My fascinating journey through TOEFL

And an exhaustive set of tips and strategies for prospective test-takers

The online TOEFL test is a series of stages that include curated questions each designed to test your abilities in reading, listening, spoken, and written English. The format and setting of this test are so unconventional that they manage to baffle even those who are practiced in English.

I recently took the TOEFL iBT, and managed to score 103 out of 120. My score breakdown was: 28–29–20–26 for the reading, listening, speaking and writing sections, in that order. Admittedly, these numbers are not in the echelons of sky-highs. Nevertheless, I would like to share my learning techniques and methods in this article, and hope they might be of some use to aspiring test-takers. But first, a word of caution.

Disclaimer. All that I have mentioned below is to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing this article (January, 2022), but there might be factual inaccuracies inadvertently sprinkled at places, so I would advise fact-checking for any outdated details. If you happen to find some, feel free to drop a comment for the same.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s begin. We will first get a sneak-peak at the overall format of the test, then go through tips and strategies for each section, before finally concluding with some general resources for the test.

A Glance at the Test Structure

At its core, the TOEFL test consists of a Reading stage, a Listening stage, a Speaking stage, and a Writing stage. There is a 10 minutes break between the Listening and Speaking stages. The exact order, duration and tasks for each stage, as of writing this article, are specified in the table below.

TOEFL Test Structure

To prepare for this test, I underwent the online course offered by ETS on edX. You can find it here. I strongly advise taking this course, partly or fully, to get a general idea on what the test will contain, and get some practice done before taking the test. The sectional strategies you find below will sometimes refer to this course for content and practice.

Reading Strategies

The first stage in this test will involve you grazing through a number of passages, and answering questions based on them. There will be a total of 3–4 passages with each passage being about 700 words long. There will be no intermission between passages, and once you move on to the next passage, you will not be able to return back to the previous one.

What makes this section challenging, in my opinion, is the sheer amount of information you need to read and extract in such a short span of time. All the passages are “information-dense”, and with the limited time you have, reading through the entire passage is just not an option.

So here’s a tip: do not read, but skim through the passages. This is not an original idea; in fact, is it stated out loud in the online course. What this means is that read through the first and last paragraphs, and for every paragraph in between, read the just the first one or two sentences. Jot down brief notes as you read along the way in the scratch pad that will be provided. This way, when you turn to the questions, you might not have processed the entire reading passage, but you will have an understanding of it. Based on the questions, you may then scour through the one paragraph in depth, and quickly locate the answer you are looking for.

An example of skimming on some random text. The highlighted texts are read through, and the non-highlighted ones are skipped while going through the passage for the first time.

While practicing, do not spend more than 18 minutes on each passage. With the limited amount of time you will be given, saving every minute counts.

Some other tips that I have found to be useful in my experience are: do not get tricked by the negative factual-info questions, and do not choose a positive answer for them. Cross-check the summary answers for factual accuracy from the passage; you may use the notes you have taken throughout for this purpose. And finally, read the options carefully, and do not select an answer without going through all the options first.

Rich Reading Resources

• The best way to enhance your reading performance is, well, to read. This might seem a little obvious, but inculcating a reading habit is extremely rewarding, and this test is no exception. Read books in the digital format, as that’s how the passages will be presented to you in the test (assuming you are going for the iBT). Some apps to help in this regard, in my experience, are: eReader Prestigio (Android), Bookvisor (Windows), Bookworm (Linux) and Kindle (universal).
• I used to set a timer on my phone to 18 minutes before beginning any practice reading session. The default clock app on your phone should be able to do this; in my case, it was Google Clock. I also made sure the screen did not timeout during those minutes, and for that I used Caffeine.
• You can find some reading passages for practice in the online course, and some more in their official website. Hunt for more passages across the web, and practice as much as you can.
• Here’s what I did while taking the online course for this stage: while going through the lectures in the Reading section, I would often mute the audio, and look only at the captions. This would force me to read the transcript and extract as much information from it as possible, without ever pausing. It helped me practice jotting down more info when a ticking timer was on, much like the reading situation you are likely to encounter in your test. This is also remarkedly the reverse of what I did for the Listening stage, as you are likely to find out next.

Listening Strategies

While I was preparing for this section, I had one profound epiphany: listening is not hard.

Now don’t me wrong; this section is not a cakewalk, and it requires just as much practice and dedication as the other sections. But here is what kept this stage of the test fairly doable: taking notes (and taking them quick). The section will consist of two kinds of questions: conversations and lectures. Remember to take notes for both of them, because you will be allowed to refer to the notes while answering the questions.

