I just found this really useful website with lots of free books for learning English. Click here for a link to their TOEFL resources but take the time to look at some of the other books on their site as well. If you are not used to downloading large files from the Internet you might [...]
Posted in English resources, TOEFL | Also tagged books, free |
What is an integration task?
An integration task is a task where you must combine two or more skills such as listening, reading, writing and speaking. The TOEFL iBT requires that you complete several integration tasks, some in the speaking section and some in the writing section. To get a complete overview of the different questions [...]
Posted in English Classes, TOEFL | Also tagged IELTS, integration, listening, notetaking, podcast, Reading, Scientific American, Speaking, summarizing, writing |
Today in class we had an interesting conversation about the best ways to prepare for taking an English proficiency test such as the TOEFL iBT or IELTS. I asked the students what they thought was the best way to prepare for the test. Here are some of the things we spoke about:
You need to know [...]
The OWL (online writing lab) at Purdue has a good resource page about the technique of reverse outlining.
Reverse outlining is a useful method for taking notes, analysing complex writing, or revising and assessing the quality of your written work.
Click here to read more about this very useful technique.
Can you find an online example of reverse [...]
This week we will be practicing our writing skills in my English test preparation classes. If you would like to participate then please prepare a response to the following sample topic from question two of the TOEFL ibt writing test. Please prepare your answers in advance of the class. We will use class time to [...]
The Owl at Purdue is a very useful resource for students who would like to improve their writing skills. Below is a summary, taken from their web page, of the services and information that they provide.
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a [...]
Jason Renshaw from the Renshaw Internet School of English has prepared an excellent series of short video lectures that give a thorough explanation of the six questions on the speaking section of the TOEFL ibt.
The lectures are designed to give you an overview of the question types, some suggested approaches to time management and some [...]
Yesterday in class we practiced summarizing, comparing and contrasting information in preparation for answering question four (speaking) of the TOEFL ibt. We used a practice example taken from Jason Renshaw’s TOEFL practice website. Click here to see the sample question.
In the ‘real’ test students are only given a very short amount of time to read, [...]
Do you need short lectures for practicing your notetaking and summarizing skills? Search no more! Scientific American now has a whole podcast dedicated to 60 second lectures about the latest news in the science world. The sound lectures include a transcript as well as a link to an article with more detailed information about the [...]
Practicing listening and notetaking is an essential part of preparation for doing both the TOEFL and the IELTS. Unfortunately, most of the example practice material is pretty dry. While it is still worth using the official practice example material in order to get a feel for the kinds of lectures you will be ‘forced’ to [...]
