tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18582650017744100252024-03-18T12:01:17.613+09:00Donald Miller TOEFL Speaking Coach (株E4TG)The global average TOEFL speaking score is 19.
The Japan average score is 15.
For our students who take 4+ months of classes, the average top TOEFL speaking score is 23.
Why? Because they don't use templates!
If you have a clear voice and practice regularly, you should get 23 consistently too.toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-35325873505433771842024-03-06T14:04:00.002+09:002024-03-06T14:04:18.483+09:00April 2024 Speaking Schedule<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Here's the schedule for April:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8De6JbNYYK_L6WtS76MjEHGF26ElMUjwsZfNzN5e6_0YS3I69-NXmB-JmROFvXMrnujoFzWxThcyWCXQSbHAWZsMGoDp_9YWr2vgsk5GT1m-UbZlr31zFU8It_ll62lNWv5ZP8FFZCXe3_SXviUcvh3uxcr5APNQzVzbFJBTTUyzMIRR10A0ibkm-zyP/s293/2024-04%20Speaking%20calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="293" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8De6JbNYYK_L6WtS76MjEHGF26ElMUjwsZfNzN5e6_0YS3I69-NXmB-JmROFvXMrnujoFzWxThcyWCXQSbHAWZsMGoDp_9YWr2vgsk5GT1m-UbZlr31zFU8It_ll62lNWv5ZP8FFZCXe3_SXviUcvh3uxcr5APNQzVzbFJBTTUyzMIRR10A0ibkm-zyP/s1600/2024-04%20Speaking%20calendar.jpg" width="293" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Weeknight classes are from 7-10 p.m. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Weekend classes are from 3-6 p.m.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Classes are limited to five students in order to achieve social distancing.<br /><br />Orientation for new students will be 10:00-13:30 on Sunday, March 31. Attendance at orientation is required for all new students.</span></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-35834565672016546322024-02-07T15:58:00.004+09:002024-02-07T15:58:52.923+09:00March 2024 TOEFL Speaking Schedule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumdusLSk1krTp18udxWzHFiZxfRV0mr7BdDHaZpbmiWZuU1aqTcpfj9NBHG5QfpdefCzrBc8JNW2ZMx-LXmUpi1MZgtD7PxNfa65Y6HnhFwYsBAHN24m6Gy3LzWeysL609fVZqhmDrQr2lwlmJgJAmch8CPpQBCsQbCovvnMygqExh8rDsg1tohj02EQG/s286/2024-03%20SP%20Schedule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="286" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumdusLSk1krTp18udxWzHFiZxfRV0mr7BdDHaZpbmiWZuU1aqTcpfj9NBHG5QfpdefCzrBc8JNW2ZMx-LXmUpi1MZgtD7PxNfa65Y6HnhFwYsBAHN24m6Gy3LzWeysL609fVZqhmDrQr2lwlmJgJAmch8CPpQBCsQbCovvnMygqExh8rDsg1tohj02EQG/s1600/2024-03%20SP%20Schedule.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;">Weeknight classes are from 7-10 p.m. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Weekend classes are from 3-6 p.m.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Classes are limited to five students in order to achieve social distancing.<br /><br />Orientation for new students will be 10:00-13:30 on Sunday, March 3. Attendance at orientation is required for all new students.</span></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-54117909727948737522024-01-16T15:07:00.000+09:002024-01-16T15:07:00.790+09:00Academic Discussion task 12<p> I just took the Academic Discussion 12 writing test. This time, I wanted to organize my essay a little differently (we'll talk about this in class this week). Since this is scored by the AI, I can't be sure that you'll get similar results with the human rater. </p><p>Results were typical: 7 minutes, 141 words, 5.0 score.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1xamWWWzIx_YmCrGqXWYABKC_SMXqii83mLNyUQeHaJLDz_G2S4Z4WcLo_9lbi5au7Cfs1vx8ECAyRwPSfB8X4bbQ3r5-p5YBKzMEiY7V7ne2UNLRvGsTcPrQcztDRSDmMHsRKCV-H5OfUrE45VbKlzYDVbG9MSTJQWsoQWbhhI37d32zcXbUU5P1Q8m/s4032/AD12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1xamWWWzIx_YmCrGqXWYABKC_SMXqii83mLNyUQeHaJLDz_G2S4Z4WcLo_9lbi5au7Cfs1vx8ECAyRwPSfB8X4bbQ3r5-p5YBKzMEiY7V7ne2UNLRvGsTcPrQcztDRSDmMHsRKCV-H5OfUrE45VbKlzYDVbG9MSTJQWsoQWbhhI37d32zcXbUU5P1Q8m/s320/AD12.