How to Increase

Your Speaking Score 3+ Points

By Paul Austin Founder of TOEFL Speaking Teacher

www.toeflspeakingteacher.com
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Hi TOEFL Speaking student!

In this brief guide, Im going to share with you

Why most TOEFL test takers never get 26+ on TOEFL Speaking (hint: its NOT the reason you
think)
Two almost unknown secrets for tricking TOEFL evaluators and sounding like a native
speaking American.
Why evaluating your own responses Is 100% necessary to improving your TOEFL score
My personal and highly effective study plan for mastering the TOEFL Speaking Section in
less than 1 month
4 words/phrases you MIGHT be pronouncing incorrectly and why they are preventing you from
getting 26+
One simple and easy way to perfect your American intonation
And, as a BONUS, the 4 Grammar mistakes you must fix to get 26+ on TOEFL Speaking

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Why Most TOEFL Speaking

Students Do Not 26+
One of the biggest reasons students do not get 26+ on the TOEFL Speaking section is because of
accent.

If you learn all the important information about TOEFL Speaking (like how to take notes, how to
organize your responses and you have decent grammar), then pronunciation and/or intonation
might prevent you from earning 26.

In my TOEFL Speaking 26+ course, I lay out the exact methods you must use to improve your
intonation and pronunciation so you can get 26+.

Just remember one thing: both of these skill areas take quite aof time to develop.

Unlike reducing your umms and uhhs or fixing a single grammatical problem, pronunciation
and intonation often take weeks, if not months, to perfect.

This is why many TOEFL test takers do not get 26+ on TOEFL Speaking: they dont spend the
required time studying intonation and pronunciation.

The second reason why many test takers do not earn 26+ is because of their word choice.

TOEFL Evaluators award scores of 26+ to students who use natural speech - the same type of
speech Native Speakers use when talking to each other.

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When you listen to a native speaker from America, youll notice they use certain types of words.

This is what I call conversational English. Other terms include colloquial English and informal
English.

You want to use this type of English in your responses.

Do your best to avoid formal English

One reason many students struggle getting 26+ is because they use formal, academic English in
their responses.

Some examples of formal, academic words include: Therefore, Moreover, the professor
maintains, the student states, etc.

Compare this to examples of informal, colloquial English: says that, believes that, thats why, kind
of, sort of, and many more phrases

When you give responses on the TOEFL Speaking section, its important to use informal English.

Using informal English will help you to sound closer to a native speaker.

And the closer you sound to native speaker, the more likely you are to receive 26.

If you want more examples of informal English, type colloquial phrases for English into Google.

So, how do you improve these two skills?

Well first you start by evaluating your TOEFL Speaking responses

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Evaluate Your TOEFL

Speaking Responses
Now, its time to evaluate (or have a friend evaluate) your TOEFL Speaking responses.

If you spend time evaluating your responses, you will have a much better chance of increasing your
score by 3 points.

When you evaluate your TOEFL Speaking responses, use the criteria set by ETS at...

http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/toefl_speaking_rubrics.pdf

1. Language Use
2. Topic Development
3. Delivery

These are the three areas TOEFL Evaluators judge you on for the TOEFL Speaking section.

1. Language Use - Pay attention to Grammar and Vocabulary

b. Do you make any major mistakes with grammar? If yes, which ones? Write down the specific
grammatical mistakes you made.
c. What is your vocabulary like? Do you use a variety of words? Or repeat the same phrases? Do
you use informal English or academic English?
2. Topic Development: Details and Logic
c. Do you stick to the time for each question? 45 seconds for Q1-2 and 60 seconds for Q3-6
d. Are your sentences logical? Is it easy or difficult to understand the meaning?
e. Tasks 1 and 2:
i. Did you use a personal story (I talk about the importance of these in my Youtube videos)
ii. Did you use clear transition statements between each example?
c. Tasks 3, 4, 5 and 6:
iv. How many main points did the speakers discuss in this dialogue or lecture? Refer to your
notes to answer this question.
v. Did you clearly explain the two to three main points in the lecture or dialogue? - Pay
special ttention to Question 5 - make sure you include all three parts
vi. Did you use clear logic to connect each part of the dialogue or lecture?

