TOEFL Test

Well, if you haven’t heard, TOEFL is one of the official tests to measure your ability in English language. If you want to study abroad (in an English-speaking university), you need to take this test, and yes, it is a must. And if you wish to apply LPDP scholarship (for Master and Doctoral Degree), you need to take this test too, and the minimum score would be 80 (equals to 550 in PBT) if you want to study abroad, 67 if you want to study in Indonesia. But, if you want to continue your study in Indonesia, I would suggest you to take TOEFL-ITP since it’s allowed and way cheaper.

TOEFL has 4 sections (in consecutive order): Reading, Listening,  and Writing. The range of score is 0–120, so that means each part has 30 score if you get the perfect score.

The first one was Reading. Each passage consists of 650–800 words, so prepare for the long-reading. We had 80 mins to complete it, that means we had approximately 20 mins to complete each passage. You can adjust yourself with the time, you can go back to the previous questions (and passages) as you like, so don’t get too focused or distracted on one passage or question.

The second one is  Listening. The short part of Listening test consists of 2 sets, each set consists of 1 conversation, 1 lecture, and 1 discussion. So, we had to listen 6 talks for the Listening test, and 20 mins to answer all of the questions in Listening test (10 mins to finish each set, and it’s fixed — that means you can’t divide it into 11 mins for the first set, 9 mins for the second set). The scenario was like this: after each talk, we had to answer the questions regarding the talk, the timer was ticking, and we couldn’t go back to the previous question (so be careful!), and the next talk came in (repeat). You have to manage your time well, consider you have approximately 3–4 mins to finish answering the questions for each talk.

The last one, Writing part. There are 2 parts in Writing test, Integrated Essay, and Independent Essay. 

1. Integrated Essay: we had to read a passage for 3 mins (I took some notes too), and after that we had to listen for a lecture (the lecture usually opposes the ideas in the passage). Then,we  had to write an essay consisted of the information from both the passage and the lecture (connect them both). we had 20 mins to write the essay, and it was suggested that the essay consisted of 150–225 words.

2. Independent Essay: we had to express our own preference and give some reasons regarding the question. So there were 2 options, which one we choose, and why. We  had 30 mins to write the essay, and it was suggested that the essay consisted of 300–350 words. 

Some tips to hone your English skill :

1. Reading Skill: Try to read English news or articles everyday if you are still quite new in English. If you want to take more challenge, read novels, but it would be better if you read encyclopedias, since the Reading passages are usually about topics in college text-books (you can use Wikipedia — the free encyclopedia). 

2. Listening Skill: The simplest exercise would be listening to music (you can read the lyrics to check whether you get it right or not). Or, you can watch movies, with English subtitles (listen to the dialogues and check’em with the subtitles), and better without subtitles at all (try the simplest genre, comedy or romance — their vocabularies aren’t that hard). You can also listen or watch English news, discussions (Ted-Talk, TedEd are very recommended), or interviews. 

3. Writing Skill: This one should be easy, try to post things (your experiences, opinions, etc) in your social medias using English for start. It would be better if you start blogging (using English of course)! 

Last but not least, you could also try to attend some English courses as well. I attended English courses for 5 years (Junior High School & High School), but then I still have to practice it after that of course (using all of the tips that I said before).

Source :
https://medium.com/@12blackpearls/my-first-toefl-ibt-experience-922904549bc0