Master the TOEIC Review at esl.about!

I just want to give a might, heartfelt "Thank you!" to my colleague Kenneth Beare at esl.about.com for his wonderful review of my Master the TOEIC books! 

Just reading (and re-reading!) his review is inspiring me to write the next test strategy series...TOEFL? IELTS?

Master the TOEIC Teacher's Manual is done!

It is done! The culmination of years of classes, writing and editing. Now Teachers can use my Master the TOEIC system in their own classrooms. 


This has been the culmination of the last few years of hard work, first developing a TOEIC test-taking system, then getting all my thoughts and ideas down in a way that makes sense to international students and to teachers. In just the last few months, I have received orders from a Japanese book store and the Philippines!


You can now find all three of my Master the TOEIC books at Amazon.com!
Master the TOEIC Self-Study Book

Master the TOEIC Student Workbook

Master the TOEIC Teacher's Manual

Happy English!

Become Sherlock Holmes

Do you know who Sherlock Holmes was? He was a character in a series of novels written over 100 years ago in England. The novels were detective stories; they were mysteries. Sherlock Holmes would find clues to help him solve crimes (murders, thefts, missing people).

Many of the clues he found were easy to see, but only Mr. Holmes thought of them as clues—everyone else ignored these clues because they looked unimportant. Mr. Holmes used his mind to “put the clues together” to find the killer or thief. Other people in the story try to stop Sherlock Holmes; they try to trick him so he can’t solve the mystery, but every time he does!

The TOEIC Test is also a mystery. It is full of clues to help you pick correct answers. In addition, it is full of tricks trying to make you pick wrong answers.

But you probably know this already. So, why do you need to “become” Sherlock Holmes?

Because you don’t like the TOEIC! You don’t want to take it. You probably hate having to take the test, but it is important for your job and future.

Also, you probably think studying for the TOEIC is boring. The listening topics are not interesting. The reading texts and sentences do not give important information for your life. In fact, they are preventing you from relaxing and having fun.

Therefore, you need to put some fun into the TOEIC!

Begin to think of the TOEIC as a mystery novel—a puzzle to be solved—and not a test. You will find it a little easier to get keep listening to Short Talks, and a little easier to search for words and information in Texts. Each English word or phrase is a clue, a puzzle piece, and these pieces fit together with other pieces to create an idea or action, a purpose or situation. Find the right pieces, and you will find the correct Answer!

Imagine you are Sherlock Holmes. You have been given a TOEIC test. You have been told that inside the test are 200 correct answers. Your job is to find the clues. The TOEIC test is the crime you need to solve.

Now go and solve some crimes!

Workout with English every day!

Every month, my students ask me for the best way to effectively improve their listening skills. They have used English language textbooks, they have bought every TOEIC test preparation book there is, and still they struggle to see improvement in their ability to hear English and understand it.

What I tell them, is that building your Listening skills is like going to the gym. To really get strong, build your endurance, and tone your body, you need to go to the gym every day.

But is that enough? What about all those people who go to the gym day in and day out and their body remains the same? They still have a big stomach or flabby arms. Why?

First, if you go to the gym and work out for three hours, then go home and enjoy a big chocolate cake and beer, your three hours at the gym are wasted. In addition, your stomach will not be happy with you (chocolate cake AND beer? Yuck!).

The same is true with learning a new language. If you study English for three hours, then go out with your friends and speak your native language, that’s just like eating a cake after the gym. Much of the English you worked on will not stick in your brain. Every time you use your native language, you are pulling yourself away from English, preventing your brain from struggling to use English and build your English skills.

Thus, to avoid a big tummy and flabby arms, you need to keep using English throughout the day as much as you can. The more you can ‘surround’ yourself with English—speaking it, listening to it, reading it—them better you will remember stuff you studied earlier that day. Get your friends to help you by trying to only speak English when you are hanging out. Listen to English podcasts while on the bus or train going to work or school.

Okay, let’s say you go to the gym every day and eat healthy (i.e., don’t use your native language much), but you find that you are still not getting the body you want. You have really big arms but your legs and thin and weak; every time you stretch your arms out, you fall over because they have way too much muscle!

You can avoid this by working on a variety of different parts of your body each day. Work on your arms a little, then your legs, and then your torso and back. This way you build your body’s overall strength, and everything is in proportion.

Thus, do a variety of reading, listening, grammar, and pronunciation practice each day. Don’t focus on any one activity for more than one hour. This will help you slowly and consistently work on all the different parts of English to help you Master English and Master the TOEIC.

