All right. Good evening everybody. Uh please uh can you let me know if you can hear me right now? All right. So, I'm going to guess that you can. Right. Okay. All right. Give me one second. Uh, all right. There we go. All right. Good. So, uh, welcome everybody. Uh, this is the total preparation course. Okay. This is just the introductory class. So, I'm not going to ask you to turn on your cameras right now. Uh, however, for the rest of the classes, I do I would appreciate it if you try to turn on your cameras. Uh, just so the participation can be a little bit more uh a little bit easier. Okay. All right. But for now, it's just a introduction. So, we're just going to uh get started like this. Give me one second and then I will present this right here. There we go. All right. Good. All right. So, let's look at over here. We're just going to look at some uh little details about the uh about the actual test. Okay. So, let me go over here. Let's go to the next one. There we go. All right. So, first and foremost, and even if there have been people here that uh that have taken the test already, it's still important to know a couple of details. Okay, first off, what is the TOEFL IBT, right? The meaning of TOEFL, in case you weren't aware, is this right here, test of English as a foreign language, right? And the IBT is basically the type of test that majority of people tend to take, me included, right? IBT is basically internetbased test, right? There's two versions of this. We're going to look at some details about it in a second. Uh but yeah, this tends to be the most common uh for most people because even though there are like other types of tests or test to test um a lot of I don't know universities or just to get in um just to be able to like travel to another country, a lot of people just ask for this one in particular. That's why it's the most popular one, right? But there are other types. For example, the ITP, which is the institutional testing program, the PBT, paperbased test. The name kind of says it all. It's not on the internet. It's on it's on paper. And then there's the essentials, which as far as I'm aware is basically one where um you're just focusing on certain types of skills, right? The four main skills, which is reading, listening, writing, and speaking. But the essentials only focuses on like perhaps two or perhaps just one of those, right? Because there are some institutions that want you to like be proficient at at least one specific skill and as long as you're able to prove that then you just take the essentials, right? All right. So those are some details about general details about it. Uh, of course the people who administer this entire thing is the ETSs, right? This is a website that I generally recommend you to look at at some point. Uh because not only because this that is where you will have to go if uh once you want to uh schedule your own test one day, but also because it has some very very important information over there, right? for example, uh things to take into consideration before the test, what you are supposed to bring, what you're not supposed to bring, uh the the way that they're going to check you, right, before you enter to the test. Okay? All of those things are right there on the website, right? It's called.org in case anybody was wondering. Okay, great. Now, let me ask you this. Uh has anybody here ever taken the Tohold test before? You can uh raise your hands. Nobody. All right. In that case, then everything is going to be uh brand new for you, right? So, it's important that I mention you the options that you have. Uh yes, Janine, I think you raise your hand. Yes. Hi, good evening. Uh could you repeat please? Yes. Could you repeat please? Okay. Yes. The question before was uh is if anyone here has ever taken the test before the TOEFL test. Ah okay. No my case. All right. Good. Thank you very much. All right. Good. In that case then everything that I'm going to tell you here is is brand new. Right. Perhaps you've seen some basic information here and there. Uh, honestly, YouTube has a lot of information about it as well. So, I honestly recommend you to check that out as well, aside from everything that I'm going to explain over here. Right. So, let's continue. Uh, here we go. All right. So, first off, the format in which this works, right? The TOEFL IBT is like this. I was mentioning this before a a little bit ago. It's always going to focus on the four main skills, right? When you're learning any language, they always anybody will um if you if you want to prove that you are proficient at the language, then you are supposed to prove that you are good at these specific four skills, right? Reading, listening, speaking and also writing, right? So the TOEFL is also formatted this way, right? It's always going to be organized the same way. You begin with this skill, then the next one, then the next one, the next one. And as you can see over here, these the this is the basic uh very very basic uh way that this works. On the reading sections, you have 20 questions, listening 28, speaking only four questions, and then on the writing only two questions, right? And there's of course different time limits for both of them, for all of them, sorry. Okay. And that means that the whole test lasts around 2 hours, right? If you're able to finish a little bit before, then that's fine. It depends. it's it's uh pretty much on you. Uh but around 2 hours, right? There are no breaks in between. I think at some point there used to be breaks or I think that was perhaps just for the paperbased test as far as I know, right? I don't know all the details about that, but there are no breaks on this uh on the actual TOEFL test. Okay. So, it's just 2 hours uh without stopping. And then as you can see, it is divided like this 30 points each. That means that you can get a grand total of 120 out of 120 points. Right? Now, let me tell you this already. This is very important. Okay? Technically, you cannot fail the test. Right? This is not the