In this question, you'll speak about a familiar topic. Your response will be scored on your ability to speak clearly and coherently about the topics. You'll have 15 seconds to prepare your answer and 45 seconds to speak.
We recommend you practice taking notes with a pen and paper like you will during your TOEFL exam.
You have 45 seconds to record your answer. Click the record button to begin.
Recorder will be available after subscribing.Sample Answer
Grammar & Vocabulary Training Exercise
(This exercise trains your speech, listening skills, and speaking comprehension)
Listen to your response and write out exactly what you hear including grammar and spelling mistakes. Use Grammarly to find any common and intermediate level mistakes.
Re-write your response to use correct grammar and spelling and improve the structure then redo the test.
Pronunciation Training Exercise
(This exercise trains your pronunciation, speech rhythm, timing, and reading)
Click the record button and read out load a Sample Answer Script:. As you speak, your speech will be translated to text. It can take 5 seconds before the text appears, so don't worry and keep speaking.
Click the record button to stop recording; Review the text for any pronunciation errors.
Prepare for all 5 question styles
- Agree or Disagree
- Preference
- If/Imaginary
- Description or Explanation
- Advantage and Disadvantage
If / Imaginary Questions
If you had a small amount of money, would you spend it right away or save it? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
Agree or Disagree Questions
Do you agree or disagree that students should bring a cellphone to school? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
Preference Questions
Do you prefer finding information by reading books or searching the Internet? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
Description or Explanation Questions
Should new university students all be required to read the same book in the summer before they start their first course of study?
Explain your answer.
Advantage and Disadvantage Questions
Your university is planning to allow students to watch TV in their dormitories. What is your opinion and why?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of watching TV in dormitories? Include reasons and examples to support your response.
You’ll have 45 seconds to make your speech. The structure of the response can be the following:
1. Your main idea or your main opinion
2. The first main idea and supporting details and examples
3. The second supporting idea and supporting details and examples
4. Conclusion.
"Agree or Disagree" questions
Here are a few examples:
- Do you agree or disagree that students should bring their cellphones to school? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
- Do you agree or disagree that a celebrity should set a good example for young people? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
- Do you agree or disagree that a higher education means a better career? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
I agree/disagree that ...
I agree/disagree to the idea that ….
I agree/disagree with S + Verb-ing
Some people believe that …, but I disagree.
Here are a few examples of beginning responses:
I agree that students should bring their cellphones to school.
I agree to the idea that students should bring their cellphones to school.
I agree with students bringing their cellphones to school.
Some people believe that students should bring their cellphones to school, but I disagree.
"Preference" questions
Here are some examples of preference questions:
- Do you prefer finding information by reading books or searching the Internet? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
- Do you prefer to eat at home or restaurants? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
- Would you prefer to have a higher-paying job with longer hours or a lower-paying job with shorter hours? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
- Do you prefer to work in a team or work alone? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
I prefer to ___ (V + O).
To me, ____(X) is far preferable to ____(Y)
I prefer ____(X) to/over ____(Y)
I would rather ____(V + O) than ___ (V + O)
I prefer to find information by reading books.
To me, eating at restaurants is far preferable to eating at home.
I prefer having a higher-paying job with longer hours to having a lower-paying job with shorter hours.
I would rather work in a team than work alone.
Here in the third sentence, many students use "than" instead of "to" as in the following sentence Incorrect! I prefer having a higher-paying job with longer hours than having a lower-paying job with shorter hours.
That is wrong! Remember the pattern: "prefer X to Y" or "prefer X over Y".
correct! I prefer having a higher-paying job with longer hours to having a lower-paying job with shorter hours.
"If / Imaginary" questions
Here is an example:
- If you had a small amount of money, would you spend it right away or save it? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
If I had a small amount of money, I would choose to save it for a number of reasons.
"If / Imaginary" questions
Here are some examples:
- Should using cell phones be permitted while driving? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
- Should new university students all be required to read the same book in summer before they start their first course of study? Explain your answer.
- Do you think bicycles will still be widely used in the future or replaced by other means of transportation?
- What is an important benefit that an employer can offer to make sure employees are happy and healthy? Explain your answer.
- Should college students be required to take at least one class in Philosophy?
In my opinion, _____
I strongly/firmly believe that _____
In my view, _____
As far as I am concerned, _____
It is my belief that _____
In my opinion, not all university students should be required to read the same book before entering their first year of study.
I firmly believe that the use of cellphones should be prohibited while driving.
In my view, bicycles will become obsolete due to the emergence of other means of transportation.
As far as I am concerned, the most important benefit that an employer can offer to make sure employees are happy and healthy is a great health care package.
