TOEFL IBT Speaking/Listening Skills Development

As you see in question 6, listening is so important. If you don't understand the lecture, how can you give right response! To improve your listening/speaking skills, try everyday to listen to native English speakers.Listening to the radio or the computer is better than watching television because when you watch television you can look at the speakers’ lips.You will not see the speakers during the administration of the TOEFL.

Below is a list of academic lecture and English learning Websites that you will find helpful ;)

• http://tesl-ej.org/ej17/m3.html (ten sites inside)
• www.eslhome.com/esl/listen
• www.stanford.edu/~efs/tesol03listening
• www.public.iastate.edu/~hschmidt/listeninglinks.htm
• www.cdlponline.org
• www.esl.about.com/cs/listening
•  www.esl-lab.com

Additionally, there is a web site that you can find friends for chatting in English. You can try ;)

http://www.englishbaby.com

TOEFL IBT Speaking Question 6 (Tips&Examples)

Hello all again :)
I want to share tips for TOEFL IBT Question 6. You will hear a passage from a lecture of approximately 230-280 words that explains a term or concept and gives one or two examples. You will summarize the lecture using examples that demonstrate an understanding of the topic. Don't forget this; this is an ACADEMIC TOPIC. It means, there can be lots of terms that you don't know.
20 seconds preparation time; 60 seconds to speak.


Outline(Approved)
--The professor is talking about the phenomenon of ............... which is different from............
-- According to the professor,....................... . He gives an example of .........................
--The professor goes to talk about.................
--To sum up,................

As you see, there are not too much outlines for this question. Because, you will hear only a lecture and not read anything. You will just summarize this.

TOEFL IBT Speaking Question 5 (Tips&Examples)

When I have looked my other posts, I saw that I didn't give any information about time,words and etc, the technical details. From now on, I will :) It's also as important as the structure and topic. Let's start ;)

In question 5, you should have good listening skills because you will not read any passage. You will hear a passage of approximately 180–220 words. It will be a conversation about a student-related problem and two possible solutions. You will need to understand the problem and give your opinion as to the better solution.

Important : 20 seconds preparation time, 60 seconds to speak.

The question :

The student describes two solutions to her problem. Describe the problem and then tell which of the two solutions you would prefer and why.

By the way, I will use only "man/he/him" in sentences. "man/woman or he/she or him/her" doesn't seem so nice :)

Outline 1:

The man's problem is that...............(problem).................

His friend presents 2 suggestions; one of that is .......(1.suggestion).......... and the other one .........(2.suggestion)................. . 

If I were him, I would.....(your choice)............... . 

......(Write your reasons, not only the choice's owner's reasons)..................

Outline 2 (Approved):

According to the conversation, the man's problem is that ....(problem).........

Students discuss 2 solutions. His friend gives him 2 solutions. First, .......(1.solution)........ Second,....(2.solution)......

If I were the man, I would choose the second solution.

1st solution isn't good because even though....(positive response of solution 1).........., as the man said......(negative response).......

2nd one is better because even though ......(negative response of solution 2)..........., as the man said......(positive reason).......... 

That's why I choose 2 nd solution.

Also usable phrases in your conversation.

• The problem is how
• She is considering two options
• One option is
• The other option is
• I would prefer
• may be the better option
• has two alternatives
• is the better alternative
• On the one hand
• On the other hand
• In my opinion

TOEFL IBT Speaking Question 4 (Tips&Examples)

In question 4 is more complex than the first three. However, not too much :) By the way, (: happy new year :)  You will read a passage(approximately 75–100 words), listen to part of a 150–220 word lecture and then you will be expected to summarize part of the information.


The topics for this question include academic lectures from:
• Life science
• Social science
• Physical science
• Humanitie.


It's so important that please take notes while you read and listen!


While you are answering question 4, 

• state the general topic of the metarials set 
• explain whether the listening supports or refuses the principles presented in reading;
• introduce main points and supporting details from the listening passage and relate each of them back to the main points in the reading passage.

When you take notes, give them a letter to complete the template successfully.
Reading: 
     Title(topic) :T
      Definition : D
Listening:
      E : keywords which you hear clear.


30 seconds preparation time; 60 seconds to speak


Outline 1 (Approved):
The general topic is here ......T........which the passage defines as ......D......
The professor supports/dissagres that theory in the reading passage by pointing out some good examples to illustrate this.
First,.......E1....... . This supports the theory of ..... in the reading.
Second, .....E2......... This also supports the theory of ...... in the reading.
On the other hand,........E3(can be no positive example)......... . This is a positive example for ..... in the reading. 


Outline 2:
The general topic is here ....T....
Talk about reading ..............D.........
(Always say the lecture's mentions) The lecture talks about .........  and gives an example of ....E1..... . It is a good example of the principle .... in the reading passage. The lecture also gives another example of .....E2... . It's a good example of how the principle of the reading passage doesn't apply.


