Three ways to find your lessons
All three lead into the same forty-five lessons. Choose whichever question you can answer most confidently: when you sit the test, where you stand today, or neither, in which case a person will work it out with you.
Plan around my test date
A week, a fortnight, or a month and up. Each track drops whatever will not fit the run-up you have left, so the lessons you do get through are the ones that still move the score.
Choose by timePlan around my current band
Complete beginner, band 3 to 4.5, or band 5 and above. What is worth studying at band 2 is not what is worth studying at band 5, so each track is weighted differently.
Choose by levelChoose by the time you have
The shorter the run-up, the more it matters what you leave out. Each track below is a different answer to that, drawn from the same forty-five lessons.
Test within a week
Twelve lessons that stop you losing marks you already know how to win. No new technique at this point: what each section actually contains, where the clock really goes, and the traps that catch students who knew the answer. If your test is days away this is the only track worth opening.
- 1StartStart hereReadingFree
How TOEFL Reading Works in 2026
TOEFL Reading 2026 is 30 minutes and 50 items across two adaptive modules. Learn the three task types, the five question types and how bands are set.
- 2StartLesson 2ListeningFree
How TOEFL Listening Works in 2026
TOEFL Listening 2026 is 29 minutes and 47 items across two adaptive modules. The four task types, how routing works, and what test day actually feels like.
- 3StartLesson 3WritingFree
How TOEFL Writing Works in 2026
TOEFL Writing 2026 is 23 minutes and 12 items: ten Build a Sentence, one email and one academic discussion. The format, the timers and how the band is set.
- 4StartLesson 4SpeakingFree
How TOEFL Speaking Works in 2026
TOEFL Speaking 2026 is eight minutes and eleven items: seven Listen and Repeat sentences plus a four-question interview at 45 seconds each, with no prep.
- 5StartLesson 5ReadingAny paid plan
Pacing: 30 Minutes Across Two Modules
TOEFL Reading gives you 30 minutes for 50 items across two modules. A per-task time budget, the checkpoints that catch you falling behind, and what to drop.
- 6StartLesson 6ListeningAny paid plan
Pacing and Focus Across 29 Minutes
You cannot speed up the audio, so TOEFL Listening pacing is about decision speed. A minute-by-minute plan for 47 items across two adaptive modules.
- 7StartLesson 7WritingAny paid plan
Pacing: Splitting 23 Minutes Across Three Tasks
TOEFL Writing is 23 minutes across three separate timers. A minute-by-minute plan for Build a Sentence, the email and the discussion, plus how to catch up.
- 8StartLesson 8SpeakingAny paid plan
Microphone, Room and Recording Setup
A recording nobody can hear scores like one that was never made. How to set up your microphone, room and volume so TOEFL Speaking answers are captured.
- 9StartLesson 9ReadingAny paid plan
The Traps That Cost Most Students Points
Distractors in TOEFL Reading follow a small number of recipes. The nine traps that cost the most marks, how to spot each one, and the habits that help.
- 10StartLesson 10ListeningAny paid plan
Distractors and Why the Obvious Answer Is Often Wrong
Wrong options in TOEFL Listening are built from real words in the clip. The seven distractor families, then four clips designed to catch you out.
- 11StartLesson 11WritingAny paid plan
Why Good English Still Scores Badly
Fluent writers lose TOEFL Writing bands to avoidable traps: templates, vague requests, ignored classmates, copied prompts and cut-off sentences.
- 12StartLesson 12SpeakingAny paid plan
The Habits That Quietly Cap Your Speaking Band
Ten habits that hold strong English speakers a band below their level on TOEFL Speaking, why each is invisible from the inside, and the fix for each.
About fifteen days
The format and the scoring of all four sections, the task that carries the most marks in each, and the pacing lesson that keeps you from running out of time. Enough room to fix one real weakness per section without spreading yourself thin across all forty-five.
- 1StartStart hereReadingFree
How TOEFL Reading Works in 2026
TOEFL Reading 2026 is 30 minutes and 50 items across two adaptive modules. Learn the three task types, the five question types and how bands are set.
- 2StartLesson 2ReadingAny paid plan
How Reading Is Scored: Bands, Raw Points and Adaptive Routing
TOEFL Reading is scored from raw points, converted to a band from 1.0 to 6.0. How adaptive routing sets your ceiling and which items are cheapest to win.
