{"id":965,"date":"2014-11-19T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=965"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:50","slug":"are-you-ready-to-start-studying-for-the-toefl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/are-you-ready-to-start-studying-for-the-toefl\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Ready to Start Studying For the TOEFL?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So you\u2019ve realized you <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/do-i-need-to-take-the-toefl\/\">need to take the TOEFL<\/a>. The next thing you need to know is whether or not you are ready for TOEFL-specific study. This depends a lot on your level of English ability. As Kate mentions, <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/do-i-need-to-take-the-toefl\/\">good test-taking skills won\u2019t make up for poor language skills<\/a>. If your English ability is somewhat low, you should study general English first and TOEFL later. Here are some things to think about:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Quality of Your English<\/h2>\n<p>To see if you\u2019re ready to focus on TOEFL study, take some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ets.org\/toefl\/test-takers\/ibt\/prepare\/practice-tests.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">practice<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ets.org\/toefl\/ibt\/prepare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">exams<\/a>. How many answers are you getting right? If you are getting less than 60% of the answers correct in the practice tests, you may not be ready to start studying for the TOEFL. If you don\u2019t understand why you got most of answers wrong, even after reviewing answer guides, you are definitely not ready for TOEFL study just yet.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a little harder to tell whether you are getting the \u201cright\u201d answers on speaking and writing tasks. ETS provides <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/?gws_rd=ssl#q=site%3Aets.org+TOEFL+rubrics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grading rubrics<\/a> and graded sample answers on their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ets.org\/toefl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official website<\/a> and in their <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-official-guide-to-the-toefl-test-fourth-edition-book-review\/\">official<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/official-ibt-tests-vol-1-2nd-edition\/\">guides<\/a>. However, it can be hard to rate your own work, even with guide help. If possible, have an ESL teacher or tutor give you feedback on your speaking and writing. If you don\u2019t have a tutor or teacher right now, online services like <a href=\"https:\/\/instaedu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">InstaEDU<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.24houranswers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24HourAnswers<\/a> will let you buy just one or two tutoring sessions cheaply. Ask for feedback on whether or not your speaking and writing can get a <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/what-is-a-good-toefl-score\/\">score of 3 or higher<\/a>. If your work is level 2 or lower, you should probably study general English skills for now.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Speed of Your English<\/h2>\n<p>Pacing is another part of your English ability that you should check. Can you read a TOEFL Reading passage of about <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/pacing-tips-for-toefl-reading\/\">700 words in 10 minutes<\/a>? If not, how long does it take you? If it\u2019s taking you 20 or even 30 minutes to read the passage completely, you probably need to focus on general reading skills for now. The same goes for other timed tasks. In general, if it is taking you 2-3 times the TOEFL time limit to complete a TOEFL task, you are not ready for TOEFL study.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>What to Do if You Are not Ready<\/h2>\n<p>Take a step back from the exam. Focus on general skills instead. Seek out English conversations. Watch English language internet videos, TV shows, and movies and try to understand them without the subtitles. Look for any English reading material that interests you. Write in English as much as you can. Try keeping a journal or writing comments and message board posts on the Internet. Work with a tutor if you can afford to. If you have the time and money, you may even consider enrolling in ESL courses or an <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/intensive-english-programs-and-the-toefl\/\">intensive English program<\/a>. As you do this general study, practice the TOEFL again from time to time. Once your performance on TOEFL practice materials improves, you\u2019ll be ready to start studying for the TOEFL itself.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you\u2019ve realized you need to take the TOEFL. The next thing you need to know is whether or not you are ready for TOEFL-specific study. This depends a lot on your level of English ability. As Kate mentions, good test-taking skills won\u2019t make up for poor language skills. If your English ability is somewhat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13602],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prep"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Are You Ready to Start Studying For the TOEFL? - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/are-you-ready-to-start-studying-for-the-toefl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are You Ready to Start Studying For the TOEFL?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So you\u2019ve realized you need to take the TOEFL. The next thing you need to know is whether or not you are ready for TOEFL-specific study. This depends a lot on your level of English ability. As Kate mentions, good test-taking skills won\u2019t make up for poor language skills. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}