Even if you studied English in school, you should plan to spend several weeks reviewing important concepts that the exam covers. Download the ETS free sample questions. Use them to assess your English proficiency. ETS and exam preparation guide publishers, like the Princeton Review, have excellent study guides that you can use to manage your preparation for the exam. In the United States, you can often find the guides in public libraries, where you can borrow them and take them home. If you are outside the United States, consult the State Department's website to find a U.S. Educational Information and Advising Center in your area. For additional tips on finding local TOEFL preparation resources, download the State Department's publication "If You Want to Study in the United States" for undergraduates or graduate students.
The TOEFL requires that you correctly answer 12-15 questions about academic reading passages that are approximately 700 words each. You must also write an essay in English. Since these are related skills, you will benefit from practicing them together, as often as possible. You can easily create your own reading comprehension practice exercises by selecting short passages from scholarly articles or textbooks. When you finish reading, write a summary paragraph, using sentences that detail who, what, when, where, how and why of each passage.
If you need additional grammar and sentence structure practice, visit the Purdue University's Online Writing Lab to get explanations of English rules and to practice academic and essay writing. The writing lab is one of the Internet's best resources for reviewing English grammar, sentence structure and writing. You can even email the Purdue tutors for assistance with your writing challenges.
You must answer up to 51 questions based on several audio passages during the TOEFL exam session. On the computer-based test, you will wear a headphone and speak into a microphone connected to it. During the speaking test, you read four passages and discuss two selected topics. You can develop your listening skills at Randall's ESL Cyber Lab. The free exercises will help you master the nuances of spoken English. For additional practice, download some free ESL podcasts from the iTunes websites. Your choices range from intermediate lessons to news and topical magazines. Use the "Train Your Accent" link at Randall's Cyber Lab to practice pronunciation for the speaking portion of the TOEFL. If you have a portable recorder, try to duplicate passages that you heard online. Then compare your accent and pronunciation with the original content.