I took the TOEFL exam this March and I got 86. 86 is not a superb score obviously, but it's above the average, so I think my advice may be somewhat helpful.
1.Time
Frankly speaking, I had two-months length for my TOEFL exam preparation, but I didn't get much ready about it. I spent most of my time doing other stuff instead of studying on TOEFL. So I think the first thing that you want to get a high mark in the TOEFL exam, is you need to have some English basis. The more English skill you have acquired, the shorter preparation time you need. If you have a solid English basis, usually you need 2-3 months, if not, you need at least 4-6 months.
2. Speaking section
Speaking any other languages rather than your mother tongue is hard, so does English. So dedicate yourself into speaking English as much as you can, whenever and wherever. Besides, you can download some English practice softwares aim at the TOEFL speaking section. They are really good products and you can improve your spoken English in a short period by pratising.
3. Reading section
Obviously, reading as much English materials as you can may be the only way to improve your English reading skills. My suggestion is read 1-2 English article(s) per day. These English articles had better have around 700 words, which means they had better have word numbers like the TOEFL reading materials do. As for the reading topics, the wider, the better. ( because the TOEFL reading materials really cover a wide range of topics) Astronomy, botany, archeology, zoology and biology etc.
Also, speed when you read, because you actually only have 20 minutes in finishing reading each reading material and answering all the following questions during the TOEFL exam.
3. Listening section
You might as well download some listening practice softwares also, like what I have suggested you above in part 2. "Practice makes perfect" is an old saying without any doubt. Listen to stuff in English as much as possible. You can download some radio apps to your cellphone like VOA or BBC, so you can listen to English wherever you are. Take notes when listening, and then check up how much you have written correctly after finishing listening.
4.Writing section
The writing section of the TOEFL exam is made of two parts: integrated writing and independent writing. Pay attention to listening content because most of the content of integrated writing are based on what you hear. Store a bunch of topics and make enough preparation for independent writing. I again suggest you read as much English articles as possible, because the more you read, the more topics then you
can write about, naturally. Note that you have to take care of your wiring speed when you take exam- you have 20 mins for integrated writing and 30 mins for independent writing. 30 minutes is really tight for independent writing, so don't slack.
How To Crack TOEFL iBT Tips.pdf [276.71 KiB]
