Franck joined an online TOEFL course called “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT” so that he could score high on the exam, including minimum scores of 22, 21, 26, and 24 in the reading, listening, speaking, and writing sections of the test. It was quite easy for him to make his payment at the web site. He clicked a “subscribe” button, created a Pay Pal account, and then linked his credit card to the Pay Pal account so he could make his first payment. He might need to use the service more than one month, but, at this point, he is unsure. So, right before the end of the 30 day billing cycle, he will cancel his subscription at his Pay Pal account if he no longer needs to practice English. If he still wants to use the service, he will do nothing and Pay Pal will automatically bill him for the next month.
Now that he had made a payment, Franck was anxious to go to the web site to see the lessons. He typed in his username, password, and enrollment key so he could get access to the course, and then to his excitement he went to the homepage and this is what he saw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FgQWFzr4rg
After seeing all the lessons, he was shocked. Michael had informed him that there were 330 lessons and practice tests, but he had to see it to believe it. Not knowing what to do or where to start, he asked Michael, the materials writer, owner, and teacher, how he should study. Michael informed him that he should study the vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar parts of the course in month 1, the listening and reading parts on month 2, and the writing and speaking sections in month 3. Then Michael said something that Franck would never forget: “The journey of a 1000 miles begins with the first step.”
Immediately Franck realized what Michael was saying. He too was on a journey, and it would be long and hard. Furthermore, he realized that it was his responsibility to take the first step by beginning to study the TOEFL lessons regularly and that, in the not too distant future, his journey would come to an end, the day he would take and pass the TOEFL iBT.
Energized and eager to begin, Franck clicked on the video for Vocabulary Lesson 1 and began his TOEFL preparation studies, this time with a plan, with confidence, and with the certainty that he could E-mail Michael whenever he had questions about his language study.
| This article was written by Michael Buckhoff–co-founder and materials writer for Better TOEFL Scores and The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT, Composition and Linguistics Professor, TOEFL Specialist, ESL Master Instructor, and Placement and Testing Coordinator for California State University, San Bernardino.Follow more posts and videos from Michael at Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube. |