The TOEFL Speaking Section: Expert Secrets Revealed

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There are three aspects of the TOEFL speaking that will help you improve in less time. This is all about helping you get the best tips possible, so you can get the speaking score you want and as little time as possible. Those things are:

  1. Transition words
  2. Subject juggling
  3. Idioms

You will also get explanation on two types of questions in TOEFL speaking test:

  1. Independent questions
  2. Integrated speaking questions

 

So first I’m going to talk about transition words. Those are words like “however”, “but”, “also”. Those are what I’m going to talk about. The most important ones for you to consider and to use on test day, ok… so you will sound more natural.

The second thing I’m going to do is talk about subject juggling. Nobody talks about this as far as I know. People know about this but I don’t know if anybody else teaches this or has been able to say it in such a clear way.

So I’m going to talk about subject juggling. It’s something you have to do in your speaking and writing. And if you’re not a native speaker of English you might not really understand how to do this. So we’re going to talk about that and then

The last thing I want to talk about is idioms. Now, idioms are words like “raining cats and dogs” and all that stuff. I’m only going to four, okay four idioms that are very useful, very natural sounding and can make you sound more like a native speaker on test day.

Okay let’s get into it. Let’s just start. But before I get into the actual stuff, I’m sorry I got to go back one step here and that I have to talk about the overall structure of the test a little bit. Really quickly of the speaking section. This is the third section.

And the TOEFL test it’s going to be you’re going to take the reading section, then the listening section, then you get a 10-minute break. After the break you come back and then there’s the speaking section. A little tip that a lot of people doing but some people talk about is that if you go after the break, if you go back to your seat before 10 minutes is finished, you have to sit there and wait for 10 minutes you have no choice.

So if you’re sitting there you can also listen for the other people around you and you can hear what they’re talking about and that will give you a clue of what it might be about. What the questions might be about. Okay anyway so that’s another little tip.

Okay so you come back and sit down then you have six questions to do. First two questions are called independent questions. They are general in questions. There is a tiny difference between the two. It’s not so important really. The only difference is that one question is a very general opinion and one question is you have two choices.

I’ll give you an example: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: all high school students should wear school uniforms? So for that situation you only have two choices, right? So either you agree they should wear school uniforms or you disagree. And then after they ask you the question, you have 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to speak.

You have to speak for 45 seconds. If that does not sound difficult, that’s great. I want you to try it right now. It’s more difficult than you think but the other type of independent question is a very general way. For example you have been given one million dollars right how are you going to spend your money? That’s not a total question but that’s the kind of idea that you have. A lot of different choices to choose from and you decide what you want to do. And again you have 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to speak

Next question, questions three, four, five and six are called integrated speaking questions. What that means is that basically you have to read and or listen to a passage. You have to take notes on the most important points. From that information then you speak. Each one is a little bit different so I’m going to talk about each one here.

Question 3 is the integrated speaking and this is about campus life. It has something to do with what you do every day on campus. It might have to do with a class assignments and might have to do with -you know- changing the food in the cafeteria. It might have something to do with a problem in your dorm. Lots of different things that it could be and then you read about it and then you listen to a passage where two people are talking having a conversation about the reading. Whatever it is about and then you have 30 seconds to prepare and then you have to speak for 60 seconds.

Question 4 is the same style, except instead of a something about campus it is about academics. So something about the way animals use camouflage, about Sigmund Freud psychology, something that you would hear in the class. There’s a reading that you have about 50 seconds to read then you have to listen to a professor talking about the reading. And the professor will talk for about two or three minutes about it and then you have again 30 seconds to prepare in 60 seconds to speak.

Question 5 is just listening. You don’t get to read, so it’s a little more difficult. But this listening is a conversation between two students men and a woman and one student has a problem and the other student tries to help the other solve the problem. After they speak you have 20 seconds to prepare and then you have to speak for 60 seconds.

Question 6, again it’s an academic talk. It’s an academic lecture just like question 4. There’s no reading passage. This is the most difficult question in the speaking section, because you only listen and you listen to something that’s kind of an academic. I was going to say boring, but academic. Maybe you’re interested in some of the things after they say. After he speaks for a couple minutes you have 20 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak.

Now transition words. They are really important because they connect one idea to the other and they help the speaking. You’re speaking slowly, it’s going to be like a story. So you need to connect one idea from the next to keep the story going. One grading criteria is topic development. How you develop the topic. What that means is that how you tell a kind of cohesive story and make your argument clear.

The first type of transition word is something that introduces your opinion. The two best that you want to include are:” I think” and “to me”. For example: “I think all high school students should wear school uniforms because…..”. “To me all high school students should wear school uniforms…” and so on. You can also use: “In my opinion, all high school students should wear school uniforms”. That’s okay too but my goal is to make you sound as natural as possible. All of my advice is stemming from my idea in the back of my head: how can I get students to sound more natural.

I’m not going to teach you ways to introduce your opinion like: “in my esteemed opinion”. You don’t sound natural in that situation because nobody says that, so why would you talk like that on the TOEFL? Don’t try to sound smart on the TOEFL speaking.

Here’s a pro tip for you: Don’t try to sound smart because you’re going to sound silly. If you’re going to try to sound smart because you’re going to make a simple grammar mistake probably that’s okay. But then you’re going to use some really difficult vocabulary and a simple grammar mistake you sound awkward, you sound strange, you don’t sound like yourself. You want to sound like yourself? You want to sound natural?

And this is how you sound natural: “I think”, “to me”. Do not use difficult transition words some teachers teach you that stuff. Don’t do that okay… because it doesn’t sound natural. There’s no point. No TOEFL grader will hear that and think oh this person sounds like a native speaker. No… it’ll sound like somebody who memorized a phrase that they don’t understand. So don’t do that…

(Enjoy the rest of the video)

Source: Josh MacPherson Channel on Youtube

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