TOEFL EXPERIENCE

Today on May 7, 2016 I took my TOEFL for the first time in life.
The test was pretty much tricky and I was not expecting it to be.
The experience was very good as I have enjoyed a lot taking it.

TOEFL iBT Test distribution

Before getting into further detail, let us briefly overview the
sections I have been through. The table below is self-explanatory

Sectio
n

Time
Limit

Questio
ns

Tasks

42
Read 3 or 4 passages from
Readin 6080
question academic texts and answer
g
minutes s
questions.
Listeni
ng

34
Listen to lectures, classroom
6090
question discussions and conversations
minutes s
and then answer questions.

Break

10
minutes

Try and refresh do not overthink.

Speaki 20
ng
minutes 6 tasks

Express an opinion on a familiar

topic; speak based on reading
and listening tasks.

50
Writing minutes 2 tasks

Write essay responses based on

reading and listening tasks;
support an opinion in writing.

FEW TIPS

We know that TOEFL is an integrated exam. Many of the

questions will have more than one component. For instance,
reading a passage about a topic followed by listening something
about that topic. Dont let these components to surprise you as it
does to me. Prepare in such a way that before a question starts
you know the components and their order of appearance in that
question. Important videos related to ETS are very nice way to
start with. You will get a generalized idea about all the sections.
Speak louder. Good for reducing tension and prevents distraction
due to surrounding noise.
** During break time, dont think about what you will say in the
Speaking section. Because you dont know what topic you are
going to get. Rather think about the Type and order of question
that will appear. Take few deep breaths and again, speak out
loud.

READING:
Similar to GRE reading comprehension. Tips from official guide
and Verbal Grail book helped a lot in recognizing different
question types.
WRITING:
Was not good at this. And as I had very limited time for the exam,
did not bother about this section. But I memorized the template
for writing task from Notefull videos and it was ok.
SPEAKING:
Spent most of my preparation time for speaking. Mostly from TPO
and ETS website. videos were very helpful for recognizing the
question pattern. Watch them repeatedly but I think it is not a
good idea to follow their speaking templates blindly. Because
these templates are being used by the students for years and
examiners are very familiar with this kind of typical answers. So,

during exam, if you think you can speak fluently about a given
topic, better to avoid any specific templates.
LISTENING:
Official Guide and Model test. Taking quick notes is important. Try
to Write 1 or 2 important words for each line. This will help to get
a picture of the overall topics