{"id":2668,"date":"2016-01-12T11:53:07","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T19:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2668"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:44:27","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:44:27","slug":"toefl-tuesday-do-native-speakers-get-perfect-scores-on-the-toefl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-tuesday-do-native-speakers-get-perfect-scores-on-the-toefl\/","title":{"rendered":"TOEFL Tuesday: Do Native Speakers Get Perfect Scores on the TOEFL?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because the TOEFL is a test of how well you can communicate at an English-only university, you may expect that all native English speakers would get perfect scores on the test. But the truth is that sometimes, they don\u2019t. It depends on the person\u2014in particular, it depends on whether they already know the TOEFL.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"TOEFL Tuesday: Perfect Scores for Native Speakers?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LjYMD0ceq_U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teachers like me <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/lucas-takes-the-toefl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">should get perfect scores if they want to<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But I\u2019ve taken the test before, and I\u2019ve taught it for years, so there is no part of the test that will cause problems for me. If you already know the format of the TOEFL well, then 120 is reasonable. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">don\u2019t <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have experience with the TOEFL before you take the test, even if you are a native speaker, you might lose points because you\u2019re surprised by some aspects of the test. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/forums.eslcafe.com\/teacher\/viewtopic.php?t=9028\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This native English teacher, for example, took the test and scored a 105.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> He admits that he didn\u2019t know anything about the test before he took it, and that is almost certainly why his score wasn\u2019t above 110. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, let\u2019s consider the listening section. In order to get a perfect score, you need to remember a lot of detail from the conversations and lectures, so you can answer questions. What if you stop paying attention for a moment? You can miss a detail that is in a question later, and lose points. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or consider the speaking section: you have to answer very specific types of questions, and have only 45 or 60 seconds to answer. If you don\u2019t structure your answer, and don\u2019t know what to expect, it\u2019s easy to miss key information because the timer finishes too soon. I recently spoke with a native speaker who took the TOEFL and scored a 24 on the speaking section. With some preparation, he would certainly score higher\u2014likely 28 to 30.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Native Speakers Rarely Need the TOEFL<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The TOEFL is specifically for people who speak English as a foreign language. In general, universities require it from people who cannot prove that they speak English natively. But sometimes, it does happen. Even if you grow up speaking English, if you don\u2019t attend a high school or university that speaks only English, and you\u2019re not a U.S., U.K., or Australian citizen, then you might still be asked for TOEFL scores. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>But if you have any proof that you speak English as a native language, contact universities that you are applying to\u2014you probably won\u2019t need to take the TOEFL.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if you <\/span><b>do<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> need a TOEFL score, and you are a native speaker, you would probably score over 100 with no preparation. That\u2019s enough for some universities, but not all\u2014especially if they have requirements for specific sections. Some programs, for example, require 26+ on the speaking section. So even if you are a very advanced English speaker, I recommend preparing for the test. Learn the format before you take it, so you don\u2019t lose points just because you are surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Because the TOEFL is a test of how well you can communicate at an English-only university, you may expect that all native English speakers would get perfect scores on the test. But the truth is that sometimes, they don\u2019t. It depends on the person\u2014in particular, it depends on whether they already know the TOEFL. Teachers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13599],"tags":[13621],"ppma_author":[13628],"class_list":["post-2668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scores","tag-video"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TOEFL Tuesday: Do Native Speakers Get Perfect Scores on the TOEFL? - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-tuesday-do-native-speakers-get-perfect-scores-on-the-toefl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOEFL Tuesday: Do Native Speakers Get Perfect Scores on the TOEFL?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Because the TOEFL is a test of how well you can communicate at an English-only university, you may expect that all native English speakers would get perfect scores on the test. 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