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-65572239064923157102024-01-04T14:02:00.000+09:002024-01-04T14:02:04.274+09:00Note on the E4TG homepage<p> Apparently, the E4TG homepage was hacked. The host said that it was hacked on December 15, but the last application that I received through the homepage was November 7. The web developer has been on vacation, but he'll be back next week, and I hope to have it running then. </p><p>If you have tried to apply and were unable to contact me, you can contact me directly at toeflcoach@gmail.com.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-8810651691391614542023-12-26T14:28:00.000+09:002023-12-26T14:28:51.149+09:002023 Year End Results<p>Forty-four students completed at least four months of TOEFL speaking classes at E4TG in 2023. Four of them have not yet replied to me, so this is based on the 40 whose self-reported data I've got. The mean top TOEFL speaking score was 22.1, and the median was 22. The range was 18~24. </p><p>These are, frankly, lower speaking scores than in previous years. I think part of the reason is the new test format. During the ten minute break between the listening and speaking sections prior to August 2023, test-takers could hear what other people were talking about and guess the questions. You can no longer do that.</p><p>The mean TOEFL score was 102.85, and the median was 102. The range was 85~112. This is pretty good. Anecdotally, it seems like writing scores were higher, and I'll measure that more precisely next year.</p><p>We had two 帰国子女 students in 2023. Their results are not included above.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-74702530497188317782023-11-27T17:33:00.002+09:002023-11-27T17:33:37.819+09:00Mouth Stretching<p>Many Japanese people have limited range of motion with their mouth and tongue because Japanese has relatively few sounds. So when you speak Japanese, you don't need to smile (for L, S, and <span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 16pt;">æ</span>), put your tongue between your teeth (TH), or move your tongue back (R). Unsurprisingly, these are sounds that Japanese adults struggle with. Here's a good video I recommend to all my students.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dl4GFMBtLhU" width="320" youtube-src-id="dl4GFMBtLhU"></iframe></div><br /><br /><p></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-15143331765244911632023-08-02T15:14:00.004+09:002023-08-02T15:14:53.944+09:00Academic Discussion #2 (again): another experiment<p> Hans did another experiment on ETS's practice academic discussion #2. </p><p>This has 120 words, and he deliberately tried to write in generalizations, with little concrete detail. E-rater gave it 4.0.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHucWwXwsOh2ZJ9KW0NCJlOjpjvcqKnwuvRuqW2VyJgsDS1SFhna74LHZ5b6GLAiUW3MlwaZsgZWcgoeaA6I5pDLyeubXiDB3nF41L11pFGTBIR0WlY15DMfQSUioOqd1SEZqKj_-xjC_iRDNsK5hvcohlFRANdf-RAYRNhGCIABAcXbdbgrMp8DeV9HB/s4032/AD%20002%20Hans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHucWwXwsOh2ZJ9KW0NCJlOjpjvcqKnwuvRuqW2VyJgsDS1SFhna74LHZ5b6GLAiUW3MlwaZsgZWcgoeaA6I5pDLyeubXiDB3nF41L11pFGTBIR0WlY15DMfQSUioOqd1SEZqKj_-xjC_iRDNsK5hvcohlFRANdf-RAYRNhGCIABAcXbdbgrMp8DeV9HB/s320/AD%20002%20Hans.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-44613357133117571712023-07-24T18:03:00.003+09:002023-07-24T18:03:56.256+09:00Academic Discussion 12<p>The content of this essay is deliberately bad. The question was the best way to evaluate teachers. I wrote that the best teachers allow their students to play video games instead of studying. Perfect grammar, dumb content. You can read it for yourself. </p><p>155 words, 9 minutes, 5.0.