- 3StartLesson 3ReadingAny paid plan
Complete the Words: The Letter-Completion Task
Complete the Words gives you a paragraph with word endings removed and ten blanks to type. How to read the stem, use context and avoid plural slips.
- 4StartLesson 4ReadingAny paid plan
The Academic Passage: Structure and Strategy
The TOEFL academic passage carries five questions across four or five paragraphs. The skim-then-answer routine, and where your reading time really goes.
- 5StartLesson 5ReadingAny paid plan
Pacing: 30 Minutes Across Two Modules
TOEFL Reading gives you 30 minutes for 50 items across two modules. A per-task time budget, the checkpoints that catch you falling behind, and what to drop.
- 6StartLesson 6ListeningFree
How TOEFL Listening Works in 2026
TOEFL Listening 2026 is 29 minutes and 47 items across two adaptive modules. The four task types, how routing works, and what test day actually feels like.
- 7StartLesson 7ListeningAny paid plan
How Listening Is Scored and Routed
How 47 TOEFL Listening items become a band from 1.0 to 6.0, what the 60 percent routing threshold does to your ceiling, and where half a band is won.
- 8StartLesson 8ListeningAny paid plan
Note-Taking That Actually Works
Most TOEFL listening notes are too long to be useful. What to write for each task type, a fifteen-symbol shorthand, and a page layout that answers questions.
- 9StartLesson 9ListeningAny paid plan
Academic Talks: Lectures Without the Panic
The academic talk carries more questions than any other TOEFL Listening clip. The four-question pattern, the signposts that predict them, three lectures.
- 10StartLesson 10ListeningAny paid plan
Pacing and Focus Across 29 Minutes
You cannot speed up the audio, so TOEFL Listening pacing is about decision speed. A minute-by-minute plan for 47 items across two adaptive modules.
- 11StartLesson 11WritingFree
How TOEFL Writing Works in 2026
TOEFL Writing 2026 is 23 minutes and 12 items: ten Build a Sentence, one email and one academic discussion. The format, the timers and how the band is set.
- 12StartLesson 12WritingAny paid plan
How Writing Is Scored: The Rubric in Plain English
What separates a 3 from a 4 and a 4 from a 5 on TOEFL Writing. The 0 to 5 band descriptors for the email and discussion tasks, decoded with real examples.
- 13StartLesson 13WritingAny paid plan
Build a Sentence: All 10 Items, Every Pattern
Build a Sentence is 10 items and a third of your TOEFL Writing band. The recurring grammar patterns, why some items have two right answers, and 15 drills.
- 14StartLesson 14WritingAny paid plan
Academic Discussion: The Structure That Scores
The TOEFL academic discussion is 5 points in about ten minutes. The four-move structure that reaches band 5, with model posts at bands 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- 15StartLesson 15WritingAny paid plan
Pacing: Splitting 23 Minutes Across Three Tasks
TOEFL Writing is 23 minutes across three separate timers. A minute-by-minute plan for Build a Sentence, the email and the discussion, plus how to catch up.
- 16StartLesson 16SpeakingFree
How TOEFL Speaking Works in 2026
TOEFL Speaking 2026 is eight minutes and eleven items: seven Listen and Repeat sentences plus a four-question interview at 45 seconds each, with no prep.
- 17StartLesson 17SpeakingAny paid plan
How Speaking Is Scored: What Raters Listen For
TOEFL Speaking scoring in 2026: 55 raw points across 7 Listen and Repeat items and 4 interview answers, what raters listen for, and what separates 4 from 5.
- 18StartLesson 18SpeakingAny paid plan
Listen and Repeat: The Core Technique
The TOEFL Listen and Repeat task gives you seven sentences, each played once. The chunking technique that holds a long sentence and delivers it as speech.
- 19StartLesson 19SpeakingAny paid plan
Take an Interview: A Framework for 45 Seconds
A structure for TOEFL interview answers that works with zero preparation: what to say in the first three seconds, and how to fill 45 seconds cleanly.
A month or more
Every lesson, in the order the course is built to be worked: each section from format, through scoring, through every task type, finishing on pacing and traps. Pick this one if you are aiming above band 5 rather than clearing a cut-off.
- 1StartStart hereReadingFree
How TOEFL Reading Works in 2026
TOEFL Reading 2026 is 30 minutes and 50 items across two adaptive modules. Learn the three task types, the five question types and how bands are set.