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3. Delivery - Pronunciation, Intonation, and Fluency

a. What words diid you struggle to pronounce correctly? Are there any patterns for the sounds
you consistently pronounce incorrectly?
b. Is your response choppy? Or do you easily flow from one word to the next?
c. Did you sound energetic or robotic and depressed?
d. Did you say uhh more than four times?
e. Did you take long pauses between sentences?

Once you answer all of these questions, you will have a much better idea as to what you must
focus on in the coming chapters.

If you struggle with pronunciation, then spend more time on pronunciation. If you struggled
with grammar, spend more time on grammar.

If you did GREAT with your note---taking, then spend less time on note---taking.

In the following chapters I will tell you exactly HOW to improve all of these skills.

The most important part of this self---evaluation is to determine which skills youve mastered
and which skills you still struggle with.

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Effective TOEFL
Speaking Study Plan
I used to give the advice Study X number of hours for every 1 point you want to increase.
Now, after teaching TOEFL Speaking for another year, Ive come to another conclusion:

There is no set amount of time you must study to increase your score.

I know some students who studied for 10-15 hours and saw their TOEFL Speaking score increase
by 5 points. I know other students who studied for 6 MONTHS and only saw their score increase 1
or 2 points (if at all).

What matters most is two things:

1. Studying the RIGHT topics

2. Studying every day

Master the Foundations of TOEFL Speaking

The first thing I recommend mastering is the FOUNDATION of 26 on TOEFL Speaking. If you have
taken TOEFL and earned 20 or lower on TOEFL Speaking, then it is because you have not mastered
the foundation of TOEFL Speaking.

This foundation includes...

1. Timing - Make sure EVERY response is accurate with timing
2. Listening and Note-Taking
3. Content of Your Response

You should focus on mastering these three skills before moving on to more complex skills.

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(NOTE: If you want to know HOW to study for TOEFL every day, then check out my video.)

Focus on One Skill

Once youve mastered the foundations of TOEFL Speaking, focus on improving ONE skill at a time.

For many students (including most students from the Arab world, Russia, India, Iran, Turkey, and
France), the BIGGEST problem is accent reduction.

For other students, the biggest problem may be either confidence/fluency, spoken grammar, or the
words and prhases used in the response.

Focus on the ONE skill for 1-1.5 hours per day and study EVERY day.

Ive included an example weekly study plan below.

Use this calendar and create your own study schedule for TOEFL Speaking
Monday 1 hour between 7 and 8 p.m.
Tuesday .5 between 6:30 and 8 p.m.
Wednesday 1 hour between 7:00 and 8:00
Thursday 1 hour between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Friday 0 hours
Saturday 1 hour between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Sunday .5 hours between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

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Stay Accountable
I will use TWO of the following techniques to make sure I follow through on my study schedule:

1. Gmails or your smartphones calendar function to set a reminder for every day.
2. Use a paper calendar and put it on your fridge, bathroom door, or bathroom mirror. Every
day you study put a BIG red X through the day.Jerry Seinfeld used this approach to become a
world-class comedian.
3. Join my Facebook Group:Master TOEFL Speaking. In this Facebook group you will find other
students who are also preparing for TOEFL Speaking. Connect with them and keep each other
accountable!

Example Daily Study Plan

1. (5-10 minutes) Review from yesterdays study session. Go over grammar, new words/phrases,
study strategies, TED talks, etc.

2. (15-20 minutes) Study new material based on the skill set you are focused on. In my Get 26+
on TOEFL Speaking I walk students through the process of improving seven different skill
sets.Most students struggle with accent reduction and grammar. Pick one skill set at a time
and focus on improving it.

