English Language Test Prep Radio: EPISODE 43
English Language Test Prep Radio-Episode 43
Episode Webpage: https://englishlanguagetestprep.com/3toeicsw
INTRODUCTION
3 Things TOEIC Speaking and Writing
Lead In Comment:
Know these 3 things about the TOEIC Speaking and Writing Test for a high score.
Hello and welcome to Episode 43 of the English Language Test Preparation Radio podcast – you’re going to learn how to paraphrase better.
I’m Professor Winn, a CELTA-certified English instructor for more than 12 years helping candidates like you to maximize your score on the TOEFL, TOEIC, or IELTS exam..
I’m the host of English Language Test Preparation Radio podcast and author of the englishlanguagetestprep.com blog – the blog dedicated to strengthening both your English and test skills so you’re ready for the big exam day.
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Question - Do you have strong English speaking, writing, and vocabulary skills for a high score on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing test?
This episode reveals 3 tips to help you improve your chances of a high score on the big TOEIC test day. This is the same advice I give my own students when I help them reach their target score.
So let's go ahead and get started with our three tips to help you on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam.
Before we get started, I invite you to go ahead and subscribe to my TOEIC Speaking and Writing blog at bit.ly/toeicswblog.
And every two or three days you receive a new lesson, a tip.
Whether it's vocabulary or test related and other resources that are gonna help you to do well on the exam.
I've actually prepared students for TOEFL, TOEIC and IELTS success for more than 12 years now.
So you're in the right spot if you're ready to improve your skills for the TOEIC Speaking and Writing test.
Many students who are in business take the Speaking and Writing test to prove to their employers that they have great English communication skills.
So Number 1 - Write a thesis statement.
Number 2 - Know common prefixes and suffixes, and
Number 3 - Avoid the number one mistake. Stay tuned.
So we start off with a thesis statement.
Now, as you know, for the TOEIC essay, you need a minimum of 300 words.
It's similar to the TOEFL exam in that aspect.
So you need an introduction, paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a short conclusion.
The first line of your essay should be the thesis statement.
And the thesis statement answers the prompt, and it also sets up your introduction paragraph for the three reasons.
Why three reasons?
Because you need to write three body paragraphs.
And if you can nail the thesis statement right from the beginning, you're going to impress the TOEIC graders and that is going to increase your score.
I go over this with my own students about how important the thesis statement is for their essay.
So let's go ahead and take a deeper look at the thesis statement so you also will be ready to write a great essay on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam.
So we start off with our prompt.
Your company wants to move its headquarters to a colder climate.
What is your opinion?
Give reasons and examples to support your response.
All right. A typical essay.
Let's go ahead and look at our thesis statement in response.
R and B Chemical should not transfer its main office to a frigid country for three reasons.
This is a suggested thesis statement, and now let's look and see why I wrote this thesis statement for a response to this essay prompt.
First of all, I named the company right, R and B Chemicaldetails.
Always remember to provide details on the test.
Number two. Headquarters was replaced by "main office."
Paraphrasing - an important skill for writers and an important skill for writers on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing test.
And number three, a "cold climate" was replaced by "a frigid country."
Frigid.
Well, again, we paraphrased the key words that are in the prompt, which is something you want to do.
And we used the word "frigid, "not "cold," but "frigid."
A higher word in register.
And this is going to also impress the TOEIC graders because you used a higher level vocabulary term.
So you're paraphrasing and using higher vocabulary.
You're on your way to a higher score.
But there are some other reasons why.
Three reasons why.
Three reasons Because we need three body paragraphs. We gotta meet the minimum 300 words threshold.
And so you want to say right from the beginning that there are three reasons why you wrote your thesis statement.
And the three body paragraphs that follow are going to be the evidence or the support for your thesis statement.
And finally, notice I didn't say I agree or I disagree.
That's really too simplistic.
You don't want to use" I" if you can avoid it.
You can agree or you can disagree without using, "I."
I see this often.
In my own student's essays where everyone wants to write with "I," and the whole paper is filled with "I".
And once you get started, it seems like students never stop writing with "I."
And notice I didn't have to use "I" or write "I" in the thesis statement.
Try to avoid the personal pronouns.
It's going to raise your level of English writing. That's gonna again, impress the TOEIC graders.
Let's move on to our Number 2 tip today, and that is know common prefixes and suffixes.
Vocabulary, essential for the TOEIC Speaking and Writing test. Good writers have a good vocabulary.
