictionary Part Two

When reading TOEFL iBT passages, you will encounter unfamiliar vocabulary. In these situations, you should try to understand the new word by looking at the context in which it is used. Examples, appositives, punctuation, and the conjunction “or” may help you to understand a new word.

EXAMPLES

Examples in the form of a word or phrase may help to explain the meaning of a word: as, case in point, for instance, for example, in fact, like, specifically, such as, and to illustrate.

This outcome is a reflection of strong sense of solidarity within the corporate peasant community; for instance, this solidarity is apparent in the tendency for almost every man to remain within his village over his lifetime.

The meaning of solidarity is identified by the example that most men remain within their village during their lifetime; therefore, you can guess that solidarity means having an identity or coincidence of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a certain group.

APPOSITIVES

In some cases, an appositive, a noun or noun phrase which is set off by commas and which modifies another noun, can help you to identify the meaning of an unknown word.

Whether psychology should be classified as a biological or social science was a contentious issue among scholars until 1960, after which time it was increasingly described as a behavioral science, the science of the behavior of organisms.

The meaning of “behavioral science” is identified by its appositive, “the science of the behavioral science.”

PUNCTUATION

Punctuation marks can be used to set off a word which is used to identify another word. Some useful punctuation marks that might help you to understand the meaning of an unknown word are the following:

brackets [ ]

commas ,

dashes –

double quotation marks ” ”

parentheses ( )

single quotation marks ‘ ’

If the wire is bent into a coil, called a solenoid, the magnetic fields of the individual loops combine to produce a strong field through the core of the coil.

The meaning of “solenoid” which is set off by commas is identified by the definition which precedes it: “wire is bent into a coil.”

THE CONJUNCTION “OR”

Sometimes “or” and a synonym immediately comes after an unknown word or phrase.

Haliaeetus leucocephalus, or the Bald Eagle, is one of two eagles in North America and the only exclusively North American Eagle.

The meaning of the words “Haliaeetus leucocephalus” are identified by the words “the Bald Eagle” following the word “or.”

For more information, go here:

http://michaelbuckhoff.com/page10.html TOEFL iBT Vocabulary

Listen to this post:  How to Develop Strong Vocabulary Skills for the TOEFL iBT Without Using a Dictionary Part Two

When reading TOEFL iBT passages for pleasure, for work, or for university coursework, you will encounter unfamiliar vocabulary. In these situations, you should try to understand the new word by looking at the context in which it is used. Clauses, referents, “be” verb, contrasts, and other words in the sentence are contextual clues which may help you to understand a new word.

CLAUSES

Adjective clauses and their connectors (i.e., that, when, where, which, who, and whom) may be used to identify words.

Both the electric generator, which makes electricity widely available, and the electric motor, which converts electricity to useful mechanical work, are based on these effects.

The meaning of “electric generator” is identified by the adjective clause: “which makes electricity widely available.” Similarly, the meaning of electric motor is identified by its adjective clause: “which converts electricity to useful mechanical work.”

REFERENTS

Referents are words to refer to other words in a sentence or paragraph. The referent may refer to a previous word or one which follows it.

It is one of the more remarkable feats of American literature, how a young man who never graduated from high school, never received a college degree, living in a small town in the poorest state in the nation, all the while balancing a growing family of dependents and impending financial ruin, could during the Great Depression write a series of novels all set in the same small Southern county — As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and above all, Absalom, Absalom — that would one day be recognized as among the greatest novels ever written by an American. !

“As I Lay Dying, Light in August” and “Absalom, Absalom” can be identified by their referent ” a series of novels.”

“BE” VERB

The object, which is referred to as the subject complement and which comes after the verb “be,” may be used to identify the subject.

The Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianusone of Canada’s commonest large birds of prey. isThe meaning of “The Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus” is identified by ” large birds of prey,” which comes after “is.”

CONTRASTS

Sometimes, the meaning of vocabulary words can be understood because they are in contrast to another word in the sentence. Some words to show contrast are the following:

although but despite even though however in contrast in spite of instead nevertheless on the other hand on the contrary or still unlike yet

OTHER WORDS IN THE SENTENCE

Other words in a sentence may also help you to understand the meaning of vocabulary words.

Sponges are the simplest grade of multi-celled animals. In general, sponges have open-topped, sack-like bodies which are fixed to the sea floor. Water is pulled through the body, and food is filtered out.

By using other words in the sentences as contextual clues, you can guess that a “sponge” is a “multi-celled animal” which is “fixed to the sea floor.”

For more information, go here:

http://michaelbuckhoff.com/page10.html TOEFL iBT Vocabulary

Listen to this post:  How to Improve your TOEFL iBT Listening Skills Without using a TOEFL Book

So, you have decided to take the TOEFL iBT, and you are not sure if you are ready. Or, you have already taken the test and your ears weren’t fast enough for the long conversations and lectures on the listening, speaking and writing sections of the test. First, you should consider what listening skills you need when taking the test. Second, you should consider how you should go about getting those listening skills.

1. When instructors speak English, I can understand their directions about assignments and due dates.

2. I can understand a speaker’s attitude or opinion about what he or she is saying.

3. I can recognize why an English speaker is saying something (for example, to explain, to complain, to agree, to disagree).

4. I can understand the main ideas of lectures and conversations.

5. I can understand the relationships among ideas in a lecture.

6. After hearing a lecture in English, I can recognize which points are important and which are less important.

7. I can understand important facts and details of lectures and conversations.

8. I do not have any problem understanding what people say in English.

Research shows that the more you immerse yourself into a new language, the more proficient you will become in your listening, which translates into a TOEFL iBT score of which you can be proud.

1.  After three weeks of living in the US, start listening to the Radio and TV in English.

• Begin listening to 5 and 10 minute segments of radio and TV.
• Record and listen to the segments over and over. Then listen to 10 and 15 minute segments and gradually increase from there. The key is that you learn to concentrate while you listen. Try to catch the main ideas of the talks.

2. Join a club on campus or attend open forums, university discussions, or debates so that you can hear spoken English. Attend 1 or 2 meetings a week. Be an active participant by asking the speaker/participant questions.

3. If available, join an ESL conversation group to talk and make friends.

4. Join an intramural sports team so you can have contact with native speakers of English.

5. Attend all ESL and Open University Classes. Learn to anticipate questions about the lectures so that you can improve you note-taking abilities. Don’t miss class. The more academic English you can hear, the better your listening will become.

6. Don’t spend all your time talking with people from your own country.

7. Use the Internet to practice 3-5 minute long listening segments

8. Practice 3-6 times a week.

Over time and after regular practice, you will find that you will improve your listening comprehension proficiency.

For more information, go here:

http://michaelbuckhoff.com/page20.html TOEFL iBT Listening