{"id":490,"date":"2014-06-25T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-25T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=490"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:47:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:47:09","slug":"how-to-practice-toefl-speaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Practice TOEFL Speaking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When asked about good ways to practice for the <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-speaking\/\">TOEFL speaking section<\/a>, many people\u2019s default answer is to find a language partner\u2014someone you can meet with, whether online, on the phone, or in person, to practice English conversation and test questions with. It\u2019s true that language partners can be a great resource as you study, but for a lot of people it\u2019s not a practical arrangement\u2014particularly if you live in a non-English-speaking country. Practicing speaking by yourself can be tricky, but with some creativity you\u2019ll find that there are tons of great ways to do it. The tips below will help you approach the speaking section with confidence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Lightning questions<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve written about lightning questions before\u2014these are short questions, similar to the independent speaking and writing prompts, that you answer with minimal preparation and planning. You can make a list of questions in advance and just keep it handy (I have a few examples in this <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-speaking-practice\/\">post<\/a>). Every day, choose two or three questions to answer. Read the question, set a timer for a pre-determined length of time (as little as 20 seconds, as much as 90 seconds), and then speak about the topic for the entire time. Your goal is to fill up the entire time, to answer the question, and to pause as little as possible. Unlike on the TOEFL, you shouldn\u2019t be as concerned with giving a complete answer, and it\u2019s OK if you don\u2019t conclude your answer in the given time. The point of this exercise is to keep talking. Lightning questions are a great way to improve your fluency, even if you just do a few of them a day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Translate reading material<\/h2>\n<p>You can exercise your grammar and vocabulary by translating reading passages\u2014orally, of course\u2014from your native language into English. Try to translate each sentence as accurately as you can without using a dictionary. If you\u2019re not sure how to translate a particular phrase or structure, write it down so you can look it up or ask someone later. As you do this exercise, avoid using a dictionary; if there\u2019s a word you don\u2019t know, try to describe it or give the closest synonym you can think of. Replacing words you don\u2019t know with ones you do is a skill that will give you a huge boost on the exam (and in life).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Retell common stories<\/h2>\n<p>If you translate something as you read it, you\u2019re going to be pretty confined in terms of your phrasing, since you\u2019re trying to match the text as closely as possible. For some more creative practice, try translating a fairy tale, movie you just saw, or a well-known story. This method gives you a lot more control over the difficulty of the material you\u2019re translating.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Record yourself\u00a0\u00a0<b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Nobody likes doing this, but it\u2019s still solid advice: record yourself speaking so you can listen and critique later. This will let you pick up on mistakes you\u2019re making that you may not even know about, plus you can compare your answers to sample TOEFL answers more easily. It also will get you used to the stress of being recorded so that it\u2019s not quite so strange to be speaking to a computer screen on test day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>PS. Don&#8217;t forgot how important it is to take a full-length TOEFL before your exam! Here&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/magoosh-toefl-now-has-full-length-practice-tests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">where to find TOEFL practice tests<\/a> and some <A href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/best-free-toefl-resources\/\">additional TOEFL practice questions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When asked about good ways to practice for the TOEFL speaking section, many people\u2019s default answer is to find a language partner\u2014someone you can meet with, whether online, on the phone, or in person, to practice English conversation and test questions with. It\u2019s true that language partners can be a great resource as you study, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13618],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13632],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speaking"],"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>How to Practice TOEFL Speaking - 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\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Practice TOEFL Speaking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When asked about good ways to practice for the TOEFL speaking section, many people\u2019s default answer is to find a language partner\u2014someone you can meet with, whether online, on the phone, or in person, to practice English conversation and test questions with. It\u2019s true that language partners can be a great resource as you study, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-25T16:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:47:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kate Hardin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kate Hardin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/\",\"name\":\"How to Practice TOEFL Speaking - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-25T16:00:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-practice-toefl-speaking\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Practice TOEFL Speaking\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\",\"name\":\"Kate Hardin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f695eb57ce131bb657ee5d3203ed66f9\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kate Hardin\"},\"description\":\"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. 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