How I Studied This Week

         This week, as usual, I have studied for the Toefl. I took the Toefl(CBT) about 4 years ago. As almost everyone is aware, the Toefl is valid for only two years. Obviously, since 4 years had passed, I have to take the test again this year. It is not for fun but it is actually as a preparation for graduate school. Yes, I am planning to go abroad to study. Nearly all the schools abroad requires the Toefl test as a requirement for admission to their schools.
         Accordingly, I have taken my time to go through the Toefl. Out of the four sections(Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Reading), I focused on the listening comprehension part. I went over a few scripts and noticed that they were pretty lengthy and tedious, stretching for approximately 10 or more paragraphs. It was plain that the difficulty level of listening comprehension augmented compared to the prior Toefl(CBT).
         To be specific, I listened to a few conversations between a professor and a student from some university. The subject was about "Making Up for Her Absence". The student missed a class due to her sickness; She was down with a flu and could not partake in the class. The professor was insistent that she consult with her classmate about the project that was upcoming in a few weeks. She was furious that she missed a class, and she asked the professor to simply inform her of the project. She did not want to contact her peers to inquire about the incoming project. Well, I felt that the communication rate between the two speakers was somewhat too rapid, affecting the listener's apprehension adversely. The bottom line, I missed a few questions and it was not that pleasant.
         Since the Toefl IBT permits you to use a scap paper and pencil to take memos on what the conversion was about, I also simulated at home using an A-4 paper packed on my printer. I had to scribble the contents quickly on the paper, at the same time, trying to listen up on the script. The writing part was not so hard but I cannot utterly say that It is all that you need to ace the listening part of the Toefl. While the ETS strongly argues and refutes the notion that the test is not an intelligence test, I do think that it is partly associated with the intelligence factor. That is, the smarter you are, the better your score will be since there are so many materials that come into play when listening to a sample script. In short, if you are smart, you would most likely be able to memorize better. And this will ultimately ameliorate your score.
       I studied for about 2 hours every day, concerned about the imminent Toefl test. I download the scripts via online and stored the data on my MP3 player. I took it around anywhere I went(subways, parks, the movies, library) and listed to them whenever the opportunity allowed me. I kind of got the feeling that I was improving despite the slow rate I was progressing. Nonetheless, I do have hope that I will indeed achieve the level that I initially set out for. It is tough but it does not have to be brutal.