Interview with a TOEFL Teacher from China!

Here's my interview with Martin Chan, who teaches TOEFL in China. We touched on the popularity of the test in that country, why scores there are increasing so quickly, how people feel about the revised test, and how ETS and New Oriental are classic "frenemies." Enjoy!
Here's how to reach Martin:
Wechat: Martin_Chan / 18215695763
email: [e-mail]

[@holynadahjl]

Really enjoyed the interview :) Thanks you guys! I've always thought the TPO just copied pasted ETS content illegally with a camera and AI since there are so many typos, transcript errors, and missing/damaged audiofiles... hmm!

[@Toeflresources]

Perhaps you got the TPOs from some source other than an official licensee. Are you a student of New Oriental? :)

[@dhy0526]

Hello, thank you for always awesome information about toefl, I loved your a lot of materials in Toefl Resources website. Actually I have a question,I was wondering if I could still see the previously Writing Independent Essay Samples in Toefl Resources website. Could I still use those?

[@Toeflresources]

The essays are all still online, but I removed the index. I guess you could get them via the wayback machine: web.archive.org/web/20230308134429/www.toeflresources.com/sample-toefl-essays/

[@dhy0526]

@@Toeflresources Thank you so much🥹

[@OmarAbdullah-v5x]

Hey Michael, as usual such an awesome interview😊. Could U plz give the names of the hack books that could be used to memorize vocab the one that U talked about in Ur previous interview? and thanx a lot for everything❤.

[@Toeflresources]

"Hackers Vocabulary." But, of course, that is a Korean book. :)

[@OmarAbdullah-v5x]

@@Toeflresources Is it on the internet?

[@Toeflresources]

@@OmarAbdullah-v5x no

[@OmarAbdullah-v5x]

@@Toeflresources So, there's no chance of getting it?

[@Toeflresources]

You can probably buy it on Amazon,@@OmarAbdullah-v5x . Just keep in mind that it is a Korean book. Much of it is in Korean.

[@muratbatmaz]

Great interview, Michael. Any chance you could provide a link to the article that lists the performance of test takers in different countries? I'd love to read it.

[@Toeflresources]

Click and scroll to "Test and Score Data Summary": www.ets.org/toefl/teachers-advisors-agents/ibt/scores.html

[@redhammer9273]

28:23 What is this website, and can i use a temporary sms Chinese cell phone number ?

[@Toeflresources]

It is "New Oriental." You can certainly try.

[@КсенияМихайлова-з4х]

Hello, Michael. Although it is not directly realted to this video, but I'd like to point out a detail about the length of the exam, which I personally found a bit surprising. I checked the TOEFL bulletin and found out that R, S, W parts are actually a minute shorter than I thought: Reading - 35 min; Listening - 36 min; Speaking - 16 min; Writing - 29 min. I think you might be interested as you seem to pay careful attention to details.

[@Toeflresources]

Yeah. I noticed that. Basically, ETS lists the "average amount of time" students spend working on each section. This means that while the integrated writing task is 20 minutes and the academic discussion task is 10 minutes, they say the section is 29 minutes because some people don't use all of the alloted time. That's annoying. They also don't include the time it takes to read the article and listen to the lecture. That is also annoying.

[@briansun6336]

I am thinking about becoming a tutor for TOEFL and IELTS. I haven’t taken TOEFL before but got kinda interested by the class discussion writing module recently. Now my KZbin feed is all TOEFL…….. I personally took IELTS 4 times in the past years for different reasons. I tried a TOEFL practice test once for fun once. My feel is completely the opposite from most people. I think IELTS is the harder one. TOEFL is easier in all four sections, especially the listening and writing sections. TOEFL is like natural science, once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t get harder. IELTS is like social science, easy at first, gets more difficult half way, and becomes impossible close to the end.

[@Toeflresources]

Good luck to you! Test prep is a fun field to work in. Let me know if you have any questions. In my opinion, IELTS is much easier for speaking, but much harder for writing. People in East Asia often struggle with the TOEFL's speaking section most of all (as has been discussed in both of my interviews to date) so they might like the IELTS.

[@ronn-qo4lu]

Hi Michael, do you have any coupon in TOEFL Test? I found your website and try all the code, and I don't get any valid one :(

[@Toeflresources]

Just what I have listed here: www.toeflresources.com/blog/toefl-promotion-code-30-discount/ If you cycle through all of them, you might find one that works. SOCL20 and FB20 seem to be the best bets.

[@Dhaifallah-]

Hi Michael ..Could you recommend to me a platform that offers a preparation courses for the TOFEL IBT test ,provide that i can get in touch with the teachers.. My level is advance The duration of the course between 3_5month it's okay ..

[@Toeflresources]

I can recommend courses. I can recommend teachers. But I don't really know a service that has both. Maybe E2's TOEFL course?

[@Dhaifallah-]

@@Toeflresources yeah ,I mean there are alot of platforms like magoosh and beatmytest ..I just want to prepare for the test because my English is not a very good ..

[@Toeflresources]

The best is probably TST Prep. E2 is pretty good as well. Don't use Magoosh or BestMyTest.

[@hangsu9207]

today I finally completed my TOEFL exam. Right now I only know my reading score is 30 and my Listening score is 29 your website is really excellent and I love using your website to improve my English. I kind of want to ask you will that score be the final? and you know, I've written some texts that criticize my government, will my score be affected by the criticism? besides, I am a Chinese and I used your temple in my writing and my speaking. please, I really want you to answer my questions, Thanks😍😘

[@Toeflresources]

Those scores are final. Technically they COULD change.... but they never do. Your answers will not be read by anyone in China. All scoring is done in the USA. Don't worry about that! Please let me know when your final scores come in. Those R and L scores are certainly impressive.

[@hangsu9207]

@@Toeflresources Thanks, actually I learn TOEFL all by myself and I haven't go aboard even once. I mainly use TPOs and have watched a lot of documentaries and I will tell you my final score

[@hangsu9207]

more than hundreds of documentaries mainly from Curiosity Stream and KZbin

[@OmarAbdullah-v5x]

@@hangsu9207 Hey! Your scores in both the reading and the listening section are really really good🤩. Congrats on Ur accomplishment🤗. Plz, could You tell me how did you prepare for the TOEFL, and how long did take u to do so?(Cuz Um about to take the TOEFL, and Um kinda preparing on my own).

[@hangsu9207]

I read a lot of manga in English, so many that I cannot count, and I watch the news every day also in English. And a lot of documentaries. I also play games on Switch and Play Station, of course in English too. I've doing those things for almost a decade.@@OmarAbdullah-v5x

[@MohammedAqar]

I just wanted to ask you how to score 4/4 in the speaking section in TOEFL GO app? I mean what's their grading rubric?

[@Toeflresources]

That is unknown.

[@veryagavilikilaneh4402]

why you broadcast this interview?

[@Toeflresources]

Because it is fun and interesting. :)