Week 2 - Reading > 2.

12 Practice Activities and Resources > Practice

Practice
Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own.
These activities are based on the tips presented in the Inside
the TOEFL Test videos.
1.

Do an online search to find a list of common Greek and Latin roots,

such as 60+ Greek and Latin Prefixes Arranged by Meaning (opens new
window). Pick 5 roots, and find the definitions of at least 3 words that
use each root.

2.

Select an article such as "The Heartbreak That May Have Inspired

the Telegraph (opens new window) about Samuel Morse, and outline the
main points using one of the outline formats shown at the end of the
Prose Summary/Fill in a Table video.

3.

Using the Reading passages from TOEFL iBT Quick Prep Volume 2
(opens new window) (pages 4-5 and 10-11), select a paragraph to read.
As you read, make a list of what information is important, and what is
not as important. Have a partner do the same thing separately, then
compare your lists.

4.

Using The Heartbreak That May Have Inspired the Telegraph

(opens new window), find all of the pronouns that arent he (since
most of those obviously refer to Samuel Morse), and determine what
nouns they refer to. For example, in this excerpt, you can find the
pronoun it and determine that it refers to the invention.
Soon, all types of news and messages were being tapped out across
the country. The invention transformed communication, business, and
the idea of news. It sped up the world, cutting the delivery of a
message from Washington, D.C., to New Haven from four days to
under four seconds.

Resources
If youre looking to practice more and would like additional reading
materials that have some similarities to TOEFL Reading passages in

tone and content, here are a few examples (the links will take you
outside of the course and the edX platform):
Articles about archaeology from Smithsonian Magazine:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeology/
(opens new window)
News articles about science and culture from National Geographic:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ (opens new

window)
An Encyclopedia Britannica article about the history and techniques of
mountain climbing:

http://www.britannica.com/topic/mountaineering
(opens new window)
Also, check out these reading survival guides from a university in
Australia:

http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0
009/2748132/IE5-Reading-in-English.pdf (opens new window)

http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0
011/2748143/TN3-Read-effectively.pdf (opens new window)
Week 3 - Listening > 3.12 Practice Activities and Resources > Practice

Practice
Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own. Most of
these activities are based on the tips presented in the Inside the TOEFL Test
videos (the links will take you outside of the course and the edX platform).

1. Find a friend or study partner, and listen to a short audio clip, like this
one about butterflies (opens new window)from Smithsonian.com. When
its finished, each of you should write down as much as you can

remember about what you heard. Then compare notes to see who
remembered more of the important points and supporting details.
2. Listen to a podcast that has several speakers, like those from
the TED Radio Hour (opens new window). Ask yourself what each
speaker is really trying to accomplish by saying certain things. The
speaker may be trying to do things like:

Direct

Recommend

Complain

Agree/Disagree

Question

Confirm

3. Listen to a recording of a classic story from English literature, like this

excerpt from a Sherlock Holmes mystery story (opens new window).
Stop the recording at various points, and try to summarize what has
been said. Then try to predict what will be said next.
4. Find academic lectures in introductory online university courses, like the
courses offered by edX. Listen to 3 or 4 lectures of increasing length,
starting with topics that you are familiar with, and building up to longer
ones on topics that are not familiar to you. Listen to them multiple times
if you need to, and identify the main idea and the speakers purpose for
each.
5. Listen to a TOEFL Listening conversation or lecture
at http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/prepare/quick_prep/ (opens new window).
Try to predict what kinds of questions will be asked, as well as what the
answers to those questions will be. Are any of the TOEFL questions the
same or similar to your questions? What about the answers? The more

you practice predicting what questions will be asked, the better you will
get at predicting and the better you will get at listening for important
information. This will help you improve your confidence about taking the
Listening section of the test, as you realize you know what to expect,
and what to listen for!

