Strategies to Take Instant Notes on TOEFL(iBT) Exam

Instant ideas & information gleaned from an irreversible system e.g.: examination & time are the efficient fuel to drive the system smartly & successfully.  TOEFL(iBT) exam can be excelled through the utilization of the given scratch papers by taking instant notes using the best use of time and sharp implication of strategies.

Concise Collection of Key Concepts  

The main points & key words are to be focused to be written down avoiding any full sentences. During listening the concise collection of the key concepts are to be noted down clearly & sequentially at a swift motion and keen attention. 

Utilization of Symbolic Signs    

Utilization of symbolic signs can aid to collect & sense the gleaned information faster. One can use any kind of sign which is easily recognizable and memorizable on the basis of appropriate meaning. Practices can make anyone excelled to imply these signs to utilize the time and obtaining a smart score. One can make his/her own signs according to their own style of practices.

Symbol	Meaning	Symbol	Meaning	Symbol	Meaning
@	at	&, +	and	∆	change
✓	good, correct, yes	X	bad, wrong, no	e.g.	example
=	is/are, same/agree/approx.	>	greater than, better than	<	smaller than, worse than
≠	is/are not, different / disagree	→	Forward, to	←	backward, from
?	question, confused	↑	increase, rise,	↓	decrease, fall,
w	with	bcs.	because	min/max	minimum/maximum
wo	without	S/std	student	P/prof	Professor
♀ (F)	female speaker	vs.	versus/against	B4	before
♂ (M)	male speaker	mpt	important	ftr	after
sp.	speaker	re.	regard/regarding	wrt.	with respect to

Maintain the uniform Motion

The uniform motion to move onward is to be maintained following every single second of the exam during taking notes. One should go with the flow of listening without waiting for noting anything heard in the previous minutes otherwise any kind of new or important information can be missed.

Use the instant spontaneity of instant ideas

• One should note the thoughts down on the basis of their own skill, style, and sense of instant spontaneity regarding the instant ideas. Whatever new comes to mind instantly to utilize information comprehensibly should be used to take note in the briefest way clearly.
• In case of the six speaking and two writing tasks, one should employ noting the practiced key points and captions (within the given short time) on the scratch paper to utilize them elaborately as the boost of memory during writing.

Making neat and clear note  

• A neat and clear note will help a lot when one will stop taking notes and answer questions after listening any audio clip or before starting to write any specific task or before starting to speak on anything stipulated.
• To decrypt one’s own handwriting from any note is important in such exam where time is a valuable asset for every moment.

Maintain the Sequence

• The sequence of any speech listened or any task given is to be maintained to answer the questions correctly utilizing the notes taken efficiently.
• The question numbers should be specified in the notes to find the definite answer immediately and to know which notes correspond to which questions on the exam.

Construct Columns / Charts / Lists

• In TOEFL exam during taking note, it is very important and effective to employ columns, charts, lists to make everything clear, specified, recognizable and comprehensible to answer without confusion from the note.
• Bullets or numbers are to be used to keep the sequence maintained in a process, points for or against something, solutions, examples, etc.
• In TOEFL there are multiple speakers (speaker 1, speaker 2 or professor and student) or sources of information in questions regarding the audio clips/lectures. It is suggested to draw a chart with two columns then. These columns can aid to summarize what different speakers discuss (e.g.: in audio clips) individually or what different resources (e.g.: in a reading passage and a lecture) discuss about.

Explore/Identify the important/crucial information

• It is wise to take only important notes concerning the stipulated time which is running onward.
• If anyone tries to take note of everything or each line one can hear and read on the test then he/she would lag behind and end up having a note which will miss many important remarks to use in answering.
• In case of any question containing audio clips, the topic of the conversation or lecture, important key points, terminologies, reasons, and examples are to be noted down by being carefully concerned. Moreover, individual speakers’ emotion, reaction, opinions, questions, and answer along with any kind of problems, solutions or suggestions mentioned have to be noted down clearly and carefully.

Note taking Language

• In light of the clarity and consistency, the primary note taking language should be English so that one will not need to translate anything noted in native language with a view to saving time.
• Of course, it is suggested to simplify anything complicated heard by utilizing the native language.

 

Right use of Scratch Paper

• The empty space on the scratch paper supplied on test day by the center should be used wisely so that one does not need to constantly flip to a new page or ask anyone for new pages to utilize every single second with efficacy.
• The notes should be neat and clean with a clear clarity.
• It is suggested to use numbers or bullets and start noting from the very top-left corner without keeping any space valuable space overlooked.
• One can maintain columns in a page to keep the sequence corrected so that he/she can utilize the note efficiently during answering questions.
• One can take notes throughout the entire test, using the paper provided by the test administrator. At the end of testing, all paper is collected and destroyed at the test center to ensure test security. It is suggested not to tear or remove part of any piece of scratch paper.
• The Test center will give the test taker scratch (blank) paper to use during the test.
• If anyone will run out of paper at any time, he/she may ask a staff member to give more.  

 

Practice to be Excelled 

The strategies and tips can be applied properly with efficacy if one can do proper and perpetual practice regularly to adept at taking important note at any instant incident briefly by effectively. Practices are the driving force for generating the fuel of success.  

TOEFL consists of 4 sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing in where one needs to take note significantly in the last three (Listening, Speaking and Writing) section mentioned. The instant ideas & information gleaned from the exam system of these sections should be strategically noted down on the papers with a view to utilizing them successfully and correctly to design the path of a smart score.