Some may be interested to know that publication of the three official TOEFL books has been pushed back again. Per Amazon, they will be published on April 24. The bundles still have an April 22 street date, but I suppose that will be changed.

In other book news:

  1. The 18th edition of Barron’s TOEFL will be released on April 2.
  2. The print publication of “English,” Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer prize winning depiction of a TOEFL classroom, has been pushed back to June 25.
  3. When I reduced the price of the Kindle version of my TOEFL writing book to a buck, sales increased ten-fold. But surprisingly, about half of the sales were of the print version, which had the same old price. Maybe this is a good tip for self-publishers. If you get some attention via a cheap ebook version, people who like the looks of the book will go ahead and get the paper version.
  4. I was hoping that some of the sales would result in reviews on Amazon. Sadly, only one more person wrote a review. So, if you like the book, it would be cool if you could take a moment to write a few words on Amazon.

Hey, so I’ve reduced the price of my TOEFL ebook to 99 cents on Amazon.  The book covers the TOEFL iBT writing section and contains some of the best practice questions and answers I’ve created over the years.  It also collects a bunch of the grammar articles that appeared on this blog before August of last year.  If that seems like the sort of the thing that might interest you, do pick up a copy on Amazon.  The book is no longer part of the Kindle Unlimited program, so even Prime members can buy a copy.  It is also available in paperback, but obviously that’s a bit more expensive.  Buying a copy will help me fulfill my dream of having the best-selling TOEFL book on Amazon, where I’m currently #6.

The Princeton Review is the first major publisher with a TOEFL book that matches the new format.  I ordered a copy for myself but, sadly, the new edition isn’t great.  It looks like the editors rushed the book to market and left the job of updating it half finished.

Practice questions for the new “Writing for Academic Discussion” question are present in the new edition.  It’s clear that the editors created them by sort of “upgrading” the old independent writing questions with the required discussion stuff.  That’s fine.  But, strangely, the sample responses have not been updated to match the new task format.  They are all independent essays… some more than 300 words.

Similarly, the “core concept” and “cracking the writing section” chapters still teach readers how to write four-paragraph independent essays.  They’ve even got a big ol’ independent essay template… but none of that is relevant any more.

The upside?  Well, the book still has some good skill building stuff that is relevant to the rest of the test.  There are now two practice tests instead of one, but that necessitated the creation of a new integrated writing task which isn’t very good.  At first listen, I thought that PR had included the wrong audio track, but eventually I figured out that the question was just poorly constructed.

Anyway.  I don’t recommend this one. Princeton Review issues a new edition every year so I’ll check in again in 2025.

If you desire to have a copy of the book, it is available via Amazon.

Here are a few words I scribbled down for LinkedIn the other day, re: Stanley Kaplan’s autobiography.

The book is short and needlessly self-congratulatory, but I do recommend it to people who want to know how prep schools for standardized tests came into existence.  Kaplan’s importance comes from his revolutionary idea that students could study for standardized tests like the SAT and MCAT…  and that studying could lead to significantly higher scores.  To the contemporary reader that sounds like common sense, but when Kaplan went into business in 1938 the College Board had already spent years claiming the opposite to be true.  They maintained that stance for decades as Kaplan’s business continued to grow. Curiously, both parents and educators bought into it. I’m not quite sure why, and Kaplan’s biography isn’t scholarly enough to suggest a reason. The College Board (and ETS) only softened their position in 1978 (!!) following an FTC investigation into standardized testing.

It’s important to note here that Kaplan REALLY liked tests and sincerely believed that they were a valuable part of the university admissions process.  He makes a pretty decent case for the argument that tests (especially in the 1940s and 50s) helped schools to identify students with the potential for greatness.  This contrasts with his competitors over at The Princeton Review who seem to have loathed the tests they helped students cram for.

Speaking of Princeton Review, there is a heckuva lot in here about Kaplan’s feud with those folks.  That seems to be a grudge he took all the way to the grave.

I admit that I flippantly use the phrase “Stanley Kaplan Syndrome” (coined by David Owen) to refer to test prep “experts” whose “yearning for legitimacy” gives them curious ideas about the value of their work beyond the test sitting.  I may scale back my usage of that term as Kaplan seems to have been a pretty decent dude.

A final note. When I am rich and go on a tour of famous sites in the history of testing, I will certainly pop into the former headquarters of Kaplan in Midtown Manhattan (which is still used by Kaplan, probably because they sold off the air rights to their neighbors).  But what I really want to do is find the location of the first Kaplan school.  It was apparently somewhere near the King’s Highway Subway Station in New York.  If anyone here has an address for it, please let me know. I can excerpt the pages in the book that describe it.

The new official TOEFL books have now had their release dates (per Amazon) pushed back to February again. As a value-minded consumer, I might just wait for the three-book bundle, which has an April release date.

