Notefull Speaking Strategies

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NOTEFULL LISTENING STRATEGIES

GENERAL STRATEGIES

1. Intonation: Neutral, Surprised, Doubtful 2. Use shortcuts for notes:

 Abbreviate key words, use symbols:  “+” and

 “w” with  “w/o” without  “o” or

 “=” is, are, means, refers to, is called  “

≠

” not, not the same

 “@” about, approximately  “X” example

 “>” more, larger  “<” less, smaller

 “ → ” result in , cause, produces, therefore  “

←

” comes from, derives from

3. Improve your concentration: learn to say “NO” when you start to panic 4. Listen for ideas: no need to recognize each individual word

5. Pay attention to blackboards, NOT photographs of people in an academic setting

6. Listen for verbal signals to pay attention: Now this is important…, The point is…, Remember that…, The basic concept is…, The issue is…

7. Take careful notes when you hear repetition and restatement: Let me say that again…, Let me repeat that…, I mean…, To say that another way…, In other words…

8. Intonation: Neutral, Surprised, Doubtful 9. Use shortcuts for notes:

 Abbreviate key words, use symbols:  “+” and

 “w” with  “w/o” without  “o” or

 “=” is, are, means, refers to, is called  “ ≠ ” not, not the same

 “@” about, approximately  “X” example

 “>” more, larger  “<” less, smaller

 “

→

” result in , cause, produces, therefore  “ ← ” comes from, derives from

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11. Make sure to study with colored pens 12. Step by step (don’t jump)

13. Patient with your progress because it’s the fastest way to crack iBT 14. Don’t study when frustrated

15. Regular breaks: take 5-15 minute break every 45-55 minutes

16. Only spend 1 minute for reading title and 1st_{sentences of every paragraphs (subject, verb, object)} 17. Only spend 6 minute 20 seconds: answer Question 1-5 and 6-10 (per 1 minute 16 seconds)

18. Only spend 6 minute 20 seconds: answer Question 11-14 (per 1 minute 35 seconds) 19. Repeat the strategies while practicing

20. Tips for expanding vocabulary:

 Write down every word (praise) that you don’t know in a reading and master 7 of those words every day. To push your score ahead faster, focus on 14 words a day

 Try to vocabulary system of Notefull 21. Tips for getting faster reading speed:

 Use National Geographic magazine or any Scientific American magazine  Need a stopwatch and set for 1 minute

 Read the article as much as fast & try to understand

 Count the number of lines you read and write it down on your notebook (For example 12 lines)  Twice as much information (24 lines) until you do

 Twice as much information (48 lines) until you do  Twice as much information (96 lines) until you do  Do this exercise every single day before studying

 Read with your eyes and your brain: put pencil in your mouth while reading  Peripheral vision: don’t let your eyes to stop, skim fluently. Line by line  To avoid reread: move forward, not backward on the screen

22. Tips for building better comprehension:

 Read any book that you interest and read consistently every day for 30-60 min  Underline subject, verb, and object for at least 10-20 min (1 paragraph)

 Rewrite sentences in your own words (1 paragraph)  Write only 1 sentence to summarize a paragraph  Write only 1 sentence to summarize a passage QUESTION TYPES AND STRATEGIES

1. Vocabulary Strategy

 Identity: What does this word mean?  If you know the word:

Choose the answer or answers that match the meaning best

Read sentence with the highlighted vocabulary to double check the meaning  If you don’t know the word:

Read the sentence with the word and guess what its meaning could be Choose the answer that fits this meaning (if more than one works, guess fast)

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 Shouldn’t spend a lot of time on this question 2. Detail Strategy

 Identity: They often begin with “according to paragraph” and have a WH question  Read the question to understand what information you are being asked to find  Identify the key words in the question to search for in the reading

 Start reading quickly from the beginning of the paragraph in search of the key words or synonyms of them

 When you find the key word, remind yourself of the question and read carefully to find the answer for yourself. 60% of the answers will be found in the sentence with your key words. 30% will require you to read 1 sentence more. 10% will require you to read 2 sentences more to find the answer  Once you have identified the answer, check the answer choices and choose the one that matches your

anticipated answer best 3. Negative Detail Strategy

 Identity: Question with the words NOT or EXCEPT

 Read the question to understand what information you are being asked to find  Identify the key words in the question to search for in the reading

 When you find the key word, read the sentence and check the answer choices to determine which you can eliminate. Continue to do this for each answer choice until you can determine that one is wrong or not mentioned and choose that answer

