An Introduction to the TOEFL

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If you are a non-native English student hoping to enroll in a post-secondary course in the United States, the chances are that you need to take the TOEFL. It's a test of English speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. It is intended specifically to measure how well you would be able to use these skills in an academic environment. The words likely to appear in the test are those often spoken in classes and on campus generally, and also those found in textbooks. The tests are made by selecting words from a database of words collected from universities and colleges. This includes spoken words, and words collected from various textbooks. However, unlike other tests, it’s not necessary to have in-depth knowledge about a specific subject to pass the TOEFL.

The test was originally paper-based, but in a lot of countries, it has now been replaced by a computer based TOEFL (CBT). It has a separate name, because the written and computer based tests are scored differently. The average passing mark is 550 for the paper test, and 215 for the CBT. In countries that have facilities available for the CBT, that is way the test has to be taken.

The questions on both tests are similar, but the CBT has some extra types of questions, and has some visual elements on the screen. TOEFL scores are valid for two years, so if you have taken it before, you might not need to take it again. In addition to your overall score, a lot of universities are looking out for a specific score on the essay section. Each course has a different passing score, so check how what score you need to get in to the course you are interested in.