Common TOEFL Speaking Questions from SK2 Students, Plus Tips

I'm David from SK2 TOEFL. Quick reminder: if you haven't signed up yet for the 90-minute masterclass that SK2's other co-founder Rosa and I are giving exclusively for Offerland students next Wednesday evening, 5/28, sign up now!

Time: 19:30 - 21:00

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Today I'm sharing the blind spots students often run into when preparing for TOEFL Speaking, along with my answers.

Besides writing in-depth articles every week, SK2's consultants also host “consultant hours” in person, where students can ask writing questions one-on-one and work through their speaking blind spots. We'll be there; the only question is whether you show up!

Many students actually have similar questions, so learning from what others share helps you improve too. After each consultant session, I also ask students to write up for themselves “what questions I came in with” and “what I'm leaving with.” Writing it up helps them really absorb it, and other students benefit too.

Below I've compiled questions students recently raised during consultant hours, along with their own takeaways and reflections, for you to use as a reference and check against your own experience.

Student Wu: Speaking, Independent task:

1. Prep time is very short, so jot down keywords for the parts you think you might get stuck on.

For example, if you're not worried about your reasons but might get stuck on your example, write down keywords for the example.

2. Before the parts where you might get stuck, pause briefly and slow down

3. If you use a counterexample, remember to come back and restate your position at the end

Student Kao: Speaking, Independent task:

1. Think about why you get stuck. If it's usually the example, use the 15 seconds of prep to run through your example quickly

2. If watching the clock makes you nervous, don't look at the timer when you first start practicing, or when you get stuck

3. Use examples you're familiar with whenever possible. While practicing, you can stop and think about what other details a listener would want to know

Student Wang: Integrated tasks:

1. The last Integrated Speaking task is listening only, and it's easy to lose track of where one of the two Topics ends and the other begins.

Listen at the start for keywords: another\second, and for the two big abstract themes.

If you miss them, use the examples to tell them apart.

2. In Integrated Speaking tasks, you can't write out all the transition words while taking notes. Draw arrows as you listen, or pause while answering to buy time to think of the connector for your next sentence

3. Stay confident; even if you make a mistake, don't stop and start over

Student Chung: Pronunciation:

1. My pronunciation is often inconsistent, and my mistakes are different every time. A word I pronounced correctly earlier might come out wrong the next time I say it. For example: I sometimes say plankton as puh-lankton, example as exeple, tubes as twos, flight becomes fight, and train comes out as chen.

Suggestion: use the transcripts in SK2's speaking database for word-substitution practice, so you have a chance of saying the words correctly on the test.

I'll keep compiling students' common questions and my answers for everyone.

If you have a question, don't worry about what kind of question it is. Feel free to send me a DM!