type of test where if you don't get a specific score, then you have failed the test, right? This uh the TOEFL IBT is there to prove how uh how well you know the language. All right? and all of the four skills. That's it. Now, the way that maybe you can think you didn't uh pass the test, quote unquote, is if perhaps you have um a score requirement and you weren't able to achieve it, right? But that's an entirely different thing. Um so, let me remind you this, you technically cannot fail the test. This is not that type of test. It's just to show it's just for you to know how well uh you really know the language. Okay, it's all right. So up to here there are no questions, right? All right, let's continue. All right. So since over here we're going to focus on the TOEFL IBT which once again it is the uh inter internetbased test. There are two options that you have, okay? And it's entirely on you which one you prefer. But let me tell you some pros and some cons for both of them just so you can uh make a better decision. Okay. All right. So, we have two options. The first one is the home edition, right? And then there's the test center. And as you can see, we have some pros and some cons. Let's look at the pros first. For the home edition, for example, there are fewer distractions. Why is that? Because like it says it says it in the name, right? You are in your own house, in your own home. You can take the test directly in your home. All you need is a laptop, good connection to to the internet and a nice space where you can take the test. That's it. Nothing else. Might be more comfortable for the same reason. You are in your own house. You decide where you want to take it. Whether it's the study room or in another place where you know it's it's nice and quiet or something like that, right? And lastly, there are more dates and times available. Okay? Why? Because since you take the test directly in your in your own home, in your own houses, then uh you choose what time and what day works better for you, right? If you believe that it works better to take the test at 5:00 uh on a on a Saturday, then you can choose that, right? So you can choose wherever uh whenever you want to take the test. All right. Now let's look at some cons about the home edition. Right. First up before we go to the test center. First more risky. Why? Because remember I just told you you are supposed to make sure that your internet works well during the entire test for the whole two hours. Right? If something were to happen, uh, if it happens before the test begins, then that's fine, right? You can work with the, uh, with a person that's going to be checking on you. Uh, you can work with them and tell them, "There's something wrong with my internet right now. Can we reschedu?" Right? And in most cases, they're going to tell you, "Okay, that's fine." But if it happens during the test, then I honestly uh am not aware of all uh of what is the procedure about it, right? But you are the one that has to make sure that everything works fine. That's why it can be a little bit more risky because let's say that for whatever reason your internet cuts off, right? You are not, as far as I know, you won't be allowed to uh to continue taking the test. Okay? But that's as far as I know. I don't know if it's actually like that. Right. What else? There's more restrictions. For example, remaining visible at all times. You will have to turn on your camera. Uh you have to have a camera in case your uh your laptop or your computer doesn't have one. And of course, you have to keep quiet. And this can be a con at least for me personally because uh for example I am the type of person that when I am reading I need to at least whisper it to myself uh just to make sure that I am understanding what I'm reading right now. I know I don't know if any of you are like that but that works better for me. I need to do that while I'm reading otherwise I cannot focus. But on this type of test, that would not work for me, right? Cuz I need to get I need to stay quiet at all times. And of course, you also have to remain visible at all times. Your camera has to be turned on if something happens to the camera. Again, you are the one that has to make sure that everything is working properly, right? And lastly, it is harder to take notes. Now, why is this? because uh they're not going to let you take notes on regular paper, right? It is one out of two options. You either get a whiteboard and just so you understand what I'm saying, let me go over here. Right? You either get a whiteboard, one of these, and of course some markers, right? Some water-based markers. And that is the only place where you can take the your notes. Right? That's it. You take the notes and then you go to the next question. Then you erase it. Then you take notes once again. And it can be a little bit harder because if the space is too small and perhaps you won't be able to take enough notes or something like that, right? So this is one option. Or the other option if you just want to make uh one yourself, then there's these um something like that. I forgot what they're called. Okay, there's these uh protective sheets, right, for paper and you put this uh you use this and then um you basically use a regular marker as well. Okay, that's also another option that you have whichever but it needs to be this type of surface the type of surface that you can erase. Okay, so those are the two options that you have to take notes. You can't take your notes uh in a in regular in a regular notebook. Okay. All right. Let me go back over here. Uh where is it? There we go. Okay. So, that's why it can be a little that's why a lot of people consider it um a con. Okay. All right. Now, let's go to the test center. Let's see some pros and cons about it, right? In general, it's a lot safer, right? Because the test center means that you go to another place, right? Like an institution. Some in some cases it can be like a English institution or a school, right? In my country, for