TOEFL iBT Independent Essay

TOEFL iBT Independent Essay

In this part of the TOEFL Writing section you will be asked to present your opinion on a certain topic. You will have 30 minutes to write your TOEFL essay. An effective independent essay should be about 300 words long. You can write fewer words as long as your ideas are well-developed and fully support your opinion on the topic. You can also write more than 300 words, but the response should be to the topic, as what is important is the quality of your writing, not the amount.

Strategies for writing a good integrated essay:

• Read the topic carefully and make sure you understand it.
• Before you start writing, make a plan of the essay - that will help you organize your ideas and thoughts better.
• Write clearly and with variety of language structures, use discourse markers to make connections between ideas.
• Leave a few minutes at the end to check your essay for spelling or grammatical mistakes.
• Keep track of the time - you should manage to finish your essay within the set period of time. Do not allow the system to cut you off before you have completed your thought.

Organization of the integrated essay

A good TOEFL Independent essay will have the following structure:

• Introduction
  o Some thought-provoking idea (proverb, saying), something that would catch the reader’s attention;
  o General statement – what people generally think on the topic;
  o Thesis – the last sentence of the introduction, where you state your opinion and reasons for holding that opinion.
• Body – the number of paragraphs in the body will depend on the number of reasons presented in the thesis sentence in the introduction.
  o First paragraph – reason for holding a certain opinion – details and examples;
  o Second paragraph - reason for holding a certain opinion – details and examples;
  o Third paragraph - reason for holding a certain opinion – details and examples;
• Conclusion
  o Rephrase the thesis
  o General comment

What do raters look at?

Development

• Address the topic;
• Present details and examples to support your ideas;
• Avoid using clichés or long empty of content phrases;

Organization

• The essay should be written in such a way that it is read from beginning to end without becoming confused;
• Write in paragraphs and use discourse markers to connect ideas or to move from one idea to another;
• Avoid repetition of ideas, irrelevant information or details or ambiguous connections between ideas.

Language use

• Use variety of sentence structures, words and expressions.

See also the section TOEFL Test Taking Strategies for more tips for each particular TOEFL task – TOEFL Reading, TOEFL Listening, TOEFL Speaking, and TOEFL Writing.

Practice you skills with i-Courses TOEFL iBT Full Tests and Components. You will benefit from the professional scoring that gives you feedback on all the weak points in your papers and ways to overcome those weaknesses.

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Number of Institutions Accepting the TOEFL® Test Surpasses 7,300 Globally

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Educational-Testing-Service-1066199.html

World's Most Widely Recognized English Assessment Continues to Expand Its Reach

PRINCETON, NJ--(Marketwire - October 27, 2009) - Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced today that more than 7,300 institutions worldwide are currently accepting the TOEFL® (Test of English as a Foreign Language™) test to assess English-language proficiency for both undergraduate and graduate applicants.

Of the record number of educational institutions accepting the TOEFL test, approximately 5,175 are located in the United States and Canada, 1,000 in continental Europe, 200 in the United Kingdom, 600 in Asia, 100 in Australia and New Zealand, with the majority of the remaining institutions located in Africa and the Middle East. A list of more than 7,300 institutions in 130 countries currently using TOEFL scores can be found in the TOEFL Destinations directory. Within the last year alone, an additional 383 institutions have become TOEFL score users and the number of institutions signing on to use TOEFL scores continues to increase at a fast pace.

In response to the growing demand for the TOEFL test by colleges and universities, ETS has increased the number of test administration sites to allow greater access and flexibility for test takers. Currently, there are more than 4,500 test administration sites globally.

"As the number of institutions accepting the TOEFL test continues to increase, ETS is pleased to accommodate the needs of international students by opening additional testing centers globally," commented Teresa Sanchez-Lazer, Executive Director of TOEFL product management. "It is our ongoing goal to continue to make the testing process more efficient and user-friendly for students."
Worldwide, nearly a million students register for the TOEFL test annually. Recognized as the industry leader, the TOEFL test has been accepted by the top ranking universities around the world for the last 45 years.

