TOEFL Speaking Practice Jakarta
The iBT TOEFL Speaking Section has two independent questions. Question 1 is a question based on personal experience or opinion. You will have 15 seconds to prepare and will need to speak for 45 seconds.
Example Questions
- What’s your favourite restaurant?
- What’s a popular national holiday in your country?
- What’s your favourite movie? Describe it and explain why it is your favourite.
For this question there is only one source of information and that is you.
Now let’s look at a note taking technique that I recommend you use because it is simple and consistent. The key to mastering the iBT TOEFL speaking section is to take simple notes and consistently use the same method over and over until it becomes automatic.
Simple Outline
- Main Idea
- (S1) Supporting Idea 1
- (S2) Supporting Idea 2
Now let’s try this simple outline with the question “What is your favourite movie? Describe it and explain why it is your favourite movie.
Simple Outline
- (MI) 51st Date
- (S1) Romantic
- (S2) Funny
Keep this brief because you only have 15 seconds preparation time. Shorthand knowledge is very useful and if you have studied it please use it here. If you haven’t, please consider learning it as it will benefit your test taking skills.
If you noticed, I used adjectives for the supporting reasons because they make us think. I choose to use romantic and funny because it is easy to expand on this. For example, the first reason I liked it was because it was romantic and it provided me with many methods to impress my wife. Secondly, it was extremely funny and it helped me forget my problems and stress.
Your notes are not what you are going to say, they are prompts to guide you and help you remember the structure of your 45-second talk.
Step 1: Begin your answer with the question. You will lose points if you go off topic and this ensures that you start on topic and that your first sentence is grammatically correct. A strong start is important so always repeat the question in your answer for all speaking questions.
1. My favourite move is 51st Date with Adam Sandler.
After you have answered the question, I recommend that you use this sentence “I have two reasons for my opinion” It gives you time to collect your thoughts and also structures the rest of the question.
- My favourite move is 51st Date with Adam Sandler.
- There are two reasons for my opinion.
- The first reason is that it is romantic and I learnt many ways to impress my wife. In fact, I used one of the techniques from the movie on Valentine’s Day and she was really impressed.
- In addition, it was really funny and it helped me forget my problems and stress. I always watch comedies when I feel stressed and I find that this helps me focus on my work the next day.
- These are the reasons why the best movie I have ever seen is 51st Date with Adam Sandler. In my opinion he is the funniest actor on TV and this was his best movie.
Please take note of the underlined and numbered sentences, when timed the combined underlined sentences take about 22 seconds to read which will amount to of your mark in the independent speaking section. If you perfect this simple and consistent outline then you can guarantee a mark
If you make some simple grammar and word choice mistakes with the further explanation during the remaining 23 seconds, then you will probably get for each answer. This greatly improves you chance of scoring well in the TOEFL Speaking section.
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