</p><p>So you can fool e-rater with nonsense. The AI is not evaluating content, only grammar.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJLk58_Asg6gtLumhbGq9mAMAX3_e2W-GXyHUuHIijwRWNCw4qbszyw0_COuHJF6XGy_KxnSuhhStHrlKJ4OM77KWB9TX0itrdnv2x-o_XTFmgspqDwuJHMIEv5z65S0nOrAoQkQ20lekDTqLiL8fUrqCMiSWfyJfTkUCedZmw8YkskX7_Dxm2eMYLxhE/s4032/AD%2012.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJLk58_Asg6gtLumhbGq9mAMAX3_e2W-GXyHUuHIijwRWNCw4qbszyw0_COuHJF6XGy_KxnSuhhStHrlKJ4OM77KWB9TX0itrdnv2x-o_XTFmgspqDwuJHMIEv5z65S0nOrAoQkQ20lekDTqLiL8fUrqCMiSWfyJfTkUCedZmw8YkskX7_Dxm2eMYLxhE/s320/AD%2012.1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnY4tydkz781fpE28mWCBcUVPBqTzhlAEIhUu3rlV10TbWvK0UxS063-7qx-7Q1xOtNMFjA7EoQ7hfUx3KQc-3eOtGOnkRAB9IKoZimtomaXBqNb9iQU1whmOzpscBgp-7T5lFaV37J08rnFQmFg-sJCBBcBRiViQW5ZvcXZybeccHezHYf7fJD1ZKIVi/s4032/AD%2012.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnY4tydkz781fpE28mWCBcUVPBqTzhlAEIhUu3rlV10TbWvK0UxS063-7qx-7Q1xOtNMFjA7EoQ7hfUx3KQc-3eOtGOnkRAB9IKoZimtomaXBqNb9iQU1whmOzpscBgp-7T5lFaV37J08rnFQmFg-sJCBBcBRiViQW5ZvcXZybeccHezHYf7fJD1ZKIVi/s320/AD%2012.2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-71478264238263547392023-07-23T06:36:00.004+09:002023-07-23T06:36:56.214+09:00Mistake of the Day: scores and points<p> I was scoring essays yesterday and came across this common mistake:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I got 23 scores on the TOEFL exam.</li></ul>There are two problems here. One is that the writer means "points," not "scores." The other is that the writer means "on the TOEFL speaking section," rather than "exam. So this is correct:<p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I got 23 on the TOEFL speaking section." </li></ul><p></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-78092614902531067662023-07-23T06:33:00.000+09:002023-07-23T06:33:03.621+09:00Academic Discussion 11<p>Here's my academic discussion essay for task 11. There's nothing surprising here. 153 words, 6 minutes, 5.0 score. I think I've got a pretty good handle on what the AI is looking for: you need 130+ words with few misspellings and grammar errors for a top score.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbweTWrTfb8qbGrVrW9FAc57-J8GlvZCEURBvNzhDbvVLPfuKdXF-56rg3IWKH8Fi0peaCupr_NlID2bYBt4TIjOrt1mvlGyFaGWPGTHKgshhk0CsxdyCO19_2YaTwJRtFOaLk-TeGFll2-0ZLry4SSIOtq5wL3uBgzw0yXdZmFHtaJwy9igqEHapiw19/s4032/Aca%20Disc%2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbweTWrTfb8qbGrVrW9FAc57-J8GlvZCEURBvNzhDbvVLPfuKdXF-56rg3IWKH8Fi0peaCupr_NlID2bYBt4TIjOrt1mvlGyFaGWPGTHKgshhk0CsxdyCO19_2YaTwJRtFOaLk-TeGFll2-0ZLry4SSIOtq5wL3uBgzw0yXdZmFHtaJwy9igqEHapiw19/s320/Aca%20Disc%2011.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-36049941992965021142023-07-22T07:43:00.002+09:002023-07-23T17:04:48.936+09:00Mistake of the Day: Due<p> This week, one of our questions is about meeting a deadline. Every time we use this question, we get responses like, "I finished my essay before the due." </p><p>The mistake here is that the speaker thinks the word "due" is a noun, when it's actually a adjective. So the correct way to express this idea is: "I finished my essay by the due date."</p><p>"The essay is due on Friday," has the same grammatical structure as "The man is happy on Friday." </p><p>Please use English well!<br /><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-78702529183668943252023-07-19T13:40:00.000+09:002023-07-19T13:40:22.315+09:00iBT Academic Discussion Writing Task (a summary)<p> So I've written essays on the first ten topics that ETS has posted online <a href="https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements/prep.html" target="_blank">(link: https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements/prep.html)</a>. Here are some results:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Every essay that has been 130+ words and grammatically accurate has scored 5.0.