3 Tips to Mastering and Having Fun With TOEFL Courses

U.S. schools use the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as a language proficiency gauge. The test is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in testing centers all over the world. TOEFL courses are meant to provide you with English speaking, reading, listening and writing skills with different schools requiring different minimum scores.

Taking TOEFL can set you back a few hundred dollars with preparation likely to cost you more. In today’s competitive world, heavy preparation for the exam is common with competition getting stiffer every day. However, the good news is that with diligent studying you can improve your language proficiency and meet score requirements even for the toughest of schools. Here are three tips that will help you be better prepared.

Take Your Time
Each TOEFL examination portion requires that you have in-depth English language knowledge and effective preparation should take several months. There are many TOEFL courses, books and companies, but no matter what route you take, ensure that you regularly take timed practice tests in the course of your study. The four-part test requires about three and a half hours and simulating this process before you take the real test will boost your stamina and concentration.

Have Fun
TOEFL courses include preparatory books and class sessions, but you can add to your course material. English movies and cartoons can be just as helpful – if not more – than materials you receive geared towards test preparation. Tune in to Cartoon Network shows while living in your home country to help in the listening portion of TOEFL test. Other students have found listening to English news shows, without the visual distraction, helpful.

If you can get subtitled films, they are also great study aids. The subtitles will help you understand English idioms, and the way native speakers use the language, rather than just depending on an English manual.

Have a Safety Net
However TOEFL courses prepare you, a few things are likely to surprise you as you sit for your first TOEFL. If possible, schedule multiple tests as you register for your first exam. The first time you sit the test you don’t have a feel of what the real test is like. But the second time around, you will be pretty familiar with the processes. Remember, there’s no limitation to the number of times you can take the TOEFL, meaning that one of the scores will definitely reach your goal.

Online TOEFL courses help improve your skills and prepare you for the exam. By using the tips above, you will become fluent in American English no matter your experience level. The classes are designed to suit your comprehension of the language for basic, trouble-free communication or for academics in college.