Advise on the TOEFL

[ChocChoc]

I took the test today and I wnated to say that the materials at Magoosh where splendid, just amazing. 

Today I had an overall good experecience at the test center. However, bear in mind this practical matters:

1) Bring earplugs! Otherwise it's impossible to concentrate as other people will be speaking loudly into their mikes because of the speaking section. I'm happy I brought them because otherwise it would be a challenge to concentrate. 

2) Remember that the speaking section can be 60 or 80 minutes long. Bear in mind that no matter what it's gonna be 20 miniutes per text. Today I made a terrible mistake. For some reason i assumed that the reading section was always composed of 3 sections (as is the case with the TOEFL online practice tests). When the reading section started I saw that I had 4 texts. Then I thought, okay relax and quickly count how many minutes you have per text.  I thought, in the middle of the stress typical on test day: "Well the screen says I have 1:20.00 to finish. Ok, so 12 dived by 4 is 3. So I have 30 minutes!" And quickly jumped into answering the questions... So stupid, I know. But I think this kind of stuff can happen under stress. At the end of the first text I suddenly realised that of course my quick calculation was completely wrong... That casued me to be unable to finish the reading section on time and had to guess the last 5 questions. I hope the last text was for testing, if not I'm not sure if I will reach my target of a 25 score in the reading  

[toxicdevil]

On 3/11/2016 at 7:27 PM, ChocChoc said:

I took the test today and I wnated to say that the materials at Magoosh where splendid, just amazing. 

Today I had an overall good experecience at the test center. However, bear in mind this practical matters:

1) Bring earplugs! Otherwise it's impossible to concentrate as other people will be speaking loudly into their mikes because of the speaking section. I'm happy I brought them because otherwise it would be a challenge to concentrate. 

2) Remember that the speaking section can be 60 or 80 minutes long. Bear in mind that no matter what it's gonna be 20 miniutes per text. Today I made a terrible mistake. For some reason i assumed that the reading section was always composed of 3 sections (as is the case with the TOEFL online practice tests). When the reading section started I saw that I had 4 texts. Then I thought, okay relax and quickly count how many minutes you have per text.  I thought, in the middle of the stress typical on test day: "Well the screen says I have 1:20.00 to finish. Ok, so 12 dived by 4 is 3. So I have 30 minutes!" And quickly jumped into answering the questions... So stupid, I know. But I think this kind of stuff can happen under stress. At the end of the first text I suddenly realised that of course my quick calculation was completely wrong... That casued me to be unable to finish the reading section on time and had to guess the last 5 questions. I hope the last text was for testing, if not I'm not sure if I will reach my target of a 25 score in the reading  

 

My test center provided me with ear plugs. They dont allow you to bring even a pencil with you.

Secondly I tried to finish my earlier sections as soon as possible (they are easy). So I began my speaking section before others and was able to speak freely in almost half of my speaking section because no one else was speaking at the same time.

[hello_kitty]

I also finished other sections early so when I started speaking, noone else was speaking! My center gave us noise cancelling headphones, so when Others started speaking, I couldnt really hear what they were saying, just a slow hum...

For anyone who is scared of having to speak to a mike: I was very apprehensive about how weird it would be, but it was totally ok...dont worry!

[fernandes]

@ChocChoc did you read all the passages on the Reading Section? A very good tip is not to read the entire passage and skip to the questions. You'll be basically searching for answers on the text. Furthermore, the questions are usually in order of appearance in the text, so it makes it easier to find answers. It would have saved you a lot of time on that section.

Anyways, it's still a good tip for students who will be taking the TOEFL soon. Good luck!