</li><li>One essay at 132 words, that had at least nine grammar mistakes and eight spelling mistakes got 4.0.</li><li><a href="http://toeflcoach.blogspot.com/2023/07/academic-discussion-essay-5.html" target="_blank">Essay 5</a> had 119 words and no grammar mistakes and got 5.0.</li><li><a href="http://toeflcoach.blogspot.com/2023/07/academic-discussion-essay-8.html" target="_blank">Essay 8</a> had 121 words and no grammar mistakes and got 4.0.</li><li>Every essay that had fewer than 119 words has scored 4.0.</li></ol><div>Two easy generalizations:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>You want to write more than 130 words in your essay to get 5.0 from e-rater.</li><li>You can't make too many grammar and spelling mistakes.</li></ol><div>Next question: is e-rater assessing vocabulary level? </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>If you write 130+ words with only one and two syllable words, can you still get 5.0? </li><li>If you write 100 words and use a lot of long and academic vocabulary, can you get 5.0?</li></ul><div>We'll find out soon.</div></div></div><p></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-36469038865006784142023-07-19T13:26:00.001+09:002023-07-19T13:26:26.586+09:00Task 10 + grammar errors<p> This time I took the basic content of the previous task 10 essay and re-wrote it, adding grammar and spelling mistakes. Five minutes, 132 words. I count at least nine grammar mistakes and eight misspellings.</p><p>Score: 4.0</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXSzvyQnfCc_xmK2dkDv79982eJ_kWfD7ufKG9Ujn5YyX3jtOgk3K2HQGBOi4Ee-nYfK4XCySZ_COJZOd7nC6E6FWCJbUGK5ncEjaWCm5drTmhsjhmn2jRieAb2Rc_yAGqTM1jKuwkZYrcAUUPDJooSPcQA1Oy5f2L5wN21AIpHYloVIcKASuyMcoWsRB/s4032/Task10.errors.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXSzvyQnfCc_xmK2dkDv79982eJ_kWfD7ufKG9Ujn5YyX3jtOgk3K2HQGBOi4Ee-nYfK4XCySZ_COJZOd7nC6E6FWCJbUGK5ncEjaWCm5drTmhsjhmn2jRieAb2Rc_yAGqTM1jKuwkZYrcAUUPDJooSPcQA1Oy5f2L5wN21AIpHYloVIcKASuyMcoWsRB/s320/Task10.errors.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-21621548754836721302023-07-19T13:07:00.001+09:002023-07-19T13:07:00.621+09:00Task 10<p> Here's my task 10 essay. Six minutes to write and two minutes to get the word count down to 132 words.</p><p>Score: 5.0.</p><p>So it appears that you need 130+ words to get 5.0, with no grammar mistakes. Let check grammar next.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyFBjJ-qXKE55va9tybSoLkSIEgYzcooNnMcb6FAZsFk51eIMWzWR9A-IQP1o3Ubw53IztrS01MgWsNnrbjPzPbnr6h3_5erOxIlsNDs6zNPIk2jelHSL6XNF21jaa1d5awDV38f9ubEQuh-4dLB8677UVQ6hiQP8_1a6vkC5MP6tP6aZ_DtOUCwViM6x/s4032/Task10.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyFBjJ-qXKE55va9tybSoLkSIEgYzcooNnMcb6FAZsFk51eIMWzWR9A-IQP1o3Ubw53IztrS01MgWsNnrbjPzPbnr6h3_5erOxIlsNDs6zNPIk2jelHSL6XNF21jaa1d5awDV38f9ubEQuh-4dLB8677UVQ6hiQP8_1a6vkC5MP6tP6aZ_DtOUCwViM6x/s320/Task10.1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ihCZgRZNdp7f55WNDL8qLZje9nc5gr0YBuzLpjl7v-ikyEt2WDapgXU-s-RWBsgvkOXeT-6YE1tHc_yZoC9goIdNY9Aj1oDd0e9rHaxx2XdTatWmUx0tckUs0MrCaJtID4pVRnqJuCfNPRkuYohnubjelzJdib3-uZZ9vR5m8P5WBRIwXJaRb9JWB-Do/s4032/Task%2010.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ihCZgRZNdp7f55WNDL8qLZje9nc5gr0YBuzLpjl7v-ikyEt2WDapgXU-s-RWBsgvkOXeT-6YE1tHc_yZoC9goIdNY9Aj1oDd0e9rHaxx2XdTatWmUx0tckUs0MrCaJtID4pVRnqJuCfNPRkuYohnubjelzJdib3-uZZ9vR5m8P5WBRIwXJaRb9JWB-Do/s320/Task%2010.2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-22553294029162251242023-07-19T12:52:00.002+09:002023-07-19T12:52:26.900+09:00Task 9<p> Here's my task nine essay. It took five minutes, is 120 words long, and has no grammar mistakes. </p><p>Score: 4.0.