How do I Improve my TOEFL Speaking Score

How do I Improve my TOEFL Speaking Score There are six things you can do right away to improve your TOEFL speaking score:Learn how the questions are designedLearn how to structure your answersLearn how your answers will be scoredGet some Accurate Practice QuestionsImprove your accent and deliveryHire a good teacherYou are probably reading this blog post because you sent me a message asking how can I increase my TOEFL score? That is a hard question to answer if I havent ever heard you speak, but I will talk about each of the above strategies one at a time.Learn How the TOEFL Speaking Questions are DesignedIt is important to know that ETS designs the four speaking questions the same way every week. There are really just a few minor variations that you might face. Learning about these designs is the first thing you need to do as you prepare for the TOEFL, as it will make your job on test day a lot easier.Do this by checking out my playlist on the 2019 version of the TOEFL speaking section. Studying these videos might improve y our performance in the topic delivery section of the scoring rubric (see below).Learn How You Should Structure Your Answers (Using Templates)Templates can be a controversial topic in the TOEFL world, but if you are struggling to put together your answers they can really help you. You can find some templates for each of the questions on my site. Note that if you have a good teacher you might not need any templates.Learn How Your Answers Will Be ScoredYou should understand that each of your answers will be given a score in three categories of equal value. Read about them by consulting the TOEFL Speaking Rubric.For a more detailed look at how your will be graded, watch the following video.Update: Since August 1 of 2019 the SpeechRater software has been used to judge the delivery of student answers. you can read about this right here.Get Some Accurate Practice QuestionsYou absolutely need to practice with some accurate speaking questions. Answer as many as you can, and record your answe rs so you can review them. Heres what I recommend:The Official Guide to the TOEFL (four good tests)The Official iBT Test Collection Volume 1 (five good tests)The Official iBT Test Collection Volume 2 (five good tests)TSTPreps Test Pack (10 good tests, online) try the coupon code goodine10off for a discount.I dont recommend using:Anything from KaplanAnything from BarronsThe Cambridge Guide to the TOEFLBestMyTestEdusynchImprove your Accent and PronunciationDelivery counts for one third of your score so you should try to improve your accent, pronunciation and intonation as much as possible.Sadly, this is hard to do on your own. A teacher can help (see below), but you might also benefit from activities like repetition, shadowing and chorusing. A fun resource for this is PlayPhrase.me. That site should be easy enough to figure out just click on the play button and repeat the same phrase until you run out of clips. I believe that repeating the same phrase a few dozen times is a good way to reduce the presence of your native accent and to improve your overall pronunciation. This might improve your performance in the delivery section of the rubric.If you want to get some free feedback on your delivery, I recommend joining the 30 Day Speaking Challenge from Huggins International.Get a Good TOEFL TeacherIf you really want to improve your score, you should hire a tutor to work with you one on one. They will be able to help you improve your score in all three sections of the rubric. I recommend the following experts:Kirstyn Lazur Toeflland@gmail.comKatie Mary Houseoftoefl@gmail.comMiguel Marcano elitetoeflprep@gmail.comJonathan Huggins info@hugginsinternational.comDanijela Jovanovic proesltestprep.comJosh MacPherson tstprep.comJohn Healy Study WIth ItJane Birkenhead Birkenhead EnglishSierra Yohalem sierra.yohalem@gmail.comSherlenTanner TOEFL iBT Academy Mention that you were referred by Michael at TOEFL Resources for preferential treatment (maybe).

The Rate Of Data Streaming - 3316 Words

Dan Jordan Comm. 332 Methods of Persuasion July 3rd, 2015 The rate of data streaming has been rising since the end of the Second World War. The entry of broadcasting companies, electronic printing presses, satellites, modest information switches, the PC and the web have implied that data stream and preparing have never been quicker, simpler, less expensive or all the more technologically advanced.This truth possibly builds news stream, assorted qualities and supposition, truly the counter-weights of business powers and corporate mixture, which has prompted a virtual media restraining infrastructure where just a modest bunch of multinationals now own and control the larger part of standard media outlets, have implied that there has†¦show more content†¦In the event that we as a collective society choose that majority rules system does not merit surrendering, that power is most secure in our grasp as opposed to in the individuals who have the pathology to be driven towards control in any case, then we should be more proactive. Above all else, we have to completely understand that at whatever point any gathering of individuals has a lopsided impact over government arrangement, majority rules system has endured a serious blow, period. There are no exemptions. On the off chance that feedback of government or corporate action in the US, is naturally labeled unpatriotic or un-American, then the America that is being protected is strongly not a majority rules system and subsequently not worth protecting. Furthermore, we have to see precisely how the individuals are controlled into getting along the offering of their pioneers and the multinationals, so glaringly against their own advantage. We have to comprehend the strategies for control. Media possession is vital to the control of society. Control the individuals, and you control their vote. You either control the media by owning it or by doing favors to the individuals who own it. In the United States, vast companies possess the media and these, thus, get favors from the Government as impact over enactment and extraordinary tax cuts.

The Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood - 1317 Words

Power: a simple five-letter word with numerous definitions. Power a noun. Power meaning the ability or right to control people or things (â€Å"Power†). Throughout the history of human existence it has been human nature to crave and want power. The feeling of being in control and not having to answer to anybody is an indescribable feeling. But being in power can also lead to undesirable decisions. In the 19th century, Lord Acton a British historian said â€Å"Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely†. In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, readers are exposed to a dystopic novel where individuals use the influence of their societal roles to manipulate others. There is no coincidence that Atwood’s novel can be considered a speculative fiction. Nor is it a coincidence that The Handmaid’s Tale is still relevant today. Abuse of power is relevant in not only Atwood’s novel, but also present in numerous societies today across the globe. In the novel due to low reproductive rates, fertile females known as Handmaid’s are assigned to households where couples are having trouble conceiving a child. Offred who is a Handmaid is assigned to the household of The Commander; who is at the near top of Gilead’s hierarchical society. It is the very Commander who initiates a forbidden hidden relationship that violates the rules of the society, with Offred in the novel. The Commander at the very start of Offred’s placement is able to use his power to intimidate her before theShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1357 Words   |  6 PagesOxford definition: â€Å"the advocacy of women s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes† (Oxford dictionary). In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood explores feminism through the themes of women’s bodies as political tools, the dynamics of rape culture and the society of complacency. Margaret Atwood was born in 1939, at the beginning of WWII, growing up in a time of fear. In the autumn of 1984, when she began writing The Handmaid’s Tale, she was living in West Berlin. The BerlinRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1249 Words   |  5 PagesDystopian Research Essay: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood In the words of Erika Gottlieb With control of the past comes domination of the future. A dystopia reflects and discusses major tendencies in contemporary society. The Handmaid s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. The novel follows its protagonist Offred as she lives in a society focused on physical and spiritual oppression of the female identity. Within The Handmaid s Tale it is evident that through the explorationRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1060 Words   |  5 Pagesideologies that select groups of people are to be subjugated. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood plays on this idea dramatically: the novel describes the oppression of women in a totalitarian theocracy. Stripped of rights, fertile women become sex objects for the politically elite. These women, called the Handmaids, are forced to cover themselves and exist for the sole purpose of providing children. The Handmaid’s Tale highlights the issue of sexism while also providing a cruel insight into theRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1659 Words   |  7 Pagesbook The Handmaid s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the foremost theme is identity, due to the fact that the city where the entire novel takes place in, the city known as the Republic of Gilead, often shortened to Gilead, strips fertile women of their identities. Gilead is a society that demands the women who are able to have offspring be stripped of all the identity and rights. By demeaning these women, they no longer view themselves as an individual, but rather as a group- the group of Handmaids. It isRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1237 Words   |  5 Pages The display of a dystopian society is distinctively shown in The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Featuring the Republic of Gilead, women are categorized by their differing statuses and readers get an insight into this twisted society through the lenses of the narrator; Offred. Categorized as a handmaid, Offred’s sole purpose in living is to simply and continuously play the role of a child-bearing vessel. That being the case, there is a persistent notion that is relatively brought up by thoseRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1548 Words   |  7 PagesIn Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, The theme of gender, sexuality, and desire reigns throughout the novel as it follows the life of Offred and other characters. Attwood begins the novel with Offred, a first person narrator who feels as if she is misplaced when she is describing her sleeping scenery at the decaying school gymnasium. The narrator, Offred, explains how for her job she is assigned to a married Commander’s house where she is obligated to have sex with him on a daily basis, so thatRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale, By Margaret Atwood1629 Words   |  7 Pages Atwood s novel, The Handmaid s Tale depicts a not too futuristic society of Gilead, a society that overthrows the U.S. Government and institutes a totalitarian regime that seems to persecute women specifically. Told from the main character s point of view, Offred, explains the Gilead regime and its patriarchal views on some women, known as the handmaids, to a purely procreational function. The story is set the present tense in Gilead but frequently shifts to flashbacks in her time at the RedRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1256 Words   |  6 Pageshappened to Jews in Germany, slaves during Christopher Columbus’s days, slaves in the early 1900s in America, etc. When people systematically oppress one another, it leads to internal oppression of the oppressed. This is evident in Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale. This dystopian fiction book is about a young girl, Offred, who lives in Gilead, a dystopian society. Radical feminists complained about their old lifestyles, so in Gilead laws and rules are much different. For example, men cannotRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1540 Words   |  7 Pages Name: Nicole. Zeng Assignment: Summative written essay Date:11 May, 2015. Teacher: Dr. Strong. Handmaid’s Tale The literary masterpiece The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, is a story not unlike a cold fire; hope peeking through the miserable and meaningless world in which the protagonist gets trapped. The society depicts the discrimination towards femininity, blaming women for their low birth rate and taking away the right from the females to be educated ,forbidding them from readingRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1667 Words   |  7 Pagesrhetorical devices and figurative language, that he or she is using. The Handmaid’s Tale, which is written by Margaret Atwood, is the novel that the author uses several different devices and techniques to convey her attitude and her points of view by running the story with a narrator Offred, whose social status in the Republic of Gilead is Handmaid and who is belongings of the Commander. Atwood creates her novel The Handmaid’s Tale to be more powerful tones by using imagery to make a visibleness, hyperbole