"Throughout my 33 years of working in international admissions, The University of Texas at Austin has depended on the TOEFL test to provide an accurate assessment of candidates' abilities to communicate and to succeed in the classroom," said Robert Watkins, Assistant Director of Admissions at The University of Texas at Austin.

For more information regarding the TOEFL test, including registration details, visit the TOEFL web portal.
About ETS.

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English-language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually -- including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® test and The Praxis Series™ assessments -- in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. www.ets.org.
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TOEFL iBT Integrated Essay

TOEFL iBT Integrated essay

In this part of the TOEFL writing section you will first have three minutes to read an extract from an academic text, then you will listen to a lecture on the same topic. Afterwards, you will have 20 minutes to write the integrated essay where you will be asked to summarize the points from the listening and relate them to the information in the reading. An effective integrated essay should be 150-225 words long.

Strategies for writing a good integrated essay

• Take notes during both reading and listening. Try to identify the main idea of the reading and the supporting or contrasting ideas in the listening. Remember: the reading will appear on the screen again and will be there while you are writing the essay, so don’t worry about forgetting something from it.
• Before you start writing, make a plan of the essay - that will help you organize your ideas and thoughts better.
• In this essay you are not asked to express your opinion, but to present the information from the listening and how it connects to the main ideas in the reading.
• Write the essay in such a way that a person who has neither read the passage nor heard the lecture would understand the main points from the listening and how they add to or contrast the reading.
• Write clearly and with variety of language structures, use discourse markers to make connections between ideas.
• Write accurately – make sure you do not add incorrect or irrelevant information in the essay.
• Leave a few minutes at the end to check your essay for spelling or grammatical mistakes.
• Keep track of the time - you should manage to finish your essay within the set period of time. Do not allow the system to cut you off before you have completed your thought.

Organization of the integrated essay

A good integrated essay will have the following structure:

• Introduction – presents the topic of the essay (what the reading and listening are about; whether the listening adds to the information in the reading of it contrasts it). Here are two templates that can be used:
  
  - When the listening contrasts the information in the reading: The author explains that […present the main idea of the reading…]. The lecturer, however, suggests that […present the main idea of the lecture…].
  
  - When the listening adds to the information in the reading: The author explains that […present the main idea of the reading…], and the lecturer suggests that […present the main idea of the lecture…].
• Body – the number of paragraphs in the body will depend on the main points and supporting details.
  - main point from the listening and its relation to the reading
  - main point from the listening and its relation to the reading
  - (main point from the listening and its relation to the reading)
• Conclusion – although many sources state that a conclusion is not needed in the integrated essay, to be on the safe side you should write a conclusion of one or two sentences where you should present the main idea of the reading and listening again.

Remember: the accent in this essay is on the listening. You should not copy information from the reading.

See also the section TOEFL Test Taking Strategies for more tips for each particular TOEFL task – TOEFL Reading, TOEFL Listening, TOEFL Speaking, and TOEFL Writing.

Practice you skills with i-Courses TOEFL iBT Full Tests and Components. You will benefit from the professional scoring that gives you feedback on all the weak points in your papers and ways to overcome those weaknesses.

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TOEFL iBT Note-taking Strategies

TOEFL iBT Note-Taking

From TOEFL Learning Center

When you sit for the TOEFL iBT test, you will be allowed to take notes in the Listening, Speaking and Writing sections. Effective note-taking is essential for TOEFL as you will receive a lot of information and it would be impossible to remember all of it. Good notes will facilitate your responses and directly affect your TOEFL iBT score.

Why should you develop the skill of note-taking?
• It keeps you focused;
• It helps you remember information;
• It helps you answer the questions and organize your spoken or written responses.

