TOEFL Prep for Spanish Speakers

Welcome to your first class! This class provides a brief introduction with information about the TOEFL exam and this prep program.  Please, before starting this program, download and print your copy of the book "TOEFL Prep for Spanish Speakers" (it's included in this class as a pdf).  You will hear audio recordings from your teacher, Greg Britt, author of TOEFL Prep for Spanish Speakers.  He will present the classes exactly like he does in his "live" classes.  The video will show a screen shot of the pdf as he moves through the book from start to finish, but it is best to have a printed copy because:  1. sometimes he skips pages or moves quickly through them and 2.  since this is a workbook, it's best to have a physical copy that you can write on.  In this class you will be  given Britt's email (britt.mx@gmail.com)...feel free to write if you have questions.  (If you are taking this course as a pre-IBT course, get in touch after you finish if you'd like to continue with private IBT classes).  Get ready to work hard and good luck!  

In this class, we continue our discussion of subordination, specifically common problems in a main clause, which are typically a repetition of subject or omission of verb.  To avoid those errors, we review the identification of subjects and verbs.

In this class we continue with our discussion of subordination, focusing on words that have an unusual function as a verb.

In this class, we finish the first point (MC) with a review of clauses and phrases with emphasis on identifying repeated subjects and missing verbs (as well as recognizing gerund and infinitive subjects.)

We continue with subordination with a quick discussion of the 3 types of subordinate clauses and some very important work on distinguishing among main clauses, subordinate clauses, and phrased.

In this class we discuss an important 3-step system of analysis.  If you don't see an obvious error, this is a good place to begin checking the grammar.  Always make sure you have a MC--without exception you must always have one, but never more than one.  If the MC is OK, then you can complete your sentence with a SC or PHR.  There is no limit to these 2 components as long as you have a MC (that's why we check that first). Please note also that there is no rule about the order these components appear within a complex sentence. 

We finish subordination with this class.  Before you continue with the course, click to https://goo.gl/UcbIX9  and take Test One.  The next "lecture" will actually be a review of that test. This link can also be found in "Quiz 1".

Take Test One before this review!  After you take the test, click back to the test book (https://tinyurl.com/52s4ytp4) and follow along with your answer sheet as we review the grammar section (two).  Put extra attention in your errors.  This is an audio-only lecture (you should be looking at your test book and answer sheet as you listen).

We start S=V with a review of the 1st of 3 sets of rules, for singular or plural verbs. PLEASE NOTE:  I have tried hard to do the best I can with the audio/video quality. I recorded these lectures in my office in noisy Mexico City and in this video there's a little bit of background noise that I hope is not too distracting.  It was a man yelling "Basura!!" (people are always yelling something here!)  Luckily, I think this might be almost the only time in 40+ recordings that a tiny bit of that constant yelling was picked up in the background.  Sorry! And, please, always read these descriptions...it allows me to make specific comment about the lecture.  Thanks.

We continue with S=V with a review of rules for only singular verbs.

We finish S=V with the final set of rules for plural verbs. Oops!  On. p. 73, I skipped no. 15.  The subject is "it" (not athletic ability & academic achievement), so the verb is singular, "is".  This won't happen often, but if it does, just look at the answer key in the back of your book.  Thanks.

We continue studying agreement errors and see the first two S=V rules. This should be an easy topic since it's a continuation of S=V...the rules are the same and they're only 4!

Another fairly short class and we finish up S=P, checking the last two rules, then putting it all together in an exercise that helps us recognize both S=V and S=P errors.  Please remember that agreement errors are common on the ITP exam and you should also be careful with this when writing essays on the iBT. 

We return to verbs and focus on two sets of time markers that require present and future conjugation. 

We finish VTF with a focus on irregular past and past participles.  Don't forget to study the pronoun chart on p. 78 before your next class!  You need to know the organization of the 5 pronoun forms before you began learning rules for each.

We begin our review of rules for the 5 forms of pronouns:  subject, object, possessive adjective, possessive pronoun, & reflexive. Pronouns work very differently in Spanish sometimes...try to really learn these rules well! 

We continue with rules for pronoun form.

We finish the rules for pronoun form.

A review of pronoun reference.

Verbals are words that are formed from verbs but don't function as active verbs.  They can cause a lot of confusion!  We start this point by distinguishing between infinitives and prepositional phrase that begin with "to" before identifying infinitive subjects.

We continue with verbals and learn to identify gerund subjects.

We learn to identify verbal adjectives and distinguish them from active verbs.

We learn to identify and use active and passive verbal adjectives. 

We learn to form verbal phrases and make sure they have logical agreement with the subject that follows.

We continue working with verbal phrases and finish this point.

We begin the important WF point and see our first set of suffixes used to create derived nouns from verbs.

We review improper gerund substitution (using a gerund when a proper noun exists).

We review suffixes for adjectives and people/professions and learn to distinguish between "ly" adjectives and adverbs.

We learn to distinguish among basic parts of speech, when to use adjectives with special groups of verbs, and tricky adjective-adverb combinations.

We finish the WF point with a review of comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.

We begin the WO point with the first (& most commonly tested) word order issue--inverting the subject and verb (with an auxiliary verb) when starting sentences with negative structures or "only" plus a time expression.

We continue with additional rules for subject-verb inversion.

We finish the WO point with a review of direct vs. indirect questions.

We begin the PS point with the most common way it's tested:  making sure all parts of a series are grammatically parallel.  We should not mix adverbs and adjectives, gerunds and infinitives, or clauses and phrases. 

We finish PS, seeing rules about correlative conjunctions, comparative structures, and combinations of comparisons. , 

We do this short, easy point in just one class.  Vocabulary skills and an ability to recognize synonyms are important to avoid unnecessary repetition. 

We review the use of definite and indefinite articles (a, an, the). 

We review the use of make vs. do.  This is especially problematic for Spanish speakers since you have the one verb, hacer.

We review problematic verb pairs:  sit-set, lie-lay, rise-raise.

We review issues with count vs. non-count nouns.

We look at common usage errors--it's a good idea to review Appendix F before this class!

A little diversion from our grammar studies, this class gives you a little practice for the Listening section.  But remember, if you want to really improve you listening skills...you have to listen!  Try to practice more:  watch TV & movies in English, listen to educational audio on various web sites (& Internet radio).  Talking is better than music--try to get more practice and you'll improve your skills in this area.

In this final class, we just look at the reference material in the back of the book, pointing out what might more (or less) important.  NOTE: You're prompted to take your 2nd practice test after this class--since uploading this class the answer key has been included so it's no longer necessary to send your answers to be graded.  But if you have any questions about your errors, please write Britt at britt.mx@gmail.com.  In fact, feel free to write about any questions you might have.  Please also consider leaving positive feedback (thanks!)  If you have any problems or concerns, please get in touch so Britt has a chance to help (before leaving any negative comments, please).  Hope you've enjoyed the course!