Studying in America, taking IELTS or TOEFL?

"Do I take TOEFL or IELTS?" "Which is easier?" "Can I go to the United States to take the IELTS test?" "I only got 70 points in TOEFL. If I had studied IELTS that year, would my score have been higher? " To answer these questions, we should start with the basic question "What are TOEFL and IELTS?".

What is TOEFL?

TOEFL is an English proficiency test organized by educational testing service (ETS). Since 2005, the new TOEFL IBT (Internet-based test) has gradually replaced the Computer Test (CBT) and the TOEFL PBT, which was popularized worldwide in 2006.

TOEFL scores are valid for two years from the date of examination. The TOEFL test corpus is taken from the real academic language environment. The full score of the new TOEFL is 30, * * * 120.

A standard TOEFL examination room

The most familiar stranger of the party studying in America

What is IELTS?

IELTS is jointly managed by the Foreign Language Testing Department of Cambridge University Examinations Committee, British Council for Cultural Education and IDP Education Group * * *, and is an English proficiency test for those who intend to study, work or settle in English-speaking countries.

IELTS is divided into two categories: academic and training, which are aimed at students who apply for studying abroad and those who plan to work or immigrate in English-speaking countries. The exam is divided into four parts: listening, speaking, reading and writing, with full marks of 9 for each part. The total score is to add up the scores of all four items and then take the average, taking the average as a whole and a half.

Vocabulary is a key point that affects English test scores. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Lack of vocabulary is like cooking without rice. Listening comprehension can't write, reading can't understand key sentences, and writing needs vocabulary accumulation to become an article.

In terms of vocabulary requirements, the official vocabulary of TOEFL is 65,438+05,000, but the vocabulary of IELTS test in Cambridge is not clearly defined, and the online IELTS vocabulary requirement is more than 8,000. Numbers are the most objective. On the basic question of vocabulary, TOEFL is indeed much colder than IELTS.

According to the editor's own experience, IELTS is a more active test than the academic TOEFL. Take the listening test as an example. The scenes of IELTS listening are closely related to the real life of foreign students, mainly including life and academic scenes. The first two parts test life, and the last two parts test academics.

Life scenes include renting a house, talking about hometown, traveling and vacationing, and introducing some activities. Academic categories include: freshman enrollment, library introduction, course selection, writing papers, etc. The IELTS listening requirement test can find detailed information without opening a brain hole for analysis. However, TOEFL listening scenes are mostly academic, and many test questions examine the understanding of non-detailed information, and the content is often a large lecture, which is equivalent to the content of university classroom teachers.

Candidates need to summarize and refine the main points of information and judge the organization and arrangement of information. The TOEFL listening test is really difficult, which is why when it comes to TOEFL, it is said that "you get high marks in listening".

What's the difference between the exam forms?

The difference between TOEFL and IELTS is an important factor for many candidates to choose. TOEFL plays English on the computer. I believe that most people generally have no habit of typing English on the computer. We all write English with pens from primary school. Once we use the computer, whether the spelling speed and accuracy can reach the standard is a problem that needs to be considered.

The new TOEFL composition has two questions, one is comprehensive writing, and the number of words is required to be above 180 in about 20 minutes. One is independent writing, which requires about 30 minutes and more than 300 words. English typing speed should reach 30 words/minute, if you are not completely flustered after seeing the composition questions. Take the TOEFL test and practice your typing speed.

IELTS has two compositions, one is a freshman and the other is a junior. The essay mainly tests various conventional charts. Histograms, line charts and pie charts are easy to appear, and some "unlucky" people will encounter maps or flowcharts. Generally speaking, IELTS essays are templated. Knowing some common words and sentence patterns that describe time, quantity and trend, you can score appropriately.

The topics of the big composition are government, environment, science and technology, media, crime, culture, animals and so on. In the form of a report or argument. Because the writing of IELTS small composition is relatively concise, most candidates can get good scores, and the big composition can really open the gap. Theoretically, the short composition is 20 minutes, and the big composition is 40 minutes. However, if you can practice your composition well, you'd better control it within 15 to 20 minutes, and leave more time for your big composition.

Spoken English is a common problem for candidates. When the editor chose to be a duck butcher, gay friends said enviously, "You can flirt with your little brother!" IELTS speaking is a one-on-one dialogue between examiners and candidates. The examiner will ask questions to the candidates, and if the candidates can't understand the questions, they can also ask the examiner to repeat them.

When answering questions, candidates can communicate with the examiner through some "humanized" ways such as eye contact and body language. In the oral part of the new TOEFL test, candidates will put on headphones to listen to questions, then think for a limited time, and finally answer into the microphone within the specified time.

In the whole process, candidates are faced with machines, screen prompts and countdown instructions. This experience of "man-machine dialogue" requires high psychological quality of candidates. Without adequate training, candidates will feel nervous, stressed and even at a loss. Moreover, a common problem is that many students around us start speaking after listening, which interferes with the students who are still listening, which is very troublesome.