Note-taking strategies

• As you listen, focus on the main points and ideas. They can be recognized by the pause that is made before the essential information, by the repetition of some information, the emphasis that is placed on certain points, word signals (…two main aspects…, …second…,…essential…) etc.;
• Concentrate on important words, like nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, also names, dates, numbers, etc.;
• Listen carefully to the questions both professors and students ask and answers given – they often refer to major ideas;
• In conversations – identify the main problem/need, the solution and the main participants in the conversation, as well as the one who is more important or whose problem/need is the topic of conversation;
• Do not write down everything you hear, for example you can easily omit auxiliary verbs, determiners, pronouns and prepositions;
• Identify how the information is organized: the stages of a process, major points to minor points, problems and solutions, causes and results, etc.;
• Organize your notes in some logical form – graph, list with major points and sub-points, flow chart, etc.;
• Write clearly, as the notes will do you no good afterwards if you can’t read what you have written;
• Use abbreviations and symbols.

Abbreviations and Symbols

with – w/ regarding, about – re limited - ltd
without – w/o difference – diff through - thro
at - @ reference – ref though - tho
about, approximately - ~ especially - esp important - imp
times – x opposed to - vs possible - poss
that is – i.e. and so on – etc probable - prob
for example – e.g. department – dept number - #, no
because – b/c page – p compare - cf
before – b/4 pages – pp or - /


• You can use the first syllable of the word and drop the others: reference – ref;
• You can omit the vowels from the words: people – ppl, problem – pblm;
• You can use an apostrophe: admitted – adm’d;


Note-Taking Methods

Outline format

In this format you can take notes in the form of a list with main points, then sub-point, etc. For example:

I.Cocoa
a.Production
i.Harvesting
1.Detail
2.Detail
ii.Processing
1.Detail
2.Detail
iii.Chocolate
1.Detail
2.Detail
b.Health benefits

Mind mapping

A mind map is an image centered diagram that represents semantic or other connections between major ideas. For example, it can graphically illustrate the structure of a plant, the connections between certain major points, etc.

Here is how you can take notes by using this method:
1. Write the topic in the center;
2. Each key word/phrase should be alone on its own line;
3. The lines should be connected to the main topic;
4. Organize the ideas by some hierarchy, numbers or outlines.

Map: See the document in pdf for the map!

See also the section TOEFL Test Taking Strategies for more tips for each particular TOEFL task – Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing.

Practice you skills with i-Courses TOEFL iBT Full Tests and Components. You will benefit from the professional scoring that gives you feedback on all the weak points in your papers and ways to overcome those weaknesses.

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TOEFL iBT Reading Tips
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TOEFL iBT Speaking Tips
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TOEFL iBT Learning Center
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TOEFL iBT Summarizing

TOEFL iBT Summarizing

Summarizing can be applied not only when you sit for the TOEFL iBT exam, but in your academic studies, your employment or even everyday life. As for the TOEFL iBT exam, you will need the strategy of summarizing in all sections of the test, so it is essential to master it.

What is summarizing?

Summarizing is actually expressing the main idea(s) of a source material into your own words, including only the main point(s). Summaries are shorter than the original; they are actually the reduction of a large text, lecture or conversation to its main points: the main topic, main idea and supporting details. We summarize by cutting off the excessive information, the additional examples and by focusing on the key words and phrases that convey the general idea of the source material.

To summarize you need to:

• identify the main ideas;
• identify the key details and then use them in the summary;
• simplify larger ideas;
• identify: Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why;
• make the summary clear, assuming that the target reader or listener has not gone through the source material that you have gone through and they have no idea what it is about.

What should you include in the summary?

In the summary, you should include only the basic information, which conveys the main idea of the source material and its supporting details. If you include examples in your summary, do not forget to explicitly connect them to the idea they are supporting.

Here is how you can organize your summary:

• first state the main idea;
• state the main stages of thought;
• state the subordinate ideas and the relationships between those ideas;
• state the conclusions in the source material.

What shouldn’t you include in the summary?

