Are you Fighting the Exam?

Some students struggle with TOEFL and it’s not because they don’t have the language proficiency or the exam skills to succeed. It’s because they are fighting with the exam. Recently I gave some very honest advice to a student who'd been studying for a long time and who was really struggling to achieve her target scores. 

She was certainly capable of getting her scores, and she had demonstrated the required skills in lessons many times. But she used a lot of energy fighting the exam and herself, and this was holding her back.

TOEFL is hard. You don’t need extra layers of complications. So be honest with yourself about why you’re not making progress. Are you fighting with the exam too?

This was my advice to my student:

"This is my honest opinion. I think you need to change your attitude to the exam.
These are 7 points that I think will help you and which will make a big difference to your exam experience.

1. Accept the Exam Requirements

Understand this exam is not measuring you as a person. It’s measuring how well you demonstrate the requirements for the exam.

That means accepting the type of English that you need to use, and understanding how you’re being assessed.

2. Make time to learn

Don’t keep saying “I don’t have time to learn that”. That’s not going to help you.

There are many things that you DO need to learn for TOEFL and for your English speaking life. When you’ve learned them, you’ll know them, and you can use them all the time.

3. Take advice about what's required

…especially from people who know what they are talking about.

If you ask a teacher for help, then accept that help and don’t keep doing things as you did them before. This isn't going to help you.

4. Work on your listening and explaining skills

These are the most important skills for TOEFL speaking and until you can listen to something, and immediately explain what you heard, you’ll find the speaking section a challenge.

5. Practice speaking spontaneously

You’ve got to be able to react quickly to the question, find the vocabulary you need, and speak your response.

You don’t have a lot of time to plan and think so you need to be really good at speaking with automaticity.

6. Practice speaking in the right way

Writing transcripts, then reading them and trying to remember them is NOT a good way to practice. 

7. Understand that you don't have to be perfect

This is not about perfection. It’s about showing you can meet the exam requirements.

If you strive for perfection, you’ll drive yourself crazy.

If you stop fighting the exam, and stop fighting yourself, your scores will improve.”