And finally, a good way to finish a workout at the gym is go for a short run, just to get your muscles to move around a bit so that they don’t tense up too much after you finish your workout.

So, after you finish your formal studying of English, go out into the real world and try to use some of the English you studied that day. Go to a store and ask the sales clerk to help you pick out a good book or CD or bottle of wine. Listen to or read a good novel, or watch a favorite TV show. Find a news article that uses some of the vocabulary words you focused on earlier that day. This will help your brain ‘unwind’ a little and relax, and can also help reinforce the English you studied.

Now put on your running shoes and hit the gym!

Listen to NPR Every Day

 Want to improve you English Listening, Pronunciation & Vocabulary all at once?

Listen to National Public Radio! 

One of the very best ways to improve multiple English skills at one time is to go National Public Radio! Students tell me that this activity is a great way to build their English Listening skills over time, and also a good way to learn new vocabulary words by seeing and hearing them used in a “real world” context.

It usually takes about 1 month of listening every day for you to see improvement in your listening skills, and about 2-3 months to see improvement in pronunciation and vocabulary skills.

1. Go to www.npr.org.
2. Click on Programs.
3. Click on Morning Edition or All Things Considered.
4. Click on Rundown.
5. Find a news report about Business, Politics, or Economy.
6. Listen to the news report, taking notes on Main Ideas, Major Details and Numbers.
7. Click on Transcript and study the transcript for new words.
8. Listen to and read the news report at the same time for pronunciation practice.
9. Listen to the news report one more time to reinforce what you have learned.
10. Find 5 more news reports on the same topic and listen to one each day for the next 5 days.

I recommend you only do 1 or 2 news reports each day. Most students find it takes from 30-minutes to 1 hour for each report, depending on their English skill level.

“Actively listen to TOEIC-like English every day”

It may sound obvious, but actively listening to English every day for at least 15 minutes is one of the most powerful ways to improve you listening skills. “Actively listening” means you are not watching TV or a movie (a very passive activity)—it means you are listening to English radio or online audio files, focusing on hearing details and thinking about the important, main ideas the speaker is trying to tell.

READ BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO LISTEN:

 1. Go to www.npr.org.

2. Click on Programs.

3. Click on Morning Edition or All Things Considered. National Public Radio (NPR, www.npr.org) has two news programs you want to listen to: Morning Edition & All Things Considered:



4. Click on Rundown.



5. Find a news report about Business, Politics, or Economy. You will see a list of different news reports. Next to each Headline, you will see what Topic the news is about, and the how long the news report runs.



You will want to look for news reports for Topics such as Business, Politics, or Economy. These reports often use words you will find in the TOEIC.

6. Listen to the news report, taking notes on Main Ideas, Major Details and Numbers.Once you have picked a news report, click on the Audio Button and listen to the news report. Listen to news report once and take notes on what you think are the Main Ideas and Major Details. Also take notes of any numbers that are being used. Numbers are often tested in the Short Talks section of the TOEIC.



Even though you can’t take notes on the TOEIC, note taking helps you develop memory skills.

7. Click on Transcript and study the transcript for new words.Now click on Transcript and read the report. Check to see if you misunderstood anything or missed a major idea or detail. You can also look for Vocabulary Words you don’t know. You will want to also look for any Phrasal Verbs which you didn’t understand.



8. Listen to and read the news report at the same time for pronunciation practice.Next, with the Transcript on your computer screen, listen to and read the news report again, following the speaker as they talk. This will help you with Pronunciation of English words, too.

9. Listen to the news report one more time to reinforce what you have learned.Finally, now that you understand the report better, close the Transcript and listen to the news report one more time. This will help reinforce the new English you learned.

10. Find 5 more news reports on the same topic and listen to one each day for the next 5 days.For the next 5 days, listen to different news reports about the same topic (you can do a news search at the NPR website on any page at their website).

Happy Listening!

Comparing scores between TOEFL, IELTS & TOEIC

If you or your students are looking to compare how TOEFL scores stacks up to the IELTS or the TOEIC, visit the Vancouver English Centre's Equivalency Table.

Reducing Stress During Testing, Part 3

Cold sweat trickling down the back…eyes losing focus…staring at the same question for eternity and feeling no closer to an answer…stuck…stalled…

Stressed.

Tests are not the only time and place we feel stress, but it is one of those times where it is critical to have the skill to reduce stress–the inability to do so will most times sabotage a test, reducing our test score. Which means we probably have to take the test again!

How do you fight stress? How can we fight our own unconscious response?

Surprisingly, there are number of things you can do to help you. Some require a little practice to master, but others work the first time!

