Spoken English

14 Jul 2018

Tests like TOEFL are supposed to assess English proficiency but, in terms of speaking, what exactly does that mean?

One linguist has noted that how well you speak basically includes three factors:

Fluency: How quickly you are able to produce speech. Are you able to respond quickly to questions? Is your speech sustained and automatic? You may pause from time to time (as everybody does) as you consider your ideas, but your response is not hesitant or fragmented. Your speech is fluid and flowing, not choppy and broken.

Accuracy: How many errors you make. How effective are your word choices? Do you make grammar or vocabulary errors that confuse your listener or obscure your meaning? Do you refer to a woman as he or use the simple present to talk about something in the past? The more precisely and accurately you produce language, the better.

Complexity: The complexity of the linguistic structures (things such as subordinate clauses and modal verbs) that you use. Consider the following question. What do you like to do on vacation?

Less complex response: I like to go to the beach. I can swim there. I can meet new people. I can go wind-surfing sometimes. I like the beach in the summer. It’s hot then. The water will feel good.

More complex response: I really enjoy going to the beach when I’m on vacation. I love swimming and, of course, that’s a big part of my vacation but I also enjoy meeting new people when I’m there. Like last year, I actually learned to wind-surf from a guy I met on the beach. Of course, the beach is always going to be best in the summer because the hot weather makes it even more refreshing when you plunge into the cool water.

So how do you become a more fluent speaker?

If you don’t live in an English-speaking country, one obvious way is to take English classes or lessons where you can speak in English with your teacher and/or classmates. You may also find a group or local meeting place where people practice their English.Perhaps you have a friend or family member who speaks English and would be willing to converse with you. Or you may have a job where you need to use English.

For those living in an English-speaking country, you would expect that finding opportunities to practice wouldn’t be an issue. However, I’ve had students living in the U.S. who really spend very little time actually speaking English. If this is your situation, I suggest you actively seek out opportunities to speak English. Look for classes, interest groups, social occasions, volunteer jobs … anywhere where people are going to be conversing with you. When in doubt, use social media and your local library to find resources and ideas.

Sometimes, though, your opportunities to speak English may be more limited. You may have a class or lesson that occurs just once a week. You may be a mother or father staying at home with your children. You may have a job in the U.S. but not much chance to interact with your co-workers … or maybe your co-workers all speak your native language. What do you do then? A modified form of the 4/3/2 technique may be your answer.

The 4/3/2 technique is an effective, time-tested method that classroom teachers use to develop speaking fluency. The original technique works like this:

Learners work in pairs with one acting as the speaker and one as the listener. The speaker talks for four minutes on a topic while their partner listens.
The pairs of learners change, and the speaker now gives the same information to a new partner for three minutes.
The pairs change yet again and this time the speaker gives their information in a two-minute talk.

The 4/3/2 technique is effective for several reasons.

It is meaning-focused. The speakers are communicating a particular message under “real time” pressures, as they would be doing in an ordinary conversation.
It doesn’t require the speakers to use unfamiliar vocabulary or grammar. The speakers merely use the words and structures they already know.
The time pressure encourages the speakers to perform at a higher than normal level. They will speak more quickly, hesitate less, and use larger “chunks” of language as they try to communicate the same content in less time.

Although this technique was designed for a classroom setting where students could be paired up and switch partners regularly, you can still make this method work for you outside a classroom.

You could use it with one listener … a teacher, a language partner, a family member. Instead of switching listeners, you just talk about your topic three times with the same partner, first for four minutes, then for three minutes, and finally for two minutes.
You could use it by yourself. Instead of a partner, use your phone to record and time yourself. Listen to the recording after each turn (four-, three-, two- minutes) and make your own assessment. Hopefully each time you will hear less hesitation and longer chunks of speech with fewer errors and stronger word choices.
If you are preparing for the independent TOEFL speaking questions, which require 45-second responses, try a 3/2/1 variation. Once you get down to a one-minute answer with the same content as a three-minute answer, you’ll be in good shape for the TOEFL.