example, we I had those options. It was either at an institution or a school. And I am not the one that has to take care of of the internet connection or anything like that. the people at the test center are the ones that have to make sure that everything works. Okay. Okay. So, if something were to happen in the middle of the test, then you can raise your hands, you can tell them, you can let them know and then they have to work something out. Okay? So, that's why it's a lot safer in that sense. And of course, you can't take notes on normal paper. They are the ones that will give you paper, right? uh like like three or perhaps four uh sheets of paper and you can take your notes directly there, right? So you don't need like a whiteboard or anything like that. Now, what are some cons about the test center? First off, more distractions, right? Because remember, if uh in a test center, you're not going to be the only one that takes the test, right? Very unlikely for that to happen. You will take it with other people, right? even if there's a limit like I think there's a limit I don't know if this works everywhere but over here I'm pretty sure there was a limit of 15 people um but even with that they don't sit you like far away from each other and that's actually what I thought when I took the test right I thought that perhaps I was going to be sitting here then one empty space and then right over there all the way over there another person right it wasn't like that I had two people right next to me on both sides. Okay. So that's why it can be very distracting because even if you are there, even if you have your headphones, they are not really noiseancelling headphones. Okay? You will be able to hear people next to you, right? Or if you're like me, if you get easily distracted and um you can even get distracted with the people coming in and out from the from the room. Okay? And I was directly in front of it, so it was even worse. Okay. So, it can be very very uh it it has a lot more distractions to take it in a test center, right? What else? There's fewer data available. That means you cannot choose when you want to take it. Right? In my case, in my country, when I took the test, I only had two options. It was either take it on um Wednesday morning or on Saturday in the mornings. I I believe as well. That's it. Those were the only days available uh each month. Okay. And they also tell you the time, right? You cannot choose the time. They tell you that it it will begin at this hour and then it will end uh or it will Yes, it will begin at this hour and that's it, right? You cannot choose the time. So that's why there are fewer dates available. And again it depends a lot on where you live, how many places are uh allowed uh to become test centers, right? So it depends a lot on the place. And lastly, you cannot pick the time you take the test. Same thing I was telling you telling you before. Uh it is whatever the website says. You cannot choose anything um in that regard. Okay. All right. Right. So these are some very important things to take into consideration. Uh once you are making your decision, right, whether you prefer the home edition or the test center, if you want to take the home edition, uh please make sure to check some there are a lot of videos about this, right? videos that tell you how you have to prepare uh what you should take into consideration because another thing that I forgot to mention on the home edition. You cannot have people in your house or if there are people in your house at the very least they should not enter in your room while you are taking the test. Like not at all. That is not allowed for the home edition version. Okay. amongst other things that I'm not going to uh get too much into right now. Uh but yeah, whichever version you decide to you decide to take, just make sure to check um uh check so for some more information about it. Okay, these are just the basics about. All right, any question about this part? All right, no, it's okay. All right, thank you. Let's start the page teacher. All right, thank you. All right, good. So, let's continue then. Let me officially introduce myself. I kind of did it on the WhatsApp group, but not entirely. All right. So, uh my name is uh Carlos. You can see over here. I am a linguistics major and I pretty much focused before on the uh teaching ESL. Okay. I have over two years of experience like that uh with that, sorry. And yeah uh like you can see over here this is the score I got on the first time I took the total test right I took it as you can see over here uh last year on 2024 and I got 102 out of 120 right it was my first time taking a test um so I think it's still a decent score okay now the details about it and also uh to is necessary to mention to also h mention a couple of very very important things. First off, as you can see, the one my weakest point was on the reading. But why is that? Because I as perhaps a lot of people tend to do when uh when they practice by themselves because I I prepare every I I prepare everything uh by myself. I did not had like a like an extra class or anything like that. Um, but like a lot of people tend to do, they focus and they worry a lot for these last two uh sections of the test, the speaking and the writing, right? And especially I feel like a lot of people tend to worry about the speaking and it's for a good reason. I'm not saying that you shouldn't, but it's definitely not the only one that you should uh worry about. Okay. But yes, I focus a lot on practicing for the speaking and also for the writing. And as you can see, it helped. Uh I don't I don't regret overpreparing for this. I think it was necessary. But it's still important that you remember this. Okay? Don't think that one of them is more important than the other. All of them are. Right? You have to prove yourself on all of them. I know that perhaps some of you maybe have a specific score uh requirements that maybe needs set to be focused more on the speaking or on the writing but even then I still believe that it is it is important to um to worry a lot for the other two. Okay. Now, as for the reading section, and this goes again with the whole uh with one of the biggest cons about taking the test in a test center. Like I told you, I was right in front of a door, right? And people don't always arrive on time, sadly. Okay. So when I uh while I was starting a test, while I was trying to read the article that I had to read to uh to understand um to understand the reading section, to understand the questions and everything else, I could see and I could hear people coming in and out, right? And even worse on the back, they are supposed to record you um just so you can like I forgot what this is called, but they give you like a sort of script, right? and uh where you state that uh what is your name? Um um the date that you're taking the test and they also m um make you say that you will not reveal any of the content that you see here on the test uh in any other place, right? They make you record that and I could hear that and I get distracted easily. Again, I s I I said this before and basically that's why I could not get a decent score, right? I knew I had to focus, but I simply couldn't. There were too many distractions and I was definitely not prepared for the amount of distractions that were around. Okay? So, please take that into consideration. If possible, once you try to practice for by yourself, then try to do it with the structures just so you can get accustomed to it. Okay. But yeah, that is pretty much the reasons of why I did not get like the best score on the reading section, right? But still 102 is definitely not bad. Uh with scores over 100, as far as I know, you you can get into very high-end universities like Harbor for example, right? That's all right. So this is me. This is um uh this is who is going to help you on these specific course. Okay. Uh once again, nice to meet everybody. But now I want to know a little bit more about you. Right? So this is what you I want you to do right now. I want you to share a little bit about yourselves like your name, your city, what do you do if you're still studying or perhaps if you already if you already have a job. But I I specifically want you to or yes, I want to hear these two answers, right? All right. Over here, why are you taking the TOEFL IBT? Very important. And also, if you have a specific score requirements, if you don't, then that's fine, right? Not everyone has it. Some people just want to take a test to add it to their uh uh to their resumes and that's it, right? But these are the two that I'm most uh that I want to know about the most. Right? So, let's get to know each other a little bit. Let me my list over here and I'll just go by order from the list I have over here. Right. Uh let's begin with Ariana. Hi. Hello. Can you um can you introduce yourself please? Okay. Uh I'm Ariana. I'm from Bolivia. Uh I taking the to uh for university and I need uh Um 70 score. Okay. 70 points. Uh yes. Okay. Good. All right. Thank you very much, Adriana. All right. So 70. Uh that would be like a B1 B2 around B1 B2, right? Good. Uh completely achievable. So we're going to try to get to that score, right? Thank you very much again. Uh let's continue with Fabio. Uh yes. Um can you hear me? Well, yes. Yes. Mhm. Uh okay. To introduce me, my name is Fabio Pin Alvarado. I live in Lima in Peru. And in this case, I'm taking the the exam because it's a requirement that I need for my university. To be more specific, I need as a minimum uh 87 points to to use for it. Okay. Great. All right. Thank you very much, Fabio. All right. 87. That's very very specific. Yeah, usually people try to round it up or like a lot a lot of institutions try to round it up. Uh but it is very specific, right? Good. Thank you very much for all right. Let's continue over here. Uh Janine. Yes. Hi everybody. My name is Janine. I'm from Santa Claus, Bolivia. But uh actually I am living in Florida, United States. I I am taking taking these classes because I need to improve my English in all of H areas areas. H and I need to take that that to it is a a specific test the Dualingo test. So I need to to take this and my score is 105 minimum. Okay. All right. That's a very very high score. That's uh that's already reaching C1 C2 level. Right. Yes. For the university. All right. Yes. Uh some universities u decide to have that type of high score. Again it depends a lot on where it is since in this case it's probably in United States like you mentioned. then yes it makes sense to have that type of score. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Let's continue with uh lady. Um hello I'm Joanna Alvarez and according with all of you I am the only one that belongs to Colombia and I am teacher but in this case I am focusing transition preade and according with my job I had to take the debts and I need yes or yes to get between all the abilities or actually I think that is better C1. Okay. Right. So yes, that would be a kind of an high-end score in that case. Right. Good. Good. Thank you very much uh lady. All right. So let's continue with uh Marco. Hello. Good afternoon. My name is I am from Susia and I am planning to take the total test in about two months since I want to apply to some master degrees in Germany that are offered in English and they require less 90 points but I would love to get over 100. Right. Great. Thank you very much Malcolm. All right. So yes, even if you have um a score requirement, even if um even if it's like 80 or 90 or something like that, in most cases, the higher the better, right? All right. Good. Thank you very much, Marco. All right, let's continue with uh Maria Renee. Hi, teacher. Good. Good evening. Um I am Maria Rene Ramirez. I live in Laaz, Bolivia. I'm a I am a lawyer and for three years I was I was learning English at EPI uh of Sa and uh last uh month I took my final test and I filed it and I need uh improve my writing, my listening and reading. Uh because the score the the