Total cost: 180 dollars plus VAT (Romania). The fee differs from country to country. Every two years you need to pay a certain amount to demonstrate that you can speak English proficiently. (That's really great). I took my driver's license in 2006. However, I have not been yet called by the police to tell me that I need to take the exam again.
Like Dana said, you have 3 options but really now choose TOEFL as it is the easiest.
Materials used
1) Official Guide to the New TOEFL iBT, edited by ETS
2) TOEFL iBT by Kaplan, includes a DVD with 4 tests
3) https://www.cnn.com/video/
4) www.euronews.net
In the Official Guide you get familiarized with the type of questions you might encounter on the exam. As you probably know, the test is divided into four parts: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. The books offers examples for every type of questions tested on the exam, practice sets for each section and finally a test. It is a useful book that you will need in order to score high on the test.
To be honest, I really liked the TOEFL iBT by Kaplan. The book has a lot of strategies in order to "BEAT" the TOEFL but don`t waste time reading those "valuable" tips. Instead, practice and I think that's the best piece of advice I can offer. The book has a present for you, a DVD with 4 full length tests, very similar to the one you will have on the "big day". I don't know if they borrowed the software from ETS but believe me it's quite the same. I was fortunate and Dana's cousin borrowed me her book but if you do not have her cousin around you, then purchase the book. Nonetheless, it is important to mention that you will not be assessed for the Speaking and Writing sections. You will only receive some samples in order for you to compare with your piece of writing.
Listen to Obama, listen to Gordon Brown, listen to Tiger Woods apologizing for being a playboy, the main idea is LISTEN. It is highly important in order for you to score high. You will find on CNN a wide range of topics (Politics, Entertainment, Tech, or Living) but make sure you practice at least half an hour every day. However, you will end up hating SUZUKI and Cathay Pacific
. Also, READD at least 4 or 5 articles every day. Tips
1) Bring a pen/pencil and paper with you if you take the exam in Romania because people here are deeply concerned about the environment. That's why, you will probably be offered no more that 3 papers and NO PEN OR PENCIL whatsoever.
2) You might as well encounter some technological failures and you will probably start the test 40 minutes later. Do not panic though.
3) Time yourself whenever you practice for the speaking sections because timing is essential.
4) Practice weird writing samples, you will find a lot of them at the end of the writing section in the Official Guide. Otherwise, you might be faced topic about a very introspective issue, such as happiness or love. As a person who likes numbers and studies finance this can be rather boring, but you need to adapt.
5) Always ask a second opinion especially for the Writing and Speaking sections.
6) I wrote approx. 350 words for the second writing task but if you can WRITE more.
7) USE templates like those proposed by Dana.
8) CONCENTRATE ,CONCENTRATE, and CONCENTRATE as during the test some people might SPEAK while you still LISTEN.
I scored 30/Reading, 30/Listening, 24/Speaking, 27/Writing and I was really happy with the result. If anyone has any questions, you're welcome to either start a thread or ask them here!
Thank you Andrei, for sharing your thoughts on this!