You can also use the prefixes of course when you are doing your speaking test as well.
So let's take a quick look at some common prefixes, and then in the next segment we're going to look at suffixes.
First. Prefixes.
So we have five prefixes here.
"Re", which of course means again, right, like repeat.
Or "dis", which means the opposite of what the verb is.
So if we have "disappear," that's the opposite of "appear", disappear, right?
"Mis" means badly or wrongly.
As in "misinformed" to be badly or wrongly informed. You are misinformed or to misinform.
"De-" to do the opposite, "devalue" means to not value.
So again, the opposite of what the verb is.
And then "anti."
"Anti" means against.
For example, anti-war, against war.
So learning the prefixes helps you to increase [00:08:00] your vocabulary and also to understand words as well when you come across them.
Just as valuable as it is to learn prefixes.
You also of course want to learn suffixes as well.
Now the suffix goes at the end of the word.
For example, "-ship" as in a state of being like a dictatorship or a state of a dictator, right?
"-ism" like Marxism, like the doctrine of. So Marxism, the doctrine of Marx.
" ment" as an action or an instance of a verb as in government, right?
If you're in government, then you are "governing."
"-ant" as in a person of this verb, for example, assistant.
Is to assist, right?
So a person who is an "assistant" assists, right? They help out.
And then finally, "-ery/-ry" as in an action or instance of being.
For example bravery, the act of being brave.
So those are your suffixes and prefixes.
Prefixes. At the beginning of the word, suffixes at the end of a word.
And knowing your suffixes and prefixes can help you to increase your vocabulary and also help you to understand words that you may not already know on the exam.
If there's one thing you're gonna take away from our podcast today, and that is increase your vocabulary for the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam.
Learning the prefixes and suffixes is one way to do that.
Finally, the number one mistake that I see after helping students do well on the TOEIC exam for speaking and writing, and that is time management or bad time management, unfortunately.
One of the key things that you can do on the speaking test is to be ready to exploit the preparation time and know what that preparation time is per question.
So for the speaking test, you have 20 minutes and 11 questions.
It's so important to know the preparation time.
For example, you have three seconds only for questions five through seven to prepare your response, but you have 45 seconds to describe a picture.
So it's so important to know the timing of the preparation for the speaking questions so that you're able to give an effective response.
Time management is essential on the speaking and writing exam.
Throughout the whole test, the whole test is timed, and so you want to be aware of those timings, but especially on the speaking test.
And being aware of the preparation time is gonna give you an advantage on test day, and that's what we're here for, right?
To help you get the highest score possible.
One of the things that you can do to help you with your timing on the speaking and writing exam study with a stopwatch.
Now you can use it on your smartphone, maybe on your tablet, even online. Set the timer per question on the speaking test, and for the essay on the writing test.
And when that buzzer goes off, make sure that you stop because you're not gonna have that extra time on the test.
So practice with the stopwatch during your preparation and that will help you to adjust to the time pressures on exam day.
All right. Well, I have a free gift for you today.
And that is an extract , from my book 37 Things You Wish You Knew About a High Score for TOEIC Speaking and Writing.
You can simply go bit.ly/extract37.
Download the pdf.
It's actually 5 Common TOEIC Speaking and Writing Mistakes.
This is an extract from my, from my textbook that I wrote to help students to prepare for the TOEIC Speaking and Writing test. Wow. It's already time to recap the three points that we covered today to help you with your preparation for the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam .
And that is Number One - . Write a thesis statement. Many times when I'm checking my students papers, they do not have a thesis statement.
They may try to paraphrase the prompt, but they're not answering the prompt.
You want to answer the prompt, and the best way to answer the essay prompt is to write a thesis statement.
Number Two - Know common prefixes and suffixes. This is gonna boost your vocabulary.
And finally, Number Three - avoid the number one mistake and that is bad time management on the exam.
As I said earlier, I wrote the textbook 37 Things You Wish You Knew about A High Score for TOEIC Speaking and Writing.
You can pick up your own copy at bit.ly/37thingsbook and get started today using this textbook to help you to prepare for that high score that you seek and deserve on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam.
Thanks again for being with me today for Episode 43 of the English Language Test Prep Radio podcast to help you to improve your score on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam.
I'm Professor Winn, author of the englishlanguagetestprep.com blog.
Good luck studying to improve your vocabulary and get that score that you need on the TOEIC Speaking and Writing exam.