It is my belief that it should not be a requirement that all college students take at least one philosophy class.
"Advantage and Disadvantage" questions
- Should universities allow students to watch TV in their dormitories? What is your opinion and why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of watching TV in dormitories? Include reasons and examples to support your response.
- Should young children spend a great amount of their time practicing sports? What is your opinion and why? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Upsides and downsides
- Benefits and drawbacks
- pros and cons
- Positive aspects and negative aspects
For a sentence like this "Living in a small city has advantages and disadvantages" can be expressed as the following:
- Living in a small city has pros and cons.
- Living in a small city has upsides and downsides.
- Living in a small city has benefits and drawbacks.
- Living in a small city has positive and negative aspects.
Let's have a look at a template you can use for this style of question.
The advantage of ___ is ____. …..(add more details about the advantage)
On the other hand, there is a disadvantage to ____ (Verb-ing + o). …… (add more details about the disadvantage)
In conclusion,____ has pros and cons, but the advantage outweighs the disadvantage (or the disadvantage outweighs the advantage).
Therefore, I think ___ .
Tips to get a high score
2. You can paraphrase the prompt to give your first sentence.
3. Be specific about your supporting details and examples. The trick is to use sentence structure like "If I...., I..." or "When I ..., I ..." when providing supporting details and examples.
High Scoring Answer Analysis
The prompt will present you an issue and two opposite opinions towards the issue. You have to choose between the two options the prompt states out. You will have 15 seconds to prepare for an answer and 45 seconds to make your speech. The key to this question is to stay firmly on the side of the option you choose. An example for this question is as following:
Example:
Do you prefer finding information by reading books or searching the internet? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
Answer:
I prefer to find information by searching the internet because it is more convenient, it is faster, and there are more resources available. If you need to find some information by books, but you do not have the book, you will have to go to the library, but the internet is conveniently at your house. In addition, searching the internet gives you a vast array of tools that can quicken your search, which you do not have searching through a book. Finally, no matter what you need to find, there will usually be a few different resources for you to choose from, where you might have only one book to look through.
Analysis and comments
- One of the most important thing about this speech is that the speaker stays on one side of the argument the whole time. The speaker starts with an argument in favor of the internet and stays with that side till the end of the speech. By choosing one side and staying with it, the this speech seems clearer and more well-organized than the first one.
- The speech includes three reasons why the speaker prefers the internet to books. Before introducing each reason, the speaker starts with ‘first,’ ‘second,’ and ‘finally.’ These transitions help the ideas flow better together as a speech. Besides, each reason is not only listed but also further supported with an explanation. For example, when saying that the internet is more convenient than books, the speech explains that if you want a book, you’ll have to go to a library but you can always have the internet right in your house. The supportive information makes the speech much more convincing.
Low Scoring Answer Analysis
The prompt will present you an issue and two opposite opinions towards the issue. You have to choose between the two options the prompt states out. You will have 15 seconds to prepare for an answer and 45 seconds to make your speech. The key to this question is to stay firmly on the side of the option you choose. An example for this question is as following:
Example:
Do you prefer finding information by reading books or searching the internet? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
Answer:
Between finding information by reading books and searching the internet, I prefer searching the internet. I prefer the internet because of three reasons. First, the internet is more convenient. Second, it is much faster to search on the internet than through books. Finally, there are more resources available to use on the internet. However, even though the internet is very useful, sometimes I enjoy reading books to find information as well. By reading books, instead of just one information, you’ll end up learning more information along the way. I think I like both reading books and searching the internet.
Analysis and comments
Wrong things
- When listing the reasons to support the argument, the speech fails to provide further explanation of the reasons. Instead of fully explaining what each reason means, the speaker only provides a laundry list of reasons. Without the proper explanation of the reasons, the speech isn’t convincing. Providing a list of reasons is not enough. You also need to make sure the examiner understand how your reason leads to your side of the argument.
- By the end of the speech, the speaker changes his mind about what side he prefers. From the beginning till almost the end, he says he prefers the internet to books. However, near the end, he says he also likes books. Not choosing a clear stand on the matter will make the speech confusing, unorganized and difficult to follow. Instead of trying to argue for both sides (which will require double amount of efforts and time), focus only on one side of the argument and stay firmly on that side. By staying on only one side of the argument, you will have more time to explain your reasons and arguments thoroughly, and makes the speech more convincing and well organized.
Right things
- The speech starts off with a paraphrased statement of the prompt. It is good to provide a little background information before presenting your choice of argument.
- The speech uses transition words like ‘first,’ ‘second,’ and ‘finally’ effectively, which makes the speech seems organized and easy to follow.