score is uh 70 for pass. All right. Great. Thank you very much. All right. Great. Then yes. Uh perhaps some of you know what are the specific skills in which you are you know that you are lacking a little bit. Uh if that's the case then um then we may uh try to focus on specific skills depending on if this if it's a skill that a lot of you want to focus on but that will depend a lot also on the on the time okay all right but we will try to uh practice as much as possible right and for that of course I also require your participation whenever necessary right good thank you uh thank you very much my dear let's continue with uh Mika. Hi, my name is Mika. I am from Bolivia. Right now, I am studying for my final exam of the career of physical therapy. I am taking the test just to certify my English, but I have plans to do a master or a course in United States. All right. Okay, great. All right, so you don't have a score requirement, but once again, it's the same thing as before. Uh the higher the better. If you already have um if you only if you're only taking the test to add it to your resume, then that means that you don't really have to like take it again, right? Uh it will depend if you're able to travel, of course, but you don't have to take it again um just to keep adding it to your resume, right? Unless you want to, of course, but let's not forget that this is also an investment, right? And is the type that everyone should take advantage of it. All right. Good. Thank you very much, Mika. All right. And lastly, uh, Nicole. Good evening. My name is Nicole. I'm from Ecuador. I studied international business and I'm taking the TOEFL to obtain a scholarship and for this I get more than 90 points. Okay, over 90 points. Okay, great. Thank you very much, Nicole. Again, all of the scores, even if they seem a little high, uh they're still very, very possible, right? All you need to do is uh well basically this course is going to help you to not get into the test blind, right? Because that's pretty much what I did. Well, in a sense uh since I prepare everything by myself, I knew only the basics on of how each task works, right? But that's it. I didn't um because I didn't have enough time. I wasn't able to check all of the little details or how to tackle specific questions and so on and so on. So, this course is going to help you in that sense, right? I will be telling you what to expect and how to tackle the specific questions, right? You'll understand once we get to it, but that's pretty much uh how I'm going to help you, right? And of course, the most important part for this is the feedback that I will make sure to provide you with, right? especially for the speaking and on the writing section. Okay. All right. Good. Thank you very much everybody. I don't think I missed uh anyone. Believe. Yeah, I don't think so. All right. Great. So once again uh very nice to meet all of you uh for the next class. Don't forget that I am here to answer any questions. Uh I don't mind if you interrupt me in the middle of an explanation or anything like that. It's fine. I need to I I just want to make sure that everyone understands everything uh perfectly. Okay. So, don't hesitate to ask questions if you have them at at any point. All right. Right. All right. Let's continue over here. All right. Now, let's just look at some of the uh other details for this course. Right. First off, as you know, the classes are always going to be from Monday to Friday. And these uh depending on where you live uh these are the times, right? In my case, it begins at 9:00, right? And it ends at 10:00. I'm also from Bolivia. I don't think I mentioned that before. All right, good. But yes, it's always going to be from Monday to Friday unless something happens and then we may have to reschedule some classes. But, uh hopefully that's not uh that's not going to happen on this specific course, okay? But even if it did, I will make sure to let you know beforehand and then we can agree. We can have an agreement on when we can uh have the uh have the class that we missed. Okay. All right. Now, the way that this is going to work is kind of like this, right? This is the type of calendar that we're going to use, right? Uh on the first week, we're going to focus on the reading, right? A whole week just uh focus on that. Then on the second one, we're going to focus on the listening. And as you can see, the speaking is the one that takes a little bit more, right? It takes actually two weeks. Why? Because it tends to be once again the one that a lot of people uh want to perfect a little bit more. Okay? And also because it is necessary to practice as much as possible just so you get accustomed to the type of questions that you're supposed to answer, right? So because of that it is important to like have specific days only focus on practicing right aside from the days focus on understanding how the actual task works. Okay you understand once we get to it but yes we will focus a lot on the speaking uh for this course. And on the last week we have the writing which is uh again we have two specific questions. We will look at ways that you can uh that you have to answer this question. what you have to include in your answers and of course the feedback that I will provide you as to how to improve your writing. Okay. All right. Now these are the things that you will have access to right as part of this course. First off of course we will have a Google classroom. I don't think is um is available yet but once it is don't worry I will send uh the invitation link directly on the WhatsApp group okay but everything is going to be directly on the Google classroom okay um you will have also of course class recordings this class right now for example is being recorded and every single class is uploaded on YouTube right so you can check the recordings whenever you want if you miss a class for whatever reason then you can catch up using the recordings, right? All right. Then of course there's the initial and final simulations