- 2StartLesson 2ReadingAny paid plan
How Reading Is Scored: Bands, Raw Points and Adaptive Routing
TOEFL Reading is scored from raw points, converted to a band from 1.0 to 6.0. How adaptive routing sets your ceiling and which items are cheapest to win.
- 3StartLesson 3ReadingAny paid plan
Complete the Words: The Letter-Completion Task
Complete the Words gives you a paragraph with word endings removed and ten blanks to type. How to read the stem, use context and avoid plural slips.
- 4StartLesson 4ReadingAny paid plan
Read a Daily Life Text: Emails and Text Chains
Daily Life texts are campus emails, text chains and notices. Where the answer hides, why NOT questions catch strong readers, and how to clear one fast.
- 5StartLesson 5ReadingAny paid plan
The Academic Passage: Structure and Strategy
The TOEFL academic passage carries five questions across four or five paragraphs. The skim-then-answer routine, and where your reading time really goes.
- 6StartLesson 6ReadingAny paid plan
Factual Information Questions
Factual questions ask for something the passage states outright. The paraphrase rule, why trap options repeat passage wording, and how to handle NOT items.
- 7StartLesson 7ReadingAny paid plan
Vocabulary in Context Questions
Vocabulary questions highlight a word and ask its meaning in that sentence. The substitution test, and why the dictionary answer so often loses.
- 8StartLesson 8ReadingAny paid plan
Inference Questions
Inference questions ask what must be true given the passage. The one-step rule, why plausible options fail, and how to find the sentence behind each one.
- 9StartLesson 9ReadingAny paid plan
Paragraph Relationship Questions
These questions ask what a paragraph does, not what it says. The function-summary technique, the six relationship patterns, and why true options fail.
- 10StartLesson 10ReadingAny paid plan
Important Idea and Summary Questions
Important idea questions ask which option best expresses the main idea. The coverage test, why true details fail, and how to build the thesis quickly.
- 11StartLesson 11ReadingAny paid plan
Pacing: 30 Minutes Across Two Modules
TOEFL Reading gives you 30 minutes for 50 items across two modules. A per-task time budget, the checkpoints that catch you falling behind, and what to drop.
- 12StartLesson 12ReadingAny paid plan
The Traps That Cost Most Students Points
Distractors in TOEFL Reading follow a small number of recipes. The nine traps that cost the most marks, how to spot each one, and the habits that help.
- 13StartLesson 13ListeningFree
How TOEFL Listening Works in 2026
TOEFL Listening 2026 is 29 minutes and 47 items across two adaptive modules. The four task types, how routing works, and what test day actually feels like.
- 14StartLesson 14ListeningAny paid plan
How Listening Is Scored and Routed
How 47 TOEFL Listening items become a band from 1.0 to 6.0, what the 60 percent routing threshold does to your ceiling, and where half a band is won.
- 15StartLesson 15ListeningAny paid plan
Choose a Response: The Fast Reply Task
Choose a Response gives you one short line and four possible replies. The five speaker intents, the distractor patterns, and six real audio clips to practise.
- 16StartLesson 16ListeningAny paid plan
Announcements: Getting the Detail First Time
Announcements are the most predictable clips in TOEFL Listening and the cheapest points to win. The six information slots, plus four real audio clips.
- 17StartLesson 17ListeningAny paid plan
Conversations: Following Two Speakers
TOEFL conversation questions test relationships, not facts: who has the problem, who offers what, what happens next. The two-column method, on three clips.
- 18StartLesson 18ListeningAny paid plan
Academic Talks: Lectures Without the Panic
The academic talk carries more questions than any other TOEFL Listening clip. The four-question pattern, the signposts that predict them, three lectures.
- 19StartLesson 19ListeningAny paid plan
Note-Taking That Actually Works
Most TOEFL listening notes are too long to be useful. What to write for each task type, a fifteen-symbol shorthand, and a page layout that answers questions.
- 20StartLesson 20ListeningAny paid plan
Accents, Speed and Connected Speech
The audio is not too fast, it is connected. The reductions that cost the most marks, US and UK voices, and five clips with full transcripts to train on.
- 21StartLesson 21ListeningAny paid plan
Listening for Attitude, Purpose and Function
Why does the speaker say that? Learn to hear hedging, reluctance and concession, and answer TOEFL attitude and function questions on four practice clips.
- 22StartLesson 22ListeningAny paid plan
Pacing and Focus Across 29 Minutes
You cannot speed up the audio, so TOEFL Listening pacing is about decision speed. A minute-by-minute plan for 47 items across two adaptive modules.
