Latest TOEFL Speaking Topics 2025: Sample Questions & Answers

TOEFL Speaking Section Overview -

The Test of English as a Foreign Language is one of the well-known English proficiency exams. It tests the candidate’s ability to understand and speak this language. Thus, one of the modules, the TOEFL Speaking section assesses your speaking skills through 4 tasks. Moreover, this is a 16-minute log section where you have to convey your opinions or thoughts through given familiar TOEFL speaking topics. Particularly, four types of tasks are there, one in independent and three in integrated. In the further section, you will learn about them in detail.

This was a short overview of the speaking module, now, in the next section, let’s explore TOEFL speaking questions, topics, and answers.

TOEFL Speaking Topics and Answers 

You get to know that there are four types of tasks and for that, you will get various TOEFL speaking topics on different themes. These topics are based on the latest 2024 format that will help aspiring students to prepare for the TOEFL exam. Thus, we have shared some of the TOEFL speaking questions and topics below that majorly appear during the exam. So, let’s have a look.

1. Education – What are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning compared to traditional classroom learning?
2. Technology – How has technology impacted communication in the 21st century 
3. Health - What are some effective strategies for maintaining both physical and mental well-being?
4. Travel - Describe the benefits of exploring new cultures and destinations.
5. Environmental - Suggest ways to address global environmental challenges.

Thus, you can prepare for these TOEFL speaking topics by referring to the above themes to address your response effectively and clearly. Now, we have a detailed brief of the TOEFL speaking questions or tasks in the next section. Let’s understand.

TOEFL Independent Speaking Task questions 

The TOEFL independent speaking question is a task 1 in this module. It is the foremost task in the TOEFL speaking module, where you are required to give your personal introduction. Alongside, you have to give personal opinion on given general TOEFL speaking topics and express their choice. In addition, candidates get 15 seconds for preparation and 45 seconds to express and justify their response. Moreover, the TOEFL independent speaking topics are familiar and revolve around day-to-day themes such as

• Family, friends, people - Describe a mysterious person you have encountered and what makes them mysterious.
• Academics/ studies - What subject could you study for a lifetime, and why?
• Entertainment - Discuss your favourite social media platform and why you prefer it.
• Personal life - What moment from your past would you like to revisit?
• Three choice question - Which aspect of campus life is most crucial: academic learning, making friends, or group work?
• Agree and disagree - Do you agree or disagree that social media is more harmful than helpful for students?

These are some of the subjects that provide a glimpse of the TOEFL speaking topics and a variety of questions. Therefore, preparing for the exam effectively this will assist you in articulating answers within the time limit. It was all about the TOEFL independent speaking topics and task briefs. Now, in the next section, let’s explore another task.

TOEFL Integrated Speaking Tasks questions

The TOEFL Integrated Speaking question is a bunch of other 2,3 and 4 tasks. It requires students to employ multiple abilities like listening, reading, and speaking without having any prior understanding of the subject. Moreover, TOEFL speaking topics given in these three tasks examine capabilities to understand and synthesize informative answers. It will be presented in a written or spoken format. Therefore, we have shared a detailed explanation of the TOEFL speaking question tasks. 

1. First Integrated Task (Listening + Speaking):

• Aim: Campus life-related topics.
• Requirements: Candidates need to listen to the conversation, read a passage and express their opinion on the given TOEFL speaking topics.
• Time Allotted: 30 seconds for preparation and 60 seconds for answer 
• Prompt: Listen to the lecture, which consists of study abroad benefits. Then, explain the key points and justify why studying abroad may be alluring to various students.

2. Second Integrated Task (Reading + Speaking):

• Aim: Academic topics like social science or life science.
• Requirements: read a passage, listen to a lecture, and present the answers to explain the relationship among them.
• Time allotted: 30 seconds for preparation and 60 seconds for answer 
• Prompt: Read a passage in the contrast of education. Justify the key factors from both sources and how they could influence a student’s choice of online learning.

