Need to Ace the TOEFL? Start Talking to Yourself!

When you’re alone, do you talk to yourself? I do. I will have whole conversations with myself while cooking, cleaning, or driving a car. I’m not embarassed about it, although I know I might look strange to other people who walk into the room (I try to do it only when nobody will hear or see me talking, but sometimes I get caught…).

I know I’m not the only one—it’s a funny habit, but it’s pretty common. For me, it helps me to think more clearly. If I think out loud, literally speaking my mind, then I can reason through a problem or situation more quickly and effectively. If I am silent, it’s a bit more difficult to think straight.

Even if you don’t have the same experience with talking out loud, it’s still a good idea to talk to yourself if you’re preparing for the TOEFL. That’s because a quarter of the test actually is talking to yourself. Well, technically, you speak into a microphone, but there is nobody listening as you talk, and nobody responds to you, so it’s very similar to talking to yourself. And in general, to improve your TOEFL scores, you will want to practice doing the tasks that the test requires of you.

But it’s not only about mimicking the test. Even if you are taking the IELTS, which does not require you to speak into a microphone, you should still talk to yourself. I should be more specific: you should talk to yourself in English. Speaking in a foreign language can be very slow and unnatural. In order to improve your speaking speed and fluency, it’s important that you have as much speaking experience as possible. Doing so also helps to improve your vocabulary—you remember new words much better after using them in conversation. But most students do not have the opportunity to talk with English speakers regularly, so they don’t get that necessary speaking practice.

If you are taking a TOEFL class (or any English class), then you might have more opportunity to speak English, but even then, you will need more practice. The goal is to speak English every day. So whether you have a class or you’re studying by yourself from TOEFL books, you will almost definitely need more practice than you can get by speaking with other people.

So the next time you’re cleaning the dishes, ask yourself a question, and give your answer out loud, in English. It doesn’t matter if it feels strange or you look crazy—you’re preparing for the TOEFL, which is more important!