TOEFL Speaking Task 2- Independent
The first independent speaking task asked you to describe a personal experience. The second one, on the other hand, will ask your opinion on an issue. Usually it will present two opposing opinions, and...
View ArticleTOEFL Teaching Material – Transitions And Opinions Worksheet
For this worksheet, I’m going to follow up on some of the same language that was used in my previous post: transition words. But this time, we’ll throw another layer into the mix. Besides some...
View ArticleTOEFL Speaking Task 3- Integrated
The third speaking task is the first of the integrated tasks and will be based on a topic related to campus life. First you will read a short passage, which frequently takes the form of an announcement...
View ArticleTOEFL Speaking Task 4- Integrated
The second integrated speaking task is based on a lecture. Almost any subject that can appear in the listening section lectures (or in the reading section) may also be used for speaking task 4,...
View ArticleCommon TOEFL Speaking Difficulties
Sentence variety Because there isn’t time to fully plan the response, many people fall into a trap of repetitive sentence structure: “I think that _____. I think that ______. I think this is because...
View ArticleHow to Practice TOEFL Speaking
When asked about good ways to practice speaking, many people’s default answer is to find a language partner—someone you can meet with, whether online, on the phone, or in person, to practice English...
View ArticleTOEFL Speaking Task 5- Integrated
By now, you’re familiar with the basic structure of the integrated questions. But the fifth question changes it up a little: instead of having a reading passage and a lecture to listen to and...
View ArticleImproving Pronunciation
A lot of people worry that their accents will affect their scores on the TOEFL, but these fears are usually unfounded. As long as it’s not hard to understand you, you don’t have much to worry about. It...
View ArticleStructuring your TOEFL Speaking Responses
The speaking section moves fast. The 45 or 60 seconds that you usually have to give your answer will fly by, and you need to be sure you can fit all of your thoughts into that time. Generally, this...
View ArticleStriking the balance between academic and natural language
Unlike many other tests, the TOEFL isn’t designed to test your general English level, but rather your command of academic English. Some dialects of English are more similar to academic American English...
View ArticleAnswering the Whole Question
Part of your score in the speaking section will come from how well you answered all parts of the question. Even if your language is so good that it sounds like poetry, if you don’t answer the question...
View ArticlePracticing TOEFL Speaking Skills
This post is part of my ongoing series on the skills measured by the TOEFL and how to practice them: TOEFL Reading Practice: New Information and Inferences TOEFL Reading Practice: Adding New...
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Spoken English Vocabulary: Chances Are
“Chances are” is a common phrase in spoken English. You may hear this phrase in the listening tasks found in TOEFL Listening, Speaking and Writing. You also are very likely to hear this “chances are”...
View ArticleListening, Reading, and Writing Practice with “Get”
In my last post, “Do You Get ‘Get’?”, I showed you the 7 different meanings of the word “get.” (This doesn’t include the use of “get” in phrasal verbs, a subject I will cover later.) Below are some...
View ArticlePlanning Your Answer
In the speaking section, you only have a few minutes to plan your response. Here are some tips to help you use that time effectively. Don’t over-plan It’s tempting to invent beautifully crafted...
View ArticlePhrasal Verbs You Need in Your Life
Keep on To keep on means to continue an action, just as “keep” can by itself. The difference is this: usually we use it to talk about a situation when you continue something in spite of some factor...
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The Rise and Fall of English
English rises and English falls. No, I don’t mean it literally rises and falls like the waves of the ocean. But English does have waves of a sort: sound waves. These sound waves rise and fall in pitch....
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English Intonation: Knowing When to Rise and Fall
Today we’re going to talk a little bit more about English intonation. Intonation is the use of correct tone of voice and pitch. As Kate has mentioned, intonation is very important in TOEFL Speaking, as...
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Tongue (and Mouth) Awareness
We all make the sounds in our native language without thinking. This is why it can be very hard to learn the pronunciation of new sounds in a second language. To learn new sounds more easily, you have...
View ArticleTOEFL Speaking Task 6 – Integrated
Like the fifth TOEFL Speaking Task, Task 6 requires you to respond to just one audio source. In Speaking Task 6, you listen to a short portion of an academic lecture. The lecture has the instructor’s...
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