What sort of topics should you talk about in this exercise? Basically, anything that you feel comfortable talking about, whatever you’re interested in. If you are preparing for TOEFL, study guides have lots of practice questions and you could also use the Chinese websites with TPO (TOEFL Practice Online). I especially like the pages and pages of Independent Writing topics in the Official Guide to the TOEFL Test. Although these are provided as essay topics, they serve equally well as discussion questions.

25 Jan 2018

Numbers are one of the first things we learn in a foreign language, maybe because they play such an important role in our everyday life. And, for the same reason, there are lots of phrases with numbers that can be very useful in understanding and expressing yourself in English.

1 to 10. This is the most common way to rank various things in English. Maybe it’s the same in your country? With this scale, 1 is usually the worst and 10 the best. For example, every time my family went on vacation, I would ask my kids to rate the trip from 1 to 10, with 1 being a complete disaster (fortunately that never happened) and 10 being absolutely wonderful in every respect.

Perfect 10. I think this expression originated from the Olympic games, where some athletes such as gymnasts and ice skaters perform routines for which 10 would be a perfect score. In this case, though, it relates to people using a scale of 1 – 10 to rank other people in terms of their attractiveness. So, in the movie 10, the plot revolves around a man who falls in love with a woman he considers a perfect 10.

A dozen. Although industry and science employ the metric system in the US, most citizens are more familiar with the imperial system, which often uses 12 instead of 10 as a base (for example, there are 12 inches in a foot). Maybe for this reason, we often find items like eggs packaged in groups of 12 … that’s a dozen. A half-dozen would be six.

A baker’s dozen. Thirteen or 12 + 1. This comes from the idea that a baker might, as a sign of good will, throw in an extra donut or cookie with your order if you asked for a dozen.

Six of/to one, half a dozen of/to another (the other). This expression, which can be stated various ways, is a little weird, but it basically means “it’s all one and the same.” If you’ve paid attention, you will remember that six equals half a dozen. So maybe someone will ask you, “Do you want to eat at McDonald’s or KFC?” and you’ll answer, “It’s six to one, half a dozen to the other,” which just means that you don’t care and it’s all the same to you … one choice is six and the other choice is half a dozen.

Zero. This can be used as a noun to mean something or someone that is a nothing, a nonentity, or a complete failure. For example, “This day has been a complete zero. I haven’t accomplished anything.” Or, as my former supervisor used to say if a student didn’t like me, “To some folks, you’re a hero and to others, you’re a zero.”

50/50. Lots of times we use probabilities or percentages to express our ideas. If you are 50/50 about something, that means you aren’t sure what you think. Someone might say, “I’m 100% in favor of going out to the movies,” and you might say, “I dunno. I’m 50/50. I’d like to go, but it’s raining and it might be more fun to stay home and watch Netflix.”

The odds are … In the same way, we often refer to betting expressions. This would mean the same as saying, “the chances are …” For example, “the odds are in his favor for getting that new job.” On the other hand, if the odds are nil, his chances are zero.

One in a … This is a common expression to talk about something or someone that’s quite rare or very special. The higher the number, the more special or unusual the thing is, so the most common expression is probably “one in a million.”

Zillion, gazillion. In English, real very big numbers include million, billion, and trillion. But we often use the fictional, made-up numbers zillion or gazillion to describe a very large number of things. For example, I have a zillion things to do before we go on vacation. Or, I’ve already told you a gazillion times that I don’t want to give a speech in public.

Umpteen. Like zillion and gazillion, umpteen is a made-up number that is often used humorously to describe how many times something has to be or has been done. Unlike the real numbers thirteen through nineteen, umpteen describes some number larger than all of them. For example, he reassured her for the umpteenth time that she didn’t look fat in that dress. Or, he told me umpteen times how to fix my computer problem but I still didn’t understand.

