Sina stared at her TOEFL score report in disbelief: R = 20, L = 18, S= 22, and W = 21. Being short of her goals on the reading, speaking, and writing sections of the exam, Sina definitely needed to join an Online TOEFL Course. And no matter what happened from this point on, Sina was determined to reach her goals of 21, 18, 26, and 24 on the reading, speaking, and writing sections of the exam, for she wanted to get her license to practice pharmacy in the United States. As a result, she did indeed join an Online TOEFL Course and began working on her academic English proficiency.
Then a month later, Sina re-took the TOEFL iBT and received the following scores on the different sections of the exam: R = 20, L =18, S=24, and W=24. Her TOEFL mentor advised her, motivated her, and told her to stay the course, and that is exactly what Sina did.
Sina kept working hard, and then she took the TOEFL iBT for a third time: R = 21, L =20, S=26, and W=23. It was especially hard for Sina to accept these scores because she had passed all sections of the exam except for the writing section. Again, she told her TOEFL iBT mentor and instructor about her bad news. Her TOEFL mentor laid out a specific TOEFL writing study guide to help her make progress.
Sina following the writing outline and retook the exam a few weeks later: R = 21, L = 20, S=24, and W=24. To her shock and utter frustration, she had passed the writing this time but was two points shy of her required marks on the speaking. If only she could combine subtotals from separate exams!
This time, having been encouraged by her TOEFL iBT mentor, she decided to focus hard on both the speaking and writing sections of the exam. Sina studied diligently for a few more weeks and then retook the TOEFL iBT again: R = 21, L =20, S=24, and W=24. “Dang, is there a God above?” thought Sina as she took in the realization that again she was two points shy of passing on the speaking section.
After her fifth attempt at trying to reach her target scores on the exam, in a moment of weakness, Sina gave up and quit studying for a while, but then she thought about her husband and her three kids, all of whom were counting on her to realize her dreams of becoming a pharmacist. Therefore, she got back into the study routine of posting speaking and writing practice tests and completing the vocabulary, grammar, listening, and reading lessons in her Online TOEFL Course. Then she retook the test: R = 20, L =20, S=24, and W=25. Sadly, her speaking score had not budged. “Is there any way to pass the speaking section of the exam?” Sina wondered.
Sina cried for a few hours after learning about the results of her sixth attempt at trying to reaching goals on the TOEFL exam, and she was down in the dumps for a few days afterwards. Nevertheless, refusing to give up, Sina went right back to the grindstone, this time posting 3 speaking practice tests for her TOEFL iBT speaking mentor to evaluate. Eventually, she took the TOEFL iBT for a seventh time: R = 21, L =20, S=24, and W = 27. It was hard times as she saw yet again that she had not met the requirement on the speaking section. Would she ever be able to change her non-native speaker accent enough so that she could score 26?
Sina e-mailed her TOEFL iBT mentor and told him of the bad news. Seven times she had taken the TOEFL iBT, and seven times she had not met her required marks. It had been almost eight months since Sina had begun her quest to pass the TOEFL iBT. Would she ever be able to put the TOEFL iBT behind her. Remarkably, Sina went right back to posting more speaking practice tests for her TOEFL mentor to evaluate. She also kept posting writing practice tests, and she kept a prayer in her heart that she would be able to stay focused since she had registered to take the TOEFL exam an eighth time. And after the eighth time of taking the exam, Sina got her scores back from ETS: R = 22, L =21, S=27, and W=24. Finally, she had made it! She had met all the required marks on the same exam. All the frustration was finally behind her. Her perseverance had helped her accomplish her goal. Filled with excitement, Sina sent an e-mail of her good news to her TOEFL iBT mentor Michael Buckhoff, who responded with the following video: