G.G., wanting to improve is academic English proficiency, joined an Online TOEFL Course called “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT.” And with a glide in his stride, G.G. immediately took the advice of his TOEFL mentor and started posting speaking and writing practice tests, and he worked hard in the reading section of the course. The speaking, writing, and reading sections of the course were the reasons why he could not score above 100/120.
To improve his speaking proficiencies, G.G. has reviewed all the independent and integrated lessons so that he could learn about how to organize and develop his ideas, all the while demonstrating intelligible speech and good control of both basic and advanced grammar and vocabulary. In the beginning, he did not score very well on his practice tests, but he got some helpful feedback from his TOEFL iBT mentor. Therefore, he reviewed the recommended lessons, and kept posting practice tests daily. In fact, he has already completed 23 practice tests, and he is feeling more confident every day.
In addition to improving his speaking, G.G. is also working hard to improve his writing. Toward this aim, he has been studying the independent and integrated lessons, particularly focusing on how to make his writing more coherent, which is one of the reasons he had not scored as high as he wanted on his last TOEFL exam. However, studying the lessons was not enough. He needed to take some practice tests so he could get feedback. As the old saying goes, “Hearing is good, seeing is better, but doing is best.” And that is exactly what he did. In fact, to date, he has completed four independent practice tests and three integrated practice tests. His scores vary from 20-23 points. He still has a ways to go, but he knows, based on his feedback from his TOEFL writing mentor, how to solve his writing problems, part of which are sentence structure and word choice related.
Finally, G.G. , as much as he hates it, is working to improve his reading proficiency. However, unlike the speaking and writing proficiencies, both of which provide him regular feedback from his TOEFL mentor, he is largely on his own. Developing his reading proficiencies is mostly an independent activity requiring perseverance, hard work, and a whole lot of discipline. However, he has made some better choices by reading extensively for about 45 minutes each day, by studying 1,700 TOEFL words, by learning the iBT reading test-taking strategies, and by completing 70 speed reading practice tests. Of all the language areas, G.G. has found reading to be the most challenging. Nevertheless, his progress is steady, and G.G. can now read at a speed of 295 words per minute with 80% comprehension. Contrary to what he had believed, reading faster has allowed him to concentrate better and comprehend more. Although he still has a ways to go, G.G. is definitely feeling a lot more confident now.
Having made progress in his speaking, writing, and reading proficiencies in a little more than one month of study in his Online TOEFL Course, G.G. will take the TOEFL iBT on Saturday. But this time he will score much higher!
Go get ’em bro!