Resources
If youre looking to practice more, you can use these resources to
practice listening to the kinds of materials that are similar
to TOEFL Listening passages. The links will take you outside of the
course and the edX platform.
Podcasts about technology, space exploration and other topics:

http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510298/ted-radio-hour (opens new

window)

http://www.npr.org/podcasts/470937634/are-we-there-yet (opens
new window)

Recorded programs and podcasts about news and culture:

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/programindex.html (opens
new window)

https://edition.englishclub.com/category/podcasts/ (opens new

window)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/news-report
(opens new window)

Educational videos on a variety of academic topics:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ (opens new window)

Week 4 - Speaking > 4.9 Practice Activities and Resources > Practice

Practice
Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own.

1.

Collect pictures from magazines, newspapers or the Internet. Look

at each picture, and describe it in one minute. Try describing the same
picture more than once, using different adjectives and adding details.

2.

Think for 20 seconds about what you did yesterday, then talk
about it for 45 seconds. Remember to use verbs in the past tense. You
can do the same thing to talk about what you will do tomorrow, using
verbs in the future tense.

3.

Think about a problem that has more than one possible solution.
Talk about which solution you think is best. Make a recommendation on
how a person should proceed with handling the problem.

4.

Find an online newspaper from an English-speaking university.

Look for topics like admissions, housing, student activities, registering
for classes, school-improvement plans, sports, and more. Then choose
an article to discuss with a speaking partner or study group.

5.

Find listening and reading material that are both about the same
topic. The material can contain similar or different views. Then prepare
an outline for a one-minute talk that includes your opinion, two points to
support your opinion, and one detail or reason to support each point.

6.

Read a short news article, and record yourself summarizing it.

Then create a transcript of the recording by writing down exactly what
you said. Review the transcript, and think of other ways of saying the
same thing.

7.

Find textbooks in English that include study questions at the end of

each chapter, and practice answering the questions out loud. Start with
subjects youre familiar with, then move on to less familiar subjects.

Resources
Here is a list of additional speaking resources. These resources offer
information about spoken English and ways for you to practice speaking
in English. The links will take you outside of the course and the edX
platform.

Find a conversation partner for free, and chat using your preferred
software (such as Skype , WeChat or Google Hangouts):

http://www.conversationexchange.com/ (opens new window)

Practice your English and receive feedback from a community of

speakers:

https://www.reddit.com/r/JudgeMyAccent/ (opens new window):

Here you can post sound files of yourself speaking in English.
Other users can listen to the sound files and provide feedback on
your pronunciation and intonation. You can also comment on their
speech.

Read about the features of spoken English:

http://www.uefap.com/speaking/feature/complex.htm (opens new

window)

http://britishenglishcoach.com/5-things-you-should-know-aboutspoken-english/ (opens new window)

Work on your pronunciation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciati
on (opens new window)

Focus on the intonation patterns of native English speakers, as well as on

their pronunciation of words, by listening to conversations at normal or
slow speed:

http://esl.culips.com/ (opens new window)

Work on building your speaking confidence:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicSpeaking/ (opens new window):

Here you can read tips for public speaking that are posted by
users, including how to build confidence for speaking in front of a
group. You can also post questions and receive answers, or
comment on the questions of others.

Week 5 - Writing > 5.8 Practice Activities and Resources > Practice

Practice
Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own.
1.

Find a short news article from a news website like cnn.com,

bbc.com, or reuters.com. Practice paraphrasing by rewriting the article in
your own words.

2.

Keep a vocabulary journal that includes synonyms of useful words.

Type in a word at www.thesaurus.com (opens new window) to find
synonyms and explore how words with similar meanings relate to one
another.

3.

Find a recorded lecture from an online course website, such as

edx.org. Listen to the lecture and write down what the main points are.
This is a great activity to do with a study partner, because you can both
do it separately and compare notes.

4.

Read two articles on the same topic, and write a summary of each.
Then explain the ways in which they are similar and the ways in which
they are different.

5.

Find an essay in a news magazine or on a website that expresses

an opinion. Read it and write about why you agree or disagree. Give
yourself 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise the essay.

