The TOEFL Speaking section is the quickest part of the test. While this might sound good, it actually makes it a little more difficult. Why? You have to respond to 6-speaking questions back to back with very little pauses.

Go back to the Listening questions, or move on to the Writing section.

• 1st) Unlike the IELTS test, during the TOEFL Speaking you do not communicate with another person. You talk into a microphone and record all of your answers. Personally, I find this method more challenging because you are literally talking to a computer instead of a person.

• 2nd) Question 1 is an open-ended question. What does that mean? You just have to stay on topic and speak clearly. You have 15 seconds to prepare your answer and 45 seconds to respond. Questions are related to personal experiences, for example, tell me about someone you admire, describe your favorite vacation, and so on. However, while the vocabulary and grammar are simple to respond to these topics, thinking of examples and details is very difficult without practice.

• 3rd) Preferably, you want to 1) give two reasons why you think something (like why your vacation in Europe was the best), 2) add a couple details from your personal experience (like examples of what you did that was so fun – or invent a story if it's easier), 3) give a short conclusion.

• TIP 1 Record and time yourself responding to open-ended questions like you'll find in Speaking Part 1. You are graded equally based on structure, grammar, and pronunciation, so it's critical to be comfortable with the 45 second response time so you can respond in a relaxed way (more pronounciation points because you're speaking at a normal pace) and give your whole response (more structure points because everything is organized) without being cut off when the clock stops. That means free points!

• TIP 2 Take notes! Many students do not think the 15 second preparation time is long enough to take notes. This is dead wrong. It's essential for structuring your response and keeping you on track while speaking.

• TIP 3 If you are extremely short on time, at least look at the types of questions you'll see in this test, and the order they'll appear in. Even for a native speaker, responding to questions without some foreknowledge is very difficult.

Watch these videos from Notefull, TOEFL Resources, and Magoosh to really understand the first part of the TOEFL test!

Still an open-ended question, but now you need to compare two things and give a preference

The last open-ended question. Let's get started.

• 1st) You have the same time to prepare (15 seconds) and respond (45 seconds) as you did for Question 1.

• 2nd) The major difference now is that you need to give your preference or compare the pros and consof something. So, instead of discussing one thing (like your favorite vacation), Question 2 requires you to explain why one type of vacation is better than another (e.g., spending a vacation hiking or spending a vacation next to the pool).

• TIP Practice by yourself! For many people, Questions 1 and 2 are the most difficult because it's your duty to think of the examples, whereas questions 3-6 give you all the material you need to talk about.

More advice and practice? Watch these videos from TOEFL Resources, EngVid, and Kathy TOEFL Teacher.

The first of the academically focused questions

Here you need to read, listen, and respond.

• 1st) You begin Question 3 by reading a 100 word reading. The topic of the paragraph will be closely related to the conversation you listen to after it. The reading will introduce you to the theme being talked about in the audio conversation that follows. As an example, maybe the reading is a student newsletter discussing a change to the parking policy.

• 2nd) The audio conversation will be between two students discussing some aspect of college life. Here, the students might discuss the parking policy changes that you read about in the newsletter. The language used by the students will be more informal, and recycle some important vocabulary from the reading.

• 3rd) After listening to the student dialouge, you will hear a question. With our parking policy example, the question might ask, "What are the students' opinions about the parking policy change? Make sure to give reasons and details to support your answer." You will want to relate what you read with what you listened to when you respond. After the question is stated, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your answer and 60 seconds to respond.

• TIP Pay attention to vocabulary from the reading that is recycled in the listening.

Want to practice by yourself? These free videos from TOEFL Resources, Magoosh, NoteFull, and Kathy TOEFL Teacher will help you get the score you need!

Read, listen speak. Pt. 2

Like Question 3, Question 4 has you reading, listening, and responding. However, now we need to use more academic language.

• 1st) The structure of Speaking Question 4 is nearly identical to Question 3. The difference here is that the text you read and the audio you listen to use much more academic and scientific language. Therefore, you are expected to learn new words through context and repeat some of that new vocabulary in your spoken response. Again, you have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to say it.

• TIP Leading up to the TOEFL, it helps to read and listen to more advanced scientific content. Of course, you cannot cram a bunch of new words into your head. Rather, concentrate on conjunctions, speech patterns, and the presentation of ideas. Why? During the TOEFL reading and listening, these tools will help you identify the intent and main topic of an article or speech. What's more, they're easier to learn.

Now that you know the basics, master Part 4 with these videos, thanks to TOEFL Resources, NoteFull, and Kathy TOEFL Teacher.

Listen to a dialogue between two students and summarize their discussion.

No more reading, listening, and responding. For Questions 5 & 6, it's simply listen and speak.

• 1st) Question 5 is pretty straightforward. You listen to a conversation between two students talking about something related to campus life. After being told the question, you will have 20 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to respond.

• 2nd) Let's say that they are talking about the price of books and how they're becoming more expensive. During the dialogue they will mention some strategies to overcome the high prices. In this example, the question you get might look like, "Two students discussed the problem of expensive textbooks. What solutions did they discuss? Give reasons and details to support your answer." The vocabulary isn't challening, the conversation is slower than normal, and the problem and solutions mentioned should be fairly obvious.

Ready to practice? TOEFL Resources, NoteFull, and Kathy TOEFL Teacher have the videos to make sure you succeed.

Woohoo! The last speaking question!

Alright! We've made it to the end, and thankfully it's very similar to Question 5. One more question to look at, and then we're on our way to TOEFL Writing.

• 1st) Question 6 is also just a listening exercise that you need to respond to. The difference here is that it's a lecture using quite scientific vocabulary. Because you're only listening, it's harder to note down some of the new vocabulary than it was in Question 4 (with the reading, listening, and then responding).

• 2nd) You will be asked to summarize the lecture, explain the professor's main points, or discuss some of the specific vocabulary used and how it related to the lecture topic. You then have 20 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to deliver your response

• TIP Just like for question 4, I REEAALLY suggest that you start listening to and reading some academic/scientific materials. I am not telling you to memorize vocabulary – that's a bad idea! In fact, it's a waste of your valuable time. Instead of just looking at vocabulary, study the structure, writing voice, and presentation of new vocabulary (this will help you identify new vocabulary in the listening exercises and be able to anticipate it).

Now that you know what's in Question 6, it's time to prepare yourself even further with these videos from TOEFL Resources and NoteFull.

Thanks Magoosh!

Now that you know what to expect in each part of the TOEFL Speaking Section, it's time to take a practice test. This test will tell us 1st) which speaking questions to focus most of your time, and 2) if you're ready to move on to other parts of the test, like writing.