Need help improving your TOEFL or IELTS score?
We’ve got you covered. Watch our quick tip videos to boost your speaking and writing scores fast. Taking what can seem like an unachievable section score and dividing it into easy step-by-step techniques turns what can seem impossible to very attainable. Each of our videos is under 3 minutes and focuses on one aspect of the process. We give you high-impact tips that you can immediately apply to your speaking and writing sections and see significant progress.
Greatly increase your scores in 3 easy steps:
1. watch a video
2. immediately practice what you learned
3. apply your new skills to a practice or real-life test and get a better score
Video 1: use complex verb tenses and conditionals to improve your speaking and writing scores.
Video 2: talk to yourself in English to increase your TOEFL or IELTS speaking scores.
Video 3: M has a fun way to boost both your speaking and writing scores – idioms.
Video 4: improve your speaking and writing scores without more English practice.
Video 5: adjust your attitude – practice makes perfect so practice like it’s test day every day.
Video 6: find and correct your own mistakes by recording yourself and reviewing your TOEFL or IELTS speaking answers.
Video 7: practice for the listening and reading sections by using materials that test your comprehension.
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I included a transcript after each video for your reference.
TOEFL Speaking and Writing: Increase Your Score by Using Complex Verb Tenses and Conditionals
Hi! I’m M from https://topmbaconsultants.com/ . Here today with another quick tip on how to increase your TOEFL and IELTS writing and speaking scores.
Use complex verb tenses and conditionals. You can get a very high or even perfect result using less advanced language, but your answers must be nearly flawless.
Since that can be very challenging for many non-native English speakers, integrating a variety of verb tenses and grammar structures is a great way to increase your score.
Try starting your TOEFL independent answers with a verb ending in -ing and use a third or mixed conditional as your concluding sentence. For example, you can begin your answer to the question “Some people prefer to take a vacation in cities. Others prefer to spend their vacation in the countryside. Which do you prefer?” with “Being a person who loves the hustle and bustle of city life, I believe there’s no better place to go on holiday.” After giving details to support your position, you can finish with a sentence such as “If I hadn’t taken so many trips to metropolitan areas, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to visit such a wide variety of museums, theatres, and architectural attractions.” Or, open with “Having traveled to the countryside every summer since I was a child, I can personally testify to the benefit of this experience” and close with “If I hadn’t enjoyed the fresh air and relaxed environment of rural life, I wouldn’t have understood the value of living close to nature.”
Of course, make sure you’re comfortable and confident using these grammatical structures before including them in your responses. Many clients have said to me when we first started working together that they would never be able to use the past perfect or a third conditional on test day, but they all did and did it well enough to reach their TOEFL or IELTS target scores.
I hope you found this video useful and if you’d like more tips and links to helpful resources, or to schedule a session to improve your TOEFL or IELTS score with me, please visit topmbaconsultants.com. On our site, you can also see the full range of MBA application services we offer: from essay and resume consultation and editing to profile development and interview prep. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Have a great day!
Improve your TOEFL or IELTS Speaking Scores: Talk to Yourself in English!
Hi! I’m M from https://topmbaconsultants.com/ . I’m here today with another quick tip on how to increase your TOEFL or IELTS speaking score. Talk to yourself in English! All the time. In your mind and out loud as much as possible. I know you might not want to walk down the street chattering away in English, but you could put your earbuds in have your phone out, and pretend you’re conversing with someone. But if that’s too much for you, just stick to vocalizing in the privacy of your own room. There are so many ways to increase the amount of English in your everyday life without adding to your dedicated practice time.
Start thinking about all the things you usually think about in your native language in English:
• Your plans for your day, week, and month
• Your to-do list
• What you’re going to have for your next meal
• Upcoming discussions with family, friends or colleagues
• Emails or messages you have to write
• Future events and activities
• Purchases you want to make
• Decisions you’ve been pondering
• Revisiting your favorite memories
• And more!
Another idea is to describe the world around you and your place in it:
• Your surroundings in your home or out in the world
• Your own actions as you get dressed, go to work, make dinner, etc.