Do not try to transcribe the entire audio playback; just the key points that make up the whole talk. You should identify the purpose of the talk right away and write it down, and then list the main points the speakers try to make regarding that purpose. If you happen to miss a point, do not try to remember what it was; instead keep listening and continue jotting the remaining audio passage.

While answering an “audio” question, which is the one where they replay a section of the audio passage and ask questions in its context, it is often helpful to remember what was said right before the given audio extract. Remembering what was said prior to the audio would help in selecting the right choice of answer. This tip, and much of what I said earlier, are not my own; I came across them in the course linked above, and thought they were necessary to be restated.

Leveraging Listening Lessons

• Harnessing the digital powers at our disposal is often a good idea. In particular, listening to audio books and podcasts can help set a listening habit. Of course, the go-to audio book app for most people is Audible, which is the one I used, but you may use any other app of your choice if that is more suitable.
• For podcasts, I don’t really have a good recommendation. I went with the barebones Google Podcasts app, but you can stick with the podcast app you already use, if you use one. The important thing is to listen to conversations and lectures across diverse genres and topics.
• Practice all the listening questions in the online course, and time yourself while practicing. More questions for Listening can be found on their official website.
• As hinted in the earlier section, here’s what I did while taking the online course for this section: I turned off the captions, and the transcripts. This ensured that I really listened to the audio of the lecture while tuning in the videos for this section.
• If you are preparing for the test with the official TOEFL book, as was I, and if you happen to have a PDF of the book, you can make the book speak out the listening passages. The software I used for this was Foxit Reader. Here’s what you do: the listening passage will be presented as a written transcript in the book. As shown below, you first highlight the transcript, while trying not to steal a glance at it, then select View ➡ Read ➡Activate Read, and then View ➡ Read ➡ Read Current Page. When the narration is done, you can click on Deactivate Read from the same menu, or press Ctrl + Shift + Y. This will help you get more practice from the book’s listening passages.

Using Foxit Reader to read out loud the audio passages of the Official TOEFL book.

• Remember to take down notes while the app is reading the passage, and remember to time yourself while you take down the notes and answer the questions. Foxit Reader is also available as an Android app, and I used it for narrating the listening passages if my laptop was not around.
• If instead of a PDF you own a physical copy of the book, you may ask a family member or a friend to narrate the audio transcript while you take down notes.

Now hold on a minute — I see you have been reading this article for quite some time now, and it’s time you took a well deserved “break”.

The Break, and what should you do during it.

When you finish your Listening section, there will be a break for 10 minutes. You will be allowed to leave the room and expected to return before the break ends. During this time, it is best to rejuvenate yourself. Visit the washroom, put some water on your face, get hydrated if needs be.

You may also see if you can switch the notepad somewhere around this time. If the pages of your notepad are used up any time during the test, you may raise your hand and ask for a replacement. It is best to do this right before the break begins, or right after it ends. Replacing the notes in the middle of the ongoing test might cut in your test taking time.

And most importantly, while 10 minutes may seem like a long time, it really is not. Remember to get back a few minutes before the break finishes so you get the time to sit and relax in your seat. And this may be obvious, but make sure to not eat or drink anything cold during the break, as you will need the full might of your vocals in the very next section — the Speaking stage.

Speaking Strategies

For me, personally, the Speaking stage of the test was the most dreadful one. Unsurprisingly, I would have liked to have scored a few more so I could better justify why my tips would help, but you may merrily jump over to the writing section if you wish to do so.

You are still here, and I am grateful — so let’s do this. Firstly, as an outline, what you need to know is that this section will comprise four speaking tasks. For a quick reference, you may refer to the following table.

Just a quick disclaimer: this table was true to my knowledge while writing this article. Please verify with official sources, or refer to the course linked above.

For both the Integrated and Independent types of questions, you will be required to speak your response into the mic — so make sure the mic works. You will be able to test it before starting the speaking round. You should also test right at this moment how loud you need to be in order to be audible, which is of utmost importance, as it will not matter how good your spoken answers are if they are not able to hear you.

For Question 1, you will hear a statement and will be asked to express your opinion on it. You will have only 15 seconds to prepare for it, so it might be a good idea to not write any notes during this time and just think on what you are going to say. Performing this is easier said than done, and I will disclose how I used to prepare for this question, and others, a little later.