- 23StartLesson 23ListeningAny paid plan
Distractors and Why the Obvious Answer Is Often Wrong
Wrong options in TOEFL Listening are built from real words in the clip. The seven distractor families, then four clips designed to catch you out.
- 24StartLesson 24WritingFree
How TOEFL Writing Works in 2026
TOEFL Writing 2026 is 23 minutes and 12 items: ten Build a Sentence, one email and one academic discussion. The format, the timers and how the band is set.
- 25StartLesson 25WritingAny paid plan
How Writing Is Scored: The Rubric in Plain English
What separates a 3 from a 4 and a 4 from a 5 on TOEFL Writing. The 0 to 5 band descriptors for the email and discussion tasks, decoded with real examples.
- 26StartLesson 26WritingAny paid plan
Build a Sentence: All 10 Items, Every Pattern
Build a Sentence is 10 items and a third of your TOEFL Writing band. The recurring grammar patterns, why some items have two right answers, and 15 drills.
- 27StartLesson 27WritingAny paid plan
Write an Email: The Structure That Scores
The TOEFL email task is 5 points in about seven minutes. The paragraph structure that covers every required point, plus model answers at bands 2 to 5.
- 28StartLesson 28WritingAny paid plan
Write an Email: Register, Tone and Politeness
TOEFL email tasks are not all written to a professor. How to read the recipient, pick the right register, and use the polite forms raters reward.
- 29StartLesson 29WritingAny paid plan
Academic Discussion: The Structure That Scores
The TOEFL academic discussion is 5 points in about ten minutes. The four-move structure that reaches band 5, with model posts at bands 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- 30StartLesson 30WritingAny paid plan
Academic Discussion: Engaging With the Other Students
Engaging with the two classmate posts separates band 4 from band 5 on the TOEFL discussion task. Six engagement moves, with examples and a full model.
- 31StartLesson 31WritingAny paid plan
The Grammar That Actually Moves Your Band
Not all grammar errors cost the same. Which mistakes block meaning and drop your TOEFL Writing band, which raters tolerate, and what lifts a 4 to a 5.
- 32StartLesson 32WritingAny paid plan
Vocabulary Range Without Sounding Forced
The TOEFL rubric asks for precise, well-chosen vocabulary, not rare words. What precision means, which upgrades raters reward, and which cost you marks.
- 33StartLesson 33WritingAny paid plan
Pacing: Splitting 23 Minutes Across Three Tasks
TOEFL Writing is 23 minutes across three separate timers. A minute-by-minute plan for Build a Sentence, the email and the discussion, plus how to catch up.
- 34StartLesson 34WritingAny paid plan
Why Good English Still Scores Badly
Fluent writers lose TOEFL Writing bands to avoidable traps: templates, vague requests, ignored classmates, copied prompts and cut-off sentences.
- 35StartLesson 35SpeakingFree
How TOEFL Speaking Works in 2026
TOEFL Speaking 2026 is eight minutes and eleven items: seven Listen and Repeat sentences plus a four-question interview at 45 seconds each, with no prep.
- 36StartLesson 36SpeakingAny paid plan
How Speaking Is Scored: What Raters Listen For
TOEFL Speaking scoring in 2026: 55 raw points across 7 Listen and Repeat items and 4 interview answers, what raters listen for, and what separates 4 from 5.
- 37StartLesson 37SpeakingAny paid plan
Listen and Repeat: The Core Technique
The TOEFL Listen and Repeat task gives you seven sentences, each played once. The chunking technique that holds a long sentence and delivers it as speech.
- 38StartLesson 38SpeakingAny paid plan
Listen and Repeat: Stress, Rhythm and Intonation
Word-perfect repetitions still score four out of five when delivery is flat. The sentence stress, weak forms, linking and intonation that reach the top.
- 39StartLesson 39SpeakingAny paid plan
Take an Interview: The Four-Question Progression
The four TOEFL interview questions climb in a fixed shape: personal recall, preference, agree or disagree, then policy. Know the shape, know what is coming.
- 40StartLesson 40SpeakingAny paid plan
Take an Interview: A Framework for 45 Seconds
A structure for TOEFL interview answers that works with zero preparation: what to say in the first three seconds, and how to fill 45 seconds cleanly.
