The Limits of Memorized Answers
Many of our clients want to have a list of memorized answers for the Speaking and Writing sections of the iBT. They believe that if they memorize 100 answers that are general enough, then those 100 answers will apply to any question they get on the test.
Although Strictly English does believe that you can have some “go-to” topics before you walk into the exam, it is not realistic to assume that your standardized answers will easily fit for any question you get.
For example, one standard topic that can work for many questions is “BODY”. So let’s imagine that a student has memorized the idea of talking about BODY. That is GOOD. It will probably help them come up with an answer. But let’s take this a step further and say that they have memorized one very specific positive body answer and one very specific negative body answer. The positive body answer is, “It keeps me fit” and the negative body answer is “It might hurt me”. So let’s look at five possible questions on either Task 2 or on the Independent Essay and see how many of them we can use these standard answers of STAY FIT and HURT MYSELF for.
QUESTION: Should children be required to take gym class in high school?
POS: I believe that children should be required to take gym class in high school because it helps them stay fit.
NEG: I believe that children should not be required to take gym class in high school because they could hurt themselves.
We were lucky here, because GYM CLASS is already about BODY, so our general catch-all answers work. But we’ll still have to explain specifically HOW children might hurt themselves. And that hurt must be SPECIFIC for each prompt’s situation. At this level of detail a standard answer is no longer possible. For example, let’s imagine our more detailed standard answer is “IT WILL HURT YOUR BACK.” Will it work in every question? Let’s see:
QUESTION: “Do you agree with the statement that owning your own home is better than renting an apartment?”
ANSWER: I do not agree that owning my own home is better than renting an apartment because home ownership hurts my back.
At first glance, this sounds silly. Millions of people own homes and 99% of them do not have a bad back. And if they DO have a bad back, it is not BECAUSE of home ownership. Now, BAD BACK can still be used to answer this question, but we have to introduce that concept in a way that is unique to the question.
REVISED ANSWER: I do not agree that owning my own home is better than renting an apartment because home ownership requires more physical labor, which might hurt my back.
This is better, but now we have to explain WHAT KIND OF PHYSICAL LABOR hurts the back. Gardening? Shoveling snow? Raking Leaves? Mowing the Lawn? Again, at this level of detail, whatever answer we come up with, won’t work for another answer. Sure shoveling snow can hurt your back, but we can’t use that for an answer to a prompt like:
QUESTION: “Is it better to wear glasses or contact lenses?”
I think it is better to wear glasses because I will not hurt my back while shoveling snow.
I hope you can see that this answer is TERRIBLE. And we seriously get students who try to answer with these kinds of memorized answers. Now please note that BODY is still a good topic, and even HURT is still a good idea. For example,
I prefer glasses because contacts can infect my eyes.
Now the good thing is that HURT is still our answer, but the bad thing is that we still had to come up with a hurt that was SPECIFIC to contact lenses (an infection).
Please remember that the directions for both the Speaking and the Writing on the iBT say to give “reasons and examples” to support your opinion. These reasons and examples must be specific and relevant to the prompt.
Of course, you can say, “well, I’ll just memorize 10 different kinds of hurt”, but I hope you can see that what we’ve shown here will just happen again. If you memorized 10 kinds of hurt, then you’ll get a prompt that needs an 11th type of hurt. If you memorize 100 types of bodily injury, then you will get a prompt that requires a 101st type of bodily injury.
Trust us when we say: It is not possible to memorize enough answers.
And on a broader picture. Is this really how you want to be preparing for your college career? I hope you understand that you cannot memorize your way through the American university system. Sure, you need to memorize many facts in, say, an organic chemistry class. But most of your classes will evaluate you on your ability to think critically and your ability to synthesize new ideas from existing information. Therefore, you might as well begin learning how to do this NOW.
So, in conclusion: Yes, Strictly English encourages you to memorize some GENERAL TOPICS, but we do NOT encourage you to memorize specific details. Instead, you need to learn lateral thinking skills, critical thinking skills, and the ability to synthesize information. These skills are really only taught in university. It’s what differentiates university from high school. Therefore, you really need to be working with Strictly English tutors, all of which have their Ph.D.s and work at a university.
Video Testimonial: Score 104. Speaking 27
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Strictly English on FaceBook!
Strictly English has now launched a FaceBook page called TOEFL 101. There are a lot of great discussions on it. Post questions about iBT Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking, and we’ll answer those questions within 12 hours! See you there!
3 Questions Every TOEFL Tutor Should be Able to Answer
Strictly English has a list of 21 questions about the TOEFL iBT exam that we use when interviewing TOEFL tutors. If they cannot answer these questions correctly, then they don’t get the job!
If you’re looking for an iBT tutor, make sure he or she can answer at least these three questions below. If your tutor cannot answer these questions, then you might want someone who knows more about the test to be teaching you!
QUESTIONS:
1. Can I get a 25 out of 30 on the Speaking section of the iBT?
2. What section of the TOEFL iBT asks you questions that directly test your knowledge of Grammar?
3. On what part of the iBT are you most likely to use modals?
ANSWERS:
1. NO. TOEFL does not give a score of 25 on the Speaking.
2. NONE: There are NO grammar questions on the iBT.
3. Speaking Task 5. It is the only place where you talk about offering suggestions.
EXTRA NOTE: Make sure you see the tutor’s TOEFL SCORE. Even if he/she is a native English speaker, your tutor should have taken the TOEFL so that he/she knows exactly what you’ll experience on test day. Every Strictly English tutor has taken the TOEFL. This also means that we know exactly how the real test is different from what is taught in the books. Much of the information in the books is out of date because the books were published 3-5 years ago. TOEFL books should be updated at least every 2 years if not every year. If your tutor is not taking the test regularly, then he/she is relying on information in the books, which is usually old and out-of-date information.