Meanwhile, I recently wrote a review of “IELTS 17.” It’s great that people preparing for the IELTS have seventeen different test collections to study from (though they ought to focus on numbers 6 and above as they more closely match the current version of the test).

One nice feature of the IELTS books is that readers can download necessary audio files simply by scanning the QR codes found throughout the book. Readers don’t need to input a limited-use download code to get the files. This means that people who get the books from their local library don’t have a problem accessing the audio.

In contrast, the audio accompanying the official TOEFL books can only be accessed via a limited-use download code. As a result, they aren’t as useful for library users as they could be.

So a real grab bag in the “You Should Read More” column this  month.  That means it was a good reading month for me… but maybe not a great month for you if you are looking for stuff perfectly suited for TOEFL prep.  In any case, let’s get right to it…

  • First up, I will remind you of the two book reviews I wrote this month. First up, check out my review of the new edition of TOEFL Essential Words.  The book remains a great resource for TOEFL prep, though the new edition has a bunch of errors in its description of the shorter TOEFL test.  Whoops.  Also, it seems to only be available as an ebook right now.  Next up, I reviewed IELTS 17.  Obviously the IELTS is a totally different test, but the articles used in the reading section are great practice if you want to read academic content.
  • Next, I read the September/October 2023 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact.  As always, you won’t be able to read any of its content unless you have a subscription, but I will mention that the issue’s “Guest Editorial” by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Brian Gifford about sacrificing privacy to increase safety inspired the creation of a specific TOEFL academic discussion question for a client.   And a poem called “Object Permanence” by Marissa Lingen inspired the creation of a speaking question about, uh, object permanence. 
  • Later, I finally pulled Stanley Kaplan’s autobiography Test Pilot off my shelf.  If you are into the history of standardized testing in the USA and/or the history of preparation for standardized testing, this one is worth finding.  Here’s what I wrote on Goodreads: “A very short book, but interesting if you are into the history of standardized testing in the USA. You’ll read about Kaplan’s founding, its tussles with ETS and the Princeton Review, and about the sale of the company to the fine folks over at the Washington Post. I wish Kaplan had written more about his interactions with ETS regarding the SAT, as that is still pretty relevant to today’s world.”
  • Following along (but still behind) with the Norton Library Podcast, I read Oedipus the King.  I don’t recommend it, but I mention it here because I enjoy posting updates about this read-along.
  • Finally, I read the September 2023 issue of History Today.  I liked Jane Eyre Goes to the Theatre, about an unauthorized theatrical production of the famous novel that launched shortly after the publication of the famous novel.  Back in the day, it seems, anyone could do anything they wanted with someone else’s intellectual property. Also worth checking out is Signs of the Zodiac: The Dendera Dating Controversy, about the discovery of the Dendera Zodiac in Egypt and its arrival in Paris.  

That’s all for this month, but check back in about 30 days for fresh recommendations.  Keep studying.

I was doing some IELTS tutoring earlier this week and I figured it would be fun to write a “review” of one of the numbered IELTS practice test books.  This is, I guess, a review of “IELTS 17” but it could be used as a review of any of the books… they are all pretty much the same (but new editions more closely match the current style of the test).

Any review must begin by thanking Cambridge for cranking out one of these books every year. Thanks to these books, people preparing for the IELTS have a ton of material to work with. The books keep pace with changes to the test, even though those changes are pretty minor.  As of the writing of this review, there are 18 such books.

Each book contains:

  1. A short introduction that describes the format of the test and how it is scored.
  2. Four practice tests with audio provided via QR codes
  3. Transcripts of the audio portions.
  4. Answer keys.
  5. Sample answer sheets
  6. Sample essays

There is also a single use code that will grant you access to a “resource bank” online that mostly duplicates the stuff available via the QR codes.

Speaking of the QR codes, it pleases me greatly that Cambridge provides access to the necessary audio without a limited-use code. That means that library patrons and second-hand shoppers can use the books. That compares favorably to the most recent official TOEFL prep material. Those books are useless for library patrons as the audio files can only be downloaded four times.

My only quibble is that the books are pretty expensive considering their slim size.

A few notes for teachers and students:

  1. There are 18 editions of this book as of the writing of this review. Each edition has different tests.
  2. Editions 13 and above are generally considered to be the most accurate books, as they match slight changes to the end of the listening section.
  3. That said, editions 6-12 are pretty darn close to the real test.
  4. Editions 1-5 should be avoided as they are quite out of date.

The eighth edition of “TOEFL Essential Words” by Steven J. Matthiesen was published a few days ago.  So far it is only available as an ebook, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that a printed version will be provided soon.  Note that previous editions of the book were published as “Essential Words for the TOEFL.”

This remains one of my favorite TOEFL books. While it focuses on just a small slice of one’s preparation for the TOEFL it handles that slice very well.  

So what does it contain?

