12 More Type 1 and Type 2 Speaking Questions

Describe a hobby that you can make money from?
(for example, coin or stamp collecting)

Would you prefer to use the library or the internet for a research paper?
(I would choose the library since the knowledge gained from books is more reliable than most web sites and, actually, books are often grouped together by topic, so it can be easier to obtain all the books you need at one time.)

What personal trait do you want to be admired for?
(Honesty, being a hard-worker, a problem-solver, being compassionate...)

Would you prefer a multi-choice or essay test?
(Multi-choice requires more memorization while an essay test requires the processing of information. So you are choosing between a tedious but easy process or a more meaningful but more difficult process)

Describe a place which has great meaning for you?
(It could be personal meaning: your grandmother's house - or historical meaning: the tomb of Alexander Hamilton.)

Should you stay at home after college or move immediately?
(Do you value independence or financial security?)

Should the national anthem be played before a baseball game?
(Do you think politics should be removed completely from sports?)

Describe a situation that helped you realize you were stronger than you thought.

Other than passing the TOEFL describe a situation that would make you feel very satisfied.

Are art and music are more important than vocational (job) studies?

If you could only do one thing a day to get exercise, what would you do?

Competition is generally good or bad?

Daniel Gauss

How to answer TOEFL speaking question 3

Example of academic policy reading passage:

The Office of the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences would like to announce that starting with the current freshman class, there will be an 'African American Experience' course requirement. In order to graduate, each student will be required to take one three-credit course dealing with this topic. Various academic departments will be collaborating to design various courses to help students meet this requirement. LAS has made this decision because the African American experience has been traditionally neglected in US history text books. Furthermore, recent developments in US history reveal lingering racial tensions and conflicts and LAS feels its students should be aware of the causes of contemporary historical conflicts as well as possibilities for resolving them.

Example of a dialogue between two students concerning this new policy decision:

Joe: I'm really upset about this new African American experience class.

Maggie: Why? I think the university is right on top of things. This is definitely necessary these days with all the protests and events in the news.

Joe: Well, that's my point. This is a politically motivated class they are shoving down my throat. A few students start protesting on campus and I have to add one more class, it's ridiculous. The university is under pressure by protesters and I need to do what a bunch of trouble-makers want me to do. I should try to organize counter-protests.

Maggie: I think the protesters just brought an important and neglected issue to everyone's attention.

Joe: Also, what if Latino students start complaining? Or Asian students? Every time a different ethnic or racial group protests I need to take another course about that group? Nonsense. Let them fix the American history class so that I get the info I need, instead of tacking extra courses on. I want to know the truth so find a text book that helps me learn in the first place.

Maggie: Well, I'm looking forward to the class. 

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For the reading passage, it might be a good idea to simply talk about what is happening and why. ***So when you read, just read for what is happening and why.***

In this academic policy announcement from the Dean's Office, we learn that students, starting from this freshman class, will have to start taking an African American experience course. This is due to the fact that US history textbooks have neglected this topic and students need to know about what is causing current events.

Now transition into the listening section.

However, the male student in the dialogue strongly objects to this new policy initiative.

Now explain why he is upset.

First of all, he is upset because he perceives this new class to be politically motivated. He feels that the university is only trying to placate protesters. The university is not interested in providing the truth, but in making a group of trouble-makers happy. He implies that he is being forced to learn something only because of disruptive protests.

Secondly, he is concerned about the consequences of the university doing what protesters want it to do. He states that other ethnic or racial groups may also protest in order to change the curriculum. He asserts that the university should focus on the real problem instead: the US history text books. Instead of making him take another class, the school should find a history text that provides the truth.

Do you need a conclusion? Probably not (based on what I've seen elsewhere), but here's a quick one anyway:

Obviously the university is trying to address a controversial problem and this student's objection should be no surprise.

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If you need to get in touch with me for any reason, you can email djg51qu@gmail.com

How to answer TOEFL speaking question 5

Example of a dialogue:

Maggie: Hey Joe, you look so tired.

Joe: I am. I can't get any sleep.

Maggie: What's wrong?

Joe: My dorm roommate asked me for a favor. He said his dad was coming to town to visit him and the dad didn't want to spend money on a hotel.

Maggie: So you agreed to let the dad sleep with the two of you in your dorm room?

Joe: Yes, for one week. He sleeps on a blanket on the floor in our room; we have the two beds. And he snores. He snores like a wild animal! In fact, I think he snores louder than a wild animal. He wakes me up 6 or 7 times a night with his loud snoring. I can't take it any more.

Maggie: Well, just buy some earplugs. It's only for a week. And, you promised to help. Sometimes helping a person requires a little pain and sacrifice.

Joe: I bought some but I hate wearing them at night. They feel so weird in my ears. I have a little trouble going to sleep with that stuff in my ears and then it's hard to hear the alarm in the morning.

