TOEFL Speaking

Templates

Table of Contents
Click on the link to jump to that section!
The Magoosh Team
What is Magoosh?
How to Use Templates
Tasks 1 and 2
Phrases for Tasks 1 and 2
Speaking Task 1
Sample Question
Choosing one thing
Sample Answers
Speaking Task 2
Sample Question
Choosing one from two
Giving Examples
Sample Answers
Tasks 3 and 4
Phrases for Both Tasks 3 and 4
Speaking Task 3
Sample Question
Showing disagreement
Reporting an opinion
Sample Answers
Speaking Task 4
Sample Question
Describing an overview
Reporting examples
Sample Answers
Speaking Tasks 5 and 6
Phrases for Both Tasks 5 and 6
Speaking Task 5

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Sample Question
Summarizing the problem
Reporting suggested solutions
Reporting opinions
Giving your opinion
Explaining why
Sample Answers
Speaking Task 6
Sample Question
Describing an overview
Comparing
Contrasting
Reporting examples
Sample Answers
Additional Resources
Study Plans
[eBook] Magooshs Guide to the TOEFL iBT
Vocabulary Resources
Infographics
Book Reviews

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The Magoosh Team

Who is Magoosh?
We are a group of passionate educators in Berkeley, California.

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if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!

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How to Use Templates

First, a note on the word template. You may be looking for a full response that you can
memorize, simply adding in small details as you speak. Unfortunately, thats not a good idea. If
you memorize whole sentences that other students also memorized and used, you will get a 0
on the speaking section. You cannot simply give a whole answer from memory.
But you
can
use specific words and phrases to structure your answers. If you know a few
phrases to start your response, a few to move on to the next idea, and a few to end the
response, then you can better organize your answers. Well organized answers score more
highly because theyre easier to understand.
So learn the words and phrases we provide you, and start using them in your TOEFL speaking
practice. The more you practice using them, the easier they will be to remember and use on
test day.
But be careful not to use the same phrases for every task. If you always use the same structure,
the graders will think you have a limited vocabulary. Pick different introductions and transitions
for each task. Then put them together in full responses with the specific details.
After the template for each task, there is a sample answer that shows one way you could use
the phrases. That will help show the overall structure of your answers.
Happy studying!
Lucas
Magoosh TOEFL Expert

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Tasks 1 and 2
Because the first two speaking tasks are 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 answers, 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.

Phrases for Tasks 1 and 2

Explaining why
Thats because
The reason I say that is that
After all,

Listing

First of all,
, for one.
First, Second,
Also,
Besides that,
Whats more,
More importantly,
But whats more important is that
Theres 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

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I guess Im trying to say that

To put it another way,
That is,
I mean,

Summarizing

So basically,
Essentially,
In general,
My main point is that

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Speaking Task 1
Sample Question
Where would you prefer to study, if you could choose from any type of location? Using details
and examples, explain why.

Choosing one thing

If I had to choose
[a place to study]
If you ask me,
[the best place to study]
In my opinion,
[the best place to study]
Out of all the
[places to study]
, Id pick
[the library]
One of the
[best places to study]
I can think of is
The first
[place to study]
that comes to mind is

Sample Answer 1
The first p
lace to study
that comes to mind
, maybe the best place, is home. T
hats because
well, i
n my opinion,
the most important things to have when studying are, uhh, are quiet and
comfort, and thats exactly what my home has. T
heres also the fact that
home is the easiest
place to go, because, uh you dont actually have to go anywhere. B
ut more importantly,
I

have everything I need at home. If Im hungry, I can just open the refrigerator. B
esides that, i
fI
need to research something, I have my computer right there.
What I mean to say is that
home

is less distracting than other places.

Basically, t
here is nothing you dont expect, and you have
everything you need.

Sample Answer 2
One of the best p
laces to study
, if you ask me
, is at school, or, you know, a university.
After
all,
thats where students and teachers are. F
or example,
if Im in class, after it finishes, I can

ask classmates if they want to study with me. I can get help from those classmates, or maybe
from my professor.
Out of all the places
you can study, only a university has thatthat
resource
I mean,
the resource of classmates and teachers.
Whats more,
a uh, a school is
less distracting than other places. Studying at home,
for instance
, can lead to watching TV, or
doing the laundry, or whatever.
In contrast,
school is only for learning, so you dont get get
distracted. Its
basically
the best place to focus on studies.

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Speaking Task 2
Sample Question
Some people prefer playing team sports. Other prefer physical activities that you do alone,
such as swimming or running. Which do you prefer? Explain why.