I’ve got your number. A common idiom in English, this means that you’ve figured someone out and they can’t fool you. We might also say, “I’ve got my eye on you,” or “I know what you’re up to.” You’ve seen through this person’s tricks and strategies and you have figured out their real intention.

29 Dec 2017

100, 90/10, 50/50 … three ways to give your opinion

In an earlier post, I talked about some strategies to use when asked for your opinion, especially in a test like TOEFL or IELTS. I’d like to elaborate on this topic, with many thanks to my long-time student Sam who spent a lot of time discussing these ideas with me.

Let’s say you’re given the following question:

Some people prefer to watch movies or films at a cinema or movie theatre. Others prefer to watch them at home. Which do you prefer and why?

So now what do you do?

First of all, many students ask me how they can generate ideas, especially when they have a very short time to prepare an answer. My most important piece of advice is to answer truthfully. If you say what you really think, all those ideas will be in your head already. And your response will sound more real, more genuine, and more personal … it won’t sound like everyone else’s.

Once you have some ideas, how do you present them? There are three different strategies you can choose.

The 100% Method

With this method, you choose one side and all the content in your answer supports that choice. Many people think you need two reasons in a 45-second response, but this simply isn’t true. You can provide one good, well-developed reason or multiple reasons … whatever comes into your mind that you’re able to talk about. A 100% answer might sound like this:

Well, I think I’d rather watch movies at home because I’m a parent of small children and we don’t have a lot of extra money for a babysitter. So a couple of nights a week, my husband and I will make sure that the kids get to bed on time and then we’ll curl up on the couch and watch a movie on Netflix. We can pop some popcorn and relax and if one of the kids wakes up we can pause the movie and take care of the situation and then go back to the movie. And if we get really tired, we can stop the movie and just finish it the next evening.

The 100% Method is also frequently used when answering an essay question such as the TOEFL independent writing task. Most test-takers choose one option or the other and then focus on three reasons (one per paragraph) supporting that choice. But as you’ll see below, although this is the most common method, it’s not the only way to write this kind of essay; and you’ll probably impress your rater if you opt for another method that’s not quite so typical.

The 90/10 Method

With the 90/10 Method, you spend 90% of your time talking about the option that you choose, but you also acknowledge the other choice. This is a good method to use if there are certain reasons or circumstances when you might prefer the other option, but you don’t want to spend too much time talking about them. A 90/10 answer could go as follows:

You know, on special occasions when I’m going out with my whole family, it’s fun to watch a movie in the movie theatre. But most of the time, I watch movies at home. It’s just easier and more relaxing. I don’t have to pay a lot of money on tickets and parking, and I don’t have to spend time travelling to the movie theatre … because where I live, the nearest movie theatre is 10 miles away. And I have more choices, because at our movie theatre, they only play one movie each week, and maybe it’s not a movie I’m interested in. If I stream a movie on my computer, I can watch pretty much anything I want.

You can also use this same method if you decide to spend most of your time talking about the option you wouldn’t choose (and this is a perfectly acceptable way to answer this type of question). So, for example:

I don’t mind watching movies at home, but I really never go to the movie theatre. Actually, I haven’t gone to a movie at the movie theatre for years. It seems like if I go during the daytime, I always get a headache when I come back out of the dark theatre into the daylight. And movies at night definitely don’t work for me because I go to bed really early. I guess I also spend a lot of time worrying about whether the tickets will be sold out and then, when I’m seated, if someone is going to sit in front of me and block my view. I just find going to the theatre kind of stressful and unpleasant, I guess.