</p><p>I guess when ETS says, "An effective response will contain at least 100 words," their definition of "effective" is 4.0.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfxqoVP09WoE5w76Nmf7QJN1CATCAozsHro8yWKKv9Db3P7i712gFcHuQPVQmHVM8ziTzWD_SI8xZ8gn2GOzUkWSJ4XeueaRLo6bILVgiQv_TAWPk3QkqpEhG3OTuYVyPubNiRIisbk5VYU5YueYd84aJE8IOKhhNTklq959Qs5v-G3BcDAhW6lN8fzjzW/s4032/Task%209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfxqoVP09WoE5w76Nmf7QJN1CATCAozsHro8yWKKv9Db3P7i712gFcHuQPVQmHVM8ziTzWD_SI8xZ8gn2GOzUkWSJ4XeueaRLo6bILVgiQv_TAWPk3QkqpEhG3OTuYVyPubNiRIisbk5VYU5YueYd84aJE8IOKhhNTklq959Qs5v-G3BcDAhW6lN8fzjzW/s320/Task%209.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-52412862288007439052023-07-10T16:31:00.000+09:002023-07-10T16:31:01.073+09:00Academic Discussion: Essay 8<p>OK, some interesting results.</p><p>Essay 5: 119 words, score: 5.0.</p><p>Essay 8: 121 words, score: 4.0.</p><p>When I look at these two essays, I don't see a difference in grammatical complexity or vocabulary level. I wrote in a conversation style. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to use more academic vocabulary.</p><p>Here's the essay:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6C8D_LMmQ3stHqv731UPh1mRuWdwQq443dYb-LO6Squ76gseMQWw_Gr49VvNieI4n-HGZ5pktAaDO_ahGoiBnTkLRuxdTmlTfBJ6Nxspplie_l5s3BYpMIYRGjUMB6WLRN4Aus-GkP1eR3QmyE5aW-qHq3AvAbPd_elwcq-e50ljiuScFEO_cUEyKa8eB/s4032/Essay%208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6C8D_LMmQ3stHqv731UPh1mRuWdwQq443dYb-LO6Squ76gseMQWw_Gr49VvNieI4n-HGZ5pktAaDO_ahGoiBnTkLRuxdTmlTfBJ6Nxspplie_l5s3BYpMIYRGjUMB6WLRN4Aus-GkP1eR3QmyE5aW-qHq3AvAbPd_elwcq-e50ljiuScFEO_cUEyKa8eB/s320/Essay%208.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-74861710819313164742023-07-09T09:40:00.000+09:002023-07-09T09:40:20.791+09:00Academic Discussion: Topic 7<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcakB7JpwAbhSXHAxW9pSgD8esx99odh6NIfuczHQyl-CKguki1kwYjLccXaygOw-PG49N1UtmIWShUXtsPResMy0ZenFp-NGSYXb9548-ajqFhjpU9I5_psmDYxPHIzGaWJx6Ponsb5rdwoZ1J8hi8TAzNIOfWq4RdcXdA1jdGj6wOW_mFwKv6mFpX8n/s3004/Academic%20Disc%207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="3004" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcakB7JpwAbhSXHAxW9pSgD8esx99odh6NIfuczHQyl-CKguki1kwYjLccXaygOw-PG49N1UtmIWShUXtsPResMy0ZenFp-NGSYXb9548-ajqFhjpU9I5_psmDYxPHIzGaWJx6Ponsb5rdwoZ1J8hi8TAzNIOfWq4RdcXdA1jdGj6wOW_mFwKv6mFpX8n/s320/Academic%20Disc%207.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>115 words, no grammar mistakes, 4.0 again. So when ETS says, "An effective response will contain at least 100 words," they are considering 4.0 to be a good score.</p><p>Keep in mind, essay 5 was 119 words, no grammar mistakes, and got 5.0.</p><p>So we're recommending at TOEFL test takers aim for at least 120 words.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-77287941729027976102023-07-08T09:51:00.004+09:002023-07-08T09:51:56.466+09:00Academic Discussion: task 1<p> Hans did an experiment on task one (how to attract people to rural areas) <a href="https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements/prep.html" target="_blank">from ETS</a>. He found that it took 16 grammar and spelling mistakes to lower an essay from 4.0 (110 words) to 3.0.</p><p>This is 4.0:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TmNQ5bZoqckqKVZhxL-bV1kkYcLSDu3W2LTPSktH0_U0XaFx4Qak1ek-WhSAIaXkNCUDhBaQWrpeQ1FB6NU2awoj5TTEU1hFUeTJZl0DH3IEdlrWXr7NfLt1P6iQQ_oZb4ihcxozAvjIBRxaAj8GitXs50zmDHHAW-nl9p-EnVR099KFpEIXDVNrHZIv/s4032/4.