Tips to Pass the IELTS & TOEFL
These are international English language tests. They measure your level of English and may need to sit one of them to graduate or to get a scholarship. Do not be afraid to do them, here are some strategies to pass them without problems.Many students and professionals do international English language exams to get access to better jobs or academic scholarships in other countries. Even some universities ask students to do exams such as IELTS or TOEFL before graduating.
The point is that this represents several things: on the one hand, a challenge for the person, as such, to face a situation that can be stressful and unknown; but on the other, also, a high investment, the person who is going to do the exam must pay to do it and international English language exams are not cheap.
But once you decide to take them (or you have to, as a requirement), you have to assume that the preparation is the basis to be successful in them. Both for the IELTS and the TOEFL, the common denominator is that they will evaluate four skills: speech (Speaking), listening (Listening), writing (Writing) and reading (Reading) to demonstrate, according to the score, that you know or have knowledge of a second language. IELTS complies with all international standards and the averages of 6.0 or 6.5 are good scores to apply for a master's degree abroad.
The first thing you should do is be honest and measure your level of English. It is not worth saying "in my school I was doing well, and my level is intermediate". You should review how prepared you feel to take the test. Keep in mind that if you do not get the score required by the university, you must re-sit the exam and pay, once again.
There are many language centers that offer preparation for these exams. But apart from being expensive, some IELTS and TOEFL preparation courses are only two weeks and during this time you will not be able to learn what you have not practiced in years. Then, the suggestion is to prepare and seek to reinforce your reading, speaking, writing and active listening skills.
Getting ready ...
For speaking and listening: the trick is to listen to music in English and at the same time check the lyrics. This will reinforce and practice pronunciation as well as educate your ear to the accent and phonetics of the words. Also, you can watch the television series that you like the most and put the subtitles in English. With this, your mind will understand the words and then the correct pronunciation of them. When you watch the subtitles of your series or read the lyrics of the songs, you are also reinforcing the reading.
If you have friends or relatives who know English, you can practice with them. Remember, it is better to practice with someone you trust and can correct your errors in time and not embarrass yourself the day of the test presentation.
As for reading, the simplest way to learn and understand is to read magazine articles or news articles online. You can also read academic texts available online, and various reports from public organizations like WHO and government departments in the UK, USA, and Australia, for example. This will make you more familiar with the language you will need to score well in IELTS and TOEFL.
For writing, the suggestion is to have an English dictionary and review the words and their meanings. In the same way, there are applications for cell phones or tablets that allow you to write, listen and read words in a didactic way without getting bored. Obviously, you need to practice writing regularly. Try to do some writing every day so that the process becomes natural.
For the IELTS
IELTS has two types of tests: general and academic. The first can be presented if your goal is to migrate to an English-speaking country (England, USA, Australia, Canada, etc.) for work, or job training.
Regarding the speaking interview, it is done face-to-face, and the evaluator will divide the test into three sections:
The first part is talking about you and your hobbies. Here you can "let go" and talk about experiences from your personal life.
In general, the interview is done a day different from the reading, writing and listening tests. So, you will have additional time to prepare and present the test. The estimated time to present the test is 10 to 15 minutes.
In the written section, time is your enemy. You will have 60 minutes to complete two sections (Task 1, Task 2). In the academic IELTS exam (Task 1) you must summarize the information shown in a graph or diagram, etc. In the second part (Task 2) you must write an essay on a specific topic.
In the General IELTS exam (Task 1), you must first write a letter. You normally need to explain a situation or maybe request some information. And in the second part (Task 2) you also need to write an essay.
The listening test consists of four sections and 40 questions in total. Here you need all your concentration because the recordings do not repeat.
You will need to answer the questions about what you hear. The audios are conversations or monologues, and, in some cases, the answers change in the final section of the conversation. So, do not assume, and listen carefully to all the audio before choosing your answer. The estimated time is 30 minutes to listen and answer the four conversations. The IELTS exam features accents of people from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, etc. So, you should practice listening to some examples of these accents online before doing the exam.
In the reading comprehension section, you must answer 40 questions in 60 minutes. In Academic IELTS there are 3 papers you need to read taken from books and academic journals, while in the IELTS General exam you can read up to 5 short texts taken from newspapers and news. The suggestion is that in its preparation read all kinds of literature since the texts can deal with marine ecosystems to the life of spiders.
For the TOEFL
The "Test of English as a Foreign Language", better known as TOEFL, is a test that allows you to certify your level of English in order to study at an English-speaking university or meet the degree requirement. Keep in mind that this is an American English test, which means that the audios in the listening test are with an American accent.
The TOEFL is an Internet Based Test. During the exam, the data is sent over the internet, where it is distributed to the proofreaders or evaluators.
For reading, read and concentrate. For the reading comprehension test, they will give you five texts with different topics, in which you will have to answer up to 40 multiple-choice questions.
For this activity you will have one hour to respond. So, you have to use quick reading strategies, with which you can identify the key words and the main ideas of each of the paragraphs. Time is your worst enemy, so you have to organize very well.
In listening, you will have to answer around 34 to 50 questions about some audios of conversations or debates about university subjects. The estimated time for the test is 60 minutes. Write the key ideas while listening, take notes and notice the contexts of the conversations, because you will hear very technical or strange words that you will not be able to understand, but you will be able to interpret.
Then, you need to do the speaking part, the key is to talk fast, be concise and coherent. The section is formed by three blocks. In the first block, you will be asked to talk about a daily topic for a time of 45 seconds. After the question is asked, you will have a few seconds to think about the answer. Take notes and write keywords. Here it is important that you be consistent and have continuity with your sentences, so it is good to learn many connectors to give order to your ideas.
It is not necessary to create a complete discourse since time plays against you. Remember that your answer will be recorded in the system and you must speak into a microphone. The second phase consists of reading a text for approximately 45 seconds. After reading, the text disappears, and a conversation begins that develops the idea of the same text.
The same thing applies: organize your ideas and expand what you understood in the text of the screen and what you heard in the conversation. To plan what you are going to say, you will be given 30 seconds and you must state your opinion in one minute. The key is to have a good vocabulary and not stutter or hesitate when you are going to speak.
Finally, in the written evaluation or writing section, you must present two writing tasks: The first phase, you should read a text that appears on your screen and after three minutes will disappear, then you will hear an audio that is a debate on the subject.
At the end, you will have to write a text. To have a good score at this point, it must be very concise. Remember that writing in English is different, so short and clear sentences have a higher score. Using passive voice can give you an additional score.
In the second phase, you will be given 30 minutes to produce an essay or opinion piece of more than 300 words on a specific topic. Use arguments from your daily life or your profession. Do not make things up. Likewise, use many connectors and organize the ideas as if it were a story: beginning, middle, and end. Never lose the main ideas and present these to the best of your ability.
Currently, on the internet, you can find a wide variety of tools and videos to help you with this task. Even websites for TOEFL and IELTS offer free trials with which you can prepare, especially in the management of time, which is where many people can fail.