like um you already saw the the details about that on the WhatsApp group. Uh it is important to take the simulations mostly so we can uh mostly so I can have like a basic idea on if there is a specific skill that most people uh seem to be having trouble with then again we can try our best and focus a little bit more on that specific skill right if possible again it will depend a lot uh on the timing that we have and all of this of course we have it on the on the WhatsApp group chats if there are any If there's anything that I need to inform you about, everything is going to be directly on the WhatsApp uh group chat. Okay. Now, one of the most important things that you have is this specific website. Now, let me show you what this website is about. It's called Best My Test, right? Is this one over here. There we go. All right. So on the uh on the Google classroom you will find the credentials that you need to log in to to this website right and this is basically a place where you can practice for the toppel test right there's a lot of it for example if you go over here the toel practice then you will find that it is divided on all the four skills right reading listening speaking and writing right and let's say that you want to practice on the reading And you have different examples over here, right? There's a lot of examples that you can use. And all you need to do is click on them. Let's go over here for example, right? And once you click on them, it will show you this screen, right? You can choose two options. You can either go to test mode. If you go to test mode, then it's going to uh time you, okay? It's going to give you a timer like it says over here. you have you will read just one passage and you have 18 minutes to read the passage right and answer all the questions or you can just go to study mode and you don't have to worry about a time right you can take your time reading the paragraphs reading the question making your choice and then you check uh if you if you did good or not okay so this is pretty much how this works right again it is for all the skills uh I think this helps a lot especially for the reading and the listening Because on the speaking all you have is different questions that you have to answer in a specific way. But this will make more sense once we get to how you are supposed to answer these questions. Right? Same thing for the writing. Same thing for the writing. All right. Good. But there something that you can do now. Very important. Uh let me show you this. The cl Google classroom is going to look something like that. This is not the the one that you're going to use. This is another one. Okay. But just to give you the example, it's going to be something like this. All right, you have the link, then you have the username and the password. Okay, and very important uh unfortunately this website, the best my test website is the type of platform that tends to get uh oversaturated very easily. Okay, that means if a lot of people are in the website at the same time, then it tends to have a little a couple of issues. Okay, now the reason why I mentioned this is because on this website is where you are supposed to take the uh for simulation, right? And I've seen some cases in which people um they are taking the simulation, they're making a simulation, but um like for some reason it just cuts off or it doesn't give you their scores or in some case it doesn't go to the next uh task or something like that. Okay, again that happens because it tends to get oversaturated. If a lot of people are on at the same time, then yes, this is sadly bound to happen. Okay. For that reason, what I recommend you to do um if this if if this were to happen um or not, what you can do is the moment that you get your scores, right? Especially on the reading section, the moment you get your score, then take a picture of it, right? Just so just so you don't lose it, right? take a picture of the score that you get at the end and then you can send that on to the number that they send you. Okay? Uh same thing on the listening section, right? Same thing. You take a picture of the score and then they you send the the picture, right? Because like I told you, in some cases it doesn't give the score or in other cases it gives a score but then uh they click continue and then it disappears, right? So just so you have that um as uh as proof then I recommend you to take a picture of that. And of course for the speaking section like uh unless unless you didn't read the instructions already for the speaking section you are supposed to record yourselves right or the questions and you can just use directly the the the WhatsApp app for that. Okay. All right. But yeah, just those little details that I want to mention about this platform. Yes, it gets oversaturated and uh sadly everyone has the same username. You are supposed to use the to use the same username and password. So of course it happens quite a lot. Okay. In any case, if that were to happen, if you have some issues, let the coordinator know, right? Just so uh they can give you perhaps a little bit more time to send your your scores and everything else. Okay. All right. Good. Uh any other question about this? All right. In any case, this is a really good way to uh uh to start practicing with the for the toal test. Okay. Uh we will also practice on our classes uh whenever possible of course but on your own time whenever you have time. This is a good place to uh to improve your uh your knowledge about the test. Okay. All right. Good. Let me close this for now. All right. Great. Now, those are some very basic details about what the test is about. Now, let me show you in a general sense what are you going to encounter on the actual test. For that, I'm just going to use this right here. Going to be a little bit easier. All right. Good. All right. So, I was already showing you a little bit on how the um uh how the test is formatted, right? Remember, it's going to be organized in the same way that we saw before. First