Preparing for TOEFL iBT in 24 hours
TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) is a three hour exam that tests four basic abilities in English: reading, listening, speaking and writing. Each section has a scaled weightage of 30, translating into an exam with a maximum cumulative score of 120. I attempted the TOEFL iBT Home Edition in October 2021, and scored 114 (R: 29, L: 28, S: 29, W: 28) with one full day of preparation. Although a lot of material is available online for TOEFL preparation, navigating this landscape is tricky if a person is short on time. In fact, anyone reasonably fluent in English can achieve a good score with less than a week of preparation. The key to crack this exam lies in understanding the exam pattern. This blog details my preparation journey with the hope that an uninitiated reader has a template (this word is heavily associated with TOEFL :D) to prepare for the test. I also detail what worked as well as didn’t work for me in hindsight of the exam. I don’t advocate waiting till the very end for TOEFL preparation; however, if you do end up with no time to spare (like me), this blog might be of help.
The goal of TOEFL is to prove proficiency in English, and there is no universally accepted score for the same. While most universities recommend a score of 100+ (25+ in each section), a few programs (Harvard MBA) require 110 and above for consideration. I emphasize on the word consideration, most universities consider a TOEFL as a necessary but not sufficient condition. A low TOEFL score might form basis for rejection, however a high TOEFL score is a pre-requisite for application screening and serves no role in subsequent admission rounds. Therefore, our goal is to comfortably clear the minimum requirements, and not to ace the exam.
1. Preparation
With 24 hours to spare, we can’t dedicate a lot of time to study resources (free or paid) for TOEFL. I referred TOEFL’s free study material for the reading and listening section, which consists of questions taken from previous TOEFL exams.
Note: I did not give the GRE examination and hence I prepared for TOEFL from scratch.
Reading Section - TOEFL iBT Free Resources (3 Practice Sets)
The reading material (multiple choice) consists of three practice sets, which should take an hour to complete. Each set consists of 9 or 10 questions each for one mark, with the last question for two marks and requires an effective reading of the comprehension. Each of the one-mark questions asks you to either identify key arguments in a given paragraph, alternative statements for a highlighted sentence or synonyms for highlighted words. The final two marks question is based on identifying key points spanning the entire comprehension. The format of the questions allows for multiple test taking strategies. Each question and its solution is dedicated to a specific paragraph. This allows test takers to skip reading the paragraph and head straight to the questions in order to save valuable time. Did I mention that TOEFL provides roughly 18 minutes per comprehension? Skipping the paragraph and heading for the questions saves valuable time which would otherwise have been utilized in reading the lengthy comprehension. An alternative test strategy (the one I used) is to skim through the comprehension. This essentially allows us to establish a flow between paragraphs, and gives us an idea of the overall picture that the writer is trying to establish through the text. On a personal note, I am a person who loves reading, and skimming through the paragraph helped me vaguely anticipate the key questions for each paragraph.
Listening Section - TOEFL iBT Free Resources (7 Practice Sets)
The listening section should be the easiest if we know what kind of notes to take. Unlike American sitcoms which have a large variation in pitch and rumble, the audio for the listening sections are crisp, clear and have a heavy emphasis on correct pronunciation. If you watch English television shows (British or American) with light/moderate use of subtitles, you’re good to go. The questions are framed in two distinct formats such as a lecture (audio) or a student-professor conversation. The essence of the listening section is in understanding the intent and not memorization of facts (which can be scribbled down). For instance, a common first question in the student-professor conversation is why did the student visit the professor? For the listening section, I chose the strategy of scribbling in shorthand every detail from the audio tracks. This is surely not the most optimal strategy, but with limited preparation time, this strategy remains our safest bet. The drawback of taking notes continuously is that one might miss out on nuances in the conversation while jotting down seemingly unimportant material. TOEFL provides 7 practice sets, allowing us to experiment with multiple strategies. Try listening and sparingly taking notes for the first two sets, and frantically taking notes in the subsequent two sets. The final three sets allow us to finalize a strategy based on our previous performance, and stick to it for the duration of the preparation. Preparing with the 7 practice sets should take roughly an hour and a half and a resource I briefly referred to for extra practice is TOEFL success
Speaking Section - TOEFL iBT Free Resources + YouTube: TOEFL with Juva
Speaking can be a bit intimidating, especially if you are not used to speaking into a microphone. Fortunately, speaking remains of the easiest formats of the test since if you are fluent in English, I assume you can speak well. All we need to do is adjust our speaking responses to what TOEFL expects. I was comfortable speaking into a microphone since I have been working from home for more than a year due to the pandemic, which I believe is the case with many test takers. If not, imagine you are talking to the proctor who is on the other side of the screen, which I believe should do the trick. The speaking section is divided into three parts, the first focussing on independent speech, and the latter parts involving variants of text and audio. While there are templates to solve each section, I believe that all sections can be solved by (ORR): a) Opening Remark b) Reason 1 c) Reason 2. For instance, the independent speaking section requires us to speak for 45 seconds with an initial preparation time of 15 seconds. While the preparation time might seem short, in reality we need to scribble down just two/three words in that time frame. The topic for this section is not obscure and is something everyone can immediately relate to. The key thing to lookout for is fluency (minor stutters and pauses are allowed) and the ability to talk coherently. Of all the subtasks in speaking, independent section may require additional efforts to scribble down keywords and form a coherent story within 15 seconds or on the go. The remaining tasks of the speaking section are relatively straightforward. It involves some kind of text and an audio expressing the speaker’s opinion on the text. I strongly recommend viewing Juva’s video since it reasonably covers all question formats for speaking. At the end, ORR is all we need to attempt the speaking section of TOEFL.
