Did you receive your formal education in English language?
I bet you did.
This, however, is not enough to prove that you have a good understanding of the English language.
This is especially the case when you seek to study in an English speaking country outside Nigeria.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), is a test you must take to prove that your grasp of English is adequate enough for you to cope in an any U.S. based universities.
You need a certain test score for you to be deemed to have passed the exam.
How then, do you prepare for TOEFL in Nigeria?
There are several things you can do in preparation for your TOEFL exam.
Create A Study Plan
Before embarking on anything, it is good practice to plan ahead. Like the saying goes “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”. The same applies to writing your TOEFL.
The test consists of four parts which includes reading, listening, speaking and writing. Therefore, you should create a time table and allocate specific times for practicing each part.
The time allocation can be customized to suit your needs. First carry out an analysis to determine your strength and weakness. You can do this by writing a mock test. This will serve as a baseline for you to build on.
Your plan will then focus more time on the parts with low scores in the mock test.
Gain More Knowledge
After creating your plan, the next step is to arm yourself with more knowledge. This should be based on your weakness identified.
For example, if writing is your weakness, then you can look for written samples and read several daily.
Look for different formats such as those written to capture compare/contrast, agree/disagree, description, explanation and imaginary types of essay samples.
Don’t just stick with one format but be flexible so that you can become more versatile.
Gain More Speed And Accuracy
When you feel ready and armed with enough knowledge, then you can begin to practice.
At this point you will need complete sample questions which you can answer.
Make sure you do away with any form of distraction and make it feel like a real test.
Setup up a timer and first of all repeat the initial sample test you wrote earlier and compare the results.
Next you can try out different sample tests and if there is any question that you find difficult, you should get someone to explain it better and help you in answering it.
The goal at this stage is not only to be able to finish on time but to also answer as many questions as possible correctly.
There is no point if you finish on time but do not answer most questions correctly or if you can answer most questions correctly but cannot beat the time. Therefore soeed and accuracy are both important.
With constant practice you will eventually gain more speed and accuracy and be ready to face the real test.