TOEIC Strategies and Tips Revealed

By David Dalton

Know thine enemy – two of the Top Ten Score-Killers

The First Score-Killer: Not using the language

Speak English! I do not say this as a joke or to be mean. Simply put to improve your TOEIC score you need to use the language. You must speak and listen to English as much as possible. You must set fear and pride aside and speak. Don't be afraid to talk, if someone doesn't understand you, no problem just repeat yourself.

Repetition is the foundation of learning.

I firmly believe that it's really important for you to hear English not only from others but even more importantly from yourself. You need to train yourself up in all things connected with the language including the mechanics of speaking.

Only repetition can do this so speak, speak, speak...

Decision Number 1

Our 1st decision is to speak, I want you to say this simple but powerful phrase to yourself each and every morning.

“Today I will speak English, maybe tomorrow I'll speak 'insert your language' but Today I speak English!”

Engage in conversations, listen to the news, both radio and television, and although it might seem rude, eaves drop on conversations of native speakers and even butt in with a question or a comment. I will go into this in much futher detail in upcoming articles.

The Second Score-Killer: Not finishing the test

Finish the Test! Time - “time is of the essence”

Time management is fundamental to achieving a high TOEIC score. Among the students I polled one thing that stands out is the inability to complete the test.

Decision Number 2

Our 2nd decision is “I will finish the test”

You must make a conscious decision that you will finish the test.

Since all questions are of equal value on the TOEIC, you cannot allow yourself to waste too much time on questions that you cannot solve within a reasonable amount of time. The question that is very difficult and time consuming for you is also the one your most likely to get wrong, so if you have to move on don't sweat it. Remembering our second decision “I will finish the test”.

Let's do some simple math.

Listening Comprehension

time = 45 minutes – questions = 100
time per/question? - 27 seconds

Reading

time = 75 minutes – questions = 100
time per/question? - 45 seconds

27 seconds! 45 seconds!! getting the picture!!!


Any question in which you use more than what is alloted for that segment you are borrowing time from the next question. The answer to your problem is simple do not go into time debt! If you allow a time debt to accumulate than you end up in two possible scenarios:

1. You don't finish and all remaining question are worth 0!
2. You make random selections and take your chances.

Neither of these are the way to a high score.

The order of the questions do not necessarily indicate the level of difficulty, put another way, the first questions are not necessarily simpler to answer than the last. This assumption can tempt you to want to read over everything first and answer the ones you know or feel are the easiest. This is completely natural, but you must not do this. Why? Because it can lead to a lower score as you will be using up your most precious commodity...time! This is an excellent strategy for testing that is not time sensitive, however you do not have the luxury of time on the TOEIC.

Well then, if I can't use too much time on difficult questions and I can't read ahead looking for easier ones to fill in then...what do I do? Good question, I glad you asked.

You need to implement two time management techniques:

What are they? check back tomorrow and I'll cover them in detail. So for now be sure to stick to your decisions.

Your 1st decision is “Today I will speak English, maybe tomorrow I'll speak 'insert your language' but Today I speak English!”

Your 2nd decision is “I will finish the test”