Choosing one from two

Personally, I prefer
[playing team sports]
Id rather
[play a team sport]
If I had to choose between
[team sports and exercising alone],
Id
If you ask me,
[team sports]
are better because
Between
[team sports]
and
[exercising alone],
Id rather

Giving Examples

For example,
Take, for example,
[noun].
For instance,
If., say,

Sample Answer 1
Between
team sports
and
exercising alone,
Id rather
exercise alone,
personally. If you ask
me, i
ts better b
ecause you can do it any time,
for one. For example,
if I wanted to get some

exercise, but I only played team sports, Id, uhh, Id have to call friends or, I dont knowor find
a group of people who played regularly. B
ut 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 cant do that you cant 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. Its more enjoyable to spend time with people.
There are a couple
of reasons I say that
. When youre, uh, with people, you can share it share the experience,
for one
.
I mean,
you can talk, or maybe joke, like, uhh,
if
youre playing volleyball,
say
, and
you make a mistakeyou drop the ball,for instance
your friends can reassure you.
But
besides that,
friends can help motivate you. When youre exercising alone, o
n the other hand
,
you need to motivate yourself. So, uhh
my main point is that
exercising with people makes
the time spent more fun.

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Tasks 3 and 4
Both tasks three and four include a text, then a recording, and you have to summarize both
what you read and heard in your answer. Its 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 recordednot experienced in personyou 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 3 and 4

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,
Whats more,
More importantly,
But whats more important is that
Theres also the fact that

Clarifying

What I mean to say is that

To put it another way,
That is,
I mean,

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Speaking Task 3
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 [students] 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 h
e believes that
its a bad
decision.
He says that
the university isnt 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 theyre registered.
More importantly, he believes
that students will be upset, and
although
the school will write tickets to punish unregistered cars, the students arent, uhh,
arent 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,
theres a new policy on campus parking, and students are gonna need
to register their cars.
Whats more,
theyll 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. H
e claims
that the expenses of the new registration system, will are gonna cost too much, so i
n his
eyes
the registration system can only create problems. W
hile the text
says that students who
dont register will be fined, t
he student points out
that security wont know who unregistered
cars belong to, so
he claims that
people wont pay the fines.

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Speaking Task 4
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. T
he professor illustrates the
difference with the examples of
Jamaican English and standard North American English.
The
lecturer states that
Jamaican English speakers,
for instance,
dont, uhh they dont 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 i
nstance 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, a
s the professor says,
North American English,
which depends on how many emphasized sounds there are.

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Speaking Tasks 5 and 6

The final two speaking tasks are about recordings that you will need to listen to carefully.
Similar to tasks three and four, reporting speech is important. Task five also includes your
opinion, so some of the same language from tasks one and two can also be used there. Task
six is very similar to task four, except it describes the relationship between two ideas or
phenomenawhereas task four sometimes gives two specific examples of just one idea.
Because they are so similar, many of the same words and phrases can be used.

Phrases for Both Tasks 5 and 6

Naming the source

According to [the woman/professor]

The [male student/professor] says that
The [student/professor] states that
(for reporting facts, not opinions)
In the [lecture/conversation], we heard that..
As the [student/professor] says,

Showing a contrast

But on the other hand,

Meanwhile,
In contrast,
, however,
But at the same time
Whereas, .

Listing

First of all,
, for one.
First, Second,
Besides that,
Whats more,
More importantly,
But whats more important is that
Theres also the fact that

Clarifying

What I mean to say is that

To put it another way,
That is,
I mean,

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Speaking Task 5
Sample Question
Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing. Then state which of the two
solutions from the conversation you would recommend. Explain the reasons for your
recommendation.

Summarizing the problem

[The female student] is facing a problem with

The issue is that
The problem the students discuss is that
The situation is

Reporting suggested solutions

[The male student] is thinking about
[He/she] is considering
[He/she] points out that [he/she] could

Reporting opinions
[She] is afraid that
(possible negative result of solution)
[He/she] feels that
The [man] is of the opinion that

Giving your opinion

If you ask me,

Personally, I
(Always include I after personally!)
If it were up to me, I would
Id say that [he/she] should
I think its better to

Explaining why
Thats because
The reason I say that is that
After all,

Sample Answer 1
The issue is that
the woman has two different plans for Thursday evening, and shes not sure
which she should do.
First,
her friends gonna go to Spain, and she wants to be at the
going-away party.
According to the woman,
she wont see her friend for a long time after that.
But at the same time, uhh shes afraid that
there will be many people at the party, so
sheshe wont be able to see her friend.
The second
plan
is
to study for her history test its

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16

the next day.