the reading, then the listening, then the speaking, and then lastly the writing section. Okay? So first off for the reading like you saw you have 36 minutes right but the way that you have to divide this is sort of like this you have two articles you will have to read two articles okay and for each article there are 10 questions that means there's a total of 20 right 10 questions each. Okay. Now, why do I mention this? Because since you have 36 minutes and two articles and 20 and 20 questions to complete, that means that you have to divide your time uh very very well on this one, right? Let me tell you this already. On the reading section, time is very very much against you. Okay? And I I don't only speak from experience. You're also going to see it. you're all going to experience it. Okay. All right. So, since you have two articles to read and 36 minutes, that means that the recommended amount of time to finish the first article and the first 10 questions should be 18 minutes or less. Honestly, less is a lot better. I would say even 17 minutes or less. Okay. very important to uh to have extra time, right? Because it's it's also something I recommend not just for this section, but also for the writing section. You should have at least one minute to be able to revise your answers, right? Make sure that you are okay with the selection that you made, right? You'll understand once we get to it. But yeah, I recommend to at least uh allow you to have one extra minute just so you can revise your answers, right? But this is how it's going to work, right? This is how uh we are supposed to divide it. Okay? 17 minutes or less for the first article and after that whatever time you have left, that's what you have for the second article. All right? Now for the listening, this one is very very different from the first one. On the reading, trust me, time is always against you. But on the listening, it is very very unlikely to run out of time. And I mean it very unlikely, right? Because uh over here it's also um I believe how many questions are there? I think it was 20. It's five questions. Six questions. All right. Yes. 28 questions. Yes. All right. There's 28 questions in total. They are divided in different ways. All right. The way that is going to work it is uh like this. You will have two conversations and three lectures. Right now, this word is very important and let me ask you, I need to make sure that you know, does anyone know what a lecture is? anyone? No. All right, that's fine. It's a presentation about an specific topic. Sorry, one second. It's an academic presentation about a specific topic. All right, great. Thank you very much, Marco. Right. So yes, that is a lecture, right? That is a lecture. It is a class from a university. In other words, right? When a professor is in front of a class in front of students and uh they begin explaining like a different a very specific topic, right? An academic topic in particular, right? That is a lecture. Don't confuse it, right, with the uh with a possible word. That could be lectura, right? that is not the same. Um, but yes, lecture that is what a lecture is. Now, it's important to know that because you will find this a lot during the whole test, right? On the listening, on the speaking, on the writing, you're going to see a lot of it. Okay, good. So, this how it's going to be divided. Two conversations and three lectures, 28 questions in total. But like I told you, it's very, very unlikely to run out of time. You don't have to worry about the timer on this one. At least not I don't think that you that you have to uh but very important you are not allowed to listen to the audios twice right you can only listen to them once and that's it that's why on this one in particular notes are very important right so it is important that you practice taking notes right note takingaking practice is a whole different thing it's something that you will have to do uh on your own, right? So that you will have to practice by yourselves. But it's very important that you get used to it, right? Why? Because you won't have enough time to take notes, especially when it's just audios, right? It's not like they're going to stop and they're going to let you take notes or or something like that, right? No, you have to learn how to either shorten your words, how to use symbols, how to use numbers, how to make everything possible uh just so you can take notes faster. Okay? So, that's a different type of practice that you're going to have to do at some points. Okay? All right. But yeah, you can only listen to the conversations and lectures once. So, notes are going to help you a lot on this one. Okay? Now then we go to the speaking section and this is the part that a lot of people worry about me included right and the speaking section we only have four questions and that's it okay and it is divided in uh uh like this first we have an opinion on a topic right the name says it all pretty much you have a specific topic and then they ask you what do you believe? What do you prefer or do you think it is a good idea or is it a bad idea? Something like that. Okay. The biggest issue on this one is that you have to come up with everything by yourself on your own and under 15 seconds, right? They give you 15 seconds to prepare to prepare for your answer, right? how you want to begin, how you uh what idea you want to uh you want to add in your answer, they only give you 15 seconds to prepare and to provide the answer is 45 seconds. Okay, this even though it seems like a very very simple question, um unless you don't unless you know what exactly is supposed to be included in your answer, then it can be a little bit difficult. All right, but don't worry, I will tell you what exactly is supposed to be included in your answers. Right? So, don't worry. It's going to be a lot easier once we get to it. But a lot of people still consider this one very difficult because again, you have to come up with everything on your own, right? Everything. And