Writing Section - TOEFL iBT Free Resources + YouTube: TOEFL with Juva
Writing is considered to be one of the easier sections especially since the format remains the same as the speaking section. Similar to speaking, we have an independent question which asks for the writer’s opinion on a given topic. The response needs to be at the very least 300 words with an allotted time of 30 minutes. The integrated task is similar to the speaking section where there is a longer paragraph that provides context for an audio note which is usually in contradiction to the original paragraph. Unlike the speaking section where the text in text+speech section disappears after the allotted reading time, the reading section text is viewable after the audio note is complete. However, the audio note is played only once and requires note-taking to document the counters raised by the speaker. The integrated speaking section follows a similar ‘template’: (ORR) as the speaking one. An accurate write-up requires mentioning the opening stance of both the text and the audio message, with separate paragraphs dedicated for each reason posed by the text. In each paragraph, the writer is expected to detail why the audio message disagrees with the reason provided in the text. The recommended word limit for the integrated task is 150-225 words, with a time limit of 20 minutes.
Mock Test: TOEFL iBT Free Resources
The mock test provided by TOEFL attempts to replicate the actual test format, and highly recommended for all test takers. We expect to apply our learnings from our previous preparation in an actual test environment, the purpose of which is served by the test. While reading and listening can be answered in the mock test, speaking and writing are not graded. Instead, ETS provides us with sample responses (low/moderate/high quality) which provide valuable insights into TOEFL’s grading system. I took the TOEFL mock test after I finished prepping for reading and listening, though I believe it would have been better to attempt this test after preparing for all the sections.
2. TOEFL iBT Home Edition Experience (Oct ‘21)
I gave TOEFL on 31st October, and received my scores on 5th November. I chose the home edition for two reasons: the functioning of test centers and the requirement of negative COVID tests led me to believe that giving the test at home was less of a hassle. I had a smooth experience with the Home Edition; following the TOEFL Home Edition instructions are sufficient to ensure there are no hiccups when taking the test. I took notes on a whiteboard with a thin fibre-tip pen. Waiting for a proctor took 10 minutes in my case, though I’ve read of waiting time stretching till 30 mins. Verifying my ID and the test taking environment was effortless, and I started the test within 30 minutes of my check-in time. I had four reading comprehensions, and completed them with 15 minutes to spare (followed the initial skim strategy, though I dawdled a lot towards the end!). I scored 29/30, and I’m not fussing about the lost mark! My listening section on the other hand was shorter and I could have performed better. Although my safe strategy of documenting the entire conversation yielded an acceptable score of 28/30, practising for the listening section may have improved my note-taking ability. Of all the sections, I found speaking the easiest since I didn’t fumble or stumble, which leaves me a tad bit disappointed after I scored 29. I believe that I might have missed the exact prompt for one of the questions, and may have directed my response in the incorrect direction. The writing section is something I could have performed better in. The integrated task was a walk in the park with my response totalling 225 words. However, my independent task was tragic since I found the topic very abstract and difficult to write on. I barely crossed the minimum required 300 words, compensating for the length of my answer with added flair in my writing.
3. Concluding Remarks
I received my scores on 5th November, a nice 114 which left me content. My goal was to comfortably clear the minimum required score for graduate schools, and for a reasonably fluent individual, this task should not take more than a few days. However, if you are hoping to snag a Teaching Assistant position, try to score more than 27 in the speaking section. For instance, Princeton CS recommends a score of 27/28 in the speaking section. I found the free test material combined with a few YouTube videos sufficient to prepare for the exam in 24 hours. While some applicants reported a delay in receiving TOEFL scores, I was fortunate to not face such a situation. Wishing you the very best with your TOEFL preparation! Please feel free to contact me for any feedback on improving this blog. Thank you and good luck!