- 41StartLesson 41SpeakingAny paid plan
Fluency, Pausing and Cutting Filler
Fluency on TOEFL Speaking is not speed. Which pauses are free, which cost you, and how to replace um and uh with markers that buy the same time.
- 42StartLesson 42SpeakingAny paid plan
Paraphrasing and Vocabulary Under Time Pressure
When the word will not come in a 45 second answer, going around it beats waiting for it. The paraphrase moves and the vocabulary range that actually scores.
- 43StartLesson 43SpeakingAny paid plan
Recovery Moves for When Your Mind Goes Blank
What to do when you freeze, mishear the question, or run out of content at second twenty five. Trained recovery moves for every TOEFL Speaking failure mode.
- 44StartLesson 44SpeakingAny paid plan
Microphone, Room and Recording Setup
A recording nobody can hear scores like one that was never made. How to set up your microphone, room and volume so TOEFL Speaking answers are captured.
- 45StartLesson 45SpeakingAny paid plan
The Habits That Quietly Cap Your Speaking Band
Ten habits that hold strong English speakers a band below their level on TOEFL Speaking, why each is invisible from the inside, and the fix for each.
Choose by where you are now
If you have a band score from a practice test, start here instead. What is worth studying at band 2 is not what is worth studying at band 5, and working the wrong one is how students put in weeks without moving.
Complete beginner
For anyone below band 2.5, or who has not sat a TOEFL test yet. What each section is, how it is marked, and the most approachable task in each: the places where a little technique converts into marks fastest. Nothing here assumes you have seen the format before.
- 1StartStart hereReadingFree
How TOEFL Reading Works in 2026
TOEFL Reading 2026 is 30 minutes and 50 items across two adaptive modules. Learn the three task types, the five question types and how bands are set.
- 2StartLesson 2ReadingAny paid plan
How Reading Is Scored: Bands, Raw Points and Adaptive Routing
TOEFL Reading is scored from raw points, converted to a band from 1.0 to 6.0. How adaptive routing sets your ceiling and which items are cheapest to win.
- 3StartLesson 3ReadingAny paid plan
Complete the Words: The Letter-Completion Task
Complete the Words gives you a paragraph with word endings removed and ten blanks to type. How to read the stem, use context and avoid plural slips.
- 4StartLesson 4ReadingAny paid plan
Read a Daily Life Text: Emails and Text Chains
Daily Life texts are campus emails, text chains and notices. Where the answer hides, why NOT questions catch strong readers, and how to clear one fast.
- 5StartLesson 5ListeningFree
How TOEFL Listening Works in 2026
TOEFL Listening 2026 is 29 minutes and 47 items across two adaptive modules. The four task types, how routing works, and what test day actually feels like.
- 6StartLesson 6ListeningAny paid plan
How Listening Is Scored and Routed
How 47 TOEFL Listening items become a band from 1.0 to 6.0, what the 60 percent routing threshold does to your ceiling, and where half a band is won.
- 7StartLesson 7ListeningAny paid plan
Choose a Response: The Fast Reply Task
Choose a Response gives you one short line and four possible replies. The five speaker intents, the distractor patterns, and six real audio clips to practise.
- 8StartLesson 8ListeningAny paid plan
Announcements: Getting the Detail First Time
Announcements are the most predictable clips in TOEFL Listening and the cheapest points to win. The six information slots, plus four real audio clips.
- 9StartLesson 9WritingFree
How TOEFL Writing Works in 2026
TOEFL Writing 2026 is 23 minutes and 12 items: ten Build a Sentence, one email and one academic discussion. The format, the timers and how the band is set.
- 10StartLesson 10WritingAny paid plan
How Writing Is Scored: The Rubric in Plain English
What separates a 3 from a 4 and a 4 from a 5 on TOEFL Writing. The 0 to 5 band descriptors for the email and discussion tasks, decoded with real examples.
- 11StartLesson 11WritingAny paid plan
Build a Sentence: All 10 Items, Every Pattern
Build a Sentence is 10 items and a third of your TOEFL Writing band. The recurring grammar patterns, why some items have two right answers, and 15 drills.
- 12StartLesson 12WritingAny paid plan
Write an Email: The Structure That Scores
The TOEFL email task is 5 points in about seven minutes. The paragraph structure that covers every required point, plus model answers at bands 2 to 5.
- 13StartLesson 13SpeakingFree
How TOEFL Speaking Works in 2026
TOEFL Speaking 2026 is eight minutes and eleven items: seven Listen and Repeat sentences plus a four-question interview at 45 seconds each, with no prep.
