The book TOEFL iBT from Barron's explains very clearly 4 academic skills to
do well on a TOEFL test
1. Taking notes
- Anticipate the purpose of the lecture or conversation
- Divide the paper into 2 columns. If it is a conversation, I note the information of the man in 1 column and the information of the woman in the other column. If it is a lecture, I note the main ideas in 1 column, supporting ideas and examples in the other column.
- Identify the mains ideas and the supporting ideas and examples to illustrate the main ideas
- Write very quickly. I use symbols to write quickly. For example, I use the + for the word in addition, biz for business; sch for school; b/w for between, etc ....
- Draw relationship. I use arrows to draw relationships between ideas such as cause-effect; problem-solution; compare and contrast .....
2. Summarizing
It is a very important skill in academic world and in your job. You need to practice this skill . When summarizing, you need to pay attention to:
- Be concise and brief
- Combine sentence logically.
- Identify the main ideas. When summarizing, it is essential to write the main ideas. If you have time left, you can include supporting ideas.
- You need to use the same structures of the lectures or the passage and not to include your personal ideas. You should keep the tone of the passage or lecture.
3. Synthesizing
It is the skill to use the information from several sources to write an answer. You need to include the main ideas to have a maximum score. If you miss the main ideas, you will have a score equivalent to the main ideas you write down.
4. Paraphrasing
It is a skill to use your own vocabulary to summarize a lecture or a passage. To do so, you should have a large vocabulary and are capable of using this vocabulary in various ways such as to use the synonyms and the thesaurus. You should not use the words in the reading and the listening in the Integrated Writing. You should not use the same sentence structure.
1. Taking notes
- Anticipate the purpose of the lecture or conversation
- Divide the paper into 2 columns. If it is a conversation, I note the information of the man in 1 column and the information of the woman in the other column. If it is a lecture, I note the main ideas in 1 column, supporting ideas and examples in the other column.
- Identify the mains ideas and the supporting ideas and examples to illustrate the main ideas
- Write very quickly. I use symbols to write quickly. For example, I use the + for the word in addition, biz for business; sch for school; b/w for between, etc ....
- Draw relationship. I use arrows to draw relationships between ideas such as cause-effect; problem-solution; compare and contrast .....
2. Summarizing
It is a very important skill in academic world and in your job. You need to practice this skill . When summarizing, you need to pay attention to:
- Be concise and brief
- Combine sentence logically.
- Identify the main ideas. When summarizing, it is essential to write the main ideas. If you have time left, you can include supporting ideas.
- You need to use the same structures of the lectures or the passage and not to include your personal ideas. You should keep the tone of the passage or lecture.
3. Synthesizing
It is the skill to use the information from several sources to write an answer. You need to include the main ideas to have a maximum score. If you miss the main ideas, you will have a score equivalent to the main ideas you write down.
4. Paraphrasing
It is a skill to use your own vocabulary to summarize a lecture or a passage. To do so, you should have a large vocabulary and are capable of using this vocabulary in various ways such as to use the synonyms and the thesaurus. You should not use the words in the reading and the listening in the Integrated Writing. You should not use the same sentence structure.
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