year: 2014
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toefl independent writing: organizing your ideas
there are many ways to ensure that an essay you write is well-organized. as kate mentions, pre-writing is important. you should brainstorm ideas, and plan the essay’s basic structure. your toefl essay will probably only be two or three paragraphs. still, it will likely contain important elements from the five-paragraph essay, particularly an introduction and…
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writing faster during the toefl exam
even for a native speaker, it can be difficult to remember all of the information from a toefl lecture without taking notes. fortunately, you can take notes on any section of the test (the notes will be destroyed when the test is over). although this is a great help, it can also complicate the matter…
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toefl listening: numbers you don’t need to know
the other day, i was helping a very brilliant esl student of mine. she was writing an english-language research report on molecular biology. i was a little embarrassed as i struggled through the charts, graphs and detailed information in her writing. honestly, i couldn’t understand most of her scientific calculations and statistics. she was very…
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toefl scores for undergraduate programs
english proficiency requirements vary widely from university to university, and even from program to program. some colleges just want you to have basic proficiency, presumably assuming that you’ll figure out the rest when you get there (which is pretty much true). others, on the other hand, expect you to hit the ground running, requiring high…
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any vs. some: exceptions to the rules
in my last two posts about “any” and “some”, i showed you that the words “any” and “some” can be adjectives or root words in adverbs and pronouns. to review, here are the rules for using “any” and “some”: rule 1: “any” can only be used in negative statements containing the word “not.” example of…
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phrasal verbs you need in your life
keep on to keep on means to continue an action, just as “keep” can by itself. the difference is this: usually we use it to talk about a situation when you continue something in spite of some factor that could prevent you from doing so. examples: katya kept on singing in spite of her brother’s…
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planning your answer
in the speaking section, you only have 15-30 seconds to plan each response. here are some tips to help you use that time effectively. don’t over-plan it’s tempting to invent beautifully crafted language to impress the raters and ensure a good score. unfortunately (and fortunately), there’s really not time to do this in the…
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any vs. some
today, we’ll look at the english adjectives “any” and “some.” these words basically have the same meaning, but are used in different kinds of sentences. “any” is used in “negative” statements, sentences that use the word “not.” “some” is used in “positive” statements that don’t contain the word “not.” this can seem a little confusing…
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magoosh comics: reviewing un-, under-, and inter-
i recently introduced you to the prefixes “un-,” “under-,“ and “inter-.” because these prefixes are so similar, it can be hard to remember the differences between them. below are three fun comic strips that can help you better understand these prefixes, what they mean, and how to use them. [update]: if you want more toefl comics…
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learning specialized vocabulary
the toefl isn’t supposed to test specialized subjects—it sticks to widely applicable words, and when a bit of jargon is required, the test offers a definition. nevertheless, you will probably need more english than is on the toefl to achieve your goals. for example, maybe you may plan to go to medical school or become…