4. Inference Strategy

 Identity: Question with the words infer or imply

 Read the question to understand what information you are being asked to find  Identify the key words in the question to search for in the reading

 When you find the key word, remind yourself of the question and read carefully to find the answer for yourself. Ask yourself, what does this imply that must be true? 60% of the answers will be found in the sentence with your key words. 30% will require you to read 1 sentence more. 10% will require you to read 2 sentences more to find the answer

 Once you have identified the answer, check the answer choices and choose the one that matches your anticipated answer best

 If you don’t find the answer right away, keep asking yourself: what must be true from this sentence that isn’t stated directly

5. Pronoun Strategy

 Identity: The word … (pronoun) in paragraph refers to…  Determine whether the pronoun is singular or plural

 Identify all of the nouns in the sentence before the pronoun that match in number (singular or plural)

 Choose the one that fits the meaning of the sentence best  Find that noun among your answer choice and choose it 6. Plug-in Strategy

 Identity: Look at the four squares…

 Read the sentence carefully to identify what it’s saying and the key words within it  Read the paragraph and find the sentence that contains key words from the plug-in.

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For example, if you have the key word apples in your sentence. You read the passage searching for apples. You find it between the answer choices A and B and nowhere else. You know your sentence belongs in A or B

 Use pronouns in your plug-in sentence to determine where your sentence belongs

 If that’s not enough. Identify words such as however, consequently, therefore, etc. to determine whether your sentence continues the idea or begins the idea.

Continuing our apple example. If you see apples between A and B in the paragraph, and your plug-in sentence begplug-ins with consequently. You’re answer choice should be B because it is concludplug-ing the idea of apples and not starting it

 Finally, read through the paragraph with your answer in place and double check that it makes sense 7. Paraphrase Strategy

 Identity: Information in a highlighted sentence

 Read the main independent clause and nothing else. Understand the subject, verb, and object. Break the sentence down piece by piece. They usually use complex sentences with many parts--adjective clauses, adverb clauses, and so on. Don’t read the whole highlighted sentence and then try to choose the answer. It’s the best way to become confused

 Read through the answer choices and eliminate any answer that does not state this information exactly

 Read the next clause in the highlighted sentence carefully

 Read through the answer choices and eliminate any answer that does not state this information exactly

 Continue this process until only one answer is left 8. Purpose Strategy

 Identity: Why author/passage mentions or states a word, phrase, or sentence in the reading  Read the question to understand what you’re being asked

 Identify the key words

 Read the appropriate paragraph and find those key words or synonyms of them

 Read the sentence and understand that the purpose of the statement in the question was to explain the content of that sentence

For example, the question will ask, “Why does the author mention apples?” You look for apples in the reading. Find it and then read the sentence before and say to yourself, “the reason the author mentioned apples was to explain the content in this sentence before.”

 Look for any adverbs that will help you to identify the relationship between your key words and the content before it

Continuing our example with apples. If between the two sentences, we have the adverb “however.” The purpose of the author’s words was to contrast the information in the sentence before

 Now, choose an answer choice that reflects the information in the sentence before 9. Summary Strategy

 Identity: Last question

 First, review the structure of the reading on your own. Explain to yourself how it is organized to remind you of the important information

 Read the question carefully and see if the sentence in bold gives you a clue as to what the answer choices might be

If it states something about 3 theories, it’s easy to know that you must choose 3 answer choices among the 6 that describe 3 theories mentioned in the reading

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 Scan through the reading until you find the key words or synonyms of them and read the sentences they are found in

 Determine whether that answer choice is a summary, detail, or wrong answer

If an answer choice is a summary, the answer choice restates information found within the topic sentence of the paragraph, the first sentence. That’s a good choice

If the answer choice deals with a sentence that is not the first, it is a detail. It is therefore not a good choice. You must choose answers that summarize important points in the passage and not just minor points mentioned in one sentence that is not the topic sentence

If the answer choice describes content that is not found in the reading or is wrong according to the reading, of course, eliminate it

 After your analysis, you should be left with 3 summary answer choices. They will be your answer  If you are left with 4 summary answer choices, read the sentence in bold in the question and

eliminate the answer choice that doesn’t directly deal with the topic sentence

 If you are left with 2 summary answer choices and 2 detail answer choices, read the sentence in bold in the question and eliminate one of the detail answer choices that deals with the topic sentence least  ANOTHER type of summary question is incredibly rare

 Read an answer choice and identify the key words  Find the key words or synonyms of them in the reading

 Read the sentence with your key word and determine what topic it belongs to  Match that answer choice to the appropriate topic