• Do not add any new information;
• Do not state your personal opinion in the summary.

See also the section TOEFL Test Taking Strategies for more tips for each particular TOEFL task – Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing.

Practice you skills with i-Courses TOEFL iBT Full Tests and Components. You will benefit from the professional scoring that gives you feedback on all the weak points in your papers and ways to overcome those weaknesses.

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TOEFL iBT Transitional Words

TOEFL iBT Transitional Words

Transitional words, called also linking words or signal words, are of huge importance for building your written and spoken responses. As the name suggests these words help you to move from one idea to another in a smooth and coherent way. They also signal the reader or listener what will follow after the transitional word. That is why transitional word will be helpful not only to do better in your TOEFL iBT Speaking and TOEFL iBT Writing but also to better comprehend the information presented in the TOEFL iBT Reading and TOEFL iBT Listening sections. The use of transitional words is not only limited to the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) but also to any other English tests, like IELTS (International English Language Testing System), FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Certificate in Advanced English), CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English), etc.

In this document we provide a list of some transitional words and their usage within the text. We do not claim that this is the complete list of transitional words, but we may state that it covers the most common transitional words. Studying this list will greatly improve the organization of your responses and thus enhance your chances of better result at TOEFL iBT Exam.

Transitional Words Grouped according to their Purpose

To add extra information

and
also
additionally
alternatively
and then
apart from
as well
as well as
besides
besides that
coupled with
equally important
finally
first, second, third, and etc
following this further
further
furthermore
indeed
in addition (to)
in fact
last, lastly
last but not least
likewise
moreover
not only …, but also…
not to mention
or
then, too
too
what is more

Example: Likewise the speaking section, the TOEFL® iBT writing papers are sent to the ETS's Online Scoring Network where they are scored by certified raters.

To give examples

for example
as an example
chiefly
for instance
especially
illustrated with
in this case
in another case
in particular
in this situation
including
markedly
namely
notably
on this occasion
particularly
in particular
specifically
such as
take the case of
to demonstrate
to illustrate
as an illustration

Example: Most of English Language Exams are divided into separate parts that test different language components. For example, TOEFL iBT has four sections – Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. Some other exams, including Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE include Use of English or Grammar in their formats.

To clarify the information you have presented

above all
I mean
in other words
in this case
that is to say
to put it in another way
under certain circumstances
up to a point
what I mean is

Example: To put it in another way, five are the components that you should pay attention where preparing for any English Language Test – Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing, Use of English or Grammar.

To present consequence

accordingly
as a result
consequently
for this reason
for this purpose
hence
in that case
otherwise
so then
subsequently
therefore
thus
thereupon
under those circumstances
wherefore

Example: As a result, most ESL (English as a Second Language) books and training programs are organized around this kind of division and closely follow this format.

To generalize information and facts

As a rule
As usual
For the most part
Generally
Generally speaking
Ordinarily
Usually

Example: Generally speaking, the format is based on testing particular skills.

To compare and contrast

but
by the same token
by way of contrast
conversely
equally
however
in contrast
in a like manner
instead
likewise
nevertheless
on one hand
on the other hand
on the contrary
rather
similarly
still
though
whereas
while
yet

Example: Generally speaking, the format is based on testing particular skills, rather testing passive knowledge.

To present sequential information

afterward
at first
at the same time
earlier
first of all
first/second/third/last/lastly
for now
for the time being
in the first place
in time
in turn
later
later on
meanwhile
next
the next step
the meantime
then
to begin with
soon
simultaneously
while

Example: Simultaneously, vocabulary and grammar are tested in context.

To summarize

after all
all in all
all things considered
altogether
as a final point
briefly
by and large
finally
in a word
in any case
in any event
in brief
in conclusion
in short
in summary
in the end
in the final analysis
in the long run
lastly
on balance
on the whole
overall
to conclude
to put it briefly
to sum up
to summarize

Example: To summarize, TOEFL® iBT tests your skills needed to succeed in English speaking academic environment.

