How to Ace the TOEFL iBT: Tips and Resources for Brazilian Students"

[Hobold]

Hello.

I am a Brazilian Mechanical Engineering student and my country is currently sending quite a lot of students to USA Universities through a government program. One of the requirements is to do the TOEFL iBT and to have at least 79 points out of 120, so I would like to start studying ASAP, as I'm aiming for at least 100 points.

Have any of you done this test before? How did you study? Which books did you use? Is there a good webpage on the internet to study/do sample tests? I have ordered Kaplan's book, which is likely to arrive next week, but I wouldn't like to wait to start studying.

Any tips are welcome, thanks.

EDIT: I'll have to do intensive study, as my test is due February 3rd

 

[Ajoo]

I did the TOEFL iBT one year ago and found it to be quite easy. I only did the free sample test they give you for practice. 79 is also quite a low score I believe. 100 is very manageable if you can read, write and understand spoken English fine.

I really don't know how one would go about studying for this text other than doing practice tests. It's meant to assess your level in English so unless you can improve that level fast which is not easy there is not much to do other than really preparing for the type of questions they ask.

For me the hardest part was the speaking which I hadn't prepared for the least bit. The test conditions were extremelly stressful and its tipically the thing you don't practice in your everyday life. If you are used to reading english textbooks and watching american tv shows (without subtitles) you'll do fine in the other parts but unless you're used to having conversations in english it gets really hard to come up with a fluid answer to the speaking questions with only 15 seconds of preparation. Plus, when you get to that part every1 will start speaking at the same time which can be annoying.
I walked out of the test thinking I did awful on that part (and I really did) but I still got a 24/30 so I guess their standards are not that high.

Bom estudo e boa sorte.

 

[Hobold]

Thanks! I don't really plan to learn much more English in such a short period, I want to familiarize with the test and focus on what's asked on TOEFL.