TOEFL and preparing for it!!

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a pre-requisite for most of the foreign students and yes there are exemptions and exceptions!!

Well, to start with the journey called TOEFL, its important to understand that the tests toughness or its ease starts with your upbringing. It depends on how and what are you made up of. Many students would say that its a cakewalk but hey there are people who score less too!!! What makes the other lot stand out? You would suggest its their study pattern and strategies and practise. Well very true but most important is the fact that it reflects on your hold on English as a language. And remember its easier if you learn any language in your childhood. Its this point that counts a lot. I am not trying to say that its easy for those who have a social and educational background adaptable for and based on English. But it is at your very subconcious.

To start with I would recommend before one month of your final TOEFL day start watching and voraciously watching BBCs, Discoverys and NAT GEOs.Watch English movies quite often and start reading the top English Newspapers seriously. It helps subconcious to be very well tuned to the American English and the way its pronounced. If you can train your brain very well it will be like knowing the back of your hand. Remember Sachin Tendulkars, Michael Schumachers and Roger Federers have become famous and successful because the hard work they have taken to train their super-computer. It works that way very easily!!!

However, to start with there are three types of TOEFL for students. Paper Based, cBT and iBT. However, common of these three types are cBT and iBT. As every word has a fixed life after which it dies, similarly cBT is on the verge of death. ETS has shifted its focus on iBT. It majorly consists of Spoken English, Reading Comprehension, Listening and Written part of it. Well its well defined on the website of ETS and they have been very co-operative in helping the test takers by sharing lots of free material. So its worth visiting this site more often.

Its better to understand the pattern and strategy that works for you. For example, instead of reading the complete passages some people find partial reading and trigger words startegy more helpful and more accurate. So that saves some great amount of time, to concentrate on other sections. You can also develop your own templates for essays before hand and then use them in TOEFL. The essays carry a lot of importance as they determine the whole score range and are easy to crack, if practised well. Spoken English should not be a problem for anyone with basic English in Under Grad and Graduation level. However, you can develop that too by:

1. Thinking in English, instead of regional language.
2. Speaking with friends in English
3. Speaking to self in front of mirror slowly and clearly.

Thats all about TOEFL and its an easy test if planned well!!! So keep planning and enjoy your journey!!