For Questions 2 and 3, you will read about a paragraph-length topic in 50 seconds, listen to a conversation discussing that topic, and then be required to summarize it orally in 45 seconds. The reading section is where you will need to be extra quick, as you not only need to read a full-length paragraph in less than a minute, but also make notes on it. The notes taken should summarize the key purpose and points the paragraph makes. Notes also need to be made for the audio passage, so here is what you do:

Before beginning this section, make a vertical line in your rough sheet that will create two columns. On the left column, list down all the key points the paragraph makes as you read them. As you listen to the audio during the second half of these questions, you will find they often respond to or explain the points made in the paragraph. Quickly find the point made by the paragraph which is currently being examined by the audio, and jot down the audio’s take on it. This way, when you prepare for the speech, you will have a list of points ready to talk about.

Question 4 tests your summarizing abilities. You will listen to a lecture on a topic for 50 seconds, and will be required to speak its summary in 20 seconds. This is fairly straightforward compared to others, as it requires taking down brief notes as the audio plays, and orally summarizing the topic based on the notes.

Sophisticated Speaking Subtleties

• Practice speaking regularly in English, with your friends, family, colleagues et al. Spoken English only improves if you speak more in English.

A GIF image demonstrating how the Google Recorder app can help with this test. For some reason, if the image does not render, click here to download the (muted) video.

• One of the major apps I used to track my English speaking was Google Recorder. It only exists for Pixel phones, though, and not being an owner of Pixels meant I had to follow these (fairly straightforward) instructions to get it running on my phone. The reason why I used this app was that it could convert my spoken words into a textual transcript as I would speak them. So I would open a book, pick a passage, and record a recitation of that passage. When done, I would look at the transcript generated and compare how accurate my flow was compared to the passage. An example of this is shown here. For privacy reasons, I had to mute my audio.
• Once you are comfortable with this app, practice all the speaking questions in the online course by recording yourself with it. Be sure to time yourself as per the prep / response times allowed in the test. As mentioned above, I used the Caffeine app to make sure the screen didn’t sleep while I was timing myself.
• For more speaking questions, refer to the official website. Note: the audio for some of the questions might be presented as a written transcript in a PDF file — you can use Foxit Reader to recite them for you in the way explained above in the Reading section.

Let me talk about one last hurdle I faced while speaking before we move onto the next section, and that hurdle was background noise. You will be taking this test with many other test-takers, and they might be speaking their answers at the same time as you. You will be provided headphones to listen to the audio of the questions, but they might not be powerful enough to block out the noise. So your task will be doubly challenging — to not only make sure the background noise does not distract you from preparing or answering your questions, but also to speak loud enough that your response is heard clearly.

One way to do these is to keep the headphones on the whole time and pay no attention to the background, but this is easier said than done. Another way to prepare for this perhaps is to practice speaking in a crowded environment and making sure your recordings are sufficiently loud and clear. I have not tested this approach, so I cannot comment on how useful it might be — and while we are still in a pandemic, I cannot recommend going to crowded places.

What I can recommend, though, is staying home and performing indoor activities, and one of those activities happens to be writing. Oh, and speaking of writing, we have now arrived at the final stage of the test.

Writing Strategies

The finale of the TOEFL will have you write two essay-like compositions. The first is an “integrated” writing task, while the second is the “independent” one. For both of these, you will need to have the ability to write fluently in English with minimal grammatical and spelling errors, and finish within the allotted times.

A quick summary of the question types: the first question will require you to read a passage of about 4 paragraphs in 3 minutes, listen to an audio that relates to the reading passage only once, and write your response summarizing the points made in the passage and the paragraph in 20 minutes. The second question will give you a topic that may pose a question or make a statement, and you will be asked to write your opinion on it of at least 300 words in 30 minutes. You will be allowed to take notes all through these questions.

What both these sections really want is to see a commanding control in written English. To attain that, you need to write more and more, and build strong foundations in grammar and composition. There is a library of books out there that help you do that. Hailing from the Indian subcontinent, the book I used for honing my written English right from my school days was unsurprisingly High School English Grammar And Composition — but really any competent book will serve. Just make sure to write as much as you can and, if possible, get your compositions reviewed by your peers or teachers. If not, you can always look for online tools that do just that.

You may already have dexterous writing skills right now, but most of the writing resources below have been listed with the assumption that the average reader would need to do put up fair amounts of efforts in building their writing skills.

