Task 1: Independent Speaking
Because the first speaking task is about your thoughts, many of the helpful transition words are about reasons and examples. You will probably give two reasons or two examples in your answer, so you have to connect them correctly. You might also contrast two opposite examples to make your opinion clear. After giving the reasons and/or examples, you can summarize with a general statement. Be sure to transition into your summary.
Speaking Task 1
Sample Question
Some people prefer playing team sports. Others prefer physical activities that you do alone, such as swimming or running. Which do you prefer? Explain why.
Explaining why
● That’s because…
● The reason I say that is that…
● After all,…
Listing
● First of all,…
● …, for one.
● First,… Second,…
● Also,…
● Besides that,…
● What’s more,…
● More importantly,…
● But what’s more important is that…
● There’s also the fact that…
Giving examples
● For example,…
● Take, for example, [noun].
● For instance,…
● If…., say,…
Showing a contrast
● But on the other hand,…
● Meanwhile,…
● In contrast,…
Returning to a previous idea
● Anyway,…
● But still,…
Clarifying
● What I mean to say is that…
● I guess I’m trying to say that…
● To put it another way,…
● That is,…
● I mean,…
Summarizing
● So basically,…
● Essentially,…
● In general,…
● My main point is that…
Choosing one from two
● Personally, I prefer [playing team sports]…
● I’d rather [play a team sport]…
● If I had to choose between [team sports and exercising alone], I’d…
● If you ask me, [team sports] are better because…
● Between [team sports] and [exercising alone], I’d rather…
Giving Examples
● For example,…
● Take, for example, [noun].
● For instance,…
● If…., say,…
Sample Answer 1
Between team sports and exercising alone, I’d rather exercise alone, personally. If you ask me, it’s better because you can do it any time, for one. For example, if I wanted to get some exercise, but I only played team sports, I’d, uhh, I’d have to call friends or, I don’t know—or find a group of people who played regularly. But on the other hand, if I want to go running, I can just go any time. Also, I can listen to music while running or hiking. You need to talk, to, uhh… to communicate when playing a team sport, so you can’t do that… you can’t wear headphones at all. In general, I guess I just like exercising alone better, because I have more control of when and what I do.
Sample Answer 2
If I had to choose between team sports and exercising alone, I’d definitely play a team sport, like volleyball, my favorite. It’s more enjoyable to spend time with people. There are a couple of reasons I say that. When you’re, uh, with people, you can share it… share the experience, for one. I mean, you can talk, or maybe joke, like, uhh…, if you’re playing volleyball, say, and you make a mistake—you drop the ball, for instance—your friends can reassure you. But besides that, friends can help motivate you. When you’re exercising alone, on the other hand, you need toefl.magoosh.com 8 to motivate yourself. So, uhh… my main point is that exercising with people makes the time spent more fun.
Tasks 2 and 3: Reading, Listening and Speaking
Both tasks two and three include a text, then a recording, and you have to summarize both what you read and heard in your answer. It’s important to use phrases that explain which passage you are summarizing--text or audio. Reported speech is very important, but because what you summarize was written and recorded—not experienced in person—you can keep everything in the present tense. (This is very good to know, because tense changes in reported speech can be difficult!)
Phrases for Both Tasks 2 and 3
Naming the source
● According to [the announcement/student/professor]…
● The [text/student/professor] says that…
● The [text/student/professor] states that… (for reporting facts, not opinions)
● In the text, we saw that…
● In the [lecture/conversation], we heard that..
● From the [reading/lecture], we know that… (for a definite fact)
● As the [text/student/professor] says, …
Showing a contrast
● But on the other hand,…
● Meanwhile,…
● In contrast,…
● …, however,…
● But at the same time…
Listing
● First of all,…
● …, for one.
● First,… Second,…
● Besides that,…
● What’s more,…
● More importantly,…
● But what’s more important is that…
● There’s also the fact that…
Clarifying
● What I mean to say is that…
● To put it another way,…
● That is,…
● I mean,…
Speaking Task 2 Sample Question
The woman expresses her opinion about the plan described in the article. Briefly summarize the plan. Then state her opinion about the plan, and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.
Showing disagreement
● While [the text says…], [the student thinks…]
● Although [the text says…], [the student thinks…] Reporting an opinion
● The [man] agrees/disagrees that…
● In the [student’s] eyes/opinion...
● [She] believes that…
● The [man] is of the opinion that…
● The [student] claims…
● [He/she] points out that..
Sample Answer 1
The announcement told us that next year, students will have to pay to park cars—that is, park near the class buildings, specifically. People will need to register their cars in order to park there. But one of the students… the man in the conversation… he believes that it’s a bad decision. He says that the university isn’t going to make money, because the money students pay will be spent on additional security to check that cars in the lots are uhh, paid for… I mean, that they’re registered. More importantly, he believes that students will be upset, and although the school will write tickets to punish unregistered cars, the students aren’t, uhh, aren’t gonna pay them. Basically, the student is of the opinion that the school is going to create dissatisfaction without gaining anything, while they could instead just keep the current system.
Sample Answer 2
According to the text, there’s a new policy on campus parking, and students are gonna need to register their cars. What’s more, they’ll have to pay a fee to be allowed to park in the lots near the classroom buildings, and, uhh…. the reading states that the fee is going to provide extra money for the school to spend on building more parking lots. But the male student, on the other hand, disagrees that the school will actually be able to earn any money. He claims that the expenses of the new registration system, will… are gonna cost too much, so in his eyes the registration system can only create problems. While the text says that students who don’t register will be fined, the student points out that security won’t know who unregistered cars belong to, so he claims that people won’t pay the fines.