3. Third Integrated Task (Listen + Speaking)

• Aim: Lecture-based topic
• Requirements: Listen to a lecture that describes two things it could be anything and summarize, your response within the time limit.
• Time allotted: 20 seconds for preparation and 60 seconds for answer 
• Prompt: Would you prefer to study abroad in the fall intake or summer intake? Explain your answer

This was the brief of three tasks in the TOEFL integrated speaking tasks questions. Thus, to excel in this task, you can solve various TOEFL speaking practice papers and mock tests to improve your skills and enhance your chances of scoring high in the TOEFL exam. This was all about the TOEFL task in the speaking module. Next, we have shared the list of TOEFL speaking topics in the next part. So have a look.

List of Popular TOEFL Speaking Questions 

After you get an outline of the TOEFL speaking module and its task. It’s time to navigate some of the popular TOEFL speaking topics. Therefore, here is the list of popular speaking topics for the exam. Let’s dig into this and explore.

1. Describe some features of a restaurant or cafe that you like.
2. Describe one of the best moments of your life.
3. Describe a place in your city that you enjoy visiting.
4. Talk about an important national holiday in your country.
5. “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should help their parents with household chores as soon as they are old enough. Use details and examples in your response.”
6. Do you prefer buying used or new books?
7. If you were going to buy an expensive product, would you borrow the money or save up for it?
8. What do you like to read in your free time: newspapers, magazines, or books?
9. Describe one of the best moments of your life.
10. Do you agree that childhood is the happiest time in one's life?
11. Talk about an important national holiday in your country.
12. Do you prefer watching entertainment or educational TV programs?
13. What was your favourite subject in school?
14. Which smartphone function do you find most useful: recording lectures or listening to music?
15. What do you like to read in your free time: newspapers, magazines, or books?
16. Which event from your life would you like to revisit, and what made it special?
17. If you were going to buy an expensive product, would you borrow the money or save up for it?
18. Who is the most intelligent person you know, and why do you think they are intelligent?
19. Describe your favourite recreational activity and why you love it.
20. Some people prefer to go to the movie theatre; others prefer to rent a movie, which do you think is better and why? Include reasons and details to support your explanation.
21. Which do you think is more helpful to the students: internet materials or textbook materials, why do you think so? Include details and examples to support your explanation.
22. Some people prefer to take a long vacation while others prefer to take several short vacations, which do you prefer and why? Include details and examples to support your explanation.

This is the list of topics that are provided in the exam. Moreover, to excel in this question, you can solve TOEFL speaking practice questions test to improve your speaking skills.

Types of questions in TOEFL speaking-

In the TOEFL exam, your speaking ability will be tested from different question types. Thus, there are a total of 4 types of TOEFL speaking questions. It is vital for candidates to know about the question types to get familiar with the upcoming topics. Therefore, till now you may get familiar with topics, so, let’s understand the four types of TOEFL speaking questions and topics mentioned below.

1. Three-Choice Questions – In this TOEFL speaking question type candidates get a prompt question or statement. Also, they will provide three options along with that and they have to choose one option from them. For instance, the examiner may have asked students to choose one option they can agree with the most or which one option they will choose. 
2. Priority Questions – The priority question entails prioritizing any option or giving ranking to the list of items or ideas as a peer to certain factors. For example, you can be asked to prioritize steps to address an issue or rate three elements in order to resolve the problem.
3. Agree and Disagree – In this question type, you will receive a prompt in the format of a statement or opinion. Further, you need to answer whether you agree or disagree. Also, you need to provide justification and examples to support your answer.
4. Advantage and Disadvantage – In this type of question students are required to provide the pros and cons of a given question, situation, action or idea. Moreover, they need to give opinions for both pillars and provide their preference or opinion.

These are the question types of the speaking module of the TOEFL exam. Also, you can prefer the TOEFL exam syllabus to understand more about these questions in detail and prefer practice papers to improve question-solving skills. Now, let’s explore the 3 TOEFL speaking template in the next section.

TOEFL Speaking Sample Questions with Answers

The TOEFL speaking topics is helpful for the students to prepare for the exam easily. Thus, to polish your skills you can use TOEFL speaking samples to know how to articulate they answer properly in exam. So, here are three samples

Sample 1 -

“There are many different approaches to academic studies, and all of them have specific benefits. Do you prefer to study for tests in a group, or to study alone? Include details and examples to support your explanation.”