Resources
Here is a list of additional writing resources. These resources offer
information about written English and ways for you to practice writing in
English.
Explore these online handbooks and other resources on academic
writing from universities in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia. The
links will take you outside of the course and the edX platform.

https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/process.html (opens new

window)

http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/resources (opens new

window)

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice (opens new window)

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html (opens new

window)

https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/support/writingcenter/reso
urcesforwriters (opens new window)

http://www.ucalgary.ca/ssc/resources/writing-support/445 (opens
new window)

http://www.une.edu.au/current-students/resources/academicskills/fact-sheets (opens new window) (Look at the fact sheets on

writing and paragraph types.)

http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources
(opens new window)

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/679/01/ (opens new

window)

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/678/01/ (opens new

window)

http://www.port.ac.uk/students/academic-skills-unit/resources/
(opens new window)

Read short essays, then look for the questions at the end of each essay.
Write responses to the questions. Try to incorporate some of the key
words that were used in the essays in your responses:

http://blogs.voanews.com/confessions/ (opens new window)

Read short lessons, then apply what you learned by writing responses to
a wide variety of tasks:

https://edition.englishclub.com/category/writing-prompts/ (opens
new window)

Week 6: Test Day and Beyond > 6.7 Official TOEFL Prep Resources > Official Prep Resources

OFFICIAL PREP RESOURCES

ETS offers a variety of practice materials to help you prepare for

the TOEFL iBT test and build your English skills. Most resources use real
past test questions from the makers of the test.

Free Prep Resources

TOEFL iBT Interactive Sampler (opens new window) provides free
unlimited access to past TOEFL iBT questions from all four sections of
the test that you can download and use to practice as often as you like.
Includes interactive Reading and Listening questions, as well as sample
responses to Speaking and Writing questions.
TOEFL iBT Test Questions (opens new window) provides a free set of
TOEFL iBT questions used in previous tests, so you can become familiar
with the types of questions and content on the actual test, and
understand how the TOEFL iBT test is structured and formatted.
TOEFL iBT Quick Prep (opens new window) is a free practice tool that
provides TOEFL iBT questions from past tests. There are four Quick Prep
Volumes; each includes questions from all four sections of the test. Audio
passages are included for Volumes 3 and 4.
TOEFL iBT Test Prep Planner (opens new window) is a free eight-week
planner that helps you set weekly practice goals and stay on track with
tips and tasks for the weeks leading up to test day. The planner helps
you understand how to prepare for the test effectively and to build the
English-language skills needed for success on the TOEFLtest.
Paid Prep Resources
TOEFL Practice Online (opens new window) is the only official practice
test that gives you the experience of taking the real TOEFL iBT test. You
will be able to review and answer authentic test questions and receive
scores within 24 hours and performance feedback on all four skills
measured on the test reading, listening, speaking and writing.
TOEFL Practice Online Speaking Series (opens new window) uses
previously administered test questions and simulates the real TOEFL iBT
testing experience. Your spoken communication skills are scored using
ETSs SpeechRaterSM, a speech recognition technology that assesses

pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary and grammar. Scores and feedback

are available within 24 hours of the time responses are received.
The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test, Fourth Edition (opens new
window) has three full-length tests plus hundreds of valuable tips.
Available in eBook and paper book format, this guide provides a
comprehensive all-in-one reference to the TOEFL test with skill-building
tips to help you do your best.
Official TOEFL iBT Tests, Volume 1, Second Edition (opens new
window) contains five real past tests and all of the audio passages on
disc. Available in eBook and paper book formats, this prep book gives
you lots of TOEFL iBT test practice. It also includes the TOEFL Test Prep
Planner to help you create an eight-week plan to prepare for the test.
Official TOEFL iBT Tests, Volume 2 (opens new window) includes 5
additional real past tests with previously administered Reading,
Listening, Speaking, and Writing questions. Each practice test has an
answer key, sample Speaking and Writing responses, and audio scripts.
The DVD-ROM includes the 5 practice tests in an interactive format, and
audio tracks for the listening passages.
TOEFL Online Prep Course (opens new window) is an online tutorial that
helps prepare students for the TOEFL iBT test by creating a personalized
learning path with up to 80 hours of course content over a 6-month
subscription. The course includes diagnostic tests, robust exercises,
automated scoring, structured self-assessments and a grade book.