- 14StartLesson 14SpeakingAny paid plan
How Speaking Is Scored: What Raters Listen For
TOEFL Speaking scoring in 2026: 55 raw points across 7 Listen and Repeat items and 4 interview answers, what raters listen for, and what separates 4 from 5.
- 15StartLesson 15SpeakingAny paid plan
Microphone, Room and Recording Setup
A recording nobody can hear scores like one that was never made. How to set up your microphone, room and volume so TOEFL Speaking answers are captured.
- 16StartLesson 16SpeakingAny paid plan
Listen and Repeat: The Core Technique
The TOEFL Listen and Repeat task gives you seven sentences, each played once. The chunking technique that holds a long sentence and delivers it as speech.
Band 3 to 4.5
For students who know the format and have stopped improving. This is the band where marks go to question technique rather than to English, so the track is weighted towards the individual question types and the writing and speaking structures that raters actually reward.
- 1StartStart hereReadingFree
How TOEFL Reading Works in 2026
TOEFL Reading 2026 is 30 minutes and 50 items across two adaptive modules. Learn the three task types, the five question types and how bands are set.
- 2StartLesson 2ReadingAny paid plan
The Academic Passage: Structure and Strategy
The TOEFL academic passage carries five questions across four or five paragraphs. The skim-then-answer routine, and where your reading time really goes.
- 3StartLesson 3ReadingAny paid plan
Factual Information Questions
Factual questions ask for something the passage states outright. The paraphrase rule, why trap options repeat passage wording, and how to handle NOT items.
- 4StartLesson 4ReadingAny paid plan
Vocabulary in Context Questions
Vocabulary questions highlight a word and ask its meaning in that sentence. The substitution test, and why the dictionary answer so often loses.
- 5StartLesson 5ReadingAny paid plan
Inference Questions
Inference questions ask what must be true given the passage. The one-step rule, why plausible options fail, and how to find the sentence behind each one.
- 6StartLesson 6ListeningAny paid plan
Conversations: Following Two Speakers
TOEFL conversation questions test relationships, not facts: who has the problem, who offers what, what happens next. The two-column method, on three clips.
- 7StartLesson 7ListeningAny paid plan
Academic Talks: Lectures Without the Panic
The academic talk carries more questions than any other TOEFL Listening clip. The four-question pattern, the signposts that predict them, three lectures.
- 8StartLesson 8ListeningAny paid plan
Note-Taking That Actually Works
Most TOEFL listening notes are too long to be useful. What to write for each task type, a fifteen-symbol shorthand, and a page layout that answers questions.
- 9StartLesson 9WritingAny paid plan
Write an Email: Register, Tone and Politeness
TOEFL email tasks are not all written to a professor. How to read the recipient, pick the right register, and use the polite forms raters reward.
- 10StartLesson 10WritingAny paid plan
Academic Discussion: The Structure That Scores
The TOEFL academic discussion is 5 points in about ten minutes. The four-move structure that reaches band 5, with model posts at bands 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- 11StartLesson 11WritingAny paid plan
The Grammar That Actually Moves Your Band
Not all grammar errors cost the same. Which mistakes block meaning and drop your TOEFL Writing band, which raters tolerate, and what lifts a 4 to a 5.
- 12StartLesson 12SpeakingAny paid plan
Listen and Repeat: Stress, Rhythm and Intonation
Word-perfect repetitions still score four out of five when delivery is flat. The sentence stress, weak forms, linking and intonation that reach the top.
- 13StartLesson 13SpeakingAny paid plan
Take an Interview: The Four-Question Progression
The four TOEFL interview questions climb in a fixed shape: personal recall, preference, agree or disagree, then policy. Know the shape, know what is coming.
- 14StartLesson 14SpeakingAny paid plan
Take an Interview: A Framework for 45 Seconds
A structure for TOEFL interview answers that works with zero preparation: what to say in the first three seconds, and how to fill 45 seconds cleanly.
- 15StartLesson 15SpeakingAny paid plan
Fluency, Pausing and Cutting Filler
Fluency on TOEFL Speaking is not speed. Which pauses are free, which cost you, and how to replace um and uh with markers that buy the same time.
Band 5 and above
The lessons that separate a 5 from a 6: inference and paragraph-relationship questions in Reading, attitude and function in Listening, grammatical range in Writing, and the speaking habits that quietly cap a band however fluent you sound.
