The Path to Conquering 800+ TOEIC Scores
Phase 1: TOEIC study roadmap from 0 to 450 points
The TOEIC study path from 0-450 is designed for those with little to no English background who want to achieve a score of 450. During this phase, you will mainly review basic grammar concepts commonly found in TOEIC exams and practice.
This is the first stage where you can review grammar and expand your vocabulary through practice exercises. Additionally, at this stage, you should practice your listening skills at the most basic level to develop listening reflexes.
Grammar
The grammar requirements for TOEIC are not overly complicated. Learners should focus on mastering the following basic concepts:
- Noun
- Verb
- Adjectives and adverbs
- English tenses
- Gerunds and Infinitive
- Reduced relative clauses
- Conjunctions
- Conditional sentences
- Conjugate verbs
- Tag question
- Articles A, An, The
Vocabulary
Vocabulary plays a crucial role in improving exam scores. It's not enough to simply understand the meaning and part of speech; learners also need to know how to pronounce words correctly. Learners can use the websites suggested below to improve their vocabulary more effectively:
- Vocabulary In Use (Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell)
- Web Article Category: English Vocabulary (zim.vn)
Ideally, learners should study vocabulary along with its pronunciation. Mastering pronunciation will help learners hear and guess words. Here are some resources:
- International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
- Cambridge online dictionaries, Oxford Dictionary, etc.
Additionally, learners should study vocabulary by topic to increase connections and help them remember words for longer.
To pass this TOEIC 450 level, learners need to master approximately 3000 vocabulary words.
Reading practice
- Regularly read newspapers, books, magazines, and English-language materials on topics commonly found in the TOEIC exam.
- Practice scanning and skimming skills when reading newspapers.
- Categorize vocabulary words based on reading topics to improve your vocabulary.
Listening practice
- Practice pronunciation regularly so you can hear the words.
- Listen and transcribe, combined with reading the transcript.
- Listen to YouTube channels about topics you're interested in or that relate to the Reading section.
- Analyze the problems you encounter during the listening process and address each point one by one.
Phase 2: TOEIC preparation with a target score of 450-650 points
At this stage, candidates have a relatively solid foundation in vocabulary, grammar, and basic skills for the listening and reading sections of the test. By this point, candidates should have:
- Approximately 3000 vocabulary words
- Basic listening and reading comprehension skills are available.
At this stage, candidates can begin practicing with sample tests and listening and reading test-taking techniques; however, they also need to reinforce their more advanced knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Some areas that learners need to focus on improving to achieve a TOEIC score of 650 are:
Grammar
- Conditional sentences
- Past Perfect Tense
- Comparative structure, equal
- Passive voice
- verb phrase
- Past participle and present participle
- More complex vocabulary topics include:
- Collocation
- Prepositions
- Specialized vocabulary sets
Listening practice
At this level, your listening skills are still limited. Therefore, you can look for listening practice resources with subtitles to practice listening and learn vocabulary at the same time.
After practicing listening or doing practice tests, you should have the answers to check if you listened correctly and identify any mistakes so you can learn from them and improve.
Pay attention to parts you can't hear clearly, such as linking sounds, new vocabulary, or skimming, to learn from your mistakes.
Practice questions
Listening and reading for practice tests are very different from simply listening to and reading books and newspapers and acquiring vocabulary and grammar as in the previous stage. At this point, learners can begin to explore test-taking methods, tips, and tricks during practice. Each part of the TOEIC exam will have its own specific approach.
Phase 3: TOEIC preparation with a target score of 650-800+
Reading section
- Having completed the previous two stages, learners should now be able to grasp the common grammar structures and vocabulary found in the TOEIC exam.
- To improve your score from 650 to over 800 points, you need to study grammar, vocabulary, and test-taking techniques in more depth.
- To achieve a score above 800, we need to focus on the following key areas:
Grammar
You need to study some more advanced grammar topics that will be tested in the exam, such as:
- Advanced conditional sentences
- Reduce relative clauses.
- Subject reduction
- Imperative sentence
- Double comparative structure
- Word order in a sentence
Vocabulary
To improve your score at this stage, vocabulary is essential as it accounts for approximately 90% of the TOEIC exam. At this stage, in addition to learning new vocabulary at the 800+ level, you need to regularly review existing vocabulary to ensure you don't forget what you've learned.
In addition, learners should not only learn vocabulary at this stage but also need to:
- Learn how to pronounce the words.
- Learn how to identify different types of words by their endings. For example, adjectives often end in -ive, -ous, -ic, -ful, etc.
- Learn more synonyms.
Listening section
- At this stage, learners should focus on practicing the more difficult parts 3 and 4 of the listening test, rather than the simpler questions. For example, the implied meaning questions in parts 3 and 4.
- Improve your listening vocabulary by practicing conversations in exam papers.
Note that achieving a TOEIC score of 800+ requires time and dedication. Remember that the learning process will demand patience and determination.
Lingoland wishes you all a successful exam and the achievement of your goals!