Preparation for the test

The first step to take is to decide which test you wish to take. Individual universities may not accept one test or the other, so verifying which test is accepted should be your first step. Also, if possible, consider the differences between the tests to find out if one test may be easier or more difficult than the other based on your personal preferences.

Preparation

As IELTS and TOEFL are both different tests, but both have the same subjects: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Each section requires the use of different skills and each should be practiced individually.

• In the reading section, you have a limited time to read the material and answer the questions for that section. If you read too slowly, you could run out of time, but if you read too quickly, you may overlook important information. Be sure to practice reading and answering questions accurately in a timely manner.
• For the listening section, you should be prepared to hear a variety of speakers, and their accents may vary. Becoming comfortable with listening to and understanding different accents could be helpful, especially for the IELTS. You must also practice listening for important information; you will only hear each dialog once, so if you are writing notes or answers, you may miss the answer that you need to answer the question and it will not be possible to hear the dialog again.
• The writing section will task you with writing two essays under a time limit. The IELTS additionally has a minimum word count, so practice writing 150 or 250 word essays under a time limit to prepare for that test.
• TOEFL’s speaking section differs greatly from the IELTS speaking section. Be sure to check our page on the differences between the two tests for more information. For each one, you should practice speaking clearly. Pronunciation is important, and if your accent makes it difficult to understand what you are saying, it could cause you to receive a lower score, even if you answered the question perfectly. For the TOEFL specifically, practice speaking for up to two minutes at a time on a given question. While it may be easy for you to speak for longer than two minutes on one subject, your answer must fall within the time limit. It could also be difficult to speak for less than two minutes on the same subject, so be sure to pace yourself so that you speak for an appropriate length of time.

Our services

We offer courses for preparation for both the TOEFL and IELTS tests. Our English experts, who have done considerable research on both of tests, have created these courses in order to assist you. Come to our office for a free consultation and more information.