Once again, using transitional words and phrases help you write or speak organize your thoughts in more logical and understandable way. Transitional words clarify the conjunctions and transitions between ideas and thoughts and thus facilitate the reader or listener’s comprehension. From that perspective, the right usage of transitional words will pay back with a better score on your TOEFL iBT Exam.

See also our section with TOEFL Test Taking Strategies for more tips on writing good essays.

Practice you writing skills with i-Courses TOEFL Writing Components. You will benefit from the professional scoring that gives you feedback on all the weak points in your papers and ways to overcome those weaknesses.

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Find out how to get a TOEFL Mini Component for free!

This section is intended to deliver useful TOEFL learning resources submitted by our students for the purpose of helping each other to prepare better for the TOEFL Test. If you have come across good TOEFL preparation materials and if you would like to share them with other TOEFL iBT students through our website, we will be glad to reward your effort with a free TOEFL iBT Mini Component of your choice - Mini TOEFL Reading or Mini TOEFL Listening. To receive your free TOEFL Mini Component your material should be approved and published. In order to publish the suggested TOEFL material, it should comply with the following rules:

• all fields in the submission form to be filled in correctly

• the material should not have a twin on our database

• the material should have value for the TOEFL students

• the material shouldn't be an excerpt or fragment only

• the material source should be correctly stated

Note that all materials are humanly reviewed and approved. If your material does not comply with the abovementioned rules, please, do not try to publish it. Want to PUBLISH A TOEFL iBT MATERIAL?

TOEFL Learning Center

TOEFL Learning Center Section was developed to help TOEFL Candidates in their TOEFL preparation process, improve their skills and test score. TOEFL iBT Learning Center is intended to contain practice materials from all kinds that are TOEFL related. For example, in TOEFL Learning Center TOEFL Students will find some useful worksheets for:

* Usage of transitional (linking) words in TOEFL iBT
* Effective Note Taking Strategies
* Essay Structure
* Developing Summarizing Skills
* Developing Paraphrasing Skills
* Developing Skills for Text Skimming

...and much more! Those products will be uploaded continuously on regular basis!

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TOEFL iBT Writing Strategies and Tips

The last component in TOEFL iBT is the Writing section. It measures you ability to write in standard academic English. There are two tasks in TOEFL iBT Writing section – TOEFL Independent Writing task and TOEFL Integrated Writing task.

Within the TOEFL Independent Writing task students are asked to write an essay on a given general question. The purpose of this TOEFL Writing task is to measure the students’ ability to state their opinions or express their comments on topics which are based on their personal knowledge and experience. The students should also support their ideas and opinions with examples or details. Students are given 30 minutes to write their essays. The TOEFL essay should be approximately 300 words.

Within the TOEFL Integrated Writing task the students are asked to demonstrate that they have understood material coming from different sources (reading and listening), that they can combine the information from those sources in a coherent, well organized, summarized written form, and that they may compare the information from those sources and draw conclusions from them. The time in the integrated task is as follows: You will have 3 minutes to read a passage of 230-300 words. The reading passage is hidden then and you will listen to a 2-minute lecture that is related to the reading passage. The listening may add new information or present a different point of view. You may take notes during both reading and listening part. Then the reading passage is shown again on the screen and you are given 20 minutes to write a response to a question. The response should be between 150-225 words.

To access the whole document, please, visit our TOEFL iBT Writing Tips Section.


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TOEFL iBT Speaking Strategies and Tips

The Speaking section in TOEFL iBT comes right after the 10-minute break. It measures the test taker’s ability to communicate in English orally. The six tasks in the Speaking section are divided into two types – independent speaking tasks (2 tasks) and integrated speaking tasks (4 tasks). Students must prove they are able to speak effectively under the following requirements:

• Deliver adequate oral responses to the questions
• Participate actively in academic discussions
• Participate in everyday conversations
• State a clear opinion about the discussed subjects
• Summarize and orally reproduce the information read in textbooks or heard in the classroom
• Communicate with university officials in libraries, sport centers, housing offices, bookstores, etc.

