Books for Prep | |
 - TOEFL Books SummaryI've taken the TOEFL CBT, and got a reasonable grade of 283. Here are the book I've used, from the most important to the least one, and what I did with each one, based on other readers' reviews: 1. CliffsTestPrep TOEFL CBT: Excellent structure section. Good Reading strategies - but for the structure part (word forms) rather then for the Reading part of the test! It's also one of the cheapest books available. 2. Cambridge Preparation For The TOEFL Test: Great Reading and Writing sections. 3. Kaplan's TOEFL Paper-And-Pencil, Third Edition: A fine Listening section. 4. ETS TOEFL Test Preparation Kit, 2nd Edition: A lot of exercises at the appropriate difficulty level (from the creators of the test themselves). However, it has only PBT test, and NOT CBT. I hardly used this one at all. The only book you need is CliffsTestPrep, which really helps you with the structure part, and, if you insist, the Cambridge's book for the essays, either. Also, download the TOEFL PowerPrep software (a computerized demo test, available for free download at the TOEFL official web site, including all the tutorials you'll see in the actual test), and the list of available writing topics in the official pool from the same site, and practice them whenever you're doing a test, in-order to increase the chance that you would be given a topic you've already been written on. You should also look for a document called 'Toefl Essay Writing Tips' - it has a lot of good (how surprising) tips to write the essay, including a comprehensive division of the essay types, and what should you do in each one. That's it - you're ready! Good luck! Rating: - GREAT BOOKThis book was very helpful to me when I had to prepare for the TOEFL test, the only thing that this book needs is some CBT practice tests. Rating: - The best book availableThe exercises have a tougher level than the test but if you are serious about TOEFL, you'll find that it has very few exercises. Rating:  - A good practice tests book to work for TOEFLThis book was helpful for practice. It has a lot of exercises that let you get closer to the high score of TOEFL. As the saying goes "Practice makes it perfect". Rating: - Helpful Book!By the time I bought this book, I already use Barron's TOEFL Preparation book. I bought it just to make comparison, perhaps there are something that are not covered by Barron's. In the end I find that in short ammount of time, I couldn't read and memorize all the patterns explain in Barron's. So about one or more weeks before the test I switch to this book. This book is quite simple. The writer give you a brief explanation on how to attack some questions, then give you some exercises on how to do it. I like the vocabulary exercise. Although they're not part of the test, but it helps me alot in reading comprehension. In the end, this book... is helpful enough for you who are already advanced in English. But the questions on structure in my humble opinion is quite easy. I correctly answers, almost all of the structure questions., eventhough I am not an advanced English user. In association with Amazon.com | |