One thing to note is that the 90/10 Method is often used when we’re writing a persuasive or argumentative or opinion essay (as is often the case in TOEFL or IELTS). This type of writing is usually more convincing (and therefore “better”) when we present an opposing argument and then proceed to counter it with our own opinion. Each paragraph will always focus on your own beliefs, but you’ll acknowledge the “other side.” For example, an essay for the TOEFL independent writing task might be organized as follows:

Opening Paragraph Thesis Statement: Although there are reasons why people might like movies in the movie theatre, I prefer to watch them at home.

Body Paragraph 1: Sometimes discount tickets are available, but movies at home are usually cheaper. The paragraph then elaborates on the savings you get (not paying for tickets, parking, transportation, babysitting, food when watching the movie, etc.)

Body Paragraph 2: On special occasions it’s fun to go to the theatre, but it’s a lot more convenient for me to watch movies at home. You then cite several conveniences (can be a last-minute decision, more comfortable surroundings, no travel to and from theatre).

Body Paragraph 3: If you live in a big city you might be able to see a wide variety of movies, but I don’t have that option where I live. You describe how your movie theatre selections are limited while you have tons of options (use some specific examples) at home.

The 50/50 Method

With this method, you spend half your time talking about one option and half the time talking about the other. You can also call this the “it depends” method.

To ensure coherence and focus in your answer (especially if you have a very limited time), it’s essential to center your response around ONE factor only. What does your choice depend on? Make that clear in your answer. Here’s an example:

Well, whether I watch a movie at home or in a theatre really depends on whether it’s a weekday or weekend. When I have to go to work the next day, I can’t stay out too late and I also don’t have enough time to travel to and from the movie theatre. So on a weekday, my wife and I really like to put the kids to bed early and snuggle up on the couch to watch Netflix. On the other hand, on a Friday or Saturday night, we’ll get a babysitter and have a special date night. One of our favorite things to do is to have dinner and then go see a film.

This method is equally effective in a written essay, as long as you organize your answer carefully in the beginning and make sure you follow the right structure. To expand, just think of more factors that your choice depends on. For example:

Opening Paragraph Thesis Statement: Whether I watch a movie at home or in the movie theatre depends on several factors.

Body Paragraph 1: Time of the week. Weekdays I stay at home. Weekends I go to the theatre.

Body Paragraph 2: Type of movie. I like to watch romantic and/or sad movies at home (embarrassing to watch love scenes with strangers, I cry easily). I like to watch action movies in the theatre (special effects, surround sound, sharing the audience’s excitement).

Body Paragraph 3: Who I’m with. When I’m alone, I watch movies at home (I don’t like to go out by myself, feel uncomfortable being by myself in a theatre). When I’m with my parents or friends, we go to the theatre.

Another important way to make your writing more coherent is to always address the options in the same order. Notice that above I talked about watching movies at home, and then at the movie theatre. This prevents your audience from becoming confused.

So which method is the best?

That totally depends on your own ideas! In TOEFL or IELTS you won’t have much time to organize your ideas, especially in the speaking section (you can afford to take a little longer with your writing). There is no right answer; there’s only your answer. In the brief period you have to generate ideas, decide quickly which is the best method to answer the question. Talk about what’s true for you, develop your answer coherently no matter which method you choose, and just pretend you’re talking to a friend rather than a stranger or a microphone.

26 Dec 2017

The open window … or how to be polite in English

When I was working on my graduate degree in teaching ESL, one of my favorite subjects was pragmatics. According to my linguistics book, one of those rare textbooks that is both fascinating and fun to read, pragmatics concerns “how speaker intention and hearer interpretation affect meaning.” In other words, there’s often a hidden meaning behind what we say (or don’t say) that may be picked up, missed, or misinterpreted by our listener. Many times we say exactly what we mean (with what linguists call a direct speech act); however, when we use indirect (or sometimes no) speech, we are still communicating.

Picture this scene. You are sitting in your apartment with your roommate watching TV. Suddenly, without saying anything, he gets up and opens the window. It’s cold outside and pretty soon the room is too cold for you. Your roommate doesn’t seem to notice.

What do you think about this?