Hereafter, we list some guidelines about how to prepare and take TOEFL iBT in order to obtain best results. To access the whole document please visit our TOEFL iBT Speaking Tips section.


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TOEFL iBT Listening Strategies and Tips

TOEFL iBT Listening section is delivered immediately after the TOEFL Reading section. The Listening section of TOEFL iBT measures your ability to understand spoken English in academic settings. In TOEFL iBT the listening is done for 3 major purposes:

1. Listening for basic comprehension.
2. Listening for pragmatic understanding.
3. To connect and combine ideas presented in multiple information sources.

Each part of the TOEFL Listening section (2 or 3 parts) consists of 1 long conversation and two lectures. The test takers hear each lecture or conversation only once. Lectures and conversations are 3-5 minutes long. During the listening the time is not running. The allotted time of 10 minutes for each part is only for answering the questions.

To access the whole document please visit our TOEFL iBT Listening Tips.

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TOEFL iBT Reading Strategies and Tips

The first component you will have to do when you sit for the TOEFL iBT exam is the TOEFL Reading. The TOEFL Reading Section measures your ability to read and understand academic texts (passages) in English. Reading is a critical skill in academic environment. Students have to read a lot and comprehend the information presented in their textbooks or other reading materials. As we discussed in TOEFL iBT Format Section on i-Courses.org, three are the main purposes for academic reading in TOEFL iBT:

1. Reading to find information
2. Basic comprehension
3. Reading to learn

The Reading Section in TOEFL iBT consists of 3-5 texts; each text is about 700 words long. Each TOEFL Reading text is followed by 12 - 14 questions related to the text. The first passage stands alone for a time of 20 minutes and the 2nd and 3rd passages share a total time of 40 minutes for reading and answering the questions. The system will cut you off right after the time ends. Therefore, you must be not only good at reading but also very fast.

To the end of this document we will provide some important guidelines on how to prepare for the TOEFL iBT Reading and how to behave at the reading test in order to improve your final score.

To access the whole document please visit our section for TOEFL Strategies.


See also:

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TOEFL iBT General Tips
TOEFL iBT Reading Tips
TOEFL iBT Listening Tips
TOEFL iBT Speaking Tips
TOEFL iBT Writing Tips

TOEFL iBT Learning Center

TOEFL iBT General Test Taking Strategies

TOEFL iBT is a test that may shape your future. Should you get a good score on it and enter the university you belong to or should you fail to cross the line. For this reason, it is extremely important to devote time and resources and do your best to prepare for TOEFL iBT. In this section we have prepared some strategic tips that may help you throughout your TOEFL preparation process and also during the TOEFL test itself. First you read the general tips and then we have listed component-specific tips for each of the TOEFL iBT sections. We suggest that you allot some time and read them.

For reading or downloading the whole document, please visit our section for TOEFL iBT Tips.

See also:

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TOEFL iBT General Tips
TOEFL iBT Reading Tips
TOEFL iBT Listening Tips
TOEFL iBT Speaking Tips
TOEFL iBT Writing Tips

TOEFL iBT Learning Center

Full TOEFL iBT Practice Tests

There were launched two full TOEFL Practice tests by i-Courses.org. The full TOEFL iBT tests realisticlaly represent the format and closely follow the academic level of the real TOEFL exam. The software delivering the tests has exactly the same functionality as the software that is used by ETS to run the test. It is web based and thus the students that want to practice do not have to download any additional program to their computers.

From academic perspective both practice exam have the same as real TOEFL components :
* TOEFL Reading Component - 3-5 Reading passages; 60-100 minutes to complete
* TOEFL Listening Component - 4-6 lectures, 2-3 conversations; 60-90 minutes to complete
* TOEFL Speaking Component - 2 independent and 4 integrated components; 20-30 minutes to complete
* TOEFL Writing Component - 1 integrated task - 20 minutes; 1 independent task (essay writing) - 30 minutes.