However, she points out that
she already has a high grade, so she doesnt need
to ace the test.
If you ask me
,
Id say that she should
study for the test.
After all,
she can
explain to her friend and say good bye separately, not at the party.

Sample Answer 2
Well, ummm.
the problem the students discuss
is pretty simple. The woman is choosing
between going to a party, uh., her friends goodbye party, or studying for a history quiz.
On
the one hand,
she wants to say goodbye to her friend but t
he man points out that
many
people will be at the party, not just the Spanish friend.
And on the other hand, she feels that
a
good student would study.
But still,
she already has good marks in the class, and
she thinks
that
she might insult her friend by not going to the party. P
ersonally, I think its better to
go to
the party.
The reason I say that is
that a bad quiz grade, like it wont have a big effect on the
students total grade,
but meanwhile,
she only has one opportunity to go to the party.

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17

Speaking Task 6
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].

Comparing

Both [inbound] and [outbound marketing] are

In both cases
Similarly,
In the same way,
Thats also true of.

Contrasting
See phrases for both tasks 5 and 6

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, yknow, 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 dont 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 a
nd
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18

outbound marketing bring people to the website, but inbound customers are, uhhh theyre
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, its traditional marketing. H
e elaborates with a specific example
, a shoe
website that buys some advertising. Maybe customers will see the ads, and then theyll 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 didnt help the customer umm they didnt 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 companys website. I
n both
cases,
customers go to the website, but
the professor says
that inbound marketing is based
more on the customers needs.

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Additional Resources
Need more TOEFL help? Check out these free resources.

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Study Plans
Whether youre planning to study for a long time, or youve waited until the last minute, it
helps to add some structure to your TOEFL study plan to keep you organized and on
track. Planning out a study schedule is the key first step in scoring well on the TOEFL.
To help take the guesswork out of all of this, weve created some schedules to help you
get started.

Two-Week Study Schedule

One Month Study Schedule
Preparing for the TOEFL in 20-30 Minutes per Day

Pro-tip: Before getting started with your study plan, we recommend reading our top tips
for
making the most of your TOEFL study schedule
.

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[eBook] Magooshs Guide to the TOEFL iBT

This is
the ultimate TOEFL resource a guide that can help both beginning students
learning about the TOEFL iBT for the first time
and
advanced students looking for
strategies and extra TOEFL practice to boost their score.

What to expect from this eBook:

This 150+ page eBook covers all aspects of your TOEFL iBT preparation. It:
Explains the format of each section of the TOEFL iBT
Covers every type of question the TOEFL could ask
Provides proven strategies for each question type
Includes practice problems and explanations to help you along
AND provides additional resources for continued studying
Did we mention that this TOEFL eBook is completely FREE?

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Vocabulary Resources
Learning vocabulary helps with every aspect of the exam - speaking, reading, listening,
and writing! So, you should make some time in your schedule to work on your
vocabulary. Here are some resources to help!

Free Vocabulary Flashcards

Use these free flashcards to master the 200 most important words on the exam.

[eBook] TOEFL Vocabulary Comics

In this eBook, we help you memorize and review vocabulary words with the help of
mnemonic devices. To make these words more fun and memorable, these mnemonics
are illustrated with entertaining comics, like this one:

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Infographics
Here at Magoosh, we
love
to make infographics -- theyre both fun and educational! Here
are our two TOEFL infographics:
TOEFL Scores for Top Universities
What score do you need on the exam? In this graphic, we provide the required scores for
many of the top universities in the US. See the entire infographic
here
.

TOEFL Speaking
If you need more help figuring out the speaking section, be sure to check this one out!

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Book Reviews
There are many TOEFL review books on the market that promise to give you the key to
acing the TOEFL. Thats a big promise!

And while its true that many of these books provide excellent strategies and tips for
TOEFL success, the real key to acing the TOEFL is experience with English learned
through repeated practice.
So, which books provide the best resources, the best strategies, and the best practice?
Check out our book reviews and find the books that are right for you.
To make your life a little bit easier, weve organized our reviews in order from most to
least highly recommended. Click on each link for more detailed reviews!
Recommended
The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test (4th Edition)
Official TOEFL iBT Tests
The Complete Guide to the TOEFL Test
Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test
Okay
Barrons TOEFL iBT
Deltas Key to the TOEFL iBT Advanced Skill Practice
Oxford TOEFL
Not Recommended
Kaplan TOEFL iBT Premier 2014
The Princeton Reviews Cracking the TOEFL iBT (2014)

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And thats the end!

If you liked these templates, sign up for
Magoosh TOEFL
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Prep smart, go far. Enjoy the ride.

Happy studying!

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