- 1StartStart hereSpeakingFree
How TOEFL Speaking Works in 2026
TOEFL Speaking 2026 is eight minutes and eleven items: seven Listen and Repeat sentences plus a four-question interview at 45 seconds each, with no prep.
- 2StartLesson 2SpeakingAny paid plan
How Speaking Is Scored: What Raters Listen For
TOEFL Speaking scoring in 2026: 55 raw points across 7 Listen and Repeat items and 4 interview answers, what raters listen for, and what separates 4 from 5.
- 3StartLesson 3ReadingAny paid plan
Inference Questions
Inference questions ask what must be true given the passage. The one-step rule, why plausible options fail, and how to find the sentence behind each one.
- 4StartLesson 4ReadingAny paid plan
Paragraph Relationship Questions
These questions ask what a paragraph does, not what it says. The function-summary technique, the six relationship patterns, and why true options fail.
- 5StartLesson 5ReadingAny paid plan
Important Idea and Summary Questions
Important idea questions ask which option best expresses the main idea. The coverage test, why true details fail, and how to build the thesis quickly.
- 6StartLesson 6ReadingAny paid plan
The Traps That Cost Most Students Points
Distractors in TOEFL Reading follow a small number of recipes. The nine traps that cost the most marks, how to spot each one, and the habits that help.
- 7StartLesson 7ListeningAny paid plan
Listening for Attitude, Purpose and Function
Why does the speaker say that? Learn to hear hedging, reluctance and concession, and answer TOEFL attitude and function questions on four practice clips.
- 8StartLesson 8ListeningAny paid plan
Accents, Speed and Connected Speech
The audio is not too fast, it is connected. The reductions that cost the most marks, US and UK voices, and five clips with full transcripts to train on.
- 9StartLesson 9ListeningAny paid plan
Distractors and Why the Obvious Answer Is Often Wrong
Wrong options in TOEFL Listening are built from real words in the clip. The seven distractor families, then four clips designed to catch you out.
- 10StartLesson 10WritingAny paid plan
The Grammar That Actually Moves Your Band
Not all grammar errors cost the same. Which mistakes block meaning and drop your TOEFL Writing band, which raters tolerate, and what lifts a 4 to a 5.
- 11StartLesson 11WritingAny paid plan
Vocabulary Range Without Sounding Forced
The TOEFL rubric asks for precise, well-chosen vocabulary, not rare words. What precision means, which upgrades raters reward, and which cost you marks.
- 12StartLesson 12WritingAny paid plan
Academic Discussion: Engaging With the Other Students
Engaging with the two classmate posts separates band 4 from band 5 on the TOEFL discussion task. Six engagement moves, with examples and a full model.
- 13StartLesson 13WritingAny paid plan
Why Good English Still Scores Badly
Fluent writers lose TOEFL Writing bands to avoidable traps: templates, vague requests, ignored classmates, copied prompts and cut-off sentences.
- 14StartLesson 14SpeakingAny paid plan
Paraphrasing and Vocabulary Under Time Pressure
When the word will not come in a 45 second answer, going around it beats waiting for it. The paraphrase moves and the vocabulary range that actually scores.
- 15StartLesson 15SpeakingAny paid plan
Recovery Moves for When Your Mind Goes Blank
What to do when you freeze, mishear the question, or run out of content at second twenty five. Trained recovery moves for every TOEFL Speaking failure mode.
- 16StartLesson 16SpeakingAny paid plan
Fluency, Pausing and Cutting Filler
Fluency on TOEFL Speaking is not speed. Which pauses are free, which cost you, and how to replace um and uh with markers that buy the same time.
- 17StartLesson 17SpeakingAny paid plan
The Habits That Quietly Cap Your Speaking Band
Ten habits that hold strong English speakers a band below their level on TOEFL Speaking, why each is invisible from the inside, and the fix for each.
Why these lessons and not the others
Short tracks protect marks, long tracks build them
The one-week track is almost entirely pacing and traps, and deliberately teaches no new technique. That is not a compromise: with days left, the marks actually available are the ones you are currently dropping on questions you could already answer, and those come back from knowing where the clock goes and which distractors are built to catch you. Technique needs repetition to stick, and repetition needs weeks.
Every track starts on a free lesson
Each of the four courses opens with a lesson that is free to read in full, and every track here begins on one of them. You can start any track, on any plan, without paying. The badge on each row says whether that lesson is free or needs a plan, so you can see what a track will cost you before you begin it rather than four lessons in.