After providing a brief overview of the TOEFL Test, a detailed overview of the TOEFL reading section, and a few notes about “improving your TOEFL Vocabulary,” the book gets to what people really want – words.  Thirty lessons worth of words, to be exact.

Each lesson consists of:

  • About 17 words
  • Dictionary-style definitions of each word
  • A synonym quiz
  • 10 TOEFL vocabulary questions featuring the words
  • An answer key

This is great.  You can use the above to learn about 500 words that might appear in the reading section of the TOEFL.  This makes the book a valuable part of a healthy TOEFL study plan.

A decent (but not perfect) reading practice test is provided at the very end of the book.  It consists of three articles with 13 questions (all types, not just vocabulary) for each.

Curious about the “difficulty level” of the words?  Here is a list of five words chosen via a random number generator:

  • Elicit
  • Partisan
  • Aggravating
  • Exceptional
  • Selective

Note that the words seem to be pretty much the same as those contained in the seventh edition of the book.  I spent a decent amount of time checking the editions side by side, but didn’t notice any differences.  I am sure some edits were made in the preparation of this edition, but I didn’t spot any.  That is a bit of a let down, as every previous edition of this book contained a decent amount of revisions.

That brings me to the bad part of this review. As most readers know, the TOEFL iBT Test was shortened this year. Chapter 1 of this book was revised to reflect these changes… but the revision was done poorly. The chapter incorrectly states the amount of time given to complete the reading section, the number of listening passages, and the amount of time given to complete the writing section.  It also incorrectly states the amount of time given to prepare for the speaking tasks.  Since this appears to be the only stuff actually revised in this edition, I’m a bit disappointed. This doesn’t take away from the value of the actual content people will study, so it isn’t a big deal… but someone should have done better.

It is worth mentioning that the book also attempts to explain the specifics of the TOEFL ITP, which is a whole different test that I suspect most readers will have no interest in.  For the sake of coherence, that content should probably be shuffled off to a separate chapter, where it can be easily ignored.

Your three official TOEFL books have had their release dates adjusted (and harmonized). All three now have release dates of January 12, per Amazon. Cover images are available now too. However, Amazon might not be the most reliable source of this information, of course. Does anyone from ETS want to confirm that January 12 is the actual release date?

Curiously, the listed page count for each is longer than the current editions. That’s weird, since the test is shorter than before and the number of included tests remains the same as before.

Meanwhile, Princeton Review has a book scheduled for February.  Barron’s has a book scheduled for April.

I just noticed that Amazon now has The Official Guide to the TOEFL (Seventh edition) available for pre-order!  The product listing indicates that it will ship on January 5, 2024.  It also indicates that the book has been updated to match the new version of the test.  Moreover, there are listings for Official TOEFL Tests  Volume 1 and Volume 2.  Both have shipping dates of March 22, 2024.

Meanwhile, Princeton Review has a new TOEFL book with a shipping date of February 6, 2024.  Barron’s has a new TOEFL book coming April 2, 2024.  Barron’s also has an updated version of their venerable TOEFL vocabulary book with an on-sale date of November 7 of 2023, but curiously only a Kindle version is listed (no paperback).

I just heard back from Collins that the new TOEFL books they published in June are not fully updated to match the current version of the test.  They still reflect the old 3.5 hour version of the test.  That’s unfortunate, as the Collins TOEFL books are generally really good.  It is also unfortunate for Collins that their publishing schedule couldn’t be delayed somehow to allow for revisions. 

I might still buy one or two of the books as I’m always interested to see what the big publishers are up to.  

If you want to go shopping for them on Amazon, you can start here.  Collins is usually pretty accurate when it comes to practice questions, so I’m sure they are still a valuable study resource.

I stumbled across a copy of the fifth edition of Rawdon Wyatt’s “Check Your English Vocabulary for the TOEFL” today.  This isn’t a particularly popular book, but it does come up now and then when I talk to students.

It must be said that this is barely a TOEFL book.  The TOEFL is referenced in the title and mentioned in the introduction to the book, but otherwise this is just a general vocabulary workbook.  It contains 50 chapters of fill-in-the-blank activities, crossword puzzles and other skill building things.  The vocabulary presented in the book is certainly useful, but it isn’t particularly focused on the TOEFL in any way.  Nor will you find any activities or questions that resemble what you’ll find on the TOEFL (like you will find in the TOEFL vocabulary book published by Barron’s).  It isn’t even focused on the sort of peculiar academic vocabulary one finds on the TOEFL.  Keep that in mind if you plan to use this as a self-study resource or a teaching tool.  This is fine as a vocabulary book, but it is about as useful as any old vocabulary book when it comes to TOEFL prep.  It isn’t any better than, say, “English Vocabulary in Use” or any other good vocabulary resource from a reputable publisher.

Note for teachers: this book is perfect if you are looking for photocopiables and your boss wants you to draw from something with “TOEFL” in the title.

You can get a copy from Amazon.