Understanding Difficult Sentences

If you are trying to understand a difficult sentence in one of the reading passages, just read the sentence's independent clause. Independent clauses are usually called the "main clause" because they contain the sentence's main idea. Once you understand the main clause, you can better understand why the other dependent clauses are in the sentence and how the information in the dependent clauses relates to the information in the main clause.

For more information about the Reading Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

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Use the Bathroom Before the Test

Even if you don't think it is necessary to use the bathroom before the test, go anyway.  You do NOT want to have to leave the test to use the bathroom once the test starts. Test centers do not stop the test if you have to leave the room. If you leave, the test keeps going without you and you lose valuable time.

For more information about the TOEFL, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company. 

When you need TOEFL, you need Strictly English!

20-Minute Essay Conclusion

Because the 20-minutes essay is only a summary and not an argument, it does not need a conclusion. Therefore, don't waste precious time on a conclusion. Spend that time proofreading instead!

For more information about the 20-minutes essay, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

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Types of Listenings

There are three types of listenings on the Listening Section of the TOEFL: 

Conversations.

Class Discussions.

Academic Lectures.

Each of these types of listenings have a particular focus and require different strategies.

If you want to learn more about Listening, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL, you need Strictly English. 

A.Word.a.Day Can help!

It might be helpful to join a mailing list that sends you a new word every day. I think this site is very good. Although the words on it are harder than TOEFL words, you can learn a lot by reading the etymologies. 

For more information about vocabulary building, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL, you need Strictly English!

Plan Ahead

Test dates fill up fast, especially in big cities.  Often tests dates are not available for three weeks.  In addition, score results are not available for another three weeks after you take the test.  Therefore, if you know you need your score by, for example, January 1, 2009, you need to take your test on or before December 11th, which means you should sign up for your test no later than November 13th.

For more information about scheduling TOEFL tests, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com. 

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-Only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL, you need Strictly English!

English Level for TOEFL's Writing Section

People think that to get a good writing score, you have to write at an advanced level of English. This is not true. A virtually perfect score can be achieved with intermediate level English that has no mistakes. Short sentences that are perfect will score higher than complicated sentences that have mistakes.  So don't try to "sound smart" or "show off" on the test. Focus on being accurate and clear instead.

For more information about the TOEFL's Writing Section, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL, you need Strictly English!

Accent Reduction

For some people, no matter how well your answers are structured and no matter how logical your answers are, the TOEFL grader will still give you a low speaking score if your accent is very strong. Please note that although many language schools and private ESL tutors offer accent reduction classes, workshops, or tutorials, the best way to reduce your accent is to take private lessons with a trained speech therapist.  So when looking to reduce your accent, find a qualified speech therapist, not an ESL instructor.

For more information about speech therapists who can help you with accent reduction, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL,

You need Strictly English!

Tricky Main Ideas

Often the listening section tricks you into thinking that the first thing mentioned in the lecture is what the lecture is about. Very often: THIS IS NOT THE CASE.  Many times, the lecture begins with a summary of the last class's topic or of the reading homework that the students did the night before. Then the lecture transitions to "today's topic" which is often in opposition to the previous class or the homework.  You must learn to identify when this transition occurs or else you'll mistakenly think that the beginning of the lecture announces the topic of the lecture.

For more information about the Listening Section of the test, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL

You need Strictly English!

Vocabulary Building

With between 3 and 5 vocabulary questions per reading passage, you can gain a lot of points on the Reading Section of the TOEFL if you know a lot of words. But learning thousands of words is almost impossible. So instead, try learning the roots, prefixes, and suffixes that make up English words.  Learning one root can give you 5, 10, or even 15 new words!

Strictly English's website has a great list of Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes on its Reading webpage. Check it out!

For more information about vocabulary building, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston, MA Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL, 

You need Strictly English!

Be Direct!

One of the biggest problems on the Speaking Section of the test is that people do not give clear, direct statements.  Try to train yourself to say: "I like dogs" instead of "Dogs are a thing that many people, like me, enjoy."  The more direct you are, the better your answer. To practice becoming more direct, write one sentence down, then rewrite it with 30% fewer words.  As you learn to write such short clear sentences, then you'll learn how to speak with a similar level of directness.

To learn more about the Speaking Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English's listening page at www.strictlyenglishusa.com/listening.html

Located in Boston, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL,

You need Strictly English!

History Reading Passages

If you're looking for a way to improve your reading of history passages, then I suggest that you check out this website.  It has some brief TOEFL-like articles that you can read.

To learn more about the Reading Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English's Reading Page at www.strictlyenglishusa.com/reading.html 

Located in Boston, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL,

You need Strictly English!

The Reading Passage for the 20-Minute Essay

I know it's hard to believe, but sometimes TOEFL makes things EASY for you!  After you finish listening to the lecture for the 20-Minute Essay, the reading passage returns. This helps you a lot. If you can locate the reading's three main points, then they will help you to figure out what the listening was saying. So even if you didn't understand the listening, all you have to remember is that it talked about the same points as the reading. Once you locate those points in the reading, they might help you to figure out what the listening was saying about those same points.

For more tips on the Writing Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL, 

You need Strictly English!

Bad Subject/Verb Agreement Can Cost You Points!

If you have consistent subject verb agreement problems in your writing, it could lower your score up to 33%. So be careful. Make sure that every singular subject has a singular verb. For example: "he writeS" or "the sun burnS". This is a very simple grammar point, so make every effort to remember to use your "S"s!

For more tips on the Writing Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com. 

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL,

You need Strictly English!

Organizing the 20 Minute Essay

The twenty-minute essay requires you to summarize a reading and a listening on the same topic. The reading offers three points and the listening usually opposes those three points one at a time.  The best way to organize your essay, then is it have four paragraphs.

Paragraph one: Introduction

Paragraph two: Point one

Paragraph three: Point two

Paragraph Four: Point three

For more tips on the Writing Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL,

You need Strictly English!

Long and Short Reading Sections

TOEFL will either give you one hour to answer three reading passages or 1 hour and 40 minutes to answer 5 reading passages.  If you have 5 passages, you are only graded on three of them, but you don't know which three. The other two passages are experimental passages that allow TOEFL to see if the questions are good TOEFL questions or not. If you get a long Reading Section (5 passages) then you will not have a long Listening Section.  Strictly English suggests being prepared for a long Reading Section. That way, you'll be able prepared for one if you get it.  One way to prepare for a long reading is to read at homefor 1 hour and 40 minutes without stopping.

For more tips on the Reading Section of the TOEFL, visit Strictly English at www.strictlyenglishusa.com.

Located in Boston MA, Strictly English is America's first TOEFL-only tutoring company.

When you need TOEFL,

You need Strictly English!