hi what's the difference between the toefl and the ielts exams in this video i'll talk about
the differences between these two tests so that you can make the right decision and do the best
exam for you the toefl or tofl exam is a test of english as a foreign language and the toefl
ibt test is the internet-based test originally the test was done on paper but that's gradually being
phased out by the computer-based test so more and more students now are just doing the test
by computer and in fact nowadays you can actually just do the test at home at your own computer
and as you're doing the test you'll actually be proctored you'll be monitored by a proctor via
webcam so it's really a test as in an exam center but the great convenience is that you can just do
it at home now the difference with the ielts exam that's the international english language testing
system is that you can do the computer-based ielts which is called ielts indicator
however it's not accepted by a lot of universities in europe including the uk so a lot of students
prefer to do the ielts exam at a test center including the uk vi those are the students who
want to work in the uk and they need the visa to work there if we look at the united states
90 of institutes in the united states prefer the toefl exam to the ielts exam so if you're planning
to study in the united states then the toefl exam is for you in terms of time the two exams are
quite similar they're both between three and four hours long and they all include the four skills
that's reading writing listening and speaking now let's talk a little bit about the structure of
toefl so that you know what to expect so in toefl ibt for reading you have three to
30 four passages questions it's about 10 questions per passage 57 to 72 minutes it's not a set time
as in ielts ielts is exactly 60 minutes in toefl it could be a little bit longer it really depends
on the test listening you listen to lectures or classroom discussions 28 to 39 questions 41 to
57 minutes so if we compare that to ielts it's a little bit longer there's a break in the middle of
toefl ibt for 10 minutes and it's mandatory you must take the break for speaking it's
independent and integrated speaking 17 minutes for writing it's also integrated there's some reading
listening and writing and the total is 50 minutes if you compare that with ielts you can see that
toefl is actually more integrated in the writing and speaking sections if we look at reading okay
three to four passages 30 to 40 questions reading passage 1 18 to 20 minutes reading passage 2
about the same reading passage 3 the same again so the passages are taken from university level texts
one to two minutes per question preparation for toefl could be similar to ielts in that you are
reading academic text that will help you a lot and also you have a similar amount of time as in ielts
reading however i will say that the question types in toefl are completely different to ielts so you
really need to be prepared for toefl questions if you're planning to do toefl let's look at
those questions so we have reference summary factual negative factual vocabulary purpose
detail main idea inference insert a sentence toefl listening very different to ielts
listening which has four sections until for listening you have three to four lectures
18 to 24 questions two to three conversations with 10 to 15 questions 41 to 57 minutes
let's break that down so you have part one about 10 minutes you'll hear a passage a conversation
five questions and then you'll hear passage two which is a lecture with six
questions and then passage three again a lecture with six questions in part two you'll hear another
conversation five questions followed by passage a lecture with six questions now that listening
actually may be extended so you may have another conversation or another lecture
so again different to ielts ielts has four specific sections toefl could actually be extended
it might be a little bit longer or it might be a little bit shorter what are the listening skills
that you need for toefl listening well you need to recognize the organization of information
to understand main idea primary points and details understand the purpose of the speaker
recognize the attitude of the speaker understand relationships between ideas change
in topics understanding inferences and making connection among ideas types of questions well
multiple choice you'll see that in ielts too but also an ordering of events or steps in a process
matching objects or text with a category vocabulary multiple choice maybe one answer
or multiple choice multiple answers main idea and inference and insert a sentence
so in toefl speaking you have four sections in that first section it's called choice where you
have to give a preference between two behaviors or two actions and you have 15 seconds to prepare
and 45 seconds to speak and when you speak you're not meeting with a person you're not speaking to
anybody you're speaking into a microphone which is recorded and that is sent to the examiner
in the next section you have a reading passage and then a listening lecture and what you need
to do is you need to summarize the speaker's opinion within the context of the reading
30 seconds to prepare 60 seconds to speak into the microphone in the next section you are also
given a reading passage on an academic subject and another listening lecture in this case you
have to combine and convey information from the reading passage and the listening and the timing
is the same you 60 seconds to speak into the mic and in the last section you have a listening
lecture longer 90 to 120 seconds explaining a term or a concept so it's more academic
and you have to summarize the lecture and show an understanding of the relationship between
the example and the topic response time is the same 60 seconds so the way the examiner assesses
your level is different again to ielts because remember toefl exam is not created by cambridge
it's created by the educational testing system in the united states so it's a very different body
of examiners so they're going to examine you on your delivery on how you deliver information when
you speak you know your fluency your fluidity they'll also assess you on your use of language
so the range of vocabulary that you're using and of course your accuracy of grammar your structure
and finally you'll be tested on your topic development on how you develop the topic when
you're speaking toefl writing so as in ielts there are two tasks in toefl writing however those two
tasks are completely different to what you will see in ielts you might remember in ielts academic
you have task one a chart that you have to describe and an essay and you also have an
essay in task 2 of toefl but task 1 is quite different so task 1 you will have to read a text
actually 230 to 300 words in 3 minutes then you have to listen to a lecture
and at that point you have to write a summary of the points made in the lecture and explain how
they relate to the reading passage in task two you have to write an essay to give your opinion on a
topic so you can imagine that something similar to the agree disagree essay that you'll see in
ielts in toefl writing you are assessed based on the organization of your writing and of course
the completeness and accuracy of the information and details that you put into your writing and of
course your use of grammar and vocabulary in terms of scoring you're given a mark out of 120 in toefl
and a lot of universities in the united states want to see a toefl score between 80 and 110
but it really depends on the institution so what do you think do you want to do the toefl or the
ielts exam let me know in the comments below and let me know how i can help you further to reach
your score in ielts or toefl thanks for watching everybody i'll see you in the next video bye