iTEP Academic-Core study plan
iTEP Academic-Core · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Listening & Grammar
Diagnose baseline listening accuracy by completing two full-length listening sets and tallying error types
Transcribe 10 short spoken passages verbatim to isolate sound-spelling gaps
Review and drill present and past tense verb forms in 40 self-written sentences
Build a personal error log with at least 15 entries tagged by domain
Your checkpoint
A one-page baseline report listing listening accuracy percentage, top three error patterns, and a tagged error log of 15+ items
Listening & Grammar
Practice identifying main idea versus supporting detail in 12 short audio passages
Shadow-read 15 audio clips aloud to improve decoding speed
Drill subject-verb agreement and article usage across 50 fill-in items
Correct 20 of your own sentences containing agreement or article errors
Your checkpoint
A log of 12 passages with written main-idea statements and a corrected 20-sentence grammar set
Reading & Listening
Skim 6 short academic texts for gist within a 90-second limit each
Annotate 4 passages to distinguish stated facts from inferences
Take notes on 8 audio passages and answer 3 questions per passage from notes only
Define 40 academic vocabulary words in your own words
Your checkpoint
A vocabulary notebook of 40 self-defined terms plus a 4-passage annotation sample showing fact versus inference
Reading & Grammar
Complete 3 timed reading sets and record time-per-question
Identify and label the function of 10 transition words in sample texts
Drill conditionals and modal verbs across 40 items
Rewrite 15 sentences to fix run-ons and fragments
Your checkpoint
A timed reading scorecard for 3 sets with accuracy and average seconds per question
Writing & Reading
Outline 5 essay prompts in 5 minutes each using a claim-evidence structure
Write 3 short responses of 150-200 words under a 20-minute limit
Summarize 3 reading passages in 2-3 sentences each
Self-edit drafts using a 6-point checklist covering clarity, grammar, and cohesion
Your checkpoint
Three timed 150-200 word essays with completed self-edit checklists
Writing & Listening
Write 3 longer responses of 250-300 words with explicit topic sentences
Paraphrase 10 spoken statements in writing after a single listen
Revise 3 earlier essays to raise lexical variety and sentence complexity
Practice note-taking while listening, then convert notes into a written summary
Your checkpoint
A before-and-after revision portfolio of 3 essays with a short rationale for each change
Listening & Reading & Grammar & Writing
Run one full mock exam under strict timing and score each domain
Analyze every missed item and assign it to a root-cause category
Re-drill the two weakest grammar patterns with 30 targeted items each
Write one timed essay and one timed reading summary back to back
Your checkpoint
A full mock exam score report with per-domain accuracy and a ranked list of remaining weak areas
Listening & Reading & Writing
Re-run a second full mock exam and compare scores to week 7
Review the error log and confirm closure on at least 80 percent of logged items
Practice 10 two-minute spoken-to-written paraphrase drills
Finalize a test-day timing strategy for each section
Your checkpoint
A final comparison sheet showing week 7 versus week 8 mock scores and a written test-day timing plan
Milestones
Week 2: Listening accuracy improves by at least 10 percentage points over the week 1 baseline, and the error log has 25+ tagged entries
Week 4: Timed reading accuracy reaches 70 percent or higher with an average of 75 seconds or less per question
Week 6: Three timed essays each meet the 150-word minimum with no more than 2 grammar errors per 100 words
Week 8: Second mock exam shows improvement in at least three of four domains, with all domains at or above 65 percent accuracy