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TmNQ5bZoqckqKVZhxL-bV1kkYcLSDu3W2LTPSktH0_U0XaFx4Qak1ek-WhSAIaXkNCUDhBaQWrpeQ1FB6NU2awoj5TTEU1hFUeTJZl0DH3IEdlrWXr7NfLt1P6iQQ_oZb4ihcxozAvjIBRxaAj8GitXs50zmDHHAW-nl9p-EnVR099KFpEIXDVNrHZIv/s320/4.0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This is 3.0:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijriY5orUmHt7bSbytWwC76NHZJ6Ly9hYb5qnhzBYjwF7T814NgpRcsQz7puWW8nyUjvnVtJ3JDiLnstP6l-MfMOF19l-6QbQFxnPTwtbyUqW0Q2l8k7tM998prIHwusHG54pUp2fN7zKIy0MuxZ52e3DCtuf8d3YelMyCCeZ0WLkJwhRSRCVnBp-stkDH/s4032/3.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijriY5orUmHt7bSbytWwC76NHZJ6Ly9hYb5qnhzBYjwF7T814NgpRcsQz7puWW8nyUjvnVtJ3JDiLnstP6l-MfMOF19l-6QbQFxnPTwtbyUqW0Q2l8k7tM998prIHwusHG54pUp2fN7zKIy0MuxZ52e3DCtuf8d3YelMyCCeZ0WLkJwhRSRCVnBp-stkDH/s320/3.0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So yes, e-rater is evaluating grammar!</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-76322517108404625392023-07-07T14:41:00.002+09:002023-07-07T14:41:58.547+09:00Mistake of the Day: スパ, spa, and syllables!<p>I've been meaning to get back to posting "mistake of the day" for a while, and I've got a little extra time today, so why not?</p><p> A few years ago, I had a student who was talking about visiting Hawai'i with her husband, and she said, "We went to a supa (スパ)."</p><p>I stopped the IC recorder and played it again, and asked, "What's a supa? A supermarket?"</p><p>My Japanese isn't perfect, but I passed 日本語能力試験2級 twenty years ago. I know the word スパ in Japanese, but it didn't occur to me that she meant "spa" because she was speaking English. </p><p>The mistake, of course, is that the number of syllables is wrong. "Spa" has one syllable, not two. The more general lesson that syllables are important! If your English pronunciation has the wrong number of syllables, it's more likely to be miscommunicated.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-78136966511898408162023-07-07T14:31:00.001+09:002023-07-07T14:31:46.782+09:00Academic Discussion: essay 6<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4uiT15GHqfkstqqD5uyW-1SZkMR1ZqH-6lnhFQraZVY0lKj5Bb3Oy12KGgkb0oQTJ6r48OkGBBwNxDR1PlKdhbbvVhy0LNBcCP978ClFGgMPprZPONUqFTrQentBt0kj37oRfNkeq5uGAzDJ7GvLFRwfMH7vqXqGBEoHFJkLs_ECjhb7AncCvG675rbsz/s4032/Essay%206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4uiT15GHqfkstqqD5uyW-1SZkMR1ZqH-6lnhFQraZVY0lKj5Bb3Oy12KGgkb0oQTJ6r48OkGBBwNxDR1PlKdhbbvVhy0LNBcCP978ClFGgMPprZPONUqFTrQentBt0kj37oRfNkeq5uGAzDJ7GvLFRwfMH7vqXqGBEoHFJkLs_ECjhb7AncCvG675rbsz/s320/Essay%206.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In essays 5 and 6, I didn't mention the two other students. Essay 5 got 5.0 with 119 words (1 paragraph), and essay 6 got 4.0 with 111 words (2 paragraphs). There were no grammar mistakes in either essay.</p><p>I'm not deliberately trying to use academic vocabulary, but it would interesting to see what would happen if I limit myself to short, non-academic vocabulary.</p><p>Also, ETS has a new YouTube video on the Academic Discussion task:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tEHmx27RgFE" width="320" youtube-src-id="tEHmx27RgFE"></iframe></div><br /><p>ETS's descriptions of the scoring system for the academic discussion is better than it was for the independent essay, and much better than the speaking rubrics, but this topic deserves a blog post of its own. You can <a href="https://www.ets.org/pdfs/toefl/toefl-ibt-writing-rubrics-enhanced.pdf" target="_blank">download the pdf of the writing task rubrics here</a>.