How to use the TOEFL Speaking video timers
Hi there. I’m Jamie Miller. And in this episode of ESA TV I’m going to show you how to use my TOEFL Speaking video timers so that you are much more confident and prepared when you take the TOEFL Speaking test.
The reason why this is such an important thing to do is because the TOEFL iBT Speaking section is kind of like a rollercoaster. And I mean that it’s like a rollercoaster in the sense that you get on and you’re not in control until it ends. If you’ve already taken the TOEFL test then you know that you sit down, you put on your headphones, you get ready to talk, you listen to instructions, and you basically react to the directions to speak for test 1, test 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. You’re not really in control during any of those parts of the test.
And having fast reactions and being confident about how to deal with the preparation and the speaking response time are really, really important. So this was the reason why I created the TOEFL video timers. I actually made these back in 2012, so the files that I’m going to show you are a little bit old, but I still use them with my students even today. When I had a private lesson I showed my student how to download these video timers, and I still suggest that my students use these timers even though they look a little bit funny they work really well and they’re very effective.
And it’s super important that if you’re doing TOEFL Speaking practice by yourself that you use these if you’re not using a stopwatch or a clock on your Smartphone or tablet or something kind of like that. So let me show you how to do it, it’s very simple.
In a new website window you want to open it up and visit this address englishsuccessacademy.com/timers. It’s one of the blog posts that I published, and like I said this is back from 2012. All you have to do is find this green button that says, “Click to download.” And you click to download. That’s going to put a file onto your computer.
After you open that it’s going to be a zip file like this. And you need to extract the zip file. So to extract it make sure that you click that extract all so that you can choose where the destination is going to go. I suggest that you put them right onto your desktop, that would be maybe the easiest place to make sure that you can find them quickly when you’re studying.
So like I said, no matter where you find those on your computer I would consider copying them and moving them to the desktop so that they’re really easy for you to find. You may want to rename them. Originally the files are called TOEFL Speaking timer question 1 and 2, but I like calling them a video timer, and just having them right here on the desktop where it’s super easy to open them up.
They’re incredibly easy to use. You literally just open it and you listen and follow the directions. They’re very self-explanatory.
Playing Recording: You may begin to prepare your response after the beep.
They have preparation time and response time built in. And you can use them as many times as you need to.
Having fast reaction times is just one of the characteristics that will make it easier and more likely for you to score 26 or higher on the TOEFL Speaking section. Of course, your time management is not the only factor, but these quick reaction times are definitely a factor of getting that advanced speaking score.
I hope that you find this helpful. And if you’re new to ESA TV and if this is the first episode that you’re watching, I invite you to go back to the beginning and start from there. I am explaining things in a logical way and introducing myself, so you may want to go and check those out. And if you haven’t done it yet, subscribe and make sure that you get notifications about every new edition of ESA TV that I release. Thanks so much. Take care.