A Small Place Free Essays

Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place focuses on her cynical views toward politics, poverty and tourism in Antigua. Kincaid begins by telling the readers about the island’s natural beauty: the sunny sky and warm weather, and the picturesque nature.  Ã‚   She then, encourages the reader to look beneath the island’s beauty to discover and get to know the real state of the people and their culture. We will write a custom essay sample on A Small Place or any similar topic only for you Order Now The reader is addressed as you all throughout the book.   Kincaid would like the reader to understand the people’s poverty and their culture, which is highly influenced by the English colonizers, and the political system riddled with corruption.   She challenges the reader to look beyond the natural beauty of the island to discover and acknowledge its ugly side.   All throughout the book, the author’s opinions, views, criticisms and comments regarding these three issues are apparent. The author’s narrative is laced with bitterness and sarcasm, particularly when relating about the island’s colonial pasta and the present’s dependence on tourism as a source of income.   Kincaid’s tone changes when she recalls memories that are precious to her as a child.   But predominantly, she writes with indignation. This paper will discuss Kincaid’s narrative and criticism against tourism, poverty, and politics through the book’s content, setting, theme, major characters, and symbolism. Content A Small Place is not strictly divided into titled sections.   Instead, there are four untitled sections that tackle different aspects.   In the first section, the narration was about being a hypothetical tourist in Antigua, the author’s birthplace.   Antigua is then described as an island of great, natural beauty. As a tourist, you only see the beautiful sights and the positive aspects of the people and the island.   You don’t program your mind to think of the natives other than the usual warm and welcoming hosts, and as the people to serve your needs. The narrative in this section is laced with insider knowledge, often about the harsh reality that a tourist doesn’t see.   These include the poverty of the people, the corruption and unlawful activities of some of the islands mansion owners who Kincaid claims are drug lords, and references to why most of the cars in the island are Japanese made.   This section ends at the hotel and the author’s opinion about a tourist’s moral ugliness. In the next chapter, the author brings back memories of the â€Å"old† island, which she described as a colony of Great Britain.   The author highlights the racism in the island and how the locals loved the English culture.   One of this section’s main points is the author’s derision against the fuss the people made over Princess Margaret’s visit when Kincaid was just a child. The colonial mentality of the Antiguans was criticized.   For the Antiguans, the author says, bad behavior is not bad so long as it was an Englishman who committed it.   At the end of the section, the author relates colonialism to the present impoverished state of Antigua. It was in the second section that Kincaid asked â€Å"why people like her can’t forget the past†?   She calls the reader’s attention to the British colonial system, and condemns the human trading in the past.   Her ancestors, she said, were dragged to Antigua as chained slaves.   According to Kincaid, slavery will never be forgotten because institutional reminders remained in the island.   The Barclays bank is an example of trading firm that made its fortunes from bartering humans like they were goods. After amassing wealth through the sale of slaves, the Barclays went into banking and continues to be prosperous up until the present.   What’s more ironic to Kincaid is the fact that Barclays is a major financial institution in Antigua that provides loans and fundings to the descendants of the slaves they traded years ago.   While the slaves made them rich, it is their descendants who are making Barclays continue to be rich. How to cite A Small Place, Papers