Outline 3:
The article is about ........T...... which the passage defines as .......D....
The professor provides an example of ............... to illustrate this.
He/She states that ..........E........ . And so, this example clearly illustrate this.

TOEFL IBT Speaking Question 3 (Tips&Examples)

In TOEFL IBT Speaking section, first and second questions are simpler than the others. Now, we'll talk about the third question. In question 3, you may read a short passage(between 75 and 100 words) on the screen, and then you will listen to two people discussing that topic and expressing an opinion(approximately
150–180 words).

These questions are generally:

• University rules and policies

• University plans

• Campus facilities

• Quality of life on campus

You will then be asked a question about what you have read and heard. This is NOT

an opinion task, you are being asked to summarize the information. As I mention above, while working on this section, you will always think and heard about campus and university. I mean, if you graduate from university long time ago, this section will help you to remind your university years, the beautiful years of life ;) Anyway, here is the outlines or templates. What I am saying: do not be afraid of TOEFL.

30 seconds preparation time; 60 seconds to speak
In the 30 seconds of preparation time, you can write
down the points—using your reading and
listening notes—to help you get ready to respond.

Outline 1(Approved):

According to the notice, the university college is going to.....(event: you will read it on screen)...

It provides....(mention about the event)...

The man in the conversation is not keen on this decision at all because of many reasons.

The first problem he mentioned that........(1st reason : you will listen this).........

The second one  is.........(2nd reason :  and also this you will listen).............

So that's why he's not agree with this decision at all.

Outline 2:

The reading states that.........

The man's opinion that ..(agree/not agree or good/bad).....

He provides two reasons.

First, ................

Second,.................

That why  the man's opinion is that this is a great/bad idea.

Outline 3:(May be positive)

In the listening passage, the man/woman agrees with .......

He/She gives two reasons for this.

The first reason that ........................... . He supports this idea by saying that .......... example.

In addition, he states that ..........(2nd reason)......

According to the student, it is feasible to say that........

Outline 4:

On the one hand, in the reading, there is a ..... about .......

In fact,the university college is going to .............. .The main reasons are ..................

On the other hand, student agree with this policy.

His reasons are:

first, ..........(detail + example)................

second,..............(detail + example).........

For these reasons, ..............

TOEFL IBT Speaking Question 2 (Tips&Examples)

You will hear a single question that asks you to make and defend a choice between two different
behaviors.Your answer will express your opinion, and you will be expected to provide the reasons behind your opinions. The question is personal in nature.

Here is the kind of question you will be asked:

"Some high schools require all students to wear a uniform to school. Other schools allow students to wear whatever they want.Which policy do you think is better and why?"

As you see below, there are several types of outline. You can make a combination of these sentences. It's totally up 2 u ;) However, don't forget that in speaking section, if your outline is good, i mean the sentences which you only fill the blanks, you can get easily higher score. Believe me! Also I didn't believe this until I saw the score. I have just done this and got high score ;)
I am repeating; Do not be afraid of TOEFL.
Please, you can also repeat this; I am not afraid of TOEFL:)


15 seconds preparation time; 45 seconds to speak

Outline 1;
I definetely ---> prefer X rather thane Y
                 ---->agree that X rather than Y
First, ... (your first reason about the choice)
Second, ..... (your second reason about the choice)
So, that's why I prefer / I agree that ........

Outline 2(Approved);
Personally speaking, I'm more inclined to study alone......
As far as, I am concerned, I prefer ..... rather than .....
I strongly believe that ...... is more important than ......
First of all, the reasons why I choose it is that ......
Second, another reason I favor it is that.......
To sum up, because of there two reasons, I  go for 1st/2nd option

TOEFL IBT Speaking Question 1 (Tips)

It's more simple than other speaking questions in TOEFL IBT, may be the simplest. In question 1, you will be asked to speak about a place, object, person or event and sometimes about our favorites. Do not be afraid of TOEFL. Just this ;)

Outline,
*Stating the point : Talk about what they want (My favorite fruit is ....)
*Description of context : describe it. (it is so healthy, its color....)
*Main reason of your idea and example about each of them : Just listing with true intonation. You can start like this; I guess the main reason....

Negative sample:

A holiday experience I didn't enjoy was a guided bus tour around Europe.
I was in may mid 20's at the time and I went with my girlfriend on a Eurotrip bus tour around most of western Europe.
The main thing that made this trip unenjoyable was the other people on the tour.
For example,... They were noisy at night and not really interested in the places and cultures we were seeing.
Besides that, I didnt enjoy ....

Another Example:

Personally, I would have to say that
----->My favorite thing is ...
----->If I got the opportunity to ...

First of all, ....... . For example,......
Second,....... For example,....
So, that's why .... (restate your idea like saying this; my favorite thing ....)