Maggie: Well, you look terrible. You have bags under your eyes. You need to tell your roomie to have his dad spend money on a hotel room or you'll just report him to the school and get his dad thrown out. 

Joe: I can't do that. I am stuck with him as a roommate. I don't want to sleep in the same room with a guy who hates me. That would be hell. I need to come back to my room for peace and quiet, not conflict. 

Maggie: Well, do something because you look bad.

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The key to answering a question number 5 is that both choices to solve the problem usually suck, but one choice is often slightly better than the other. Or, sometimes one choice is impossible and the only choice left sucks, but it is the only option.

In this case one choice is impossible: he can't offend his roommate because he lives with the guy. Therefore he cannot get the dad kicked out of the room or ask the dad to leave.

A good format to answer this type of question is: 

State the problem very simply.

State the two suggestions or options very simply (with no reasons)

State which option you'd choose and why (use reasons from the dialogue if you can)

State why you would reject the other option

Possibly make one concluding sentence or sentences

For example:

In this dialogue a student can't get enough sleep. As a favor, he has allowed his roommate's father to sleep for a week in their dorm room and the dad snores very loudly. The snoring wakes the student up a lot.

First his friend recommends that he should wear earplugs.

When Joe is hesitant to do this because earplugs are uncomfortable, she recommends that he simply ask the student to ask his father to leave, or he can report the dad to the school.

If I were Joe I would just wear ear plugs. After all, it is just going to be for a week and he promised the roomie he would help him. (notice you can often get your reason/s from the dialogue itself) Sure the earplugs are uncomfortable but he can sleep with them. He will just have to place the alarm closer to his bed.

Furthermore, the other solution is just a bad idea. He made a promise and if he backs out now his roommate will be very angry. If he reports the roommate to the school, this will create a horrible situation. 

In the meantime, if he suffers through this week, his roomie will really be happy and grateful to him. He just needs to suffer through this.

Formats and the TOEFL Speaking Section

One of the more frustrating aspects of helping people get high scores on the TOEFL is that sometimes I get students who have watched a lot of (stupid) youtube videos and who are convinced that they just have to memorize 'formats' and certain phrases to do well on the TOEFL.

Basically, it's tough to work with these types of students because they are looking for ways to cheat on the TOEFL exam instead of just fixing their English.

If you see some guy on youtube telling you that he has taken the TOEFL exam 20 times himself and is an expert on it and that all you have to do is memorize his phrases and follow his instructions, you would be an idiot to do that. The better your English sentence structures, the better your vocabulary, the better your score is going to be.

So should you ignore all formats?

No. Nobody 'just talks'.  Before any intelligent person speaks, he/she organizes his/her thoughts a bit. So I think if you look at the formats on this blog, you'll see that they are formats which help you to quickly and effectively organize your thoughts for answers.

I think the formats you find on this blog are, actually, among the most useful formats out there.

Daniel Gauss
English Teacher/Tutor
http://djg51qu.wix.com/gauss

Want something fun to read that will improve your vocabulary? Try my very inexpensive English vocabulary building book, please: http://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

How to use "recommend" or "suggest" correctly for speaking question number 5

Many foreign students, in fact, most foreign students of English, do not use 'recommend' or 'suggest' correctly.

And, question number 5 kind of requires you to use 'recommend' or 'suggest'.

Be careful using recommend and an object pronoun.  For instance, this is wrong, wrong, wrong: He recommended me to go to the museum. <---- 100% wrong.

He recommended the museum to me.

or

He recommended that I should go to the museum.

It's the same with suggested.

Wrong ------>  He suggested me that restaurant. <------Wrong

He suggested that restaurant to me.

He suggested that I should go to that restaurant.

So you have to use recommend or suggest plus AN OBJECT plus an INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN

Now, if you begin to speak English really well, you can use a trick that native speakers use.  They often drop the "that" and "should".

For instance:

They recommended that we should visit the planetarium. <---- correct

But, a native speaker might shorten this to: They recommended we visit the planetarium.

Do you see how they drop the "that" and "should"?

Now, be careful!  Sometimes you can use 'recommend' and 'suggest' with an object pronoun.  For example: "He recommended me for the position of teacher to the principal."  "me" works here because it really should be an object.

Here it doesn't work: "He recommended me to apply for a job." "me" is NOT the object here but the indirect object.  "He recommended applying for the job to me."   Or: He recommended that I should apply for the job. Or: He recommended I apply for the job. 

So how can recommend or suggest be used in question #5?  You might have to say, "In the listening section we hear that the student's friend recommends two pieces of advice to him."

Fix these mistakes using the three correct forms above:

1. I recommended him to eat his veggies.

2. She recommended you to call your mother.

3. We suggested them to climb the mountain.

4. You suggested us to drive slowly.

5.  They recommended us to see the opera.


Answers are below:




1. I recommended eating veggies to him. I recommended that he should eat his veggies.  I recommended he eat his veggies.

2. She recommended calling your mother (to you). 'to you' isn't really necessary here because of the possessive pronoun 'your'. She recommended that you should call your mother. She recommended you call your mother.

