Please notice this was first posted in the period 2012-2014 and can be outdated
Last week the results of the TOEFL test came in; and I am very happy with them.
Of course I did not expect a really low score, mostly because I read a lot of English texts, speak English relatively often, and sometimes even write in English (on this webpage for example). Besides, Dutch people score relatively well on TOEFL tests anyways as can be seen in the appendix of “the Official Guide to the TOEFL test” textbook. Here you can find average results observed in 2007, and the Dutch score the best based on native language (average of 102) and based on native country (average of 103).
The Dutch score relatively well with an average of 103 points out of 120.
But during the test I was not completely comfortable due to the distractions around me when I started with the speaking part, as you can read here. Besides, I prepared for less than 10 hours in total so I wasn’t expecting to score well above the average.
As you can probably imagine it felt really good when the link to the test results appeared in my email. I scored a total of 116 points out of 120, and only lost 2 points on both the speaking part (probably due to the distractions) and the writing part. The reading and listening parts went perfectly, even though I did not score so well when making mock tests with the testing software.
My TOEFL results: 116 points out of 120.
It is now time to complete my application. I already requested an official academic transcript from the university where I studied, and asked two old colleagues to write me a letter of recommendation. All that I have to do now is to write my essays and then I can send everything to Thailand.