TOEFL Speaking Task 1: Describe a PERSON
When TOEFL asks you to describe a PERSON in Speaking Task 1, you can talk about that person’s:
Body
Mind
Heart
EX: “I really respected my chemistry teacher because he was SMART (mind) and PATIENT (emotion)”
You can also:
1. Talk about the effect this person has had on you (for example, this person made you more interested in volunteer work, or this person introduced you to jazz music)
Or: 2. talk about why you respect this person (for example, you really respect their work ethic, or you admire their sense of humor).
For more tips on how to generate speaking ideas, come back and read more on our blog!
Improving TOEFL Comprehension via 360 Research
Since TOEFL is a Test of ENGLISH as a Foreign Language, you can greatly improve your TOEFL score by improving your English comprehension. One way to do that is to initiate a 360-review of an academically-oriented or politically-focused news story. 360-Research means looking at the story from all possible angles. For example, you could:
1. Read about the story in respected American news papers such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Huffington Post.
2. Read about the story in respected English-Language magazines, such as The Economist, The New Yorker, and Slate.com.
3. Listen to radio reports about the story on NPR.org or on respected radio shows like On Point, Talk of the Nation, Here and Now, or The Diane Rehm Show.
4. Watch videos about the story on youtube.com or on your local Public Television station.
5. Look up key ideas relevant to the story
6. Follow the story on Twitter.com
7. Read about the story in your own language.
This last point is very helpful. Because it is hard to understand the more subtle ideas in news stories, it is often good to read about the story first in your own language. That way you’ll understand the story, which will improve your comprehension of the story in English. Once you understand the story in your own language, then you’ll be able to focus on how the English is conveying the same idea. This is particularly helpful when the entire story focuses on one central idea or quotation. For example, do a search in your own language for Judge Sotomayor’s statement that “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” In Spanish, one blogger translated this as una latina inteligente podría tomar mejores decisiones que un hombre blanco que no ha tenido las mismas experiencias vitales”, and if you search the web in Spanish for “Sotomayor,” you’ll find every hit mentions “latina inteligente”. So when you read “wise latina” in English, you’ll quickly figure out that WISE must mean INTELIGENTE, since you’ve seen “latina inteligente” 20-30 times already.
Here are some links to get you started for a more recent story: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
PBS: (click on the STREAMING VIDEO link)
RELEVANT LINKS:
Definition of racial profiling.
article about racial profiling.
Definition of 911 calls.
Definition of sensitivity training.
Article on how diversity training doesn’t work.
Do this once a week on a new topic, and your English will improve much more quickly!
GOOD LUCK!
Praise for Online Tutoring
The following two quotations come from this article:
The Sloan report, based on a poll of academic leaders, says that students generally appear to be at least as satisfied with their on-line classes as they are with traditional ones. In fact, the comprehension is better in a virtual class than in an in-person class.
Test preps like GRE and GMAT are intensive studies. In such deep studies, a wholesale classroom treatment can not be as effective as the one-to-one online tutoring. Many who have been gullible victims of the public-meeting type of classroom tutorials with over fifty students and with no chance to clarify their doubts, will understand the difference between mass teaching and private coaching.
So don’t be afraid to sign up for online tutoring!
Kind Words from a Friend of Strictly English
I would like to thank you for the tips on the speaking section, and also for leting me know that the integrated writing had changed. I did not have a lot of time for studying these changes, but I did have some time to search the ETS website for some examples of level 5 essays.
Again, thanks a lot for helping me achieve this score.
Strictly English will Launch TOEFL Videos July 15th!
Strictly English has been working on a series of HOW TO videos about the TOEFL test. For example:
How to sign up at ETS.
How to register for the TOEFL.
How to View your TOEFL results online.
We will also be making videos that will help you improve your TOEFL English!
Improve Your Subject-Verb Agreement When Speaking
Many people—-even the most advanced non-native English speakers—-drop the “S” at the ends of words. And, in all honesty, it is very hard to train yourself to stop doing it. So, here is one trick that will help you a lot: read documents that have every “S” highlighted. This highlighting will draw your attention to each “S” as you read the document aloud. Repeating this every day for one month should completely eliminate the dropped “S”. Here is an example:
Now you can either take the time to highlight the “S”s yourself or you can have your computer do it. I use my computer, and here’s how:
1. Import any text into a word processor of your choice. I usually take my articles from www.NYTimes.com
2. Initiate a FIND AND REPLACE.
3. In the FIND box, put in “s” [space] (if you don’t put a SPACE after the “S”, then you’ll highlight “S”s in the middle of words, which you don’t want.)
4. In the REPLACE box, put in “s” [space]
5. With your cursor still in the REPLCE box, Select HIGHLIGHT in the FORMAT pop-up menu. (The FORMAT pop-up menu might be hard to find depending on the word processor you use.)
6. Select REPLACE ALL
7. Repeat steps 2-7 but this time, put “s.” [space] into both the FIND and REPLCE boxes (notice the PERIOD after the “s”)
8. Repeat steps 2-7 but this time, put “s,” [space] into both the FIND and REPLCE boxes (notice the COMMA after the “s”)
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