The Day My Life Began free essay sample

The day my life began was an ordinary day. A typical Sunday afternoon in Connecticut in the middle of July, 2012. My church youth group had just arrived home from our week long mission trip in West Virginia, and it was my first time seeing my family for a week. I was overjoyed because it was my first mission trip and I had a plethora of exciting stories of newfound friendships and accomplishments from the week. While I was ecstatic for my arrival home, and my family was thrilled to see me, there was something they knew that I didn’t yet. A piece of information, a single word, that would change my life forever. We arrived home and everything seemed to be settling down. After lugging my suitcase up the stairs to my room, I took a hot shower. It felt like an eternity since I had felt the comfort of my own home. We will write a custom essay sample on The Day My Life Began or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Nothing had changed and everything was back to normal. I got out, dried myself off, and threw on some clothes from my drawer. I began to unpack my clothes and as I tossed them into my drawers, I tried to make sure that I at least appeared organized. After I started to unpack my shorts from my bag, both my parents walked into my room. Though slightly odd, I didn’t pay much attention to it and kept on pulling various articles of clothing out of my bag and returning them to their respective drawers as I said, â€Å"What’s up?† I glanced up from my bag to see both of them standing there, with an emotion resembling a mixture of despair, regret, and apprehension. â€Å"Hey bud, can you take a seat on your bed for a second? We need to have a talk.† Bronchiectasis: a condition where damage to the airways carrying oxygen into and out of the body’s lungs become scarred. With bronchiectasis, the airways can no longer clear out mucus, which is used by the body to clear out dust and other particles from the airways. The mucus now blocks the airways which leads to repeated lung infections. These infections can become progressively worse and can block off other airways. The damage caused by bronchiectasis is permanent, and other vital organs may not receive the oxygen they need. Bronchiectasis has no cure. Bronchiectasis is the word that changed everything. For approximately a year and a half before that ordinary Sunday, my family and I had known something was wrong with me after I had my first asthma attack which put me in the hospital for three days. I had become acquainted with various doctors, each telling me something new, something different. Eventually we were told that they didn’t know what I had, they couldn’t figure it out. Test after test, each bringing a new â€Å"we think it may be† or â€Å"it looks like† or â€Å"if you take this it will get better.† But it didn’t, it never got better. Five pills in the morning and three at night turned into six pills in the morning with this inhaler and four pills at night, which led to more tests, more talks, and more nothing. The medicines changed, the doctors changed, but the results never changed. July of 2012 they finally figured it out, but I was not there to hear it. â€Å"They finally figured out what’s wrong with your lungs. It’s a disease called Bronchiectasis.† Oh it’s a disease, that means that they can cure it. I can get better. Things will finally go back to normal. â€Å"We are going to have to go get some new medication† New medicine, that’s okay. The ones I’m on now are terrible anyways. One more adjustment won’t be too bad, and it won’t be too long anyways. â€Å"You’re going to have to take them for a long time.† Well that’s okay, it will get better over time. Everything can still almost go back to how it used to be before this happened to me. I can still be normal. â€Å"You’ll probably be taking these for the rest of your life.† Wow, well, wow. I guess I will get used to them, as long as I can be back to normal. â€Å"The damage that has been done to you can’t be undone, what has happened so far cannot heal.† I can surviv e this. I can still be normal, I will get through this my life is not over nothing has to change. â€Å"Also, what you have, Bronchiectasis, it can’t be healed. What is happening in your lungs cannot be removed, only controlled to an extent. We can only stop it from spreading when everything is okay and if you take all your medication. But it can get worse. If you don’t take your medicine it can keep spreading. Though this won’t be going away, we will always be here to help you. Nothing has to change.† Things changed, so many little aspects of life which I had taken for granted became laboring tasks. Daily life has changed, as I still have to take all my medication and ensure that I do not do anything to set off an asthma attack. I have broken down multiple times, either with my family or someone close to me, but most of the time I find myself alone when I do. Accepting this disease as a part of me has been one of the hardest things I have had to do. But now, almost two years later, I’m okay. The experience has changed my outlook on life, to a point where I doubt I would have had this not happened to me. I can’t do anything to change my situation other than listen to my doctors and parents, and take good care of myself. I do not want to spend my life sulking about what happened to me. I can only live my life to the fullest extent even with these new restrictions, and be thankful because it could be worse. I want to spend the rest of my life being as happy as I can be , doing what I love. Sure there are days where I think about it and I get a bit depressed, but I have the support of my friends and family to help me through every day. â€Å"Okay,† I said. Sitting there with my parents listening to the words that would change the rest of my life, I wasn’t sure how to feel yet. I didn’t know about all the tests yet to come, about the attacks, or any struggle. But that warm Sunday in July of 2012 was only the first day of my new life.

