Describe a place you would recommend to a visitor and say why.
A strong Task 1 answer states the choice immediately, gives two supports or one support with an example, and lands its last word around forty seconds. Fifteen seconds of preparation is enough for the plan, not for the wording.
The prompt and the clock
Describe a place you would recommend to a visitor and say why.
15 seconds to prepare, up to 45 seconds to speak
A model answer at the right length
117 words — what 45 seconds actually holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record yours first. A memorised TOEFL answer is audible in the rhythm, and raters mark delivery, which is exactly what memorisation damages. Read this afterwards for the shape and the vocabulary.I would send anybody to the old quarter of my city, early in the morning before the heat. The lanes are narrow, the buildings are two hundred years old, and there is a tea shop on the corner run by the same family for three generations. What makes it worth recommending is that it is not preserved for visitors. People live there, so at seven in the morning you see somebody sweeping a step and children going to school, and that is a different experience from a restored district with a ticket office. I would pair it with the riverside walk at sunset. Those two together give you the whole character of the place in one day.
The words that carry it
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
How to build the 45 seconds
- 1Recommend one place with a timing instruction.
- 2Give three concrete physical details.
- 3Explain why it is worth it, with a contrast.
- 4Add a second recommendation and what the pair delivers.
Sounds to watch
Straight answers
How long should this answer be?
Forty-five seconds, which is roughly 110 to 130 words at a natural pace. The model below is 117. If your version runs past fifty seconds the recording cuts off, and raters hear an answer that stops mid-sentence.
Does it matter which side I take?
No. Raters mark delivery, language use and topic development, never which opinion you chose. Pick one in the first second and spend the preparation time on two supports rather than on deciding.
What does sayit score here?
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar. The transcript is shown in full, so you can judge your own wording and development yourself.
What the score on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.Drill it until the clock stops mattering
A free account keeps every take, so you can watch your pace settle and your filler count fall across a fortnight.