Getting Ready to Apply as an Exchange Student: Starting My TOEFL Prep

After sharing some TOEFL info earlier, let me introduce myself

I'm an ENFP who loves socializing and isn't afraid to try new things

At the department office I met an upperclassman who had been on one of our school's exchange programs. Hearing her stories about her time abroad, plus her encouragement, gave my student life a new goal: applying to go abroad as an exchange student.

☑I want to leave great memories of my student years

☑I want to step out of my comfort zone and learn to be independent

☑I want to experience other cultures and make friends from other countries

☑I plan to study abroad in the future

For these reasons, I decided to start preparing! When I told my parents, they were very supportive too!

So I started looking up information on the TOEFL (what I shared earlier) and checked the exchange student requirements on the school website. Of course, the first one was English proficiency!

You must meet one of the following language requirements and attach proof

1. TOEIC: a combined Listening and Reading score of 670 or above and a combined Speaking and Writing score of 290 or above; all four scores are required.

2. TOEFL: 80 or above.

3. IELTS: 6.0 or above.

4. Cambridge English exams: a Cambridge English Scale score of 169 or above.

Since I'm also thinking about studying abroad later, after talking it over with my parents we decided to go straight for the TOEFL. Part of it was also my dad campaigning for the TOEFL, because he says he took it when he was young. After listening to him brag for a while, we looked into the TOEFL together, and he kept exclaiming: "The TOEFL has changed this much? You finish it in under two hours?" And then came another round of my dad's reminiscing...

Goal: TOEFL 80 or above

Prep time: 8–10 months

With no TOEFL experience, I first looked into the question types. I saw people online suggest trying some practice tests first, so I found Test Ready on the ETS website and did a bit of its free practice. Luckily I hadn't forgotten all the English I learned in high school, but speaking and writing are definitely my weak spots.

Since I still have time to prepare, and after asking the upperclassman for advice, she told me I could mainly study on my own at first.

In Test Ready I found a feature that builds a study plan for you, so at least I'm not running around like a headless chicken with no idea where to start. Basically, the Test Ready study plan asks you 5 questions first:

①My target TOEFL iBT score is: 80–100

②In an academic environment, I feel most confident in my (listening, speaking, reading, writing): reading

③In an academic environment, I feel least confident in my:

(listening, speaking, reading, writing) speaking

④My primary goal for preparing for TOEFL iBT is to: raise my total score

⑤When do you plan to take the TOEFL iBT test? more than 8 weeks from now

After answering the five questions, I got a 9–12 week study plan that runs a good 40-some pages! I skimmed through it, and it even includes extra work targeting my weak areas!

With this study plan in hand, I picked out a few key points to organize my studying

❶Fully understand the question types

❷Set a target score for each section

❸Pick online resources to improve each English skill

❹Pick suitable TOEFL prep resources

❺Practice with mock test questions

I've always learned English at school, and I rarely get the chance to practice speaking it, so this has always been my weak spot.

Still, on the TOEFL you record your answers into a computer. Although you only get 15 seconds between hearing the question and starting to answer, I browsed around online and there are quite a few speaking templates to practice with first, which I think should help. But I also know that if I really do get an exchange spot, I'll have to live abroad for real, so I still need to work hard on my spoken English. I might look for a language partner at a language exchange club, use a language exchange app, or just find an English tutor to practice with.

For reading and listening, I'll practice with the YouTube channels, BBC, National Geographic, foreign news sites or podcasts that people recommend online!

While pulling all this together, I couldn't help marveling at how lucky we are to live in such an advanced era. There are so many resources online, and so many kind people organizing them, that my road to the TOEFL feels bright with possibility! My open-minded parents also told me to prepare with a calm mind: if I get accepted, it'll definitely be a great experience, and if not, my English will still definitely improve, which will help when I apply to study abroad later!

Anyway~ if anyone else preparing for the TOEFL comes across this post, I hope it helps you a little bit; after all, I'm still a total newbie. Oh right~ remember the TOEFL official LINE account (@toefl.tw). They sometimes have discount codes, and they even ran a plane ticket giveaway before. I hope they have one when I'm ready to take the test, so I can save my parents some money! Hahaha wwwwww