10 thoughtful #1 and #2 TOEFL practice speaking questions

Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

Do you think a company should provide free exercise facilities, or is it up to the individual to find his/her own health club?

Should women be allowed to breast feed their babies publicly, or does this cause too much embarrassment to potential observers?

Have smart phones enriched our lives or have cell phones reduced the quality of our lives?

Describe your last frivolous (unnecessary) purchase.

What should a parent do if he/she notices that his/her child seems to be gaining too much weight?

NASA is looking for volunteers to go to Mars and work as farmers. If they wanted you, would you go? (You can take family members with.)

If you spoke English perfectly, which language would you like to learn next?

Describe one negative factor in society that can be attributed to the advertising industry.

Should universities give extra consideration to students who come from poorer backgrounds or should universities just take the best performing students?

Latest TOEFL Speaking Questions (1, 2) from June 2013

Someone informed me that on the latest TOEFL exam in NY City, last weekend, the first two speaking questions were:

1)  If you want to learn about a different country, should you take a university course or should you travel to the country?

2)  If someone donates money to a not-for-profit organization in your neighborhood, and you can either build a garden or a playground, which would you prefer?

I'm a little confused, though, because both of these questions seem to be 'either/or' questions.  Usually one question asks for a type of 'description' while the other asks an 'either/or' question.

Maybe the person was a little confused.  If we want to change the first question to a descriptive question, we can ask:  What do you think the best way to learn about another country might be?  Support your answer with reasons and examples.  My sample answer below would still work for this question.

Sample answers:

1)  Many people feel that it is essential for a person to travel in order to broaden his/her horizons and to develop a more open mind.  Yet, I feel that if I really want to learn about another culture, a university class, taught by an experienced instructor, would be better than traveling, for two reasons.

First, the instructor can give me an overview of the entire culture.  For example, he can provide me with the history, the artistic trends, the politics and the current economic situation of the country.

Second of all, based on his experiences, he can give me insights into the people and culture of that country based on many, many trips and experiences with natives. Let's say I want to learn about Indonesia.  I can't even speak the language.  So if I travel to Indonesia, I will not be able to speak to many natives (unless they can speak English) and I might not really learn much beyond what I can see.

So although some people might say that it is silly or foolish to suggest that studying a country is better than traveling to the country, I disagree.  I want to benefit from the years of study of an expert and gain his/her valuable insights.  Then I can go and see whether what I learned is accurate.

2)  If someone were kind enough to donate money to an organization in my neighborhood for either a garden or a playground, I would prefer that a playground be built for a couple reasons.

First, I feel that it's essential for children to play outdoors in a safe environment.  For example, there is an obesity problem in America.  Children are not getting enough exercise.  If a park were built, children could get some needed exercise every day.

Second of all, children need to socialize with other children to develop important social skills.  If we build a park, this will be a perfect opportunity for the neighborhood's children to get to know each other, develop relationships and learn how to play and cooperate with each other.

Although I would really love a garden as a place where I could relax and enjoy nature, I think our children have needs which are more important than mine.  The park will help them exercise and socialize.

How to use "although" in your conclusion...

I recommend that students use the word "although" as the beginning of their conclusion for speaking topics 1 and 2.  However, using 'although' is kind of tricky.

Basically when you use 'although' you want to introduce a counter-argument or arguments and then briefly reiterate the two reasons you previously mentioned.

Remember, the best format for topic 1 and 2 questions involves:

Intro
Reason 1
Example 1
Reason 2
Example 2
Conclusion (using 'although')

So lets say the topic is "What is your favorite web site?"

I would pick www.craigslist.org   This is a very popular American website through which people can buy things, express their opinions and place their own ads.

My intro would be simple:

Craigslist is one of the most popular websites in the USA. People use it for a variety of reasons.  I like it for 2 basic reasons.

Reason 1:  First, I can post tutoring ads on craigslist.

Example 1:  In fact, the tutoring section is free and I have been able to work with some amazing students from over 35 countries, just through my craigslist ads there alone.  I think I have helped a lot of people.

Reason 2:  Secondly, craigslist has almost everything a person might want!

Example 2: For example, you can find a place to live, you can buy a car, you can meet people for dates and there is even a section where you can post your opinion about current events.

OK, now here's where we'll use 'although.'  We want to think of one or two negative things about craigslist.  For example, people have been scammed (cheated) using this site and, unfortunately, a couple people were murdered because they met strangers through this site.  We want to mention those things, but indicate that, overall, the site is still very helpful if a person takes precautions to be safe.

So our conclusion can be:

Although it's true that craigslist has some problems, for instance the site has been used to scam people out of money and some people have been harmed using it, it can still be useful if a person takes the proper precautions.  By placing ads and using the site to find necessary things, it has really made my life easier.

How to Handle The "Advantages/Disadvantages" Topic

Last month a student told me that one of the first two speaking topics was a bit different from the normal or traditional TOEFL format. 

Lately ETS has sometimes been asking a question like: What are the advantages and disadvantages of universities allowing students to park on campus?  

Or: What are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning or living on campus or getting married later in life etc.

This type of question is easy to answer. :)  Just list two advantages and two disadvantages with an example for each.  You are probably not going to have time to have a fancy intro or conclusion.  Just mention two advantages with examples (if you have enough time) and two disadvantages with examples (if you have enough time).

Here's how to do it:

Well, the first advantage of letting students drive their cars to campus is that they can stay later at school.  For example, some buses stop running at 10 or 11pm in some cities.  The second advantage is convenience. Obviously if I have a car I can get to school faster and easier at all times and in all types of weather.  A disadvantage is that everyone will want to drive to school and there might not be enough parking spaces.  A student might actually be late for class because he/she has to drive around looking for a spot.  Also, taking public transportation is better for the environment.  The university should discourage students from driving so that they can help protect the environment from the carbon emissions of so many cars.