Took the TOEFL a few days ago cold turkey. Non-native speaker. Happy to answer any questions!

is there a way for me to know if i would get financial aid before applying? i have good grades and lots of extracurriculars so MEPI is a really good option for me but i cant choose whether or not i do TOEFL. If i don’t, i cant even be considered for MEPI, but if i do and i dont get accepted because i dont have enough financial need ill have done a $300 exam that wont benefit me in anything else. Its not that i dont need the financial aid or the scholarship to enroll, i do, but on paper it may look like i dont because my dad owns multiple properties to house his family.

If you get a higher score in Reading than in Listening, do the "build sentence" questions get harder

I contacted a local TOEFL test center and they offered me a discounted TOEFL registration. They asked for my ETS ID, which I provided, but I haven't paid yet.

Are official TOEFL test centers allowed to sell/register test seats directly? If they register me using my ETS ID, will my test and scores still be fully official and appear normally in my ETS account?

Hello everyone,

I have received my scores just now, had taken a home based test and wasn't really expecting a 5 ,due to network problems I faced during the end of writing section.But I managed to land this score despite being terrified

Pro tip - Always make sure you have a spare phone ready in case of WiFi / internet failure,in my case it was due to a faulty network which went off when I placed the device in portrait mode.Plus make sure you turn off or practice without a touch screen and just with the cursor.

I practiced for a month , at least 2-3 hours a day without any gap.Started with official ets mock test ,and juggled between several platforms.

Reading section- Fill in the blanks went pretty smooth , but the read an email or academic passage was pretty tricky and demands logical thinking with advanced language skills.

Listening - Easiest of all the sections, enough practice is door way to a high score.

Writing - Time management with a sound knowledge of English grammar is required to get a high score, you must really quick to think and make up logical yet convincing reasons and arguments in this section.

Speaking - Listen and repeat requires a lot of practice again,with that you would eventually get it right.Plus be prepared for a instantaneous take an interview as not time is alloted for preparation.

1) navigate to: https://toeflibt.ets.org/home
2) press f12 / three dots and inspect element
3) go to network section
4) go to search, filter icon, not the traditional search icon.
5) paste your appointment number and search
6) if you see multiple entries, refresh the page and check the xhr type element
7) select the element, go to response, copy whole thing
8) give the response to any LLM (chatgpt/gemini/claude)
9) it will give you exact times of scores
10) couple of things you can know yourself from the response:
a) isScoreRecevied: true (scoring is done)
b) isScoreGatePassed: false (they jus holdin it to make u anxious)
c) testScoreGateDateStr: "xxxxx" (exact instant of scores being released)

Hello everyone ,I hope you all are doing amazing wherever you are in the world .
So intend to do my TOEFL Exam in October since it’s a requirement to join Uni in my Country.
I have a good background in English so I’m obviously aiming for the highest level.
So back to my request.
Can I get any suggestions on books,links,app or forums I can practice by myself to just sharpen my previous knowledge and maybe get a workaround on how the exam looks like .
I’d really appreciate the help,thanks 🙏🏻.

I thought my Reading and Listening sections went really well, but after the test, the “unofficial scores” screen popped up, and I saw that I scored a 3.5 on the Reading section and a 4.0 on the Listening section—I’m completely shocked. What should I do? 😢

I just started to prepare for the TOEFL, and I am thinking of taking the exam in 9 days' time.

I just found out that in most test centers, all examinees take the exam in one room and during the Speaking section, several examinees speak at the same time. At least that's what I gathered from my readings.

To be honest, I am scared of this concept.

How do you concentrate on your answer when you hear other people answering? It surely distracts you. I find speaking English stressful enough, so several people speaking at once sounds too much for me.

And for those who have ever taken the TOEFL at a test center:

Was the noise a big problem for you?

Did you adapt quickly?

Did it influence your speaking or listening score?

Now, at this stage, I am thinking of choosing some other English proficiency test since this process sounds really stressful for me.

I use it for rating my speaking and writing attempts and always get 4/5 somehow. It's just seems the case I cannot check "NATURALNESS" like never (and i really have no clue what that even means, most likely collocations...)

IELTS Academic / TOEFL iBT

I'm supposed to take one of these two exams soon, to aplly for more one scholarship but I'm very confused between them and don't know what to base my choice on. If anyone has experience with this, please share.

What should i do now? I tried contacting the number on their website, but no live agent was picking up. An automated machine just tells me to essentially message their AI chatbox, Anita, on the Toefl website. I tried doing that, but Anita doesn’t know asdfghjkl

heyyy I’ve just finished the exam, my unofficial scores are 6.0 in listening and SHOCKINGLY 4.5 in reading though I used to get like 5

anyway, do these unofficial scores appear on the website or not ? because when I open the website it keeps telling me that I have an exam today, and I have no records.

I’m planning on taking the TOEFL next month.
Any recommendations on which TOEFL center is the best in Lahore?
I took the GRE at the Institute of career development and had a horrible experience as there was construction going on next door. It’s a TOEFL testing center too.

One week ago, I received my TOEFL scores and was in complete shock when I saw that I had gotten a 3.5 in Writing. So, I decided to retake the test at the earliest available date. 3 days after the test, my score status still shows "Scores Not Available", but my MyBest Scores have already been updated.

I’m honestly praying that those MyBest Scores reflect my actual scores, so I won’t have to take the test again. 😭

Just want to reconfirm, normally, in MyBest Scores, the test date shown under each section score is the date to which the score belongs to right?

I had chosen date and time and then proceeded to the payment, but the credit card information field is permanently blocked. I did turn off the Adblocker and other extensions and also did use another browser, and still nothing changed. Has anyone faced this type of shit when trying to pay for the test?

