In this “Independent” portion of the TOEFL Writing section, you’ll be asked to express and support your personal opinion. These articles provide practice, information, help, and advice for TOEFL Writing Task 2.
Last time, we looked at how to score a 5 out of 5 on the TOEFL integrated writing task, or essay. Now, let’s take a look at how to get that same high score on the independent task. Just as with the integrated task, ETS (the test-makers) have kindly provided the scoring rubric online, allowing […]
Let’s wrap up our series of videos about how to write a better independent essay this week. As a reminder, in the last two weeks I also explained how writing your introduction last and changing from specific to general statements can improve your essay. This week, we have one more tip, and it’s a very […]
Let’s move on to our second tip for improving your independent essay for the TOEFL iBT. (If you missed the first tip from last week, see it here.) Zoom in, zoom out, repeat It’s a fun to say, but the meaning of it isn’t immediately clear, so let’s first look at those two […]
Over the next three weeks, I’ll walk through three tips that can help you improve your independent essay. This Tuesday is the first tip, and it’s an interesting one. If you have studied the GRE with Magoosh, you may have heard this tip before. The idea is simple: write the introduction paragraph last, […]
We’re returning to our TOEFL vocabulary this Tuesday, and we’re going to focus on a new type of word: vocabulary you can use in your essays. Of course, many of the other words we covered in past TOEFL Tuesday videos also could be used in essays, but the three I discuss below are all particularly […]
In my last post on this subject, I talked about using counter-arguments in TOEFL Independent Writing. As I said before, a counter-argument is an explanation of an argument the writer disagrees with. The writer will acknowledge a counter-argument to argue against it. This is done so that the writer can develop and explain his or […]
Recently, I’ve had a few students ask me about using counter-arguments in their TOEFL Independent writing. A counter-argument is an argument a writer offers that is against his or her actual opinion. Several simple but good examples can be found here. If you haven’t used a counter-argument before, the idea may seem kind of strange. […]
There are two essays on the TOEFL. On the first, you’ll have to summarize a lecture and text. On that essay, your opinion doesn’t matter. But on the second essay, you’ll have to pick a side. There will be an “A” and a “B,” or maybe just a “yes” or a “no,” and you’ll choose […]
The structure of your independent essay is going to be at least a little different from that of the integrated essay you will have just finished. While your task in the integrated essay was to highlight similarities and contrasts, your task in this essay will be simply to defend your opinion. Because of this difference, […]
In my last two posts about the Independent Writing task (Organizing Your Ideas & Fixing a Disorganized Essay in 4 Easy Steps), I described four steps for revising a disorganized essay: make an outline of what you wrote, make notes on problems in the outline, write a new and improved outline, and rewrite your essay […]