• Your physical, emotional and psychological states
Then, of course, there’s activating vocabulary, grammar, idioms or other things you’ve been working on:
• Practice making sentences with the latest terminology you’ve learned.
• Use the third conditional to talk about all the ways your life could have been different.
• Use idioms to describe yourself, the people around you, and what’s happening in your life.
The best part is, you can do all this thinking and speaking in English while completing your everyday activities: making breakfast, getting ready for school or work, commuting, shopping, cleaning your house, on your way to meet family or friends, walking your dog, exercising, visiting a park, the list goes on and on.
Don’t worry if you can’t think of every word you need, look them up later if you’d like. Your second or third language shouldn’t be something you put on a mental shelf and only take down and dust off when you absolutely must. By thinking and completing tasks in English on a regular basis you can break down the barriers between English and the rest of your life.
If this sounds like too much, start small. Set a reasonable goal for yourself.
I really hope you found this video useful and if you’d like more tips and links to helpful resources, or to schedule a session to improve your TOEFL or IELTS score with me, please visit topmbaconsultants.com. On our site, you can also see the full range of MBA application services we offer: from essay and resume consultation and editing to profile development and interview prep. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Have a great day!
Improve Your TOEFL or IELTS Speaking and Writing Scores: Use Idioms
Hi! I’m M from Top MBA consultants dot com, I’m here today with a quick tip to help you improve your TOEFL and IELTS speaking and Writing results. Can using idioms really increase your scores? Absolutely. But don’t just take my word for it.
According to the TOEFL independent writing section rubric, the top score of 4 “displays consistent facility in the use of language, demonstrating syntactic variety, appropriate word choice and idiomaticity.” IELTS speaking band 9 lexical resource descriptor states “uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately.”
There are at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in English, so you have to be smart. Choose about 30 common idioms that you can use in many different situations.
For instance, an idiom like on the fence can be used to answer many different speaking and writing questions. It means that a person has not made a decision or formed an opinion yet.
You can start your independent speaking response to questions like “Do you prefer reading e-books or real books?” with “I was on the fence about whether e-books or traditional books were better until I bought my first e-reader.” Or, in answer to “Do you think zoos are generally good or bad?” try “Many people I know are on the fence about whether or not zoos are good. However, I strongly believe…”
There are some great idioms for summing up your position when speaking or at the end of a paragraph or essay in writing. For example, in a nutshell, the bottom line is, and to make a long story short can all begin your concluding thoughts on any topic.
Finally, look for idioms about people because you can apply them to yourself and others across many different topics. A born optimist is someone who is naturally positive. So, you can describe yourself by saying “Being a born optimist, I believe…” Or say “Since I’ve always been a go-getter…” to show that you’re a proactive person. And since a couch potato is almost the opposite, use it to refer to someone who is lazy.
Two quick words of warning. First, find examples of the idioms you choose used in context and then practice. You need to sound natural when employing this language. Second, don’t use the same idioms, even in different answers and different sections. For the best possible score, use a variety of language.
Idioms are fun and effective, so start integrating them into your speaking and writing and watch your scores improve!
I really hope you found this video useful and if you’d like more tips and links to helpful resources, or to schedule a session to improve your TOEFL or IELTS score with me, please visit topmbaconsultants.com. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Have a great day!
You can also check out our MBA videos, they have tips you can apply to better your TOEFL or IELTS test score as well.
Looking for more help raising your TOEFL or ILETS writing results? Visit our TOEFL and IELTS writing section post with editing techniques to improve your essays.
TOEFL Speaking and Writing Section: Increase Your Score without More English Practice!
Hi! I’m M from https://topmbaconsultants.com/ here today with another quick tip on how to improve your IELTS and TOEFL speaking and writing scores.
It’s really challenging to prepare your answer for the TOEFL independent speaking question in just 15 seconds and coming up with solid details and examples to support your opinion in the independent writing section isn’t a piece of cake either.
One thing you don’t have to worry about? Stating your true opinion, just choose the argument that is easiest for you to make. You are being scored on the quality of your language, not your honesty.
