SK2 TOEFL Founder David Shares Four Steps to a High TOEFL Score

Hi everyone, I'm David, founder of SK2 TOEFL and a senior speaking consultant for our intensive course. I scored 119/120 on the TOEFL and have taken it nine times. I basically take it once a year, so I've seen every revision of the test.

Offerland invited me to share with students preparing to study abroad what I consider the most important ideas for TOEFL prep. Whether you study on your own or take a prep course, these principles can help you prepare more efficiently and improve steadily.

Stage 1: Finding materials (gathering information)

To get a high score on any test, the first step is finding materials.

If you take a course, part of the point is having a teacher organize all the information for you so you don't spend time figuring it out yourself. If you study on your own, the quality of your "information sources" becomes extremely important.

For example, many people look for TOEFL experiences on DCard, but the information there is messy and scattered. PTT's TOEFL_iBT board is more organized, but it has gradually become a place where many prep schools just run ads and treat it as their own board.

That's why SK2's teachers have written articles every week for nearly ten years and posted them on the SK2 website: to save students the time and effort of hunting for information.

We believe a teacher's job shouldn't just be "providing information." It should be helping students get past this stage quickly so they can start actually learning.

Stage 2: Filtering materials

Next comes telling which materials are useful and which you can skip, and which suit you and which don't.

For example, many materials on the market are completely outdated. Most of the content in the OG (Official Guide) no longer reflects current question types and test logic, and books like 《黃金口說八十題》 ("80 Golden Speaking Questions") have long stopped matching what the real test requires. The publication year often tells you whether a resource is worth your time.

So what is a must? The mid-to-late TPOs (retired TOEFL tests) are essential. But how you do them matters a lot too: the point isn't to grind through questions, but to learn to find and fix problems in every question.

Also, even among the newest materials, some may suit you and some may not.

Specifically, everyone's English level is different, their prep intensity is different, and the time and energy they're willing to put in is different. So someone else's method won't necessarily work for you. We've worked with tens of thousands of students and are very happy to share.

So if you're not sure what to do in your situation, or what prep method suits you best, feel free to come talk to us.

Stage 3: Building a strategy (diagnosing problems and finding solutions)

Many Taiwanese students think preparing for a test means grinding through question after question, but that is actually the least efficient approach. It only makes you repeat the same mistakes without finding your blind spots.

Do one or two TPO tests, then start carefully analyzing where you went wrong. Didn't know the words? Read the questions too fast? Or couldn't make inferences? Then find solutions based on the problem. Learning that really works follows a logical strategy, not improvised reactions and random guesses each time.

At SK2, we always cover how each section is scored before discussing strategies: Word Bank, Skim, Scan, active listening, the eight key note-taking points, and so on. The goal is to help you build a stable "question-solving process" so that no matter how hard or unusual the questions get, you can handle them steadily with the process you've established.

We also believe there's no one-size-fits-all method. You may not be able to fully copy the method a teacher used to score high. A teacher's role is to draw on their own experience, and on helping other students score high, to help you find your own way to a high score.

Stage 4: Internalizing the process (executing consistently)

This stage is the most often overlooked, but it's also the hardest step. You have to make sure that on the actual test day, you can "consistently execute" the process you practiced.

Many people go home after class, and without teachers, TAs and classmates, their practice gets sloppy. Some even start "inventing new methods" when they hit a plateau, and then on test day their process falls apart, their pacing gets thrown off, and naturally their score disappoints.

So every step of your practice should be drilled until it becomes muscle memory.

For example, at SK2 we teach students this process for the independent speaking task:

👉 Note who the question is about → think of reasons → decide which option is easier to talk about → find a reason you can expand on → start developing a story and explanation → give a counterexample and conclusion if needed.

Once you've mastered this process, you won't fall apart however nervous you are in the test room, and you're much less likely to get stuck halfway through.

Realistic simulation is also key

You also need to get familiar with the real test environment and its constraints: if you go to a test center, when can you take notes? How many sheets of paper can you use? How do you wear the headset? How noisy is the room?

If you test at home, how should you set up your space so the proctor doesn't keep interrupting and giving you a hard time? What unexpected situations could come up?

Your goal is to make the test feel like "just another practice session", not "the first time facing these constraints."

Summary

• Find the right information → filter out what's useful → build a problem-solving strategy → practice executing it consistently. These four steps are your complete path to preparing for the TOEFL.

The many articles on the SK2 website are our concrete effort to help you avoid detours. We don't just teach techniques; we want to teach you "how to learn," rather than just stuffing you with knowledge.

A learning method that really works should be possible to carry out, verify and repeat. You should only trust prep schools that can provide evidence and explain why "this method really works."

What did the teacher score? Did they use this method to get it? How many people have used it, and did it work? Do the high scorers' write-ups share similar key points? These are all questions you should ask.

Offerland exclusive: 🎓 The SK2 TOEFL Master Class is here!

📆 Date: 5/28 (Wed) 🕢 Time: 19:30 - 21:00

🌟 Topics include:

• TOEFL or IELTS? Do you need the GRE / GMAT?

• Can you use ChatGPT to help you prepare?

• How should you practice speaking and writing?

• How do high-scoring recordings and essays differ from low-scoring ones?

This master class will be hosted by SK2 TOEFL co-founders Rosa and David in person,

condensing 2.5 hours of content into a 1-hour highlight session. Every minute is worth it!

📣 Feel free to invite friends who are preparing to study abroad: 👉 Sign up now