Year: 2015
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The Meanings of Unless and If
In a lot of ways, it’s hard to truly know your own native language. Oh sure, you can follow the rules. But you follow them without thinking. Often, you don’t understand the rules consciously, and aren’t able to explain them to someone else who asks. As an ESL teacher, sometimes knowing my own language can…
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TOEFL Tuesday: Vocabulary – “That’s it!”
The phrase “that’s it!” is extremely common, so it’s important to know that there is more than one meaning to the phrase. In fact, the meaning can change completely, depending on context and emotion. There are two basic meanings of “it” in the phrase: “correct” “all” But realistically, there are more than two uses. Let’s…
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Should I Take the TOEFL iBT or PBT?
If you’re not sure what the TOEFL iBT is or whether you should take it, this page has all the information you need to learn and decide.
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Where Can You Take the TOEFL PBT?
There are two versions of the TOEFL: the Internet-based test (iBT) and the paper-based-test (PBT). Magoosh and similar TOEFL prep websites focus on the TOEFL iBT for a reason: it’s much more widely available than the TOEFL PBT. In fact, ETS has announced plans to completely replace the replace the PBT with the iBT… eventually.…
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Seven Great Ways to Learn English Words
A lot of my English students seem to get “word anxiety” as they work to master their second language. My students will anxiously ask me what the best way is to learn new vocabulary. The truth is that there isn’t any one “best” way to learn new words. The best way to learn anything is…
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How to Study for the TOEFL in the USA
I’ve taught for a number of English language academies, ESL programs and Intensive English Programs here in the USA. One of the biggest complaints I’ve gotten from students here at home is that English language programs in the US don’t focus enough on the TOEFL, or don’t focus on it at all. While there are…
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Magoosh TOEFL now has full-length practice tests!
Our Full Practice Tests Taking the TOEFL is a strange experience, and in order to prepare for it, it’s important that you simulate a real test first. If you have experienced a full TOEFL before test day, you will be much more comfortable with the timing and format of the test. And if you’re more…
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Quantity Adjectives with Countable and Non-Countable Nouns
Recently, I did a series of posts on different kinds non-countable nouns. What I didn’t mention is that non-countable nouns sometimes have different quantifying adjectives, ones that aren’t used with countable nouns. This idea may seem a little confusing at first. It may help if I define what a quantifying quantifying adjective is. Quantifying adjectives…
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Magoosh’s TOEFL App – Study on the go!
Hi Magooshers! Question: are you using our TOEFL app yet? If not, this post is for you. 🙂 Download for Android. Download for iPhone. Magoosh’s TOEFL Lessons App In our lesson app, you’ll find: ☞ Over 100 animated video lessons (10 hours) ☞ Covers all four sections of the test (reading,…
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Speaking English Confidently: European and Latin American Accents
Confidence is a very important second language skill. Feelings of confidence can come easily when you speak in your native language, of course. But in your second language, you’ll always be a little bit out of your comfort zone. English speech that lacks confidence is harder to understand, and harder to listen to. In this…