Practice your listening

One of the skills scored in the exam is the listening. This page could help you with section 1.

http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL_ITP/html/Section%201,%20TOEFL%20ITP,%20Listening%20Comprehension.html

Increasing vocabulary through reading

Every day find an article of approximately 250 words. Look in magazines or find an article froma newspaper on the web or in a library. Read the article through and highlight five words you do not know. The words you highlight should be important to the understanding of the article. Look them up and make sure that the meaning you find in the dictionary is the correct meaning as it relates to the article. Keep these words in your own dictionary and review frequently.

Taken from prfect phrases for the TOEFL by Roberta G steinberg.

Practice your vocabulary for the test

With these exercises you can improve your test skill.

http://www.english-test.net/toefl/

http://www.vocaboly.com/vocabulary-test/toefl10.php

Writing topic for an essay

“When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has
nothing to do with success.” Do you agree or disagree with the
quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your
position.

Green, Green, Green March 17th Saint Patrick day

Clue words

• Clover or shamrocks
• Parade
• Green
• Irish
• Ireland
• Luck

Facts about St. Patrick's Day Holiday

· St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

· In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.

· Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.

Facts about Saint Patrick

· St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.

Facts about the Irish

· 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.

· Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.

· The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”

· The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.

· The name “lephrechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”

Facts about Clovers

· According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!

· One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.

Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

TOEFL practice online

Practice all that concerns to the exam.

http://www.stuff.co.uk/toefl.htm

Exam Tip Number 1

Do not insist on completing each question before going to the next.

This is extremely important. If you spend a lot of time on one question that you don't understand there can be two negative outcomes:

• Losing time

  Remember one question may only be worth one point, if you are not able to answer questions later because you have lost time you could lose more points!

• Becoming nervous

  Becoming nervous can make you lose your concentration and that leads to worse results.

  Taken from esl about.com

Useful information about the TOEFL

Purpose of the TOEFL Test

The purpose of the TOEFL test is to evaluate the English proficiency of people who are non-native English speakers. In addition, international companies, government agencies, scholarship programs, and recruitment agencies use TOEFL scores to evaluate English proficiency.

CBT: The TOEFL test on computer combines many of the same question types as the traditional paper-based test with new question types that can be offered only in the computer format. This is an easy-to-use testing system for even the most basic computer users.

The Computer-Based TOEFL Test has 4 sections

Section 1: Listening
Section 2: Structure (Grammar)
Section 3: Reading
Section 4: Writing

1. Listening Comprehension:
Measures the ESL student's ability to understand North American English.

2. Structure & Written Expression
Measures the ESL student's ability to recognize language appropriate for standard written English.

3. Vocabulary & Reading Comprehension
Measures the ESL student's ability to understand non-technical reading material.

4. Essay Writing
Measures the ESL student's ability to express ideas in standard written English.

Scoring:

The score range on the CBT TOEFL Test is: 0-300. In other words, the highest possible total score is 300 points.

This breaks down in each section as a scaled score:

Listening: 0-30
Structure/Writing: 0-30
Reading Comprehension: 0-30
TOTAL SCALED SCORE: 0-300

The score from the essay in the Writing Section is included in the Structure score. The essay is graded on a scaled score of 0 to 6. 6 is the highest possible total score on the Writing Section. Note: The essay score is one sixth of the total test score.

Number of Questions in the test and the time to complete each section:

Tutorials: 7 untimed tutorials explaining in detail the exam procedure

Listening: 30 to 49 questions with 15-25 minutes to answer the questions. 40-60 minutes to complete entire section. The clock runs while you are answering questions, but not while you are listening to conversations and talks.

Structure: 20-25 questions with 15-20 minutes to complete the questions.

Reading: 44-55 questions with 70-90 minutes to complete the section (includes time spent reading passages and answering questions).

Writing: One assigned essay topic, with 30 minutes to write the essay.


How often can I take the CBT TOEFL test?

If I cancel my scores, can I take the test again?

You may take the CBT TOEFL test only once in any calendar month, even if you took the test and cancelled your scores. For example, if you test in May, you must wait until June to take it again. IMPORTANT: If you take the test more than once in a calendar month, your new scores will not be reported and your test fee will not be refunded. Violation of this policy may also result in additional action being taken.

Taken from: http://www.learn4good.com/languages/toefl/about.htm#Purpose%20of%20the%20TOEFL%20Test