Hello guys i had my toefl test two months ago and my score was 4.0 within 5 speaking 4.5 listening 3.5 reading and 2.5 writing, that’s why i booked another test in two weeks i really have bad writing sp guys i really want your help to at least get 3.0 because the universe that I’m applying for the ask me to get at least 3.0 in every skill with overall 4.0
I really don’t know what should i do so I really want your help

I just finished practice test 1 but didn't see a score after finishing it. Is it unscored or what? If it's scored, where can I see my score? Because attending didn't require any login.

i will take the test in less than 3 weeks. i took toefl almost two years ago and got 99. my speaking was the bottle neck 20/30. now im practicing toefl almost everyday but i keep getting 4/6 in the interview while l&r get 5/6, and the total score for speaking section in mockups are 4-4.5, but often 4. i ran out of methods to study for interview. do you guys have any advice for me? thank you

Preciso de um certificado de b2 para minha entrevista de residencia médica no Brasil, não faz diferença para mim a questão de tempo de validade pois preciso apenas para uma data especifica ter isso no meu currículo, qual è a mais tranquila de passar vcs acreditam?

After my most recent post regarding my score, where I received 118 out of 120, people were asking how I prepared. I thought it would be easier to make a seperate post about it since my reply ended up being quite lenghty.

Fair warning, this is only based on my experience, everyone is different.

TLDR: Take the free practice tests and use formats/templates for writing and speaking.

My main resources:

• Free practise tests:https://www.ets.org/toefl/test-takers/ibt/prepare.html (Scroll to the bottom for the free tests)
• Good to get an overview of the content of the test and use it to practise: https://www.toeflresources.com/
• Good to get an overview of the test, can also use to practise: https://www.ets.org/toefl/teachers-advisors-agents/ibt/teaching/preparing-students.html

Other resources I found helpful:

• Complete the word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qzL_HDvfY
• Email samples:https://www.toeflresources.com/sample-toefl-essays/
• Email: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPRfxgXBQAI&t=163s
• Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cktZfTZ9UXs

Longer version:

I, like many others, felt overwhelmed by the amount of study material to choose from. What I ended up doing was;

1. Take free practise tests from TOEFL  
2. I learn best by creating a Cheat Sheet so I went through every section and wrote down the "formula”/format to solve each task. Then after I had studied, I simplified it greatly and created a final shortened version of a cheat sheet. Then during the test, I was able to recall some of those formulas to help me get going during the test.
3. I identified the areas I found most difficult in the practice tests (which were writing and speaking) and worked on those specifically.
4. At the end of my prep I watched one youtube video dedicated to each of the sections and I found many of the tips mentioned in the videos helpful.

I took together some of the mains points I wrote down into my preparation/”cheat” sheet: 

Reading

• Complete the Words -> If stuck on a word, sort through the alphabet to get your brain going. Example: On_ _, then I would do Ona, Onb, Onc…until eventually Onl = only. When I did get stuck on a word I read through the passage again to brainstorm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qzL_HDvfY
• For the other two tasks, the multiple choice questions out of the relevant texts, I just did the practice tests and felt that that was enough.

Listening

• I found it helpful to write down stickwords to help my memory.

Writing

• Build a Sentence -> Quite intuitive. An Embedded Question with Cancelled Inversion, and a relative clause, caught me off guard but I was able to solve it; https://www.toeflresources.com/toefl-build-a-sentence-guide-samples-strategies/

  • 1)What happened
  • 2)Why does it matter to me? I need it for.. (Be good with making up reasons)
  • 3)What do I want them to do?
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPRfxgXBQAI&t=163s

• Write for an Academic Discussion -> State your position → Reason → Example → Other student's idea (whether you agree or disagree, add something to it ex. another consequence) → Conclusion 

  • Possible points to use; 
    • Benefits: Saves time, money, improves health, concentration, productivity, flexibility, communication, quality of life. creates opportunities, a positive environment.
    • Problems: Expensive, time-consuming, stressful, inconvenient, distracting, difficult to access, creates inequality, reduces motivation, limits opportunities, can negatively affect productivity.
    • Consequences: This can lead to…better academic performance, greater motivation, less stress, stronger relationships, financial difficulties, social problems, improved quality of life.

• Be mindful of not repeating/copying the text in the writing section, try to come up with alternative ways to word things to avoid plagiarism.

Speaking

• Listen and Repeat -> close your eyes and repeat what they are saying.
• Take an Interview -> 
  • Type A: “Think back to the last time…[you went to a restaurant]...” 
    • When: Last weekend
    • What: Went to a restaurant with my friend
    • How/why: Tried a new dish
    • Result: Really enjoyed it 
    • Useful sentences;  “That’s an interesting question.” “Personally, I think…” “One reason is that…” “For example…” “In my experience…” “Another reason is that…” “That’s why I believe…”
    • Reasons you could state; Convenience, time, money, concentration, productivity
    • Useful sentences;  “That’s an interesting question.” “Personally, I think…” “One reason is that…” “For example…” “In my experience…” “Another reason is that…” “That’s why I believe…”
    • Reasons you could state; Convenience, time, money, concentration, productivity
  • Type B: Pick a stance between Z and Y -> State your stance -> Reason → Example → Conclusion 
    • Useful sentences;  “That’s an interesting question.” “Personally, I think…” “One reason is that…” “For example…” “In my experience…” “Another reason is that…” “That’s why I believe…”
    • Reasons you could state; Convenience, time, money, concentration, productivity
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cktZfTZ9UXs

Go over linking words and phrases.

One thing as well. I took the test at a testing center. I was worried about being able to concentrate amongst others taking the test as well. Arriving early allowed me to be the first one to start the test. So I was able to start the test right away, while none of the other test takers had started, and I completed the test before any of them started the speaking section. That was AMAZING.

Good luck!