The Technique In The Great Gat essays

The Technique In The Great Gat essays The Great Gatsby is Fitzgeralds finest novel, it was published in1925, and Eliot considered it to be the first step that America has taken since Henry James1. It is a sensitive and symbolic treatment of themes of contemporary life related with irony and pathos to the legendry of American dream. Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner who sells bonds in New York, lives at West Egg, Long Islands, which is separated from the city by an ashdump, whose distinctive feature is an oculists faded billboard with a pair of great staring eyes behind yellow spectacles, symbolic of an obscenely futile world. Nicks neighbor is mysterious Jay Gatsby, whose mansion and fabulous entertainments are financed by bootlegging and other criminal activities. As a poor army lieutenant, Gatsby had fallen in love with Nicks cousin Daisy, who later married Tom Buchanan, an unintelligent, brutal man of wealth. Through Nick, he manages to meet Daisy again, impresses her by his extravagant devotion, and makes her his mistress. Her husband takes as his mistress Myrtle Wilson, sensual wife of a garage man. When her husband becomes jealous and imprisons her in her room, Myrtle escapes, runs out on the highway, and is accidentally hit by Daisy, who drives on. Gatsby tries to protect Daisy, and Tom, to whom she h as become reconciled, brings his hatred of her lover to a climax by telling Myrtles husband that it was Gatsby who killed her. Wilson shoots Gatsby and then himself. At the end of the story, Nick leaves the East and returns to the Mid-west. The Great Gatsby is the subject of many and diverse critical assessments and reappraisals that have elevated the novel to its current prominent position in American literature2. In this novel, Fitzgerald used many techniques: the controlled and detached point of view, the crafted structure and symbolism, all these distinguish The Great Gatsby from the style of h...

11 Habits of Successful People

11 Habits of Successful People Ever wonder what all those rich and powerful people have in common? Ever wonder how they got where they were? Or whether you have what it takes to end up among them? Or maybe you have a bad idea of what it means to be powerful and worry that you’re too nice a person for the job. Well, rest assured. Nice guys can finish first. Here are 11 habits of successful people. Start cultivating them now, and see how far you can go.1. Don’t wait to be promoted to be a leaderLeadership is not about the title on your business card. So don’t wait to get that title before you start actually leading. Power and authority are not the same thing. Try leading without being a boss.2. Be graciously disruptiveDon’t just accept the status quo because no one else seems to be questioning it. Don’t be afraid to ask the question that comes to you. Ask â€Å"what if†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"why not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Think outside the box and gently express your best ideas, and you could think your way to real innovation and improvement. Plus, you’ll impress your colleagues in the process.3. Think for yourselfForm your own opinions based on fact and what you know, rather than what you think- or have been accustomed to thinking. Always keep an open mind and be willing to change your mind when you have good reason to. Do this, and you can trust the little voice inside your head when it really matters.4. Focus on the big stuffDon’t get distracted by the small and trivial stuff. Cut through the noise and focus on what matters most, and what is most important. Speak up when you have something truly meaningful to say. Do the big thing first and best. You’ll build a reputation for insight and trustworthiness, at the least.5. Master conflictConflict happens. The only thing we can change or anticipate is our reaction to it when it does. Rather than shirking away from conflict, or seeking it out, try the middle path. When it hits, react to it withou t emotional entanglement. Face the situation directly and humbly, without being defensive or hysterical. You’ll find conflict can actually be incredibly productive, when you face it this maturely.6. Cause conversationThis is a hard one to practice, but if you have the talent for making people listen (and saying things worth listening to), then you can be the kind of influencer who opens her mouth and inspires.7. Know thyselfTrue power means not being blind to your own weaknesses. Position yourself to wield your strengths in the best possible way, and that means also owning your weaknesses and finding out how to grow from them.8. NetworkDon’t be the mercenary networker who drops contacts like a hot potato when they prove no longer useful. True power comes from building a solid and strong community. Develop and grow your network. Keep up contact with your connections’ connections. Treat everyone with respect and dignity and then you can all help each other work to gether to succeed.9. Ask for helpAsking for help is almost never a sign of weakness- quite the contrary. True leaders know when to delegate, when to ask for expert advice, when to take a step back for better perspective. Ironically, you’ll prove your lack of insecurity by putting the project ahead of your own ego.10. Believe in yourselfThis doesn’t mean neglecting to do all the hard work, but it does mean believing in your own power to achieve your dreams. Keep yourself driven and inspired and you’ll stand a good chance of actually meeting your biggest goals.11. Do it todayIf you have the mind set, the training, the inspiration, and the passion, why wait? The perfect opportunity to show off your leadership skills and start growing your power may never be handed to you on a silver platter. Start now. Strengthen your power muscles any chance you get, and actively seek out the opportunities to show them off.