The link below leads to a page at www.masterthetoeic.com which talks about a simple and easy method to center oneself quickly and efficiently. But here are some others:

1) Right before the test, have a half-shot of alcohol (Bailey’s Irish Cream is best!) This helps calm pre-test nerves.

2) If you are addicted a caffeine-heavy drink (coffee or tea) in the morning, on the morning of the test drink only half as much as you normally do. Too much caffeine will likely cause you to crash somewhere right in the middle of the test, and too little caffeine will probably cause you to have a slight headache (due to your addiction!).

3) During the test, look up from the page or screen to a place in the distance, as far from you as you can. This will help with eye strain and also be a little mental “mini-break”.

4) Before beginning the test, have a plan to do something fun AFTER the test. During the test when things feel bad, remind yourself that after its all done you’re going out with your friends to sing Karaoke or dance or bungee-jump off bridges. Just knowing that there is a positive experience waiting for you at the end of the test will help you get through it a little easier.

Reducing Stress During Testing, Part 2

A friend of mine introduced me to another great method of reducing stress: Tapping!

Also called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), this technique requires a little bit of training to use effectively, but thankfully, I have found a website which has 13 free videos teaching you how to use EFT.

One thing a really love about this method is that it is quick and simple--it was even used in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation! In "Realm of Fear", Counselor Troi teaches Lt. Barclay to relax, using an 'Betazoid' meditation technique: tapping.

Reducing Stress During Testing

During the Test, you may become stressed, tired or anxious. You may find it difficult to understand English, or difficult to focus on finding a piece of information. You may start sweating, or get nervous thinking you don’t have enough time to finish the Questions. This happens to many people during the TOEIC Test, especially after the first hour of the test.

Controlling your stress will help you with staying focused during the Test, so you can answer Questions more quickly and efficiently. Luckily, there are some things you can do to help reduce your stress during the Test.

Here is one exercise you can do:

1. Close your Eyes

2. Breathe. There is nothing better than taking 3 Deep Breaths to help you reduce stress. Often when stressed, people forget to breathe, or breathe too quickly. Deep breaths bring more oxygen to your brain and will help you focus better on the TOEIC Test. For each breath:
• Breathe through your nose.
• Hold your breath inside for 3 seconds (count to 3 in your head…1…2…3).
• Breath out slowly through your mouth or nose.

Doing this is like stepping out of the TOEIC Test Room for a moment to relax.

3. Visualize a Beautiful Nature Scene. With your eyes closed, imagine you are in a place of natural beauty. It can be the beach at the ocean, a grassy field surrounded by trees, a calm lake or river, or a mountaintop. See the colors of the flowers and grass around you, hear the sound of the ocean waves or river, feel the warmth of the sun and cool breeze. This sounds a little silly, but it helps!

Breath through your nose (see above), and let a feeling of peace, calm and contentment come over you. Stay in the place of natural beauty for about 10-15 seconds.

You only need to do the above relaxation exercise for about 15-20 seconds to help reduce your stress.

One thing to note is that during the Listening Section of the Test, it will be difficult to find time to relax, because you cannot pause the CD. However, during the listening section, you can use the short Instruction Times at the beginning of each Part of the Listening Section, when the Narrator is talking to close your eyes and breathe.

The TOEIC test is not just measuring your English language skills, it is measuring your ability to manage your stress. So, when you’re feeling anxious or can’t focus, go to your happy nature place!

My first month using my new TOEIC Student Workbook!

I am halfway through my first month using my new Master the TOEIC Student Workbook...I think it is doing pretty well :) 

At some point this year I want to add one more complete TOEIC test to the workbook, to make it even more useful for students and teachers!

Teachers: if you want a sneak peak of my Student Workbook, let me know--I will send you some sample chapters!

Mime and Mastering English

“Ointment? Ointment? What in the world does ointment mean?”

It’s 8:30 in the morning, and my students and I are working our way through a section of the TOEIC test, trying to understand some of the questions they got wrong. From time to time we will come across a word which my students have never seen—I let them know if each new word might be useful to know for the TOEIC or if it’s just a word they may never see again.

Then we come to ‘ointment’.

Now this is a word with limited usefulness—unless you work in a pharmacy or have a rash, in which case it can be incredibly useful! But odds are my students will not really need this word—there are other words which are more common and which they could use instead.

But it’s 8:30 a.m., I had forgotten to each breakfast, and I can be a little loopy from just drinking a half a liter of coffee.

I write the word ‘ointment’ on the board, and then stand next to it, a smile growing on my face.

“This is ‘ointment’”.

