What is the fee of registering for the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition?

Applicants who choose to take the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition must pay an amount of INR 16,900 for registering, which is the same for TOEFL iBT.

How many times is the TOEFL iBT Home Edition conducted in a month?

The TOEFL iBT Paper Edition is offered once or twice every month.

As the TOEFL iBT exam is conducted in two sessions, do I have to book two dates or one?

You need to schedule two appointments when you register: one at your neighbourhood testing facility and the other at your house.

In some places, why is the duration of the first session of TOEFL iBT Paper Edition written as three and half hours? What is the actual duration?

The test duration at a centre is three hours. An additional thirty minutes is allocated for test administration tasks, such as admitting examinees, allowing them to input identifying information, and managing test materials.

Are there any special requirements for the Speaking section of the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition?

As the Speaking section is conducted from home, please ensure that you have the required setup for both the equipment and environment before registering. You will get the details from the official website.

Boost Your English Through Mystery, Fantasy, and Romance Novels

Home Blog TOEFL iBT

Nehasri Ravishenbagam

4 min read

Updated On January 02, 2025

" Have you ever desired to know the answer to your question about how to boost your English through mystery, fantasy, and romance novels? Then this is the perfect article for you to get an answer. Read ahead! "

When you learn English, it may involve a lot of work because you have to know its grammar perfectly and learn vocabulary as well. But this doesn’t always have to be the case. There is another approach which is easier and much more fun. It is through reading mystery, fantasy, and romance novels most of which are engaging.

When you do that, you get to improve your English without really working hard. You get to read fascinating stories about exciting characters, imaginative worlds, and romantic drama. Let us read this blog to know how to boost your English through mystery, fantasy, and romance novels.

Why Should English Learners Read More Books?

Books are not only about stories, but languages like English that are to be learned and cultures that need to be explored as well. Such learnings improve your language comprehension, vocabulary, and cultural acceptance.
When you read a novel you are exposed to language in its natural form through reading, making grammar rules easy to learn and remember due to application. Learning English through a boring textbook is a thing of the past. Most novels possess a story, which grabs a reader’s attention, and makes learning a language stress-free.
Reading is much more interesting than actually being in a lesson because it provides a new sentence structure, numerous famous phrases, and many tonalities that differ from simple conversational English whether you are a beginner or an advanced-level learner.

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Mystery Novels

Suspense, exciting characters, and confusing storylines are the defining characteristics of mystery novels. These aspects make readers engaged and active participants in the reading process.

Many mystery books are considered popular among English language learners.

Some of them include:

"And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie: It's a classic who-did-it tale that continues to surprise its readers right up to the last page. It is great for developing learners as it uses straightforward and more descriptive language.
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson: This is an engaging mystery that sets you up with new vocabulary about investigation and modern-day phrases.

Most mystery novels tend to adopt a simple style of writing that is easy to follow while enhancing your vocabulary range.

Fantasy Novels

Fantasy novels are famous for their great magical settings and interesting characters so this makes it a good option for people who seek both adventure and creativity.

Here are some good fantasy novels for you to begin with:

“Harry Potter” by J K Rowling: These books give an introduction to wands and wizardry language to readers and terms associated with British English as well.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” by Rick Riordan: This series is ideal for fans of mythology and teenage and modern-day slang are properly used.
“The Chronicles of Narnia” by C S Lewis: Another classic book that is written in simple language but accompanied by rich story plots.

Romance Novels

Romance novels are more than just love stories, there are deeper emotions and conflicts that can be appealing as well as educational. This genre often emphasizes the focus of the written language, so the readers can pick up informal expressions, as well as communication between people.

Some of the romance novels which can enhance your proficiency with the English language are:

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen: A classic option where 19th-century English and evergreen topics are exposed.
"The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks: This romantic story explores love, loss and hope, and will make you feel ever so warm.

Romance novels teach vocabulary on relationships, on feelings and daily life and are therefore a valuable tool for the language learner.

What to Do to Improve Your Reading?

If you want to use novels more to learn English, the following tips will be useful.

Pick up books of relatively easy English. If one has just started, it seems good to start with easy versions or adolescent novels.
Write down unknown words, and new phrases which will appear while reading. Find those and try to use them in your speech.
Audiobooks can also be effective for learning as they can build up both listening and reading skills simultaneously. They also help in the learning of intonation and pronunciation while providing a better understanding of the subject.

Mixing Genres

Do not restrict yourself to a particular genre. This can be rather monotonous and many novels and other forms of fiction can be entertaining for you as well.

For example, a pleasant romance with mix of mystery and fantasy is the book ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer.

Similarly, novels like ‘Outlander’ by Diana Gabaldon have much adventure and romance in history as well, giving you the opportunity to imagine and learn a lot of different genres.

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