TOEFL iBT Speaking Tips

    Useful tips: (suitable for all questions)

    Make it NATURAL, pauses, such as "well", "urn", and "you know", are advisable, but don't do it too much.

    CORRECT your mistakes as soon as you find out, for example, "... I really like standing in, I mean, ON the mountain,"(I know it's a bad example. What I'm trying to clarify is that it is OK to make mistakes, but you gotta correct it once you made it.) so the examiner would not count down your score.

    There is NO NEED to use freaking words, like "exonerate", which means absolve, and "flamboyant", which means showy. But those words are good to use in your essay.

    "The FIRST way, the LAST way, the NEVER FAILING way to develop self-confidence in speaking is-TO SPEAK."        -Dale Carnegie

    Independent speaking (Question 1 & 2)

    In this section, you are asked to present your own opinion and provide examples to support your ideas.

    Useful tips:

    Your answer should he as SPECIFIC as possible. You need to stick to a point UNTIL you finish it, have done with it, and need never return to it again.

    The key to score high is to make each point WELL-DEVELOPED, and that DOES NOT mean you need to make as much points as you can, two would be great.

    Truth and REASONABLE LIES are totally acceptable.

    "DO NOT say "I have three (or whatever) reasons to support my idea", or some thing like that after you state your opinion. There is no guarantee that you are able to finish your answer within 45 seconds. Instead, you can say "I have a couple of reasons to say."

    Question 1

    Your answer can go like this:

    "Personally, I would have to say that, um, my favorite ... is .... And there are a couple of reasons to name. The most important thing is that, you know,.... What's more,.... So that's why...."

    Question 2

    Your answer can go like this:

    "Well, in my opinion, I would definitely agree with the point that, um,.... The first reason that I wanna say is that.... More importantly,.... So, uh, that's why I choose ... for the two reasons listed above."

    Integrated speaking (Question 3, 4, 5 & 6)

    In this part, you are asked to paraphrase the man/woman's attitude first, and then list the reasons s/he gives. In QUESTION 3, you are NOT asked to present your opinion towards this problem. However, in QUESTION 5, you REALLY need to make a choice between the solutions that the man/woman gives.

    Question 3

    Your answer could go like this:

    "The school has implemented a new policy that... due to .... And the man/woman holds a positive/negative view towards the announcement. The first reason s/he gives is that.... And the second one is based on the fact that...."

    Useful tips:

    "In the reading part, DO NOT waste your time on taking notes, it is unnecessary. Just figure out what the announcement is mainly talking about, you do not need to say anything about it after all.

    When listening, just write down THREE major points-attitude, reason 1 ＆ reason 2. You can use "+" and "-" to represent positive attitude and negative attitude.

    Make sure that you get ALL the reasons that the man/woman gives. Any thing missed will lower your score.

    DO NOT spend too much time explaining why the school has pull out the policy, simple words would be fine.

    DO NOT spend too much time retelling the first reason, you should finish talking about it in 20 seconds.

    Question 4

    Your answer can go like this:

    "In the lecture, the professor mainly talked about the theory that.... To reinforce the theory, the professor gave two reasons in his speech. The first one is that.... The other one is that.... And that's the two reasons the speaker presented to explain his idea.(The conclusion is optional)"

    Useful tips:

    Find the KEY words as soon as possible and then write them down. This is to make sure that you will know what the professor is gonna talk about.

    Pay attention to the JARGONS in order to get familiar with the words that you don't know before.

    Do not panic if you don't know anything about the subject, because your opinion is NOT included.

    Question 5

    In question 5, you are asked to paraphrase the man/woman's problem and then retell the solutions that the woman/man comes up with. And for this time, you should make a choice between the two.

    Your answer can go like this:

    "In this conversation, the man/woman is having a hard time dealing with the problem that.... And the woman/man offers him/ her two possible solutions. One is .... The other is .... And if it were my choice, I would choose the former/latter one, because ...."

    Useful tips:

    The OPTIMAL time allotment is: 10 seconds for the problem, 17 seconds for each solution, and 10 seconds for your choice and why, and about 6 seconds pausing throughout your answer.

    DO REMEMBER that you HAVE TO state your opinion in your answer. BUT do not spend too much time on that.

    Make your answer as SIMPLE as it can be, you really don't have enough time to cover everything mentioned in the conversation.

    DO say "the man/woman offers her/him TWO (or THREE) solutions." This is to ensure that you get all the solutions even if you can't finish you answer in time, so the examiner will still give you a good score.

    Question 6

    In question 6, the speaker usually gives two examples to explain a theory or a phenomenon. So your main job is to find what the theory or the phenomenon is, and jot down the examples that the professor presents in the lecture.

    "In the lecture, the professor provides two examples to illustrate the phenomenon/theory that.... The first one is that.... Another example Is that.... And that's the two examples the speaker presented to explain the theory/phenomenon. (Still, the conclusion is optional)". (You can make adjustments on this style according to different lectures)

    Useful tips:

    The OPTIMAL time allotment is: 15 seconds for the theory/ phenomenon, SO seconds for each example, and about 5 seconds pausing throughout you answer.

    Question 6, to a certain extent, is quite similar to question 4. However, Q6 is even HARDER because you don't have the chance to read anything about the lecture. So, stay ALERT while you are listening.

   Take as many details as you can, it HASN'T to be written in English, CHINESE is fine! Choose whatever the EASIEST way for you.

    You should catch the TRANSITIONAL WORDS, such as "what's more" and "moreover", which indicate that the professor is gonna talk about another point.