Improving TOEFL Listening & Speaking Scores

Hi there! I achieved a 30/30 in speaking and a 29/30 in listening on the TOEFL, so I'm happy to share some strategies that helped me improve in these areas. 

Speaking

• Regarding speaking, one key strategy is to practice overcoming any moments of hesitation or stumbling while recording your speech. Building confidence in handling these situations can greatly enhance your overall performance. 
• Remember to focus on making your pronunciation understandable and emphasizing key words for impact. Don't worry about sounding like a native speaker.
• Minimize filler words ("oh", "um," "uh" etc) and avoid repeating the same words excessively. Use transition words ("besides", "however," "firstly", "similarly" etc) to connect your ideas.
• Express yourself using vocabulary you're comfortable with. Clarity and delivery are more important than complex vocabulary.
• Lastly, I would say that if you can cover the main points of what you have to say clearly and speak confidently, then you will surely get 25+ in speaking.

Listening:

When it comes to listening, I found that taking concise notes was crucial. Rather than trying to capture every detail, focus on key points and patterns in the conversations or lectures, like those you might find between a student and professor (why is the student here? why does the student say this or that, why does the prof say this/ that etc). With enough practice, you'll know what information is most important to note down. As you practice, it gets easier. It really does ^ _ ^ 

Best of luck with your prep!

My Score: 110 (R: 24, L: 30, S: 28, W: 28)

Listening:

1. Practice the official audios at 1.25x speed as I felt that it’s appropriate for the real test. 
2. Practice listening in slightly noisy environments. This gets you accustomed to focusing on the audio amidst distractions, just like the test environment.
3. Take effective notes using short forms for key points. For information-dense sections, I focused on catching crucial details instead of comprehensive notes.
4. Utilize official materials for practice, as they closely align with the test's question format and difficulty level.
5. Listening to audiobooks may help. My regular habit of listening to a lot of audiobooks might have improved my score.

Speaking:

1. Fluency and time management were the biggest challenges for me. Consistent speaking practice helped me strike a balance between flow and staying within the time limit.
2. Following a speaking template provided a strong foundation for organizing my thoughts and responses. There are many good resources available, like the templates on TST Prep or Linguamarina's YouTube channel.
3. Speak clearly, not loudly. I was heavily interrupted by my fellow test takers as they were literally shouting, whereas I spoke in a normal tone and it worked out just fine. 
4. Focus on your own task, as the noise can really break your concentration. I turned up my headphone volume to the maximum and concentrated solely on my task.
5. It’s ok if you forget the templates sometimes. I did, and what I did was just keep speaking in a natural tone, prioritizing delivering clear and well-developed answers. As long as the answer is there and you’re speaking naturally, you’re good to go.