I look down at my arm, then begin to scratch it heavily, moaning and wincing in pain. At this point, my TOEIC students are looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind.

Reaching out into the empty air next to me I grab an invisible bottle and hold it over the arm I was scratching. I squeeze the imaginary bottle and make a ‘squishing’ noise; it sounds like shampoo coming out of a plastic bottle. I then begin to rub my arm and make soothing, contented noises and close my eyes in relief.

Opening my eyes, I look at my students. They are smiling, almost laughing.

“Now,” I say, “who can tell me what ‘ointment’ means?”

What did I use to help teach this word to my students?

1. Sound
2.  Movement
3. Emotion
4. Humor

All of these things will help my students remember ‘ointment’ for a long, long time…

Three days later, I write the word ‘ointment’ on the board. “What does this word mean?” I ask. All my students are smiling, and I quickly get the definition.

A week after I first taught them ointment, I just pretend to squeeze the bottle over my arm and make the ‘squishing’ noise—everyone in class calls out, “Ointment!”

Over the years, this process has helped my students remember new words and difficult pronunciations. It sometimes doesn't matter if the physical action is much connected to the definition of the word; merely connecting an action to a word in their mind is enough to help them recall that word--after reviewing the word here and there over a few weeks, it stays in their mind forever!

Thank you, Marcel Marceau, for helping my students learn English!

Let EngVid help you Master English Today!

Here's a great website to visit frequently and Master English a little bit each day! I love the fact that it's free too!

At EngVid.com you can learn English for FREE! Free English video lessons covering grammar, TOEFL, vocabulary, business English, and more.

Smile your way to English mastery

It’s an hour into class, and I look around and see the tired faces. My students have been struggling with the writing section of the TOEFL for the last 2 days, and I can see their frustration levels rising with every minute. I know what they are thinking:I’ll never understand this. This is too difficult. I’m stupid.

The weather outside isn’t helping–Oregon in the middle of winter can, um…not to put to fine a point on it…it sucks. Grey day after grey day. Rain. Chill, but not cold enough to snow. Dreary with a capital D and Rand E and A and…you get the picture. It is clear that what we need, and need right now, is some sun and fun. But we’re in the middle of TOEFL. What in the world can be fun about that?

“Alright class!” I clap my hands once and rub them together. “Let’s do something a little different. You won’t need your books for this. Stand up.”

Students look at each other with questions in their eyes, but sluggishly stand up. They’ve come to expect odd little activities in my class.

“Okay. We need a little pick me up. So, spread out from each other–I don’t want you to hurt your friends.” More confused looks, but finally everyone is about 3 feet from each other.

“First, I want you to march in place.”

“Now, swing your arms up and down before you.”

“And now. Smile!”

“Here’s the last piece. As you march, you need to yell out ‘TOEFL is fun! TOEFL is fun! TOEFL is fun!’”

And then we begin to march around the room, yelling out to each other, “TOEFL is fun!”

As we march, my students roll their eyes as if to say, just another typical day in a class with Chris.

The New York Times has an interesting article about the science behind a smile. Written in 1989, “A Feel-Good Theory: A Smile Affects Mood”, by Daniel Goleman, outlines research findings about smiling. One of the most interesting and important pieces of information is that the simple action of smiling causes emotional and chemical reactions in the body and mind. These changes can help relieve stress, improve the immune system, and even release endorphin–a natural pain killer–and serotonin–which affects mood and other behaviors. This is why I am always trying to make my students smile–whether through a joke or by doing something silly in front of the class.

Strong, purposeful movement also helps, too. We see this when we do yoga or tai chi, but see it more remarkably in dance and marching–there’s more than one reason why generals have all those soldiers marching around all day! Because of this, when I do the above activity (which happens maybe once a season) I make a point of having my students march in class, swinging their arms up and down, lifting their knees high. They think it’s silly, but from the smiles and laughter in the room, I know it has helped them.

A critical piece of this activity is yelling. When do we normally yell? Sports games, rock concerts, or protests. Yelling also seems to have a physiological effect on the human body, creating more energy, and even affecting beliefs and emotions. We yell at a sports game to encourage the players to run faster and score a goal. We yell at rock concert because we want the band to play another song. We yell at protests to change people’s minds. Thus, to change the attitudes of my students, I have them yell “TOEFL is fun!” It helps drown out that other voice in their head tell them the TOEFL is too hard or too boring.

After we march around the room yelling at the top of our lungs (and freaking out the other classes down the hall), my students sit back down and get back to work. The essay is still difficult, but they are smiling and laughing with each other, and attack their essays with renewed enthusiasm.

Follow @masterthetoeic