3. We suggested climbing the mountain to them.  We suggested that they should climb the mountain.  We suggested they climb the mountain.

4. You suggested driving slowly to us.  You suggested that we should drive slowly.  You suggested we drive slowly.

5. They recommended seeing the opera to us.  They recommended that we should see the opera. They recommended we see the opera.

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Hey! Guess what?  I wrote a cool book for foreign learners of English about how badly New York City sucks.  I would recommend that you should buy it. :P :P :P (Sorry, just trying to give you more practice with 'recommend'.)

http://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

But I think it's a pretty good book.  If you want a free copy via pdf file attached to email, please drop me a line.  I'll be happy to zip a copy over. Please be aware this book is not designed to help you on your TOEFL, it is meant to help you fix your grammar mistakes and improve your vocabulary.

Also, please be aware that the book has some dirty words in it - curse words.

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I'm also the guy who used to teach English to a famous (well, they used to be famous) Korean pop group,  I didn't think these performers were being treated well and I said something about it:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

New 'tricky' element to Speaking Question #5 on the TOEFL

Someone recently told me that when he took his TOEFL recently he noticed something strange about Speaking Question #5.

Instead of the 'friend' offering two pieces of advice, the friend offered one piece of advice and the person with the problem came up with another possible solution.

This should pose no real problem, however.  Instead of saying something like, "...the friend offers two pieces of advice.." you can just say, "...there are two possible solutions offered among these students..." ETS is always throwing these little tricks in. Why?  I don't know either.

So using the format below, after you state the problem in speaking question number 5, you can say, "The friend offers one piece of advice. The friend recommends that...."  Then you can say, "The student, himself, also presents the second piece of advice..."

By the way, please remember to use "recommend" correctly.

The best format for Speaking Question 5

I've been working with students on the TOEFL exam for a few years now and we all tend to agree that this is the best format for question number 5.

1. Briefly state the problem.
2. Simply state the first piece of advice, with no explanation.
3. Simply state the second piece of advice, with no explanation.
4. State which option you would choose and explain why (do NOT mention the other option at all)
5. State the option you reject and explain why (do NOT mention the previous option)


For example, here's a sample dialogue:

M. Hi Beth, you look a little worried.
W. Well, I am. I am having some problems at the Student Job Center, where I work part time.
M. But I thought you were doing a great job there.
W. I have been doing a great job - everybody says so. But apparently I've been doing too well and the director feels that too many students are saying too many good things about me. So she has moved me from the information desk into the back office where I now have to do data entry. It's boring work and I think I was the best information officer this center ever had.
M. So the director feels that you are outshining her work and the work of the center?  Wow, that sometimes happens.  It's called professional jealousy.
W. She's never going to let me work with my fellow students again. She told me other students need to have the experience I was having and the staff has to be rotated, but I can tell she's upset with me. More students have started coming to the center now that I work there.
M. Well, let's problem solve. At this point you have nothing to lose, so go over her head and email her supervisor and just tell the truth. Let it all hang out.  Spill the beans. Tell her boss that she's messing up the job center by removing the best information officer ever.
W. I've thought of that, but I think I'd get fired. My boss is very good friends with her boss and they would just stick together and fire me. That would look bad on my record and I kind of need the money.
M. OK, just stay there then.  My advice would be to do nothing. Just do the data entry and take your check and accept this situation as a learning experience.
W. No. I think I have to do something.  This really seems wrong to me.  I have been removed from my duties because I was doing a great job.  That is insane.

So now let's use our format:

Problem
Advice
Advice
positive
negative

P = The student's problem is that she has been removed from her duties as an information officer because the director of the Student Job Center is jealous of how popular she has become.

A = Her friend recommends that she should protest this by writing to her boss' boss.

A = He also recommends that if this is not a good option, she should just shut up and do the work she is given.

positive = If I were in this woman's shoes, I would definitely email the supervisor's supervisor.  If what the woman is saying is true, this is a terrible injustice and nobody should remain silent for an injustice, regardless of how small it might seem. Furthermore, she is NOT going to get fired.  If the university fires her for bringing a legitimate grievance to their attention, she can take them to court and sue them. 

negative = Furthermore, the other option is just unacceptable.  If she does not say anything she is going to be miserable and she is going to be doing a job that she is not well-suited for.  She hates data entry but loves working with students. It is clear that she not only has a right but also an obligation to speak up.


So, isn't that a good format?

I think it's a good format because usually one option is usually just very unrealistic or even impossible.  Usually there is just one possible option and one impossible or nearly impossible option.

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Yes, I am the guy who reported to the Korean press that pop stars were not being treated as well as I felt they should have been in New York City:

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

Daniel Gauss