Answer: I prefer to study for academic tests by myself. There are two reasons why I feel this way. Firstly, I can concentrate solely on what I need to learn to start preparing for the test. In group studies, everyone has their vision towards studies and weak points that should be discussed in the group, even if any group member is robust in some areas, it should be discussed. Moreover, working alone allows me to focus on my weak areas and concentrate on achieving the highest possible results. Secondly, studying in a group can side-track me from my goal, which can have adverse effects. For example, last year I got a very bad score on my midterm exams. The reason for this was that I was preparing with my classmates, but we ended up talking about sports and music the whole time instead of studying.

Sample 2 –

“The man states his opinion of the proposal. Briefly summarize the plan, and then state the reasons the man gives for his opinion.”

Answer: The given letter suggests that the campus tours for future students should not include a trip to the university library. The reason for this is that firstly, the people studying at the library can get distracted, and secondly, students can check the necessary details on the library website. The man agrees with this as he believes that the noise from the movement of tour groups makes it hard to concentrate. For instance, once he was in the library working on an essay when a tour group came by, and he had to go to his dorm to finish the work. He also thinks that the library website is very elaborate and even contains pictures and videos. This can be an effective way for students to learn about the library rather than a short tour. Moreover, the students can visit the library on weekends when it is not busy.

Sample 3 –

“Using the details and examples given in the listening, explain the concept of convergent evolution.”

Answer: According to the prompt, convergent evolution refers to the phenomenon where animals who are living apart from each other develop similar characteristics or features. Further, to elaborate on this, the professor states the example of pronghorns and antelope. He says that their habitats, which are flat grasslands with a few trees, though far apart are similar. This means that they need to spot the predators and escape from them. This is why they have long legs and strong lungs that help them to run quickly. They also have big eyes, that enhance their sight. Next, he gives the example of bats and dolphins, which both live in habitats that have scanty light. For their survival in the dark, where they are not able to see well, they use the technique of echolocation. This evolution helps them to notice the objects in their surroundings.

Tips for TOEFL Speaking Section 

The TOEFL speaking module is considered the most challenging task. Therefore, it is important to get familiar with the topics and understand TOEFL speaking topics with answers. Thus, below are some tips that will help in preparation for this exam. So, let’s have a look at them.

1. Stay focused while reading the prompt so practice to be attentive in the noisy room.
2. Be confident while speaking, if you get nervous, it may hinder your performance.
3. Don’t memorize sample answers you found online as the examiner can catch plagiarism and may disqualify you.
4. Try to make notes to recall all the important points you listen to in the lecture in to know vital points in the TOEFL speaking topics.
5. Don’t worry if you run out of words, create fictitious situations of a specific topic in your mind and express that in your own words. 

These are a few tips that will help you to understand the TOEFL speaking topics and improve your skills to solve the questions. Also, you can use TOEFL speaking practice questions to boost your speaking capability and excel in the exam.

Conclusion 

Wrapping up, the TOEFL exam is one the most considered English language proficiency exam in the world. It is one of the challenging TOEFL Speaking section to assess students' verbal skills through various topics and question types. Through this guide, you might get a blueprint of speaking questions and four tasks that are, one independent and three integrated. Moreover, there are numerous TOEFL speaking topics that help students to practise and prepare for the exam. So, that students get familiar with the various topics. Also, you can enrol in TOEFL online coaching provided by Gradding. Also, they provide guidance, personalized attention, study material, and TOEFL practice test to students.

FAQ

1) What types of topics are covered in the TOEFL Speaking section?

Answer: The TOEFL speaking section encompasses a variety of topics including opinions, personal experiences, societal issues and academic subjects. These are some of the areas of topics students get in the exam.

2) How many speaking tasks are there in the TOEFL Speaking section?

Answer: The TOEFL speaking section comprises four tasks: one independent task and three integrated tasks.

3) What are the marking criteria for TOEFL speaking?

Answer: Some of the factors measure your TOEFL speaking score. Thus, it contains the factors (what you express), the delivery of the answer (how you say your answer), how well-organized your short speech is, and how appropriate your response is to the question.

4) Are there specific strategies for approaching TOEFL Speaking topics?

Answer: Yes! There are various approaches and strategies for solving TOEFL speaking topics with answers it encompasses organizing thoughts, speaking coherently and clearly, brainstorming ideas, and managing time.