Want to study abroad?Here are the basics of TOEFL exam

If you want to study abroad or want to take higher education than you need to go through some test along with your ability to pursue higher education.

Usually you have to take two tests that examines your English language skills.The whole thing is designed to test how much are you capable of learning English as your first language. Because you are not a native English speaker.

One is IELTS and the other is TOEFL. If you want to study in Commonwealth countries like UK and Australia, you have to show IELTS score as proof of your proficiency in English and in USA, Canada etc. you need TOEFL score.

In some countries both methods are acceptable. And these scores are valid for two years.

So you should sit for the exam before applying to study at the university. You may also need to take SAT, GRE, GMAT exams to pursue higher education.

Today in my article I'll talk about a test of English Language which is mandatory to study abroad.

This exam is known as Test of English as Foreign Language,often abbreviated as TOEFL.

This test is taken to test proficiency in English for students who are not native English speakers.This is to test your English Language ability.

This test is very important for undergraduate and postgraduate students who are planning to enroll in various universities in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom. 

In TOEFL exam four skills are tested. These are :
1) Reading
2) Writing
3) Listening
4) Speaking

In more than 130 countries, more than eight and a half thousand institutions recognize the TOEFL score.

There are two types of tests, the Internet based test aka iBT and the Paper Based Test.Internet based test can be given 30 to 40 times in a year and paper based test can be given 6 times a year. 

There are more than four and a half thousand Internet-based testing centers around the world.

Only paper based tests are taken in places where internet based tests are not available. That means you can give internet based test from anywhere.

Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing and each of these four sections are distributed with 30 marks with a total of 120 marks.

Reading:
The examinee has 60 to 100 minutes for this section. Of these, 4-6 passages have to be read and 12 to 14 questions have to be answered in each.

Listening test:
The allotted time for this session is 60 to 90 minutes, in which you will listen 6-9 passage, and after listening the passage you need to answer 5-6 questions which is based on the passages you've already listened. 

Speaking test:
The speaking section is a little different than that. Here the examinee is given some instructions on a total of six subjects, on the basis of which he is asked to express his opinion. In this 20 minute section, it is checked how well the examinee can speak English fluently.

Writing test:
Here you are allowed to write on two topics and it takes 50 minutes. Depending on how proficient the examinee is in English writing.

To take preparation for writing test, you can take a few weeks to several months.I think this is more than enough.Practice more free hand writing .

The TOEFL test can be given throughout the year and a candidate can take the test as many times as he wants.

Note that you cannot participate in the second test within 12 days of taking the test once and the result is expired after two years.

For example: Oxford University in the United Kingdom accepts both TOEFL and ILTS scores and has to have a minimum score of 110 in the case of TOEFL. In addition, their minimum score for each section is 24 in Reading section, 22 in Listening section, 24 in Writing section, 25 in Speaking section.

Sometimes the minimum scores are different for students of different subjects in the same university, so you have to take care of these things before preparing for the exam and prepare yourself accordingly.

If you want to enroll in the TOEFL exam or want to learn more about this exam just go there:

https://www.ets.org/toefl/

Here are a list of top universities that accepts TOEFL score and minimal scores.

Yale University,Harvard University,Duke University 

If you are a non native English speaker and want to admit above-mentioned first class universities than you need
600 TOEFL paper based scores is needed to enroll 
If you take TOEFL iBT (internet based test) than you need a score of 100.

University of California – Berkeley requires TOEFL Paper score of 570 and TOEFL iBT score 68.

To study in University of Washington 540 TOEFL Paper score needed and 76 TOEFL iBT score.

To study in University of Wisconsin – Madison you need TOEFL Paper score of 550 and TOEFL iBT score of 80.

Johns Hopkins University,one of the renowned University of America. If you want to study in Johns Hopkins university you need a TOEFL paper score of 600 and 100 TOEFL iBT score.

To study in University of Minnesota–Twin Cities you need TOEFL Paper score of 550 and TOEFL iBT score of 79.

To study in University of Texas 550 TOEFL Paper score is needed and 79 TOEFL iBT score is mandatory.

To study in University of South Carolina – Columbia 570 TOEFL Paper score is needed and 80 TOEFL iBT score.

To know more about the other universities requirement you can go to this link:

https://www.meetuniversity.com/blog/top-usa-universities-accepting-toefl-test-score

That's all for today. On my next articles I'll write pros and cons of other exams like GMAT,GRE, SAT etc. If you have any questions,you can ask me. I'll very happy answering your questions.