Speaking Task 3 Sample Question Using the examples of North American English and Jamaican English, explain what is meant by “stress timing” and “syllable timing” in languages.
Describing an overview
● [The reading/text/passage] introduces the [concept of…/theory of…]
● [The reading/text/passage] defines the term [“exoplanet”/”parthenogenesis”/“stress timing”…] as…
● [The reading/text/passage] gives an overview of…
● We get a brief explanation of what [“exoplanet”/”parthenogenesis”] means from the text. It is…
● In the [reading/text/passage], we get general definition of…
Reporting examples
● The professor explains this [with the example of…/by describing…]
● The professor illustrates [that point/the idea] [with the example of…/by describing…]
● [He/she] elucidates [the concept/the idea] [with the example of…/by describing…]
● [He/she] elaborates with some more specific examples, such as…
● According to the [lecture/professor], one instance of this is…
Sample Answer 1
In the reading, we get a general definition of “syllable timing” and “stress timing,” which are ways to describe how a language sounds when it is spoken. In other words, they are categories we can put languages in based on their rhythms. The professor illustrates the difference with the examples of Jamaican English and standard North American English. The lecturer states that Jamaican English speakers, for instance, don’t, uhh… they don’t stress individual syllables very much. Instead, they… well, they stress each syllable the same, whereas North American English speakers, do the opposite, according to the professor. I mean, they stress some syllables extra. So basically, that makes the language stress-timed, because the speed of a sentence changes based on how many stresses there are.
Sample Answer 2
The text introduces the topics of, uhh… , of two different types of language rhythm. It basically just defines the two, which are, um, either with emphasis on every sound or only on some sounds. One concrete instance of this, uh.., according to the professor, is North American English. What I mean to say is that North American English has emphasis on only some sounds, and so the syllables in between go faster. On the other hand, the professor explains languages with the other timing by describing Jamaican English. In Jamaican, the sounds all get similar emphasis, and, more importantly, the speed of the language depends on how many syllables there are… unlike, as the professor says, North American English, which depends on how many emphasized sounds there are.
Task 4: Listening and Speaking The final speaking task is about a recording that you will need to listen to carefully. Similar to tasks two and three, reporting speech is important. Task four is very similar to task three, except it describes the relationship between two ideas or phenomena—whereas task three sometimes gives two specific examples of just one idea. Because they are so similar, many of the same words and phrases can be used. But there are additional phrases you should be aware of, due to Task 4’s focus on spoken words alone, and on a longer, more complex lecture. Speaking Task 4 Sample Question Using points and examples from the lecture explain the difference between inbound and outbound marketing.
Describing an overview
● At the beginning of the lecture,…
● At the start, the professor defines…
● [He/she] introduces the [concept of…/theory of…]
● [He she] defines the terms [“inbound marketing”] as…
● [The professor] gives a brief explanation of what [two types of marketing are].
Naming the source
● According to [the lecturer/professor/speaker]…
● The [lecturer/professor/speaker] says that…
● The [lecturer/professor/speaker] states that… (for reporting facts, not opinions)
● In the [lecture/talk], we heard that..
● As the [lecturer/professor/speaker] says, …
Comparing
● Both [inbound] and [outbound marketing] are…
● In both cases…
● Similarly,…
● In the same way, …
● That’s also true of…
Contrasting
● But on the other hand,…
● Meanwhile,…
● In contrast,…
● …, however,…
● But at the same time…
● Whereas…, ….
Reporting examples
● The professor explains this [with the example of…/by describing…]
● The professor illustrates [that point/the idea] [with the example of…/by describing…]
● [He/she] elucidates [the concept/the idea] [with the example of…/by describing…]
● [He/she] elaborates with some more specific examples, such as…
● According to the [lecture/professor], one instance of this is…
Sample Answer 1
At the start, the professor defines uhh…. he calls them “inbound” and “outbound” marketing. Both types are ways that businesses get new customers. But whereas outbound marketing includes things like advertisements, inbound marketing includes umm… like, articles and information. That is, inbound marketing is material for people to find, y’know, when they want help. The professor illustrates the difference with a website, uhh, a site that sells shoes. He gives the example of a billboard advertisement as outbound marketing. It, uhh, the customer does not try to find it, and maybe they don’t want it. Then the professor explains how the same company could…. they could rate different brands of shoes on their site, and people might search for those ratings and find the site. The big idea is that both inbound and outbound marketing bring people to the website, but inbound customers are, uhhh… they’re being helped by the marketing.
Sample Answer 2
The professor first… he gives a brief explanation of “inbound” and “outbound” marketing. The latter is, umm, it’s traditional marketing. He elaborates with a specific example, a shoe website that buys some advertising. Maybe customers will see the ads, and then they’ll go to the website. As the professor says, in the same way, inbound marketing has the goal of bringing customers to the website. But at the same time, it has some differences, because the advertisement didn’t help the customer… umm… they didn’t try to find the ad. On the other hand, inbound marketing could help the customer. In the lecture, we heard the example of that same shoe company, uhhh, writing articles rating different shoes. So if somebody is researching shoes, they might find the articles and go to the shoe company’s website. In both cases, customers go to the website, but the professor says that inbound marketing is based more on the customer’s needs.
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