Skill: Grammar
Category: TOEFL
Level: Advanced
General strategies that provide you for the TOEFL
Part One
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) beside other skills, requires a great knowledge of four main skills and sub-skills of English. Test takers in order to succeed in TOEFL, should muster the four skills of language academically and professionally. Here are some suggestions that will surely improve your knowledge of language and prepare you for the TOEFL.
Tips for reading:
When you go online to read any article ins a magazine, do not just READ it, but ask yourself the following question.
à The question of pronoun which replaces a noun is widely common in TOEFL, so while you see a pronoun in a text ask yourself: to what or to whom is the pronoun referring or what noun is it replacing.
à Use your own words to summarize every paragraph, and then write it down. This will give you the practice of putting ideas in your own words and also it can be a great writing practice in English too.
à Find the main idea of the entire article and ask yourself: why did the author write this article and what is the author’s opinion?
à Ask one of your friends to read the same article and have a conversation with him in English.
TV shows and Podcasts:
Watch a TV show or listen to radio or podcast. During or after the show, do the following activities.
- After a part of the video
or podcast, pause it and answer these questions:
- What did the speaker talk about?
- Is one of the characters having a problem? If so, what is it?
- Did one of them offer a solution? If so, what was the solution?
- Are the characters happy, sad or angry? Why?
- Discuss the podcast or the video with a friend of you.
- While you are watching or listening to podcast, make notes about what they say. Then, write 2 to 3 paragraph summary about what you watched or listened.
Boost your Vocabulary:
- When you come face new words in reading, look up for their meaning.
- Learn the roots of the words because a lot of new words are formed by these words. A useful source which my help you for learning the roots can be TOEFL Power Vocab which is published by The Princeton Review.