Weaving Writing Wins

• Like I mentioned just now, you need to sharpen your grammar skills to avoid any grammatical errors in your writing. Try out whichever resource suits you, be it the book linked above, or online lessons like those on Khan Academy, or a companion app. I am not sure as to how much it really helped, but I tried out the “Games” based on English vocabulary on Merriam-Webster’s android app. It was fun.
• After an abundant amount of practice when you are confident on your hold on grammar, practice writing on a regular basis. You may find some hesitancy when you begin, but keep going. Like any other skill in the world, writing chops are developed only by practicing it again and again.
• But, rote practice will not help if you are not making improvements. Try to reach out to friends or family or your local English teacher, and get regular feedback on your written work. Based on the feedback, improve your writing incrementally over time until you are confident on your writing abilities.
• Practice every writing challenge in the online course linked above, and move over to the official website for more practice questions when done.
• I have used the term “writing” a bunch of times in this section, but what I really mean is “typing” — for you will be needed to type out your response in your test (again, assuming you are preparing for the iBT). Because of this reason, you need to sharpen your typing skills in addition to your writing skills. There is a plethora of typing resources available online to help increase your typing speed; the one I used was keybr.com, but like always you may use any typing practice tool that suits you. The important thing is to practice typing regularly; at least hold a typing session once a week. You may also set up group challenges with your friends to see who types the fastest and most accurate in a given time, if you need to boost your motivation.
• Strongly avoid using any digital writing assistant while practicing. On the TOEFL test, you will not be provided with any spell-checker or grammar-validating tool during the writing stage, so do not build a dependence on them. Heck, even the keyboard shortcuts for cut, copy and paste will be disabled (although there will be some buttons that will allow you to highlight and achieve this using the mouse). So whenever you open a Word file, a Google Doc, or a Notion page to practice your writing, make sure the grammar and spell checkers are disabled. Only when the writing is done, you may turn those checks on to see what mistakes you have made and where you can improve on your next try.
• Coming to my preferences, I used LibreOffice’s Writer to practice my writing exercises, because it is free and open-source, and has everything I need for doing simple writing tasks. Of course, I would turn off the writing assistance when practicing, and turn them back on when I was done. I also used to time myself while typing out the response (20 or 30 minutes, based on the question type), and the status bar at the bottom provided a convenient place to check the word-count (a word counter will be provided in the TOEFL test).
• This may seem a little obvious, but please do not use your phone to practice writing. In the actual test, you will have to type using the keyboard provided, so practice writing only on your computer.
• And finally, when you have written your answer on the writing screen provided, revise it. Churn out any spelling errors, and fix any misuse of grammar. In order to do this, you need to make sure you finish at least 5 minutes before the time runs out, so you would have ample time to double-check.

With plenty of writing practice of the right kind, you will be able to conclude your test with panache. I just hope I have had such kind of practice before writing this article, for I am now attempting to conclude in style.

Conclusion

It is time for a few parting words as we draw a close to this article. There are a few more points I would like to make, offer some more pointers and resources that should enable you to walk that extra mile and see yourself triumphant at the finish line.

There is always room for more practice.

At this point in the article, I cannot overemphasize how important it is to practice for all the sections in this test. Like I’ve mentioned before, you should finish all the official practice questions in the online course linked above. Once that is done, you should move to the official website to practice more questions.

If needed, you can always hunt for more practice materials online. Class Central’s web page on TOEFL has a treasure trove of exam resources, including links to more practice material. One particular resource I extensively used was BestMyTest, which was specially useful as it has one free mock TEOFL test that you can take and time yourself, before you take the actual test.

Time blocking and setting deadlines are allies, not foes.

You will have a greater chance to finish preparing for a particular section if you write down a deadline by when you would complete it, and try to adhere to the deadline. You may also block time on your calendar and dedicate those blocks into preparation hours.

To achieve this, you may use any set of digital tools, but the one I primarily used was Todoist. I created a project for TOEFL on Todoist, wrote down lists of activities I needed to perform, and scheduled deadlines on when I would complete them. Scheduling on Todoist was specially convenient, because it can integrate with your Google Calendar, so you can see all your upcoming preparation activities on your calendar. Over time, the list would be ever-expanding, and at the end, it looked something like the image shown below. If you choose to use Todoist, I am happy to share the template for the below project.

At the end of my preparation, my Todoist task-board would look something like this, but with most of the tasks being checked or completed.

You do not have to strictly follow these series of tasks — you can tailor the board based on your specific needs and preferences.

The Eagles are coming!

I hope you have done ample reading to realize we are truly at the end of this article, given the title above! I am hoping my strategies and tips would end up being of use to you, and help you achieve a high score in the TOEFL test.

With that, I thank you for this long read, and I part with best wishes for your test. Good luck!