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-81491016342897707922023-07-07T14:02:00.000+09:002023-07-07T14:02:11.016+09:00Academic Discussion: Essay 5<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDbohdeI_RzKYRXGbHAT7pptLCx5PN_4zC-FzcFQPr4W4NywbI2-LTxbwhAwLwV2xS91dTiNJSw2pvJkAqRmApW35IhSFr8xoFRrzXnUqUpyDTkBT7VFy0gnp-7MSKvBsWNugZXZ7013SA3iyX0mesmosm6nKiI7EI9eS7fQUF8ScekNZmz-2Q0ZhtEb1/s4032/Essay%205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDbohdeI_RzKYRXGbHAT7pptLCx5PN_4zC-FzcFQPr4W4NywbI2-LTxbwhAwLwV2xS91dTiNJSw2pvJkAqRmApW35IhSFr8xoFRrzXnUqUpyDTkBT7VFy0gnp-7MSKvBsWNugZXZ7013SA3iyX0mesmosm6nKiI7EI9eS7fQUF8ScekNZmz-2Q0ZhtEb1/s320/Essay%205.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This is my one paragraph essay for question 5. It took about four minutes to write, then another minute to edit it down to under 120 words (to be precise, 119). It was scored 5.0.</p><p>So essay 4 was 107 words and got 4.0. And essay 5 was 119 and got 5.0. I'll write the next one in 110 and see what happens.</p><p>This also suggests that ETS isn't necessarily looking for multiple paragraph essays.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-39547080161971139382023-07-06T15:22:00.002+09:002023-07-06T15:22:17.944+09:00August 2023 Speaking Class Schedule<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Here's the schedule for August, 2023:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQ4XySdlkISdDlSeLf8Vvky17HS9ZLtWN_GVb0kF_4mfJuPHc0xL8K1c4zxTtXWd4zWJ2QkINJVEnAP_vpH3anyRZAKfbXXAjJZ5ZtahlzI3bLy3_68YS-FIR2PKFg9RM-sHnrP-zCZxs3y2ejytfQtkPTvG12InGz2SbUjygUE2axTDtTfo3Gbi-Dv84/s296/2023-08%20SP%20schedule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="296" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQ4XySdlkISdDlSeLf8Vvky17HS9ZLtWN_GVb0kF_4mfJuPHc0xL8K1c4zxTtXWd4zWJ2QkINJVEnAP_vpH3anyRZAKfbXXAjJZ5ZtahlzI3bLy3_68YS-FIR2PKFg9RM-sHnrP-zCZxs3y2ejytfQtkPTvG12InGz2SbUjygUE2axTDtTfo3Gbi-Dv84/s1600/2023-08%20SP%20schedule.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Weeknight classes are from 7-10 p.m. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Weekend classes are from 3-6 p.m.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Classes are limited to five students in order to achieve social distancing.<br /><br />Orientation for new students will be 10:00-13:30 on Sunday, August 6. Attendance at orientation is required for all new students.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the safety of everyone, masks and gloves are required during class. </span></p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-32574911776895226602023-07-05T14:45:00.000+09:002023-07-05T14:45:00.017+09:00Academic Discussion: 4<p> Here's an essay I wrote for the fourth task (gap year). It was just 107 words (7 minutes), and got 4.0, so I'm pretty sure e-rater is valuing word count.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwdJRhEXrzhd0FYlgx4h0GjZO4PVVJnx6-ixTGKBao7D8cPVBBbbTdcxZdv7UpBPPz8SZfFKO4U6eAZkIw2ngGw5y5ik74n_COK1_RTEowjk581Hj99m6mv_pgN1hlyYSEQvXqvxTI5NEp_tEZ-oNTfil8VVZYOUPvWK6k6Z8rpsU6oMKaAvM_K2Qo9p6/s4032/Essay%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwdJRhEXrzhd0FYlgx4h0GjZO4PVVJnx6-ixTGKBao7D8cPVBBbbTdcxZdv7UpBPPz8SZfFKO4U6eAZkIw2ngGw5y5ik74n_COK1_RTEowjk581Hj99m6mv_pgN1hlyYSEQvXqvxTI5NEp_tEZ-oNTfil8VVZYOUPvWK6k6Z8rpsU6oMKaAvM_K2Qo9p6/s320/Essay%204.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Based on the first four essays, somewhere between 107 and 130 words is the cut-off for a 5.0 essay.<div><br /><p><br /></p></div>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-41778632675408624742023-07-05T14:05:00.000+09:002023-07-05T14:05:13.107+09:00Academic Discussion: task 3<p> Here's the essay that I wrote for the third academic discussion. You can find them at https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements/prep.html</p><p>I wrote 173 words (7 minutes), so I needed to take 2 photos of the