How to prepare yourself for the IELTS and TOEFL exams

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Most English-speaking foreign universities require foreign students to provide IELTS or TOEFL certificates, which confirm knowledge of the language. Therefore, after choosing a university and collecting documents, a tense period begins in the applicant’s life - passing one of these exams. If the result is at least one point lower than the university requirements, then admission will have to be postponed. Experts from the educational startup Preply told us how to prepare for exams on your own.

How much and how to prepare

Both tests consist of four sections: Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing. Despite the fact that there are only four sections, it is worth preparing for the IELTS or TOEFL in advance. If your language knowledge needs serious improvement, it is better to start preparing a year before taking the exam. If your knowledge is at a good level, then three months will be enough to review the main points. The necessary training can be obtained by attending courses or studying individually with a tutor. And for those who decide to prepare on their own, there are many online tutorials and simulators.

For example, on the site itests.com after registration, you can pass the test tests and IELTS, and TOEFL, and canadavisa.com offers to practice writing and speaking skills on the IELTS exam.

На ресурсе elc.polyu.edu.hk/ielts you can find the necessary instructions and recommendations for passing all four components of the IELTS exam. To prepare for the TOEFL, you can use the paid simulator program Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test. It gives you the opportunity to adapt to the format, as well as get acquainted with examples of “ideal” answers.

Below are a few tips that should help with self-preparation for TOEFL and IELTS.

Reading - reading

Both tests, first of all, test practical skills in English, so it is worth developing the ability of intuitive reading and listening. For this you need to read as many books as possible, watch movies and listen to podcasts. While reading books, try to use the dictionary as rarely as possible, try to catch the meaning from the context. The intuitive reading skill is very useful in the exam, where you can get the text on a specialized topic with unfamiliar vocabulary. Then you have to rely on causal relationships to choose the correct answer from the four options.

When preparing for Reading, learn how to spend reading and answering questions for about 20 minutes, on the exam (both IELTS and TOEFL) 60 minutes are allocated for this part, three texts of 650-1000 characters, 40 questions. It makes sense to set the timer and perform tasks online platforms at a time.

Listening - listening

Listen to as many podcasts as possible, watch Youtube videos, TV shows and movies in the original language. For example, useful lifehacks can be found on Youtube-channels. Rachel's English (Rachel explains how to pronounce English words correctly) and Dailydictation (the trainer gives the original dictations and indicates errors). Useful exercises are collected on BBC learning english. A variety of video content in the original language is posted on the resource. ororo.tv, and for lovers of documentaries - Top Documentary Films. Also on the resource Lyricstraining You can learn the language based on the lyrics.

You can also resort to the following technique, which improves your listening skills: find an audio recording with transcribed text (these are usually available on BBC Learning English), turn on the recording and listen. During the second listening, stop the audio and write down the sentences. The third time - check the spelling is correct. The next step is to try to find grammatical errors yourself, and then open the transcript of the text and check whether everything is written correctly. It is worth reading the text after the speaker of the audio recording, thereby improving your pronunciation skills, which will be useful when taking the Speaking part.

In IELTS, you have time to watch the test before the audio recording plays. During listening, the most important thing is to concentrate and not miss a single word throughout the entire audio recording, trying to grasp the meaning. Attention! The audio only plays once. If suddenly you could not answer some questions, then you can try to guess the answer. The test questions are usually logical, and, having roughly understood what the text was about, there is a chance to “get” a few listened questions at random.

Speaking - speaking skills

Speaking should pay special attention. It is at this level that the main differences between IELTS and TOEFL appear. If in IELTS you prepare a speech on a given topic and tell a living person, then a computer asks questions in TOEFL. This part of the TOEFL consists of six tasks.

First, the computer asks a question and gives you 15 seconds to come up with an answer and 45 seconds to come up with the answer itself. There is only one attempt, in addition, a timer with a specific squeak counts down the time, after which all students begin to answer at the same time. The main thing here is to learn to concentrate and “cut out” extraneous noise.

In the second task, you need to read a passage of text, listen to a short academic lecture or conversation, and answer questions comparing the information obtained from the text and audio recordings. You are given 30 seconds to prepare each task and 60 seconds to answer.

The next task is to listen to the lecture and state in your own words possible solutions to the problem or issue raised. The task is given 20 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to answer.

In the last task, you need to listen to a lecture again, which explains a term and gives examples. The test taker's task is to explain the connection between the examples and the definition.

On IELTS, the duration of the Speaking part takes 11-15 minutes. First there is an acquaintance with the examiner and communication on abstract topics, then a card is issued with a specific topic and 1 a minute to prepare 1-2-minute speech. After the speech, the examiner asks questions on the topic of the card.

You can prepare for Speaking in the following way: find any article on an English-language resource, read it, write down some unfamiliar words and expressions, think about your answer for a minute, and then record yourself on a voice recorder and listen to it, noting the mistakes you make. The main thing is practice, for this you can take a tutor and talk to him as often as possible, or record yourself on a voice recorder and listen to your speech, find mistakes and correct them.

Writing - letter

In the Writing part between TOEFL and IELTS, writing essays in which 30 minutes are given is common.

The second task is somewhat different. In TOEFL, you need to read a passage of text, listen to the speaker’s speech on this topic, and then write how the material you hear confirms or denies the text you read. In IELTS, you need to describe a graphic drawing or make an official, semi-official or unofficial letter.

Be sure to leave time during the exam to check what you wrote. You can prepare for this part of the task using books and online courses. At the preparation stage, a tutor can come in handy to check your writing and explain any mistakes. You can also rewrite English-language articles or examples of the best essays and analyze each sentence: how it is constructed, what tense was used, and so on. Afterwards, try to write your essay in a similar style and analyze it in the same way, noting errors.

It is not difficult to prepare for tests, but it is more difficult to create a schedule and establish internal discipline. Preparing for English tests is a long and difficult job that requires a systematic approach, perseverance and clear motivation.

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