Prepare for the TOEFL iBT, as simple as that.

TOEFL IBT is known to assess the language level of candidates in a very comprehensive manner. This test is designed to assess the four main areas of skills required to master the language. To succeed at the TOEFL IBT, the candidate must combine these various skills to prove his ability to communicate correctly in English. Therefore, TOEFL is a particularly difficult and long test, since it lasts around 4:30, with specific instructions.

The TOEFL IBT test takes place as follows:

• Written comprehension (Reading test): the candidate must read several extracts from university content and answer different questions in the form of a multiple choice question. This section lasts from 1h to 1h40 and includes 3 to 5 exercises (of which only 3 are marked, but the candidate doesn’t know which ones). The first exercise lasts 20 minutes, exercises 2 and 3 are separate and last 40 minutes, as are exercises 4 and 5 if applicable. There are approximately 15 questions per exercise. Our advice: read the questions before reading the text, in order to save time and already be familiar with the sentences and words you need to spot.
• Oral comprehension (Listening test): this section lasts between 1h and 1h30 and includes 6 to 9 exercises, each one lasts 10 minutes. The candidate must listen to audio recordings (between 6 and 9) containing extracts from academic courses and conversations, and then answer various questions in the form of a multiple choice question. There are 5 to 6 questions, per recording.

Example of a question that can be asked in the TOEFL Listening:

You hear the following conversation:

“Student - Good morning!
Secretary - Oh! Good morning, I hadn't seen you there. How can I help you?
Student - Well, I'm looking for the office that's managing student loans.
Secretary - Well, you came to the right place.
Student - Mmm, is this not the Student Council?
Secretary - Yes, the loan office closed last year and we take up the mission of managing the loans.
Student - Oh OK, well I’ve come to check my balance to see how much I still owe you.
Secretary - Of course. I'm going to need your student card and your ID.
Student - OK. Well, here's the student card, and, hmm, and my ID.
Secretary - Oh the ID is out of date, it expired last month. Don't you have another?
Student - No, I haven't had time to change it.
Secretary - Well OK, we only accept valid ID but since you have your student card and you seem honest enough I'll let it pass with this one.
Student - Great, thanks. I really need this information in order to evaluate my budget to see if I can afford the trip to France that the Student Council organizes.
Secretary - Indeed OK, let’s have a look... hmm, well you still owe us $10,000, you've already paid back 5,000, um, from the, the 15 that you owed us.
Student - Ah OK. Do you know if I am still allowed to borrow any more money?
Secretary - Hmm, your authorized amount is 15,000, um, so $5,000 per term, and the trip to France is only $1,000.
Student - OK, well, let's say that I'll need about $1,000... that’s not too expensive so I should probably ask for $2,000.
Secretary - Of course. So do you want to borrow 2,000 extra dollars then?
Student - Absolutely.
Secretary - Of course, okay, let's fill in the papers then.
Student - OK great. Do you need any credit card details or bank details to set this up? I know you need it for initial loans.”
Secretary - Well I should ask you for them, but to tell you the truth, I don't really need them since I have all the information here in your file so don't worry about it.
Student - Thanks so much, I thought it would be more difficult to set up all this stuff.
Secretary - Well it is normally, but let's just say we can make things a little bit simpler when we want to.”

Question :

Why is the student visiting the Student Council?

• Because she needs to check her flight times for the trip to France
• Because she wants to book the trip to France
• Because she needs to pay for her trip
• Because she wants to check her budget

Correct answer: D. (Reference to the sentence: "I really need this information in order to evaluate my budget to see if I can afford the trip to France that the Student Council organizes.").

(10 min Break)

• Oral expression (speaking test) : the candidate must express his opinion on a current or familiar theme, then express himself on various topics, related to university life. This test lasts 20 minutes and is divided into 6 exercises:
  • Exercise 1 : talk about a familiar person, object, or event. 15 seconds of preparation followed by 45 seconds of oral expression. Question example: What is your favorite movie or book? Describe it and explain why it is your favorite.
  • Exercise 2 : answer a question asked about 2 situations or opinions. Say which one you prefer and explain your choice. 15 seconds of preparation and 45 seconds of well-argued response. Question example: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Men and women are equal.
  • Exercise 3 : 45 seconds to read a short text of about 100 words, then listen to a dialogue of 1 or 2 minutes on the same topic, in a daily life context. A question is then asked about the text and the audio. 30 seconds of preparation and 60 seconds of oral response.
  • Exercise 4 : similar to exercise 3.
  • Exercise 5 : An audio extract of a conversation or conference of maximum 2 minutes is played (generally a student speaking about a problem and a member of the university trying to help him out). A question is then asked about this audio. 20 seconds of preparation and 60 seconds of oral. Our advice: Your answer will be assessed based on your ability to pass on information, so be specific and do not keep away from the subject.
  • Exercise 6 : similar to exercise 5.
• Written expression (Writing test) : this section lasts 50 minutes and is made up of 2 writing exercises of 20 and 30 minutes. As for the oral expression, the candidate must lean on texts and audio recordings related to university life, to write an answer in the essay form. He must then express his opinion in writing on a more or less familiar subject.

Careful: A QWERTY keyboard is used for this test. Therefore, it is strongly advised to practice using this type of keyboard in advance. This will save you time but also prevent you from feeling extra stressed on D-Day.

Each of the four parts of the TOEFL is scored on 30 points. Depending on the number of correct answers and the quality of your oral and written expression, you will receive a higher or lower mark for each part. The sum of these four scores will then give you your final score. The 4 sections of the TOEFL IBT are as significant and have the same importance, when it comes to the overall score The validity of the TOEFL certification is not unlimited. After two years, the ETS institute (founder and organizer of the test) considers that the candidate's language level has most likely changed. Therefore, it must be reassessed in order to make companies and universities feel secure about the reliability of ETS expertise.