If you can talk about your personal experience, of course, go for it. However, many clients have asked me “What if the question is about something I haven’t experienced or don’t know much about?”
Here are three options:
- Speak about other people’s experiences.
- Use someone else’s story as your own.
- Make it up.
Let’s look at a specific example:
“Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: it is important to know the history of the city that you live in?” Maybe you don’t know very much at all about the city where you live and you don’t think it’s important, but you can’t think of any good reasons to support your argument. Simply change your view, brainstorm ideas like knowing the past helps us to better comprehend the present, understanding a place’s history connects us to the community and older generations, or it means you can be a good host.
Don’t have any experience giving tours to out-of-towners? Don’t stress, just fictionalize. Try something like “Being able to tell the friend I met abroad about all the rich history of my city when she came to visit really impressed her and added a greater level of enjoyment to her trip.”
Maybe you’re young and haven’t worked or traveled much yet. How can you answer questions like “Some people enjoy traveling to new places, others think it is stressful. What is your opinion and why?” Talk about someone you know who does have this experience. You can use general or specific phrases like “many people I respect” and “several members of my family” or “my mother,” “my good friend,” and “my teacher.”
Then, make a statement such as “I haven’t had the opportunity to travel much yet, but an aunt I really respect insists that even if some parts of travel are nerve-wracking, it is still very pleasurable.” Or, pretend you are your aunt and state “Having always found a great level of joy in travel, I firmly believe that outweighs any discomfort.”
Be creative, fabricate something fun and exciting! “Having traveled extensively for years now, I can wholeheartedly confirm that there is an amazing amount of fulfillment to be found exploring foreign and strange lands and cultures.”
The moral of the story is: don’t focus on telling the absolute irrefutable true story of your life. Just choose the easiest answer possible and go for it!
I really hope you found this video useful and if you’d like more tips and links to helpful resources, or to schedule a session to improve your TOEFL or IELTS score with me, please visit topmbaconsultants.com. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Good luck on your test and have a great day!
Increase Your TOEFL or IELTS Speaking Score: The Right Practice Leads to the Right Results
Hi! I’m M from Top MBA consultants dot com, I’m here today with some quick tips for improving your TOEFL and IELTS speaking scores. The way you practice for a big event really matters. I’ve listened to and watched countless people answering TOEFL and IELTS speaking questions slumped in their chair, speaking too quietly, mumbling and expressing little to no enthusiasm in their voice. Confidence matters.
Let’s do a comparison using just the first two sentences of an answer to the question “Do you agree or disagree that it is important for young people to learn some domestic skills like cooking, sewing and taking care of children?” with the exact same words, but different body language and intonation.
Learning the ropes early on about how to take care of yourself and your family is essential to a happy and healthy home life. Personally, I regret not having been taught the basics of preparing delicious and nutritious meals at a young age.
Now, let’s compare that to: Learning the ropes early on about how to take care of yourself and your family is essential to a happy and healthy home life. Personally, I really regret not being taught the basics of preparing delicious and nutritious meals at a young age.
In TOEFL, your scorer can’t see you, but they can hear your engagement with the material and usually a higher energy level means you are speaking more quickly and therefore able to include more information in your answer. In IELTS, the format is different and since you’ll be sitting face to face with an interviewer, it’s critical to have positive body language, make eye contact and have a good energy level. Of course, you are graded on your content, but attitude impacts content.
Imagine if Michael Jordan had walked up and down the basketball court during practice. Or Usain Bolt had jogged his 100-meter training sessions. Would Serena Williams have won so many Grand Slams if she gently lobbed her serve over the net in preparation for her big matches?
Do you want, no need, to break through your own past test scores? Then act like it! Be confident, be bold, be the best you possible.
I hope you found this video useful and if you’d like more tips and links to helpful resources, or to schedule a session to improve your TOEFL or IELTS score with me, please visit https://topmbaconsultants.com/toefl-ielts-score-improvement/. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Have a great day!