I think most people would say that this is fairly rude of your roommate. He opened the window without consulting you about the temperature of the room. So what kind of indirect speech acts could your roommate have made before opening the window?

What if before opening the window he said:

This room is too hot!

I’m hot!

You would probably think this is still pretty rude. Your roommate stated the reason for opening the window, but didn’t consult you on whether this was a good idea. The hidden meaning behind these words could be interpreted, “I’m uncomfortable and I’m going to open the window. Whether you are hot or not really isn’t important.”

What if just before opening the window he said:

It’s too hot in here … let’s open the window!

Most people would say this is only marginally less rude. Although at least he recognized you, nominally, as one of the occupants of the room, he didn’t wait for your agreement. The hidden meaning is, “I’m uncomfortable and want to open the window. I realize you’re in the room as well, but I don’t really care what you think; I want the window open.”

So how would we handle this situation more politely in English?

To make sense of this, consider the theory of Brown and Levinson, who proposed a concept of face to explain politeness. Every listener has a face … or actually, two faces. The positive face is the listener’s desire to be liked, approved, and appreciated; the negative face is the listener’s wish not to be imposed upon, inconvenienced, or bothered. Polite speech acts can appeal to the positive or negative face of the listener.

In the case of the open window, your roommate should realize that making the room colder might cause an imposition on you; maybe you don’t want it colder. Thus, he needs to appeal to your negative face using a variety of strategies, often combined together.

Indirectness

It seems so hot in here. It might feel better if the window was open.

Hedges (using words like maybe, perhaps, might, may)

I’m kind of hot. Do you think maybe we could open the window for awhile?

Questions

Would it be okay with you if I opened the window?

Pessimism (not expecting agreement)

I don’t suppose you’d like to have the window open, would you?

Minimizing the imposition

Would you mind if I open the window for a minute or two? I’ll shut it if you get cold.

Apology

I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so hot right now. Would you be okay if I opened the window?

Plural pronouns

Gosh, I’m getting really hot. Are you? How about if we open the window for a couple of minutes?

In general, English learners will want to focus on negative politeness because, above everything, they want to avoid being seen as rude. Positive politeness expresses friendship, support, appreciation, and solidarity … and I think if you’re a genuinely friendly person, you’ll be able to make that understood to the people you are close to. But negative politeness is important when you’re dealing with strangers, superiors, or people you don’t know well. The strategies given above, combined with the all-important please when asking for any sort of favor and excuse me when trying to get someone’s attention, should help you to handle most of these situation with aplomb.

Because saying the wrong thing or being viewed as rude or impolite can have such serious consequences, I think it’s really helpful to work with an English teacher who belongs to the culture in which you want to fit in. A good teacher can walk you through various situations and help you feel more comfortable about the right words to say to not only avoid being rude, but to make a positive impression on the people you encounter.

26 Nov 2017

In my last posts, I provided several vowel, diphthong, and consonant pronunciation exercises. Links to the transcripts were given above each recording. As my students worked through these, they noticed that the exercises were helpful not just for speaking, but also for listening.

Each language includes different sounds, which you may or may not have in your own language. To be able to understand speech, you need to be able to distinguish the difference between certain sounds. If you can’t hear the difference, you won’t be able to say the difference. Therefore, it’s important for you to identify those particular sounds that might be hard for you to even hear. I suggest that you play through the recordings a number of times to try to hear those sounds, before you actually try to say them.

In this post, I’m going a step farther … giving you some short sentences to work on. Again, you should make sure you understand the words when listening, before you try to pronounce them.

These exercises use a phonetic approach to using language. Phonics is often used to help teach students to read an alphabetic language, because it connects written letters to the sounds that they make. Although English is not a completely phonetic language (and our spelling is sometimes considered the most difficult of any Western language), phonics is quite popular in English reading instruction. And because it organizes words by the sounds they make, using phonics-based phrases can also help students to distinguish and pronounce certain sounds.

