I was working with a group at a very conservative Japanese company for the past two days. The members were very Confucian in their approach, which means that they politely waited their turn, rather than assertively expressing their opinions. 
One of the main things I took away from the two days was that their reluctance to speak was not only due to cultural reasons (although by the end of the two days I realized that that was HUGE), it was also because they did not have enough vocabulary to express themselves. Especially, the thing that was lacking was a control of synonyms for words they already know.
I have beaten this drum for many years, but the key to success in both the TOEIC and your overall English improvement is to acquiremore synonyms for the words you already know.
In a future blog, I'll talk in more specific detail about how to do this.
Robert
One of the main things I took away from the two days was that their reluctance to speak was not only due to cultural reasons (although by the end of the two days I realized that that was HUGE), it was also because they did not have enough vocabulary to express themselves. Especially, the thing that was lacking was a control of synonyms for words they already know.
I have beaten this drum for many years, but the key to success in both the TOEIC and your overall English improvement is to acquiremore synonyms for the words you already know.
In a future blog, I'll talk in more specific detail about how to do this.
Robert
