lexipharm Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I would like to write a note of encouragement for all those who are planning to take their TOEFL and are getting discouraged after reading about other people's experiences. I am from Malta. My first language is NOT english. And i passed TOEFL on my first attempt. I scored 27 in speaking section. Although my english is good, i practiced for the speaking section to train myself to talk about a topic after thinking about it for only 15 seconds. I hope this helps anyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himanshu288 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 hey congratulations can you share your knowledge with us. how did you achieve this miracle score? can you explain the way of your answering to all questions? how did you practice for speaking section? thanks in advance congrates again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khadija Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Could you please share your speaking strategies that leaded you to a score of 27. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disAY Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 hi...i also want to share some tips in taking the toefl ibt especially the speaking part...i'm from the philippines and just like lexipharm, english is not my native language... here's how i outlined my responses: Preference/Opinion: Example 1: Reason: Example 2: Reason: Conclusion: actually, i got this idea from a toefl ibt book that i read...it really works because it helps organize your ideas faster...according to the book, it is also important to be able to give 2 or more examples and you should give a reason for giving that example... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tseprep Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 hi...i also want to share some tips in taking the toefl ibt especially the speaking part...i'm from the philippines and just like lexipharm, english is not my native language... here's how i outlined my responses: Preference/Opinion: Example 1: Reason: Example 2: Reason: Conclusion: actually, i got this idea from a toefl ibt book that i read...it really works because it helps organize your ideas faster...according to the book, it is also important to be able to give 2 or more examples and you should give a reason for giving that example... To give 2 good example in 45 seconds? It will be better to give 1 reason and 1 good example. Not to take anything away from your score, congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disAY Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 yes it is possible as long as your explanation is straight to the point...which means that you need to organize your ideas within that 15-second time alotted...it really takes practice though... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tseprep Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 yes it is possible as long as your explanation is straight to the point...which means that you need to organize your ideas within that 15-second time alotted...it really takes practice though... :D It will take lot of practice.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinc86 Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 oh god... sometimes i can't really think of anything in 15 seconds.. neither in my native lenguage!!!! If i'm required to give exemples and i don't do that... is it a big problem? does it affect a lot the score? and if i give the answer and 1 short exemple in a very short time.. like 20 seconds.. and so there are 25 seconds without speaking.. is it a big problem too ??? :S How do they score in these cases? i'm very discoraged! :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radagast Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Read Princeton Review on TOEFL iBT. It is what I'm using. I think the templates it provide are very helpful for every possible tasks TOEFL might give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tseprep Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Read Princeton Review on TOEFL iBT. It is what I'm using. I think the templates it provide are very helpful for every possible tasks TOEFL might give. If everybody used the same templates, the result will be worst than not using the templates. Better yet make your own templates so you can get a better score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radagast Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I just got my TOEFL score. This is my first take. I got 28 for Speaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD2007 Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I just got my TOEFL score. This is my first take. I got 28 for Speaking. This is an excellent score. Congratulation! Could you please explain for us what is your strategy to get high mark on Speaking? I only got 20, 19 and 19 for three attempts and I just couldn't figure out how to improve it. Thank you for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radagast Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 One suggestion is try to vary your sentence structure. Second, if you think templates are too mechanical, convey your response in a way that is most convenient to you. Try to listen more often to spoken English. Of course, practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmona Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I took the TOEFL iBT three times and scored the following for the Speaking Section: 24, 23, 26. I'm just so happy that I finally got the score that I needed. To those who are having a hard time obtaining the scores they need, do not lose hope. It takes a lot of prayers and practice. During my first two attempts, I did not take practicing seriously since I have been speaking English since I was a child. But I realized that TOEFL doesn't really gauge your knowledge of the Language but rather your being able to perform assigned tasks. It's very much like answering the question and answer portion of a beauty contest. You have very little time to prepare (15 seconds) and they expect you to give a brilliant answer (lying is recommended). I suggest practicing to answer at least 10 questions a day for about 2 weeks. This really helps. Record your answer and listen to it at a later time so you can spot your weaknesses. Also, I think what I did differently on my third try is that I did not use the words found in the question, in short, I paraphrased a lot. For example, the question is: "What is your favorite subject?" Instead of starting as "My favorite subject is ...," say something like "When I was in College, I took a lot of Science subjects as a requirement for my Major...I really liked Biochemistry because my teacher made the subject very interesting..." Again, practice, lie, and paraphrase! Good luck! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trav Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I took the TOEFL iBT three times and scored the following for the Speaking Section: 24, 23, 26. I'm just so happy that I finally got the score that I needed. To those who are having a hard time obtaining the scores they need, do not lose hope. It takes a lot of prayers and practice. During my first two attempts, I did not take practicing seriously since I have been speaking English since I was a child. But I realized that TOEFL doesn't really gauge your knowledge of the Language but rather your being able to perform assigned tasks. It's very much like answering the question and answer portion of a beauty contest. You have very little time to prepare (15 seconds) and they expect you to give a brilliant answer (lying is recommended). I suggest practicing to answer at least 10 questions a day for about 2 weeks. This really helps. Record your answer and listen to it at a later time so you can spot your weaknesses. Also, I think what I did differently on my third try is that I did not use the words found in the question, in short, I paraphrased a lot. For example, the question is: "What is your favorite subject?" Instead of starting as "My favorite subject is ...," say something like "When I was in College, I took a lot of Science subjects as a requirement for my Major...I really liked Biochemistry because my teacher made the subject very interesting..." Again, practice, lie, and paraphrase! Good luck! ;) Imona, I liked it when you talked about "lying" when answering TOEFLiBT speaking questions because I did exactly what you have just said. I had a question about "My greatest achievement to date and why do I consider that as my greatest achievement".... I responded by talking about getting the 12th child who will be a "reserve" soccer player in my family soccer team (all the 11 players being my children), which will reduce the pressure I'm currently having just to think about the consequences I might face in case one of my children gets injured during the competition.... I added a couple of blah blahs just to finish the alloted time and at the end I was laughing out loud.. and I think the person who marked my test should have thought that I'm crazy.... but it worked in my favor. I don't mean that TOEFLiBT is a fair test.... It is not even close to being fair, because people like you who have been speaking English over the years should not "struggle" to acquire a passing score (26) for the speaking section. There's something wrong with this test.... The magic number (26) is too high and its validation is long overdue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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