The following exercises are based on this transcript … Phonetic Pronunciation Practice. The transcript will help you to make sure that you understand what words I’m saying. Once you understand them, you should use the sentences for pronunciation practice. I’ve based these sentences on phonics exercises in a wonderful book, Alpha-phonics by Samuel L. Blumenfeld, that I used to teach my three children to read before they were five years old.

Please be aware, many of these sentences are a bit silly. The focus is on the sounds the words make, not their sense. This is not conversational English. Although the sentences are grammatical and use real words, you should pay more attention to the way the words sound, rather than what they mean.

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18 Nov 2017

The pronunciation of English consonants involves movements of the mouth, tongue, and lips. It’s sometimes easier to learn these sounds when you have a visual guide. This website uses linguistic terms and phonemic symbols that may be unfamiliar. However, once you find the sound you want to make (for example, an “f” sound is a voiceless labiodental fricative), it shows you a diagram of where you should place your lips and teeth and a video of a person making the sound.

As with the vowel and diphthong exercises, I will be using minimal pairs to practice different consonant sounds. Links to the words I’m saying are above the recordings and I’m using material from Ted Power, but with American pronunciation.

Pin/bin (note that it should be par, not pa)

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Sip/zip (note that it should read peace/peas)

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Sheep/jeep (note that I’ve left out shone/John because shone is pronounced differently in American English)

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Chest/test

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Cheap/jeep

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Jet/yet

18 Nov 2017

Diphthongs are a type of vowel in which two vowel sounds connect together in a gliding motion. When I was in school, they were known as long vowels that “said their name” (because when you recite the alphabet, you use the long vowel as the name of the letter). As with the vowel and consonant exercises, I’ll use minimal pairs to help you practice different vowel sounds in American English. Again, I’ll be using slightly modified material from Ted Power, and links to the words I’m saying are directly above each recording.

Day/die

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Here/hair

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Coat/cot (note I’ve left out shown/shone since the two words are pronounced the same way in American English)

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Load/loud

18 Nov 2017

Many of my students have difficulties with pronunciation. Although it’s perfectly fine to have an accent, you probably want to make yourself as understandable as possible. This is especially important for social or business conversations and for scoring well on speaking tests such as TOEFL or IELTS. Therefore, I’ve recorded a number of exercises that you can use to help distinguish and produce different sounds in English. In this post, I’ll concentrate on some of the important vowel sounds in English, using “minimal pair” exercises. In a minimal pair exercise, only one sound is different in each pair of words. Please note that I have an American accent. Many training materials on the Internet feature British speakers and, of course, they sound wonderful (we Americans love a British accent!), but if you want to hear these sounds with an American accent, listen to me.

I have used the minimal pairs lists at Ted Power and before each recording, I’ve posted the link so that you can see the words I’m saying. Be sure to also check my pronunciation bootcamps for diphthongs and consonants.

Ship/sheep

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Bit/bet (note that the transcript should say pit/pet and I have not used it/ate … which is pronounced differently by Americans)

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Cat/cart (note that I’ve left out cam/calm and stun/stern, which I don’t think belong in this group)

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Cot/caught (note that I’ve left out shone/shawn, since shone is pronounced differently in American English)

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Bud/bird

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Pull/pool

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Cart/cot (note that I’ve left out clerk/clock, since clerk is pronounced differently in American English)

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Cart/caught

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Four/fur (note that I’ve left out or/err, since err is pronounced differently in American English)

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Court/coat

23 Apr 2017

Most students understand the difference between these basic words. To give is active (that is, the action is performed by someone or something). Someone can give you a present. To get is passive (that is, the action is received by someone or something). You get presents on your birthday. But there are other active/passive word pairs that are more confusing and often give students problems. You will become more fluent if you understand these differences and use the correct words.

