What is the TOEFL 2-Month Study Guide?
The curriculum for our 2-month TOEFL study guide has been designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the TOEFL exam. It includes eight weeks of Lectures, Practice Questions, Exercises (more exercises will be added later!), and Vocabulary drills along with weekly Section and Full Tests. Each 2-week session focuses on one of the four sections of the test: Writing, Speaking, Reading, and Listening.
What order should I study the sections in?
Although the sections have been arranged in the order of Writing, Speaking, Reading, and Listening, they do not have to be studied in that order. This is a self-study program, which means that the order in which you actually use the material is entirely up to you. You can choose to focus on the section that you have the most difficulty with first, or you can skip lectures or exercises for sections or question types that you are already comfortable with. Since the study program is not a class with other students, you may study at your own pace as well. There is no instructor, but you will receive scores, feedback, and recommendations generated by our AI system.
What are the different activities in the program?
The Lectures focus on the different question types within each section, and the Exercises are designed to help you practice skills that are needed to answer those question types quickly and efficiently. The Vocabulary List provides you with 1600 useful words/phrases that might come up in your TOEFL test. We advise you to study vocabulary every day, even if it is only for 10 minutes.
The Practice Questions are intended to help you practice the question types that were in the lectures you watched that day. However, you may also use them to practice other question types of your choice. The Section Tests give you an opportunity to practice what you have learned over the course of the week.
The Full Tests are intended to help you assess your progress. The first test provides you with your current score level, and the other tests allow you to evaluate how much you have learned and improved. If you follow the curriculum and complete all of the assigned work, your scores for each section should increase each week. Your overall score on the final test should also be higher than your score on the first test.
If you prefer to see and track your progress on paper, you might want to download our template and record your scores manually. 😊
How do I get the most out of this program?
Apart from completing all of the activities, there are many things you can do to maximize your learning experience.
Any time you complete a Practice Question, Section Test, or Full Test, you will be provided with your scores as well as explanations for Reading and Listening questions. You should read the explanations carefully to learn what the correct answers were and why they were correct. You should pay close attention to the questions that you answered incorrectly. Were there certain question types that you answered incorrectly more often? Those are the questions that you should practice more.
You will also receive model answers for the Writing and Speaking questions. You should compare your responses to the model answers to find things to improve upon in your responses. Those are the things that you should focus on when you practice these question types.
What score should I try to earn?
This is a difficult question for many people to answer. Of course, a perfect score of 120 would look good on anyone’s university or job application, but even native speakers may struggle to get a perfect score.
First, you should look at your reason for taking the test.
If you are applying to study at a university, find out what their requirements are. Some universities have a minimum TOEFL score of 100, but others may be as low as 70. Once you know what that requirement is, you should aim for a few points higher than that. For example, if the school has a 75 minimum, try to get an 80.
Second, look at your most recent score.
If you are far from the score you need, then it will most likely require more studying to reach. If you are already pretty close to what you need, look at your section scores. Each section is worth 30 of your 120 total possible points. Remember, you don’t need a perfect score in every section. In most cases, universities will not look at your section scores, just your total test score.
Many people would recommend you start with your lowest section score because it has the most room for improvement. While this may be true, it will also take a lot of work to get your lowest section score to match your highest ones. Other people may say that if you are already good at one section you should focus on that section. Unless the organization you are applying to has minimum score requirements for any specific section, don’t waste time on your lowest section. Both of these arguments have merits, but if you are trying to raise your score quickly, the sections with your highest or lowest scores are probably not the best places to start.
For example, let’s say a student has a score of 78 with the score broken down by sections as Writing = 18, Speaking = 14, Reading= 24, Listening= 22. Now, if they need at least an 80, they should raise their score by 3 points. Since their Reading score is already strong, they probably would not be able to improve it much quickly. For the same reason, they may not want to focus on Speaking. This appears to be the most difficult section for them, so it will be difficult and may take a lot of time to improve. So, they should focus on one of their middle scores, like Writing. It may be easier to raise the Writing score from 18 to 21 than Speaking from 14 to 17 or Reading from 24 to 27.
Finally, once you know what score you need and what sections to focus on, you should study in an efficient manner.
That is one of the main reasons why our 2-month program is arranged the way it is. Each 2-week segment of the program focuses on one section of the test. The Lectures, Practice Questions, Exercises, and Section Tests are all connected to that section and its question types. This allows you to maximize your effort on improving one section of the test at a time. The weekly Full Tests help you to evaluate your progress in each section, but they also keep you practicing the other sections as you study. The Recommended Questions you are provided with are also determined by your Mock Test results.