that is very different from the other three questions. Why? Because the next three are called integrated questions by the way. But, uh, it is something like this. So first it is a summarize uh conversation sort of right summarize a conversation. Very similarly the next one is summarize a lecture not just a lecture an article and a lecture. Okay. And then the last one is simply summarize a lecture. Okay. Now, why do a lot of people consider this a little bit easier in a sense because you don't have to make stuff up like right on the spot. You will listen on this one, for example. You will listen, you will have a reading passage and then you will listen to a conversation and all you need to do is pretty much summarize what was said in the conversation. The information is already there. All you need is your notes and a little bit of your memory. That's it. Same thing applies for the other three. Okay, for the other two. That's why a lot of people consider it a little bit easier just in that sense. But of course, it still has its own things that you have to consider, right? As for the timings, we have 30 seconds to prepare, repair, and 1 minute to answer, right? 60 seconds basically. On the third one, same thing, same amount of time. And on the last one, also almost similar, but instead of 30 seconds, they give you 20 seconds, right? But the amount of time to provide the answer is still the same, 1 minute or 60 seconds. Okay, good. So, this is how the uh speaking section works. Okay. Uh it's not like other tests. I know in other types of tests they kind of ask you to have conversations with another person or something like that. Not in this case. All they're going to do is record your answer, right? And um that is pretty much what they're going to score you on. Okay? You don't have to speak to anybody on this specific section, right? And then lastly, we have the writing section which only has two questions. Okay? And it's divided like this. The first one is again we are back with the summaries. Summarize an article and a lecture. Very similar to what we just saw, but again it has its own little details that you have to take into consideration. Okay. But it's pretty much that you are supposed to summarize an article and a lecture. For this one, you have 20 minutes to write down your whole answer. Now, it may seem like a lot, but know this. The recommended amount of paragraphs that this answer should have is four. Four paragraphs at least. And it's going to be a lot easier to do this once you look at the templates. Okay, we will use we will practice using templates, of course, but yeah, this is the recommended. You should have four paragraphs at least, right? No less than that. And the last one is called writing for an academic discussion, right? And for this one, you have 10 minutes, right? This one's kind of similar to the opinion on a topic question over here. uh because again uh you will be asked what is your opinion on a specific question right and you just have to write down what you believe I believe this because of this this and this right something like that uh but again on an academic uh uh subject okay so this is pretty much how the test works right um again for the for this entire part especially for the speaking and writing there are some templates that we are going to use we're going to practice with those as well but I'm not uh I want to mention this already I'm not uh going to give you those templates uh because you have to use them right it's just so you understand what should be included in those uh in your answers okay if you want to change the templates then that's fine if you want to make your own template that's also okay I Just want to make sure that you know what has to be in your answers. What what is the specific content that should be included? Okay. All right. Good. All right. So, any questions about this so far? All right. Good. So, let me get out of here for now. There we go. All right. So, tomorrow we will begin with the uh reading section. So the tips I'm going to give you for that are pretty much timesaving tips because like I was telling you time is very very against you on this section and we need to find ways to uh to save as much time as possible. Some questions are very very uh easy to answer, right? And you're going to see which ones they are once we get to it. But there are some other questions, especially the last questions for each article that do need a little bit more time. So it's necessary, it is imperative that we try our best to save as much time as possible, right? Not just for those questions in particular, but also because we will need it uh you will need it to revise your own answers at the end. Okay? All right. So that's what we're going to do directly tomorrow. Okay. All right. So no more questions about anything else, right? All right. So h tomorrow we are we are going to practice reading. Yes pretty much I will uh the way it's going to work I will tell you what type of questions there are first of all and then we will look at examples about these uh these types of questions. Okay. Okay. Okay. body all of your you to h is for the practice test. Sure. Sorry once again. All this h you write and the the board is for our practice test uh for the simulation you mean? Yes. Uh, no. The simulation is a whole different thing that you have to do on your own. Okay. Okay. All right. I got it. All right. Good. All right. If there are no more questions, then we can end it right there. Uh, thank you once again everybody. And once again, welcome to the course. I am here to provide help whenever you need it. Okay. Right. All right. So, I'll see you guys tomorrow to uh start with the first part of the toble test. Right. All right. So, that's it. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye everyone. Take care and have a good rest of your evening. Right. Okay. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Take care. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Take care. I'll see you tomorrow.