Teach/learn

To teach is active. A teacher teaches you English. To learn is passive. You learn English from your teacher. Some common phrases using these words include:

To teach a subject (or a class, or a course)

To teach someone how to do something (The father is teaching his son how to swim.)

To learn how to do something (The son is learning how to swim.)

To learn a lesson (This also has an idiomatic meaning that you learn something from a bad experience, or “the hard way.” For example, he sure learned a lesson the hard way from his car accident. I bet he won’t drive so fast in the future.)

Lend/borrow

To lend is active. You lend some money to a friend. To borrow is passive. Your friend borrows some money from you. Notice that lending and borrowing are a bit different than giving and getting. To lend and borrow have a temporary sense. If you lend money, you expect to get paid back. If you borrow money, you plan to give it back. Here are some examples:

The library lends books.

You borrow books from the library.

The bank lends money. It issues loans.

You borrow money from a bank.

The bank and the library are lenders. They are making a loan. You are the borrower.

Pay/cost

To pay is active. You pay money for something. You pay $400 for a new cell phone. To cost is passive. The cell phone costs $400.

As a verb, to pay has a more specific meaning than to cost. Pay almost always involves money or a debt of some kind. For example: I have to pay for gas and electricity along with my rent. But many things can cost something. For example: To learn better English costs time, effort, and energy.

Cost can also be used as a noun. For example: The cost of tuition is rising rapidly at that university. However, price is a better choice when you’re using it for something that has a specific monetary cost. For example: I’m comparing the prices of these two phones. I think I’ll choose the one with the lower price.

Donate/receive

These words have the same sense as give/get, but they are Tier Two words and can help you sound like a higher-lever speaker.

To donate conveys a sense of generosity and service. For example, people donate money to a charity, time to a volunteer organization, and blood to hospital patients. The people and organizations who receive the money, volunteer service, or blood are called recipients. To receive simply means to get, but since it’s a higher level word, it’s good to use it on tests of English proficiency or in academic writing. It sounds better to say, This research received much attention from the scientific community, rather than This research got a lot of attention …

If you can think of other word pairs that have an active/passive meaning, please comment below!

3 Apr 2017

When preparing for an English speaking test, especially a very structured test like TOEFL, students are often tempted to follow a “template.” That’s a specific formula that you can use to help structure your response. Many websites and even some English teachers will provide you with templates. Some of these consist of simple phrases or transition words like “First of all …” or “In my opinion …” These are fine. But others contain whole sentences in which you “fill in the blanks,” as for example, “In the listening material, the man and the woman are discussing a problem. The man’s problem is that —–.” These are definitely not so great and can negatively affect your score.

So what’s wrong with using a detailed template?

Here’s the problem. Templates are like crutches. When you see someone with crutches, you know that they can’t walk on their own. They’re not independent. They need help and assistance to get around.

Injured Man with crutches sitting on a bench

Templates basically fulfill the same function. Speakers who aren’t confident, who aren’t independent, and who feel they need help and assistance tend to use templates. Using a template is like holding up a big sign saying, “I can’t speak English very well. I need this template so I can answer the question!” And that’s not the message you want to send to your rater.

So how can you resist the temptation of templates?

First of all, I’d say avoid any website or teacher that tries to give you a really structured formula for your answers. They are providing you with misinformation that is not going to improve your speaking score.

Second, work on your overall speaking proficiency. I know that sounds vague, but try to remember that TOEFL is a test of English fluency, not of how well you can memorize formulas. If you are taking TOEFL, you probably have a goal to study or work in an English-speaking country. When someone there asks you your opinion of a movie, or how you would deal with a difficult team member, or what an academic lecture was about, you aren’t going to be able to answer with a template.

Finally, practice, practice, practice … without using a template. Take advantage of the structure of the test. Since the speaking questions follow the same basic pattern, you have some idea of what to expect. Develop your own individual way of answering the questions, just making sure that you try to answer the questions clearly, coherently, and completely.