All components are scored. iBT Reading and iBT Listening Tasks are automatically scored with pre-defined criteria. iBT Speaking and iBT Writing are scored by experienced TOEFL Teachers and extensive feedback is provided within 24 hours.

TOEFL iBT Practice tests provide not only great way to practice and independent feedback on how to improve TOEFL skills but also indespensible reference point about how the test taker perform before the real TOEFL exam.

For more readings and taking some full TOEFL Practice Tests or Free TOEFL Sample Test, please visit i-Courses.org.

See also:

TOEFL Practice
Free TOEFL Sample
TOEFL Mini Tests
TOEFL Learning Center
TOEFL Tips and Strategies

Mini TOEFL iBT Tests

Mini TOEFL iBT Test was uploaded at www.i-courses.org .The mini test covers all TOEFL iBT Sections but it includes less questions for each component.

- TOEFL Mini Reading - 1 passage with 13 questions;
- TOEFL Mini Listening - 1 lecture and 1 conversation with 11 questions;
- TOEFL Mini Speaking - 3 questions;
- TOEFL Mini Writing - 1 integrated task.

It may be used as initial familiarization with the format. TOEFL Mini tests have been set with considerably lower prices.

See also:

TOEFL iBT Full Tests
Free TOEFL Sample test
TOEFL iBT Test Taking Strategies
TOEFL Learning Center

Free TOEFL iBT Sample Test

i-Courses already launched the TOEFL iBT Reading Section of the TOEFL iBT Sample Test . 

The sample test is intended to provide you with real experience on our test materials, software system and scoring system. All of them closely resemble the real TOEFL® iBT exam. However, each component on the sample test covers only parts of the test sections that are included in the full tests. For example, there is only one reading passage included in the Sample Test while in the full TOEFL® iBT tests there are 3 - 5 reading passages. Both TOEFL iBT Reading and TOEFL iBT Listening Sections in the TOEFL Sample Test are scored, while TOEFL iBT Speaking and TOEFL iBT Writing in the TOEFL iBT Sample Test are not scored. 

If you like the TOEFL sample test and you need to practice with full TOEFL tests that have all components scored by professional teachers you may go to our full tests and components page. 

More about i-Courses .

i-Courses.org is Your Gateway for TOEFL iBT Success

We are just about to launch the updated version of i-Courses.org . i-Courses.org is a TOEFL iBT dedicated web page that delivers a number of full TOEFL practice materials and also a free TOEFL sample test.

Our tests feature the structure and the difficulty of the real TOEFL® iBT tests. Moreover, our software interface has the same functionality as the software you will be using when sit for the TOEFL® iBT. The creative components (TOEFL Speaking and TOEFL Writing) are scored by independent raters (real teachers) that provide you with creative feedback and TOEFL tips on how to overcome your weaknesses and strengthen your strong sides. Thus we help you with the most crucial points for TOEFL® iBT success - practice, familiarity with the interface (the computer program used to deliver the TOEFL® iBT exam), and independent scoring and creative feedback on all TOEFL® iBT components. Our scoring system is just like the system ETS uses for scoring TOEFL® iBT exams. That is a great reference point on how you are doing on TOEFL®.

Tests could be taken in TEST MODE or in PRACTICE MODE. In Test Mode you take the test like at the real exam. The test is timed and once the time for a particular component is over, it will automatically be stopped and switched to the next one (or to the result page if it was the last component). Once you start the test, you have to finish it with just one sit. Only full test can be taken in Test Mode.

In Practice Mode you may take the test in separate components. You may also continue working on a particular component even if the time is over. Only separate components can be taken in Practice mode. You may also simply buy and practice components that you need to improve (for example only reading).

For detailed introduction and presentation on our product, please, visit www.i-Courses.org.