Disappointed it took “10 years” to get 900 points in TOEIC? Don’t worry, there’s hope.

In this article, I will write about what I did to achieve higher TOEIC scores and how I studied for the exam.

In the previous article, I mentioned that it took me 10 years to achieve a TOEIC score of 960.

For those of you thinking, “Who can keep going for that long?!”

Even a slow learner like me found methods that worked and delivered results, so I’m sharing them here!

Characteristics of the TOEIC Exam

First, let’s talk about the characteristics of the TOEIC exam.
Some questions in TOEIC may seem strangely complicated…

I believe the questions in the exam are more complicated than actual English documents.
It feels like the examiners are trying to trick us…
They try so hard to make the exam more difficult. The memorandums, notices, and email examples are way more complex than they need to be.

Business-related documents must be concise and clear for all readers, but TOEIC test questions are made intentionally complex to confuse us.

You WILL encounter new words in the exam, but don’t panic.

Although I’ve scored more than 900 various times before, I always encounter new words during the TOEIC test.
For example, the word prop up (which means to support or hold something up).
It appeared in the listening section, and although I could guess its meaning, I didn’t know exactly what prop up meant.

Please try not to be a perfectionist—you WILL encounter new words in TOEIC.
What’s important is to try to guess the meaning when you come across new words.
Don’t panic. You can infer the meaning from the context.

What you need to do:

Take mock tests.

Repeat the same mock test until you remember all the correct answers. (I recommend doing it at least three times.)
You may realize that some questions are unnecessarily complicated.

For example:

The answer is paraphrased, so you can’t find it without reading the entire passage.
The answer is implied, so you need to read between the lines.

There are tricky questions like this.

To get used to such questions, I recommend using mock tests.
In other words, you need to get accustomed to reading unclear memos, notes, and emails that don’t clearly convey their contents.
These questions exist to confuse us!

Use sticky notes in the bathroom

This ultimate method worked really well for memorizing new words.
I used to put countless sticky notes on the bathroom wall when I needed to remember English vocabulary.

After taking mock tests, there will undoubtedly be many words you didn’t know or have forgotten.
Write these new words on sticky notes and put them in the bathroom.
Every time you sit on the toilet, you’ll see them.
You can’t help but look at the words without even trying because they’re right in front of you.

Keep them on the wall for about three days, then take them down.
While I personally never organized the sticky notes afterward, I recommend putting them in a notebook so you can review them before the actual test.