Houston TOEFL Tutor
If you've taken the TOEFL, or a practice test, and your score came back lower than you expected, you're exactly who this coaching is for.
I'm Ted Conway, a Texas-certified English teacher with more than a decade of experience teaching English, including ESL instruction and exam preparation. I hold a BA in Professional Writing and an MFA. My TOEFL coaching is one-on-one and fully online, and I work with students at the intermediate level and above.
One-on-One Online TOEFL Preparation
How it Works
We start with analysis, not lessons. I review your existing test or practice-test scores and give you a grammar diagnostic. Score plateaus almost always trace back to specific, findable gaps, and finding them first means we never spend your money reviewing what you already know.
We build a plan around your weakest areas. Reading speed, listening question styles, spoken responses, written responses: whatever the diagnostic shows, that's where the hours go. For speaking and writing, I teach TEDL, the response framework I developed with my students (Topic sentence, Example sentences, Detail sentences, Linking sentence), so you always walk into those sections with a game plan.
You practice between sessions. Plan on a minimum of 2 to 4 hours per week outside our meetings. I assign reading and writing homework drawn from the ELLII curriculum. It isn't always TOEFL-shaped on purpose: reading and writing about a wide range of topics builds the real English the test is trying to measure.
What I ask of you
At least one month before your test date. Real gains don't happen in a weekend.
Intermediate English or above. If you're earlier in your journey, TOEFL prep isn't the right spend yet, and I'll tell you so.
2 to 4 hours of outside practice per week, minimum.
Pricing
$120 per hour, one-on-one, online.
Frequently asked questions
How much does TOEFL tutoring cost in Houston?
It depends on what you're buying.
Marketplace platforms list tutors from about $20 to $35 per hour — usually conversation practice by the hour, no diagnostic, no plan.
Dedicated prep companies charge up to $200 per hour for structured programs.
My rate is $120 per hour for one-on-one online coaching that starts with a diagnostic and targets your specific gaps — the structure of a prep company, with one teacher who knows your file.
How long does TOEFL prep take?
Most students need 8 to 12 weeks. I require at least one month before your test date, and I recommend more if your practice scores are far from your target.
Do you offer in-person TOEFL tutoring?
No. My TOEFL coaching is online only, which suits the test itself, since the TOEFL iBT is a computer-based exam.
Do I need a tutor, or can I self-study?
Plenty of students pass through self-study. The students who benefit most from coaching are the ones who have plateaued: hours of apps or classes, and the score has stopped moving. That usually signals a foundation gap that self-study materials aren't built to find.
What level do I need to start?
Intermediate and above.