You have 30 minutes to write your essay, so use your time wisely. Read your question carefully because you need to fully understand the question before you begin. Brainstorm quickly. Make an outline of your main points so you have a clear idea of what you are going to write.
There are different types of TOEFL essay questions. One type asks you to choose a point of view and support that view. Another may ask you to compare two points of view and explain which one you agree with. Always make a choice and give supporting details and examples of why you made that choice. Another question may ask you to describe something. One example is "If you could invent something new, what would it be?" This can be a challenge because you need to be creative in your description and details. Also, you will not be allowed to choose your topic, you must write on the topic given to you.
All essays must have three parts: introduction, body and conclusion. Begin your introduction with a general statement about your topic and end with a more specific statement. The body consists of paragraphs where you elaborate on your topic in detail. Use one paragraph for each main idea and give specific examples to prove your point. Your last paragraph is the conclusion which should restate the main ideas of your essay.
Spend approximately 2 minutes reading and understanding the question, 8 minutes organizing your ideas into an outline, 15 minutes writing the essay using clear details and examples and 5 minutes proofreading and correcting.
Carefully proofread your essay. Correct any spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. Use transition words to make your ideas flow from one paragraph to another. Confirm that your examples support your ideas.
The TOEFL essay is based on a scale of 1 to 6. A score of 1 means that the student is very weak in writing in English; a score of 6 means the student has excellent skills in writing in English. The average score for the TOEFL essay exam is 3 to 4.