You have lots of choices out there on the big old internet about who to study for TOEFL iBT with.
Today I want to share 8 things that you can expect if you join me for classes.
Click play to watch or scroll down to see the transcript if you prefer to read…
Transcript
In this video, I want to talk with you about 8 things that you can expect when you join my online Zoom classes. I teach weekly. 6 weeks for TOEFL iBT Writing and 8 weeks for TOEFL iBT Speaking.
Expectation #1
Expectation number 1 is that I will be your teacher. My name is Jaime Miller and I have a bachelor’s degree. I’ve also got various certificates from Cambridge for a teaching English as a second language (my CELTA, and then part of my Delta). And I’ve also taken the TOEFL iBT test multiple times. Here’s a very unflattering picture of me and my score results from that. One time, I only got 29 on the reading section. So anyway, those are those kinds of past results there. So you can see that I’ve gotten 30 on speaking and writing.
That’s important because if you need an advanced score, you need to be taking classes with somebody who actually understands that. And in addition to getting the scores myself, every year, I guide lots of students towards getting their scores on TOEFL speaking and writing. Just this past year, so far, I’ve helped 15 people finish with TOEFL completely. And in the case of pharmacists that have to take all the scores at the same test, that can be pretty complicated. So I’m proud of that.
I am the one who’s teaching your classes. And if you talk with me in my free consultation, I’m also doing part of the enrollment process for that. I do not have assistants or other people who are working for me. I’m a one woman show. All right.
Expectation #2
The second expectation that you can have is the focus of the advice that I’m giving you… The focus of lectures, the focus of class, the focus of preparation activities is always, always about how to get the advanced scores of writing 24 plus OR speaking 26 plus.
This is a book, a workbook that I wrote a few years ago. It used to be for sale through English success Academy, but now I sell it. And then this is my workbook for The Advanced Speaking Guide for Scores of 26+.
Again, I wrote those years ago and we use those as part of class. So, you know, every time that you ask me a question about how to get your speaking score or how to get your writing score, I’m always assuming that you have to get that advanced score of 26 or 24. And that’s important to mention too, because it’s possible for you to follow other strategies that will only get your score to like a speaking score of 20 or like 22 or 23. You know, you need a certain combination of strategies and you need your English to be at a particular level in order to get a speaking score of 26 or writing score of 24.
You need to be studying with somebody who understands what that is, has gotten those results for themselves. And then also got those results for other people. Because if you don’t have all three of those things, you’re not as effective as a tutor in my opinion.
Expectation #3
The third expectation that you can have about classes is that you will be in a safe place to ask questions. Sometimes in groups, students don’t feel comfortable asking the questions that they’re thinking.
I want to tell you that I take that very seriously. It’s really important for you to feel comfortable enough to ask the questions that you have. So I’m very tolerant of that. I want you to ask questions in class, if you’re confused about anything, I want you to clarify, be brave in that sense and know that I’m holding space for a very like strong group that you know, it’s really important for you to get your questions answered. So you know that you’re going to be allowed to ask those questions in my classes.
Expectation #4
Number four is that you will need to find 10 to 15 hours a week to study. I’m not kidding. When I say that everybody tells me that they have 10 to 15 hours a week, but the fact is some people don’t because with their job and their family schedule, they get really busy. And they’re not able to find that time regularly to study. You will need it if you join my classes, and if you’re following my program, because there are preparation activities that you have to do for writing there’s preparation activities that you have to do for speaking. And then after those preparation activities, you must create your essays or your speaking responses, not just one, but like a few of them, because on the days of class, you’ll bring your essay or you’ll bring your speaking task and you’re going to show it to me and you want to bring something to class.
It’s okay if you bring nothing to class. You can still observe and you can just watch what I talk about with other students. But I think you’re going to get a lot more out of it if you get feedback from me on your activities. So that’s the reason why it’s really important to have 10 to 15 hours a week.
Expectation #5
The fifth expectation is that you will get feedback about your strengths, what you’re doing, right and you’ll also get feedback about where your weaknesses are or the mistakes that you’re making (and what’s blocking your score currently either in the Writing or Speaking section of TOEFL).
I will look at your essay or your speaking response, and we’re going to go through step by step each of the three areas of scoring criteria that the TOEFL graders are paying attention to. So when you show me your essay, or when you show me your speaking response, I look at that with that kind of mindset and the criteria that a TOEFL Grader has when they listened to you at the exam.
And I give you feedback about how your grammar is, how your vocabulary is, is this introduction effective? Is your summary of the professor’s lecture, logical. You know, if it’s integrated writing, does it make sense? Like what you’re saying about the lecture or about the text that you read, right? So we look at all of that.
And then in speaking classes, you’ll have an opportunity to read your transcript and that lets me check on your accent and your pronunciation. So if there are issues with that, I can point those things out and then you can keep studying with that at the end of class, because you have feedback, you’ll have more clarity about what you need to study. And that again is a reason why you need to have that 10 to 15 hours a week when you can practice because after class you’ll have more ideas about how to continue improving those types of activities.
Expectation #6
Feedback expectation number six is that you can review classes by watching video recordings. I set up a special website where you can log in and you can go through and watch re-watch all of the classes that we talked about. It’s not permanently available, but it’s available for two weeks after classes finish. So you’ll have access to that.
It’s very helpful to be able to check double check anything that maybe you missed or go back and re-watch. The feedback that I gave you.
Expectation #7
The seventh thing that you can expect is that in classes you will learn the schedules that I recommend for self studying. You do need to, to actually practice in a particular way, you need to repeat certain types of activities.
We talk about how to develop automatic habits as part of the wrap-up in class. And so you’ll have recommended study sequences so that when classes finish, you’ll understand how to keep studying by yourself for the next 10 to 14 days.
Expectation #8
And the eighth thing that you can expect from me is that I will be following up with you and checking in on you to see how you’re doing and what your progress is. Every student who joins my program gets put into this box and I’ve got a little file where I keep track of you.
I go through that box routinely and I check on things and either I’ll email you, or I’ll send you a text message or I’ll call you, and I will follow up with you and I’ll say, “Hey, how’s it going? You know, we finished classes, you were working on that homework activity. Do you have anything to show me? Do you need feedback on anything?” So I’m going to be following up with you and tracking you to make sure that you are moving forward.
More Details about Zoom Classes
If these weekly Zoom classes for TOEFL iBT Speaking and Writing sound like something that is right for you, I’d love to share more details.
By clicking the button below, you will be taken to the page with the details for my upcoming classes and the pricing and all of that. Hope to see you soon. Let me know if you’ve got any questions.