Whether you have two weeks, one week, or days to your TOEFL exam, take these tips to flawlessly prepare for the TOEFL exam in the comfort of your home or office.
In the meantime, let me put the meaning of TOEFL in layman’s terms for you.
TOEFL stands for Testing Of English as a Foreign Language, this means a test that non-English or non-native speaker takes to ascertain their command or mastery over the language.
And if you are wondering whether native English speakers can take the TOEFL, well, your answer is yes!
Just as other dialect speakers in other parts of the world take exams on the local dialects as subjects, some native English speakers can also take TOEFL.
But, TOEFL is meant for non-native speakers to prove their mastery over the language as l already said above.
With that being said, you may want to ask what is the use or purpose of the TOEFL exam?
What Is The Use Of The TOEFL Exam?
You will need it when;
- Applying to a foreign college/ university
- Applying for a student visa.
- Applying for an exchange program
- Immigration purposes
If you are not a native English speaker, anytime you go for any of the above, be ready to submit your passed TOEFL.
Now let us move to the documents that you must present at the TOEFL exam center. The following documents must accompany you to the exam center.
ID Documents Requirements At TOEFL Exam Center.
- Original Documents: Photocopied documents are not acceptable and no document can be presented on a mobile phone.
- Physical ID: Electronic ID issued to a mobile phone or any electronic device is not accepted.
- Government-issued: national/state/province identity card that is issued and recognized by the country where you are a citizen or resident.
- Valid: Expired documents are not acceptable.
- Include your full name and date of birth exactly matching the name and date of birth you used to register, excluding accents or diacritical marks
- Include a recent, recognizable photograph.
- Include your signature (the name on the ID and the signature name must match.
Note: If your ID documents are not written in English, and the test conductor cannot read them, you will not be able to take the test and your money will not be refunded to you.
Unacceptable ID Documents At TOEFL Exam
This list of identification documents at t accepted at any TOEFL exam center as primary or supplementary ID under any circumstance:
- International Drivers’ License
- Mobile Driver’s License
- Draft classification card.
- International student ID.
- Credit or debit card of any kind.
- Notary prepared letter or document
- Birth Certificate
- Social security card.
- Employee ID Card.
- Any temporary ID card.
- Diplomatic consulate or any embassy ID card.
Now, what about if you fail to meet ID requirements. This is what you do if you know you cannot meet the TOEFL ID requirements to submit for your test.
What To Do If You Are Unable To Meet ID Requirements For TOEFL Exam
If for example, you are on political asylum, have refugee status, etc, and thereby failed to meet TOEFL ID requirements, this is what to do;
- Contact the ETS Office of Testing Integrity ( OTI ) at least 7 days before you register.
- Proceed to register for your TOEFL if ONLY you are approved by the OTI.
- Be prepared to submit any requested documents for review.
If you failed to go by any of the above-stated rules and hence couldn’t take the exam, your test fee will not be refunded to you.
Now l think l have served you with everything you need to know about ahead of or as part of your preparation to take the TOEFL exam. So, without much ado, let us proceed to the main theme of this article.
10 Ways To Perfectly Prepare For The TOEFL Exam At Home.
Firstly, what you need is the best approach to TOEFL preparation. What l mean by that is, what method of preparation will help in the shortest possible time.
In doing so, you will have to ask yourself ‘ what type of TOEFL preparation do l need’?. Some people will love to review a lot of English ahead of the test, some will just love to know the test format while those who don’t have much time on their sleeve would probably try to figure out what to expect on the day of the test.
Whichever category you fall in, these steps below will help you get set and prepare for the TOEFL exam in the comfort of your home.
Read And Listen To English News
Home your English Language skills with American news outlets like CBS, The New York Times, and don’t the most recommended VOA Learning English
Have Decent Conversations With Native English speakers
Native English speakers are people whose first language or official language is English. Since the TOEFL exam has a speaking portion, this is one part you must be up to the par in.
Meetup.com can help you search and join language learning groups in your local area.
Improve Upon Your Academic Vocabulary
After excelling at the TOEFL, these words stay with you forever. These are words used in everyday academic dialogue and text. Fortunately, the prescholar has listed a handful of these words which mostly appear on TOEFL exams for you.
Use Language Learning Apps And Websites
Popular website and app like Duolingo – a free language learning website. It uses an effective game-like atmosphere to teach its, users, foreign languages.
Another one albeit not entirely free site is EnglishCentral.com. It teaches all levels of the English language through videos.
Conduct Personal Listening And Reading Test.
Listening and reading are two major parts of TOEFL exams. After practicing the above steps, you must put yourself to the test with this 5th step. Read at a reasonable speed without breaking and record and listen to yourself at the same time to see if you make the sense of what you are reading.
These 5 tips above help you with your skills and mastery over the language, giving you fairly higher skills.
The following 5 tips below help you with how and what to study for the TOEFL exam. Now, we are assuming you are pretty good at the English Language, it is time to prepare for the TOEFL exam day.
Learn The TOEFL Exam Format.
Understanding fairly well how your day will go during the exam day give you a head up. Below is the format or schedule of things to expect:
| Section | Order On Test Day | Time | Number Of Questions | Score Range |
| Reading | 1 | 60 to 80 mins | 36 to 56 questions | 0 to 30. |
| Listening | 2 | 60 to 90 mins | 34 to 51 questions | 0 to 30 |
| Break Time | 3 | 10 mins | __ | __ |
| Speaking | 4 | 20 mins | 6 tasks | 0 to 30. |
| Writing | 5 | 50 mins | 2 tasks | 0 to 30. |
| Total | 4 hours approxi
mately |
__ | 0 to 120. |
Practice With Official Practice Questions
Official practice questions get you closer to the TOEFL exam in terms of difficulty, form, and content. Explore the following resources for more reliable free official practice questions.
- TOEFL iBT Interactive Sampler
- TOEFL iBT Sample Questions PDF
- TOEFL iBT Quick Prep
Carefully Analyze Your Mistakes
Analyze the mistakes you made from the practice questions. Correct yourself and be sore you are right.
Target And Improve Upon Your Weakness
To do this, ask yourself, which areas of the test are more difficult for you. You can get the answer after taking the official practices questions. Improve on them and feel more confident over them on the test day to have a better score.
These tips if carefully followed will set your fit and prepare for the TOEFL exam from your house without having to contact any tutor or paying anything online.
Read: Foreign Universities That Accept With And Without TOEFL
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