The level tracks assume a score, the time tracks do not
Picking by level only works if the band you pick is the band you are actually on. Students guessing without a score usually guess high, and then the intermediate track spends its time on things they already know while the real weakness goes untouched. A timed practice test settles it in under two hours.
A track is not a schedule
This page decides what to study and in what order. It does not tell you how many hours a day to put in, when to sit your mock tests, or how to split a given week. That is a separate question with its own guide: the TOEFL study plan for 2026 covers the calendar side, including what three-month, one-month and two-week run-ups look like day to day.
What our own score data changed about these tracks
The ordering above is not editorial taste. It comes from two sources we can actually measure: the scored attempts sat on this site, and what students search for when they go looking for help. They disagree with each other, and that disagreement is the most useful thing here.
Across 49,273 scored attempts, the sections are not equally hard
Every submission that produced at least one section band, as at 5 September 2026:
| Section | Attempts scored | Average band | Weakest section for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | 15,145 | 5.04 | 0.4% |
| Reading | 19,244 | 4.48 | 1.8% |
| Writing | 19,685 | 3.17 | 27.2% |
| Speaking | 20,738 | 2.97 | 70.7% |
The last column is the sharper measure. Averages across different people say little, because a strong candidate lifts every section at once. So we took the 8,524 attempts where somebody sat two or more sections in one sitting and asked which section was that person’s own worst. Speaking was the answer 70.7% of the time and Writing 27.2%. Reading and Listening together accounted for 2.2%.
Students search for the section they are already best at
Monthly worldwide search volume, pulled from DataForSEO on 5 September 2026:
| What students search | Searches per month | Weakest section for |
|---|---|---|
| toefl reading practice | 6,600 | 1.8% |
| toefl speaking practice | 3,600 | 70.7% |
| toefl listening practice | 3,600 | 0.4% |
| toefl writing practice | 2,400 | 27.2% |
Reading attracts the most attention by a wide margin and is the weakest section for fewer than two students in a hundred. Writing attracts the least and is the weakest for more than one in four. Speaking, which holds back seven students in ten, draws a little over half the interest Reading does.
There is a plain reason for the gap. Reading practice feels like studying: there is a passage, there are options, you can mark yourself and see a number go up. Speaking means recording your own voice and hearing it back, and Writing means being marked on something you wrote, so both are easy to postpone in favour of another reading set. The preparation that feels most productive is often the preparation with the least left to win.
What that changed in the tracks above
Three things. Every track carries all four sections, because a student who self-selects will under-weight Speaking and Writing on their own. The two level tracks put Speaking and Writing lessons ahead of extra Reading question types once you are past the beginner stage, since that is where the marks sit for most people at band 3 and above. And the one-week track spends its twelve lessons on pacing and traps rather than technique, because with days left the recoverable marks are the ones being dropped on questions you can already answer.
What this data does not tell you
It describes the people who use this site, not every TOEFL candidate. They are self-selected, they skew towards students who are still preparing rather than ready, and the bands are from our grader rather than from ETS, so treat the absolute numbers as ours and the pattern between sections as the useful part. The search figures are Google Ads estimates, which group close variants together and are rounded. Your own weakest section is the only one that decides your plan, and one timed practice test will tell you which it is with more authority than any table on this page.
Common questions
What students ask before picking a track.
Within a track it helps, because the format and scoring lessons explain the vocabulary the task lessons then use. Skipping ahead to a task lesson works, but you will meet terms like routing, raw points and band conversion that the earlier lessons define.
The same forty-five lessons the four courses contain. A track is a selection and an order, not separate material, so a lesson you finish in one track shows as finished everywhere else, including on the course pages.
Switch tracks. Progress is stored against the lesson, not against the track, so anything you have already completed stays ticked when you open a different one and the shorter track simply shows fewer lessons left.
Complete beginner, unless your test is inside a fortnight, in which case the time-based track wins. If you would rather find out where you stand first, sit a full practice test and pick the level track that matches the band it gives you.
Yes. Every track opens on one of the four lessons that are free to read in full, and every other lesson shows its opening section before asking for a plan. The badge on each row tells you which is which before you click.
Not sure which track is yours?
Sit one full practice test. It takes under two hours, it is free, and it gives you the band score the level tracks are built around, along with the section that is costing you the most.
Take a free practice test