Skyrocket Your Toefl Test Success With This Secret Technique!
When it comes to learning how to read in English
, many future TOEFL test takers often analyze each and every word for meaning.
They break down the word into its roots, and translate what each part of it means. They look for a relationship between the words in their native language to that of English. And finally, they use the word to make sense of the sentence, much like how one places the last jigsaw piece in place to finish the puzzle.
As a TOEFL prep coach, I understand that this is a necessary part to learning how to read in English. After all, if you can't figure out a process to understand what each word means, then how can you expect to get the whole picture?
But I've seen too many students fail at their test practice - especially when it comes to the reading section - simply because they're too focused on the individual words themselves...
...And they're often overlooking the big picture itself.
When the TOEFL Test Bites Back!
It's funny how alike native and non-native English speakers are. Native English speakers often read for pleasure or for entertainment. Non-native English speakers read to improve their vocabulary and their ability to understand this language.
But when it comes right down to it, both groups are overlooking an important part of any standardized testing practice: they're not reading for critical purposes.
On the Test of English as a Foreign Language, the exam makers know that you're going to approach those tough reading passages with one goal in mind: to understand and demonstrate what the words mean. But it's simply not enough to break down a reading passage into tiny pieces. You have to look at the reading passage as the sum of its parts; as a way of understanding not just what the words mean, but the main ideas and themes behind it as well.
But in order to succeed on the reading section of the TOEFL exam, you have to take on the role of the active reader: someone who forms a mental model of the passage in his head, and uses various ideas that the author constructs to form a complete picture.
In other words, you need to keep your distance from the words. Don't get emotional over understanding or misinterpreting what each word means. Instead, your energy is better spent being analytical of the passage itself, rather than struggling to find each individual word meaning.
So in summary, how should you approach your TOEFL test for those tough reading passages?
*Don't get too attached to figuring out what each word means on the TOEFL test. It's better that you understand the main idea of the reading passage itself.
*Make a mental map of what the author is trying to argue. Each new concept should make up an important part of that mental map.
*Always find the main idea of a passage, even when the questions don't explicitly ask you to. Correct answers tend to detail the main idea of the reading passage in one form or another.
by: Nora Western, PH. ED.
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