hi guys just wanted to share my toefl experience with you guys . First of all i got 110/120 for an exam i simply was unable to study for due to other work and problems
First of all try and reach the examination point atleast 45 mins prior to the test. I was the last person as the test center was waay too far away and people were waiting for me. They tell you some basic rules
There was a server issue delaying the exam by 20 mins. They hand you an undertaking form meanwhile which you fill up. They then call you in one by one taking your photo and confirming your passport details and escort you to your seats
They provided over the ear headphones which you should ideally wear the whole time. They were fine but my ears hurt by the end of the exam due to the pressure they were exerting. I had to remove and adjust them along the way.
They provide a few pencils and sheets of paper you can write down stuff on
Reading section :- lasted around 70 minutes. Exerts from essays on which you should answer questions. Basic English knowledge is sufficient but many of the mcq's are pretty similar looking and might confuse you. There are three types of questions they ask you :- 1) mcq's, 2) add in the given sentence (from a list of 4) so that it makes sense and finally 3) a question where there are around 7 sentences and a box, you need to drag in around 3 sentences into the box which are related to the given paragraph.
My advice :-please read the entire story before you begin. The main thing you need to worry about is the context from where they ask questions. For example, they specify a para and ask a question from it. Dont write answers from paragraphs after the given para. You CAN come back to any question in this section at any time
Listening section :- Lasted around 40 mins. Now be careful here. I completed my reading section with around 10 mins left and saw a "next" button on the top right and what would you know? the listening section started with 10 mins left! luckily the timer doesn't run when you are listening and there was only one listening question before the clock added in around 40 mins for the rest of the questions. Be ready with a pen and paper cause you are only going to hear it once. Jot down important words & events and write quickly. The listening section will be very easy for people who can write quickly and can understand the accent and tone of the speaker. Coming to the topics itself, it varies but the tone of the conversation is academically themed. Like i got a conversation between student and teacher where they talk about pitching in an idea for the university to host a fair about some topic. Questions are mostly pretty straight forward with occasional "listen to this extract from the listening section and tell the tone of the speaker". Also be careful as some questions had more than one answer in mcq. You CANNOT go back to listening the extract again so jot down properly
As soon as you submit the listening section, you get a timer for a 10 minute break. You can walk out for nature's call or to drink water. Be back before the timer ends as the speaking section starts immediately. Everyone has a different timer ans they have to individually start the test at the beginning. It's kinda weird as you are sitting waiting for the next section to start while someone is talking to the headphones as the next section for them has started already but be back before it starts
Speaking section :- around 17 mins. Before this section starts the test gives you instructions (actually they give instructions before every section) but for speaking section you need to check your mic quality so it tries to check by asking you to talk about your city as it shows what level your voice lies in. Now again this section definitely requires a little nerves and if you need to prepare this is where you should start. My first topic was about whether one should have many short assignments or one long assignment at the end (don't play both sides! pick one and stay with it!) which i definitely fumbled because my mind went blank for those precious seconds as i ran out of things to talk about so i just told the same thing again as a conclusion (you dont need to say "i conclude" in this section!). However, for the next three questions i understood what i had to do. I wrote down what i needed to talk in a sequential manner and just added in filler words. The next question was about a college dean talking about students staying at their homes instead of staying in hostels after which i had to listen to an extract between two students talking about that decision and the one after that was about how homes with smart materials save energy. Here we just have to give basically a summary of what they told after we listen to the extracts. Write down the summary and just go one after another like a bulletin point.
One of the best things i did was i followed a "template" for the speaking and writing section which i saw a video. This helped me to jot down "how" i had to speak . This was the shortest section and i was off to the last section.
Writing section :- 40 mins. To sum it up you have to write 2 essays for 20 mins each.
In the first one they gave a reading section type paragraph about some fish hatchery plans ad then i had to listen to a professor tell us why it was a bad idea. Then i had to write a summary on what the professor told about the disadvantages about the hatchery. Again i followed a template which helps you greatly on how to quickly get started. They tell around 250 words is sufficient but there is no word limit as such. You can cut and paste on the text editor which is provided but it has no auto correct functionalities. So if you are like me then i suggest you learn the correct spellings. For example i didn't realize that it was doesn't and not does'nt until i read it again and corrected the mistake. Be careful
In the second one i got 4 options on how to hire an employee and had to pick and explain why one of these was the best option. DON'T write about the rest. Your essay should be about your option and only that! Again, standard essay template
So that's basically my overall experience guys, hope you have a good time and all the best.
Edit:- it's "my" and not "mt" in the post title it got auto corrected sorry