3. (20-30 minutes) Practice the new material using the CORRECT exercises

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Master the Pronunciation

of 4 Specific Words and Word Groups
1. It/is/if - The most common words on TOEFL and words often pronounced incorrectly. -
Youtube Video
2. Person (be careful about your pronunciation and conjugation - do NOT say persons, instead
say people) - Youtube Video
3. Were - Most commonly mispronounced as Where. - Youtube Video
4. Words Ending in ED - Big problem with Brazilian Portuguese and Arabic native speakers -
Youtube Video

Once youve mastered the pronunciation of these four words/phrases, you will sound even more
like a native speaker.

The reason I pick these four words/phrases is because they are some of the most common words
and phrases used on the TOEFL, and they often prevent huge problems for non-native speakers.

Once youve perfected your pronunciation of these words and phrases, you should work on
intonation.

How?

Go on to the next section

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How to Quickly Improve

Your Intonation
Assuming that you can speak English well, but your intonation is off (which usually implies
that your rhythm is off too), the fix is simple: just sing a lot.

Heres the big secret: the simpler the song, the better it is to practice with.

In the beginning, use nursery rhymes. Sing along to this Youtube video for example:
Nursery Rhymes Youtube Video

(I know youre older and youve grown up. But I want to do EVERYTHING I can to help you
get 26+ on TOEFL Speaking. And singing nursery rhymes WILL help you master American
English intonation.)

Feel the melody and rhythm! Embrace it. Absorb it. Let it flow into you.

Once you feel comfortable with intonation, move on to incorporating some spoken register
phrases into your vocabulary.

Heres how.

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Conversational Phrases You Can Use

These are some phrases you can use to introduce topics, examples and to conclude
your responses:

Introduction Phrases Ways to Introduce How to Conclude

And yeah, this is what the lec-

I think this is a great question.. So
ture says....

I definitely believe... To be honest.. Those are a few things...

Personally.... For example.... So thats why

Use Informal (also called Colloquial) Phrases

Colloquial phrases are words and phrases used in conversational/spoken English.

According to Google, the definition of colloquial is, informal language commonly used in
conversation and informal communication.

You MUST use colloquial language in your response if you want to get 26+

Below Ive listed a number of phrases you can practice using:

General Informal Phrases to Sound More Natural:

Like
To be honest
Basically
A bit more
Lots of
Sort of like
Kind of

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BONUS: Master 4 Areas of Grammar

As a bonus for this 26+ guide, Im giving you one extra part: the 4 areas of grammar you must
master to get 26+.

Although grammar doesnt usually prevent people from getting 26+, there are rare cases
where it might.

If you struggle with any of the below grammar rules, do your best to perfect them before
taking the TOEFL again.

1. Gender Pronoun Use - she, he, his, her, him - This is a super common mistake on Question
Types 3 and 5.
2. Subject Verb Agreement - Pay VERY close attention to this ESPECIALLY when using indefinite
pronouns (another, everybody, everything, any, all, none, some)
3. Tense Use Make sure to use simple past for most of the responses.
4. Article Use - Students will often not use The before student, professor, teacher, man,
woman

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What Are the Next Steps?

If you need more help increasing your score from 23/24 to 26+, I recommend doing a few
different things.

1. Check out my Youtube channel. I have dozens of free videos about how you can master the
TOEFL Speaking section. Be sure to click Subscribe! so you can get all the new updates!
2. Take Private Lessons - If you have taken TOEFL several times, and still have not earned
your goal score, then I recommend private lessons. I have helped many students earn
scores of 26+ on TOEFL Speaking - including students who have tried EVERYTHING else
(like Notefull) without success. Also, if you need a high TOEFL score as soon as possible
(like if youre applying for your MBA or LLM), then I also recommend Private Lessons.
You can get started with private lessons by signing up for a TOEFL Speaking Evaluation.
3. Join my Master TOEFL Speaking Facebook Group. In this exclusive Facebook group,
you can connect with other TOEFL students who are also preparing for the TOEFL test. It
is an excellent community to keep you motivated in your TOEFL studying.

Thanks for reading through this guide on how to improve your TOEFL Speaking score by 3
points!

If you have any questions, or just want to say Hi, send me an email.

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