screen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNE10mUAK7SOmr1eB93sW_Zk9T5dB05eesxG_1eoLIr7yckrno30shmODINVTYNoyAUTYNhZFMArlhgF5Z3hPY-Du6-__Gnq_TH1g-GrlP-bhqL7zlJdFb1Nq0a7JJlrwDJoo7zOqwERVz2Evyvf_JvJinzoztvi_VEAnjEUVGtm-JU4x1okGmrOp9n0-/s4032/Essay%203,%20P1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNE10mUAK7SOmr1eB93sW_Zk9T5dB05eesxG_1eoLIr7yckrno30shmODINVTYNoyAUTYNhZFMArlhgF5Z3hPY-Du6-__Gnq_TH1g-GrlP-bhqL7zlJdFb1Nq0a7JJlrwDJoo7zOqwERVz2Evyvf_JvJinzoztvi_VEAnjEUVGtm-JU4x1okGmrOp9n0-/s320/Essay%203,%20P1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwljQaR0MAcES91MsqLo4hiqkRq2mimoOPHLTIeqYapvE1j14pc8RAmYmKbkJIUskgMsqyZLbsGmKV8P52pokCVakFTf5eG1y3iLXrdTagEXUM_SIgII93BMkmQotGjLzSIBfuVluTBZbhdUs55ZFFm2VnrSq6BfBk8RUYceNkVg9tDafBwVsiSakTJs_/s4032/Essay%203,%20P2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwljQaR0MAcES91MsqLo4hiqkRq2mimoOPHLTIeqYapvE1j14pc8RAmYmKbkJIUskgMsqyZLbsGmKV8P52pokCVakFTf5eG1y3iLXrdTagEXUM_SIgII93BMkmQotGjLzSIBfuVluTBZbhdUs55ZFFm2VnrSq6BfBk8RUYceNkVg9tDafBwVsiSakTJs_/s320/Essay%203,%20P2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Notes:</p><p>I tried to "contribute to the discussion" by acknowledging Kelly and Paul's contributions, but also saying that water and air pollution aren't big problems in Tokyo.</p><p>Then in paragraph two, I explained that climate change (global warming) is a big problem in Tokyo. Anyone who was here 30 years ago knows that it's gotten much warmer, and summers can get dangerously hot.</p><p>Finally, at the end of paragraph two, I suggested that scientists should try to pull CO2 out of the air to solve/ameliorate the problem.</p><p>This one got 5.0 too. I'm going to try some shorter essays to test the recommended 100 words.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hMl2WjxSUoIYQbFC3v78arezZL5FeGbE_1UMbX4Ylkh7KIAYDsJGibjdSxm-spjJhHTpdBemXLiRQ3GxxvSe7-OH9Q9IOmc2YBkqHElSjkepD22awSEy6lpzXMN7o-OCBAFQHQ4otXhQ1ibJpS0BfzKhzTPeDoTLtMuUmroteG_UNRAnmet55oCzNHT0/s4032/Essay%203%20score.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hMl2WjxSUoIYQbFC3v78arezZL5FeGbE_1UMbX4Ylkh7KIAYDsJGibjdSxm-spjJhHTpdBemXLiRQ3GxxvSe7-OH9Q9IOmc2YBkqHElSjkepD22awSEy6lpzXMN7o-OCBAFQHQ4otXhQ1ibJpS0BfzKhzTPeDoTLtMuUmroteG_UNRAnmet55oCzNHT0/s320/Essay%203%20score.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>My school, E4TG, will begin offering TOEFL Writing July 31, 2023.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858265001774410025.post-76288676889965599482023-07-01T11:39:00.001+09:002023-07-01T11:39:22.545+09:00Academic writing: task 2<p> Here's the essay I wrote for the second task published by ETS at <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements/prep.html&source=gmail&ust=1688263979534000&usg=AOvVaw1AUzPoXBABfrP51WR4DeTm" href="https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements/prep.html" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-<wbr></wbr>enhancements/prep.html</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoPqhxUkbvJfgIItrTG-Gsxoy7Fic5BdL5oA1i9x3937GZiVBt73zqITTrj6tkMbQNLOVA11qhlUdLjOJV5N5g9BHyTRhrTpUmyKxEkl49q-hKjqERkf_3W_Ur295YSV8BBeTtNM-QCaXkb58e2qJCbP4DVMCm5V6WfDc81zrm2NTarUw-u7BkDdX0pda/s4032/Task%202%205.0.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoPqhxUkbvJfgIItrTG-Gsxoy7Fic5BdL5oA1i9x3937GZiVBt73zqITTrj6tkMbQNLOVA11qhlUdLjOJV5N5g9BHyTRhrTpUmyKxEkl49q-hKjqERkf_3W_Ur295YSV8BBeTtNM-QCaXkb58e2qJCbP4DVMCm5V6WfDc81zrm2NTarUw-u7BkDdX0pda/s320/Task%202%205.0.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There is a first paragraph that isn't shown in the text box. This one also got 5.0.</p><p>Actually, this is the second essay that I wrote for this task. The first one was only 104 words, and got 4.0 despite being grammatically perfect. This suggests that ETS is weighting the length of the essay.</p>toeflcoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11204287062229807142noreply@blogger.com