Check out our list of resources for boosting your TOEFL or IELTS result
Boost Your TOEFL or IELTS Speaking Score: Record Yourself
Hi! I’m M from Top MBA consultants dot com. I’m here today with another quick tip about how to increase your TOEFL or IELTS speaking scores. Record yourself. Use an app like flipgrid (https://info.flipgrid.com/) and video all your answers.
I know, I’m not a big fan of hearing my voice or seeing myself on video either, but sometimes there’s just no way around it.
Watch your recording and check your responses for the following elements:
• Do you use a range of vocabulary in order to avoid repetition?
• Do you use a variety of verb tenses?
• Do you make any grammatical errors?
• Do you use an idiom?
• Is your pronunciation clear?
• Is your timing correct?
• Is your answer well structured?
• Do you address the topic appropriately?
• Are you making eye contact with the camera?
• Do you have natural intonation and good posture and energy?
Your checklist may be different depending on what aspects of your answers you’re specifically trying to develop.
Find your mistakes and correct them. Don’t just think, “oh, ok, next time, I’ll do this…” If you need to, take some notes on the changes you want to make to your answer. Look up synonyms, think of a suitable idiom, add a conditional. Then record yourself again. Watch the second version and give yourself a big pat on the back for your improvements and make a note of what you still need to work on.
Another great thing about flipgrid is you can go to the closed captions tab and read your script. It will help you evaluate how good your pronunciation is and spot grammatical errors.
Do you need advice on how to improve the items on the checklist? Watch my other TOEFL and IELTS speaking tip videos or visit https://topmbaconsultants.com/toefl-ielts-score-improvement/ to schedule a session with me to increase your score. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Have a great day!
Use our TOEFL Independent Speaking Practice Question Videos: 1 Per Day for 30 Days to increase your speaking score
TOEFL and IELTS Listening Section: Use Practice Materials that Measure your Results
Hi! I’m M from top mba consultants dot com here today with another quick tip on how to increase your TOEFL and IELTS listening scores.
Use material where there is an easy and straightforward way to measure your understanding.
Everyone’s path to TOEFL and IELTS success is different. However, especially in the listening section, people tend to over or underestimate their comprehension. Therefore, it’s important to listen to your audio and test your understanding to identify your weak spots, ways to improve and track your progress.
For instance, use a site like Breaking News English (https://breakingnewsenglish.com/). Choose the appropriate level for you and practice, practice, practice. When you play the audio, take notes just like you would on test day. Then complete some of the exercises, check your answers, and finally, correct your mistakes.
For TOEFL, listen to a TED talk in three to five-minute sections since that’s about how long the lectures are in the listening section. For IELTS, use seven to eight-minute timeframes. Do not look at the speaker. Not watching is very important, you need to practice without visual cues. Take notes and then check the transcript to determine the accuracy of your information.
You can also use podcasts that have transcripts, like Science Vs (https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs). You should definitely include audio with multiple speakers in your practice since there are both monologues and conversations in the TOEFL and IELTS listening sections.
Complete the activities I mentioned in circumstances as similar to test day as possible. If you are going to a test site, most often you will be using headphones. However, many test takers complain about still hearing all the people around them speaking. Therefore, it’s good to practice with background noise. Play a YouTube video or talk radio at a low volume or sit in the corner of a café or other public location. You don’t have to do this all the time, but don’t go from practicing in a very quiet environment right into the test site.
Of course, you can build your vocabulary during these listening sessions as well. However, sometimes it’s important to focus on one thing at a time. It’s totally up to you.
It can be challenging to find just the right TED talk, so I put together a list of TEDs that have helped my clients successfully achieve their TOEFL and IELTS listening section goals. I’ve included a link to the webpage in the description below (https://topmbaconsultants.com/ted-talks-for-toefl-and-ielts-listening-practice/).
Finally, please complete timed listening and reading test sections in their entirety as part of your practice on a regular basis.
I really hope you found this video useful and if you’d like more tips and links to helpful resources, or to schedule a session to improve your TOEFL or IELTS score with me, please visit https://topmbaconsultants.com/. As always, it would be great if you click the subscribe button, turn on notifications so you’ll know when I post new videos, like and/or comment. Good luck on your test and have a great day!
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