Computer based test links

One of my students asked about materials to prepare for the Computer Based TOEFL which isn't offered here in VN.

I've done some trolling and these are links to what I've found.

Unfortunately, most sites expect users to pay for practice materials so it's hard to find much useful material.


This page
shows what the CBT looks like. there isn't any practice though



This page from the company that creates and runs the TOEFL gives instructions on how to take the CBT. You have to download a program, though. I haven't tried it yet.

I'll try to post more as I find them and if you know of any,please leave a link in the comments.

getting started

Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. There are millions of different ways to delay. Like writing blog entries!

Here are some ways to deal with procrastination.

via lifehacker

More writing help

Eslbee has some useful explanations for essay writersthat cover a lot of the problems that come up in my classes.

If you want to work on Subject-Verb Agreement

or topic sentencesthen head over to eslbee!

mind maps

An important skill to develop not only for the TOEFL essay, but also your writing and thinging generally is mind mapping. Our brains don't work in straight lines, especially when we're under time pressure. A mind map helps you get ideas out of your head and onto a page. This lets you work with them more easily and turn them into a coherent essay.

You can find out more here
.

podcasting

our new word for the week ispodcasting .

I've seen a few pairs of the little white headphones dangling from students' necks lately. Although some people think they isolate users from the community, I feel that there are important benefits to using an Ipod or other mp3 player as a study tool. At least two universities in the US,Duke and Drexel, have given or are giving incoming students ipods. Reports are mixed but I think that for students in places like Vietnam where there aren't a lot of other sources of natural,authentic spoken language; podcasts can be a high quality, motivating, repeatable way to improve listening skills.

This page has over 43,000 podcasts on hundreds of subjects.

Even traditional broadcasters are releasing podcasts.

There is so much to listen to!

learning vocabulary

At the end of with my toefl 2/48 class on Friday, we wrote some new vocabulary on the board that came up in the reading questions we'd done. There was a pregnant pause and a couple of students asked why I wasn't going to explain the new words.

This is something I feel very strongly about and which has probably put me at odds with some many of my Vietnamese students. There are a couple of issues to deal with.

Traditionally, Vietnamese students view the teacher as the explainer or the source and everything should come from the teacher and students should obediently write down what comes out of the teachers mouth or goes onto the board. My experience and instinct tell me that this isn't really learning. If it is, why do I meet so many people who have "studied" English for six years in school who can barely express a thought in English.

If I lapse into the Teacher=Explainer role, that removes responsibility from learners to think and work for themselves. I think this is probably one of the biggest problems for VN students in foreign studies.
In my own language learning expeience, the most powerful (and consequently memorable) moments for me have been when I've figured things out for myself.

The people at the University of Manchester in England agree with me.

Among their 10 Hints on Learning Vocabulary:

You're more likely to remember something you've worked out for yourself

I couldn't agree more! The whole list is worth reading.


There is also useful, more generalized advice at Oxford University Press.



However, if explanations are really what people want, there are some useful ones at http://www.english-at-home.com


Finally, I'll repeat what I think is the most useful trick I've found in the last year. I've used this dozens of times. In the
Google search box, type define: and the word you're looking for. After you press Enter, you will get any definitions of that word on the web. It works better for longer words or specialized vocabulary: medicine, science or engineering, for example. It's an excellent way to check words you don't know while surfing the web.

Test practice

Thanh, a student in my afternoon class, mentioned this page to me. It has some good practice materials for the TOEFL and other standardized tests. I've had a quick look through it and seems pretty good. Check it out and let me know what you think in my comments. or if you know of other good materials share them with me and your fellow students.