The TOEFL iBT® Test: Improving Your Speaking Skills

Advice for Speaking
Skill: Speaking about Familiar Topics
Performance Level: Good
Score Range: 26–30

1. Look for opportunities to speak to native speakers of English. Interaction with others will improve your speaking ability.
   • Ask a native speaker to provide feedback on your pronunciation problems (if any).
   • Join an Internet voice chat.
2. Listen to the radio and watch TV and movies. Pay attention to idiomatic usage of the language and different accents or speech patterns that are used.
   • Write down new expressions you hear. Use the expressions in your everyday English conversations.
   • Choose a character from a film or TV show. Repeat the character's words, following the intonation patterns, as he or she speaks. Include the gestures or other body language of the character you are imitating.
3. Practice speaking for a limited time on different topics without a lot of preparation. Time your responses to questions.
   • Make a list of questions on topics that interest you (for example, hypothetical situations or academic topics). Answer each of the questions aloud. Try to speak for at least one minute.
4. Use books that come with audio recordings to study pronunciation, stress and intonation in English.