Speaking · 4 items per section, 45 seconds each
TOEFL Take an Interview Practice
Take an Interview is the last four questions of TOEFL iBT Speaking: a recorded interviewer asks about an everyday topic and you answer each question aloud for 45 seconds, with no preparation time. Most answers lose marks because they stay general. These drills train the planning that fixes it, with a story bank of real examples. Level 1 is free.
- 100 questions
- 20 levels of 5
- CEFR A2–C1
- Level 1 free
Your story bank
Eight prompts, one line each. Write the stories once, then practice picking one in ten seconds for a real interview question. Free, no sign-up, and saved only in this browser.
The 24 practice questions, by type
A time in your life
- Tell me about a time you got lost or took a wrong turn.
- Describe a time a plan you made did not work out.
- Tell me about a meal you remember well, and why.
- Describe a time you helped someone who was having a hard day.
- Tell me about a time you changed your opinion about something.
- Describe a time you had to decide something without much information.
How you feel
- How do you feel about studying in a library compared with studying at home?
- Do you prefer to plan your weekends or decide on the day? Why?
- How do you feel when a class relies on a lot of group work?
- Would you rather read a book or watch the film version first?
- How do you feel about paying for everything with your phone?
- Do you prefer to exercise alone or with other people?
Your opinion
- Should students have a part-time job while they study? Why or why not?
- Is it worth paying more to live close to campus?
- Do people learn more from their mistakes than from their successes?
- Should every university course include some online lessons?
- Does a city need more parks or more housing?
- Do people trust online reviews too much?
Policy or prediction
- Should cities make public transportation free for students?
- In the future, will most people work from home? Why?
- Should teachers be allowed to ban phones in class?
- Will paper books still be common in twenty years?
- Should companies give employees time each week to learn new skills?
- Should schools teach students how to manage money?
How a level works
Each level is 5 questions: 5 planning drills per level; four spoken answers against the 45-second clock at every milestone level. You get feedback the moment you answer, and at the end you can review all 5, with the correct answer, why it is correct, why the option you picked was not, and what the question was training. 3 of 5 opens the next level, and any level can be replayed for a better star count.
The difficulty ladder
Foundations
Levels 1–5 · CEFR A2Everyday language and short texts. The point here is to get the mechanics of the task automatic before the content gets hard.
Building
Levels 6–10 · CEFR B1Longer material and less familiar topics. This is where the task starts to cost you attention.
Test Ready
Levels 11–15 · CEFR B2Real exam length, real exam difficulty. Clear this band and the task itself will not surprise you on test day.
Beyond Test
Levels 16–20 · CEFR C2Past what the exam uses, on purpose. Denser text, faster audio, closer distractors. Test day should feel like a step down from here.
Levels 1 to 15 stay inside real 2026 TOEFL parameters for this task. Levels 16 to 20 are deliberately harder than the exam. The first 1 levels are free and need no signup.
What Take an Interview actually tests
You have volunteered for a research study, and the interviewer asks four questions on one topic, one at a time. They climb: first a time in your life, then how you feel about something, then your opinion with a reason, and last a policy or prediction question, which is the hardest. Topics are everyday: commuting, technology, study habits, cities, travel, decisions.
Each answer is rated on delivery, language use, fluency and how fully you answer the question. That last one is where most marks go, and it is the one you can fix fastest. Our interview framework lesson sets out the answer shape, and our TOEFL speaking interview guide has sample answers for each question type; this page is where you drill it.
Where students lose marks on this task
In our graded tests 82 percent of interview sections average 3 out of 5 or below, and the marker asks for a specific example in nearly three answers in four. The pattern is the same every time: an answer that stays at "usually" and "many people", a first sentence that answers a slightly different question, a stop after 20 seconds, and no closing sentence.
Length follows. Across tens of thousands of timed answers we have scored, those of 130 words or more averaged about 3.2 out of 5, and those under 30 words about 1. You do not fill 45 seconds with more grammar. You fill it with one real scene: a name, a place, a time, what happened.
How the 20 levels drill it
Every level is five quick decisions about one interviewer question: which first sentence answers what was asked, which of a student’s stories fits, which line turns a general claim into a real scene, which reason supports the claim, which sentence drifts and should go, and how to close cleanly inside the time. One drill has you put a whole answer in order.
At levels 5, 10, 15 and 20 you answer a full four-question interview aloud against the 45-second clock, record it in your browser and play it back with a checklist. Thinking time shrinks as you climb, from 15 seconds to 10, then 5, then none, which is what the real test gives you. You can answer any question again, or go back to the one before.
Build your story bank once
Most interview questions can be answered with one of six to eight stories you already have: a problem you solved, a decision you made, a person who changed your mind, a place that matters to you. Write them below, one line each, and the matching drill gives you ten seconds per question to pick one, until choosing is a reflex. The bank stays in your browser and appears beside every milestone question.
When you want your answers scored, the AI Speaking Tutor rates interview answers on the same 0 to 5 scale, and a timed speaking practice test runs the whole section. For sample answers at different bands, see the speaking sample responses.
Level 1, written out
The free level, in text, with the answers folded away. Decide before you open one.
Pick your story. The interviewer asks: “Tell me about a time you cooked for other people.”
The student’s story bank:
- Abuela's December tamales: Every December my grandmother makes about a hundred tamales in one day for the whole family. I sit in her kitchen, steal the first ones off the tray, and she pretends not to notice.
- Burnt rice dinner: First week in the dorm, I made my mom's chicken and rice for five roommates, burned the bottom of the pot, and we ate it on the floor laughing.
- Exam week noodles: During finals I lived on instant noodles, cooked at midnight in the dorm microwave and eaten alone at my desk.
- Summer taco truck: Last summer I took orders at the window of a taco truck downtown. The owner did all the cooking.
Which story from Mateo's notes should he tell?
- Abuela's December tamales
- Burnt rice dinner
- Exam week noodles
- Summer taco truck
Show the answer
Burnt rice dinner
The question has two conditions: Mateo does the cooking, and other people eat it. Only the burnt rice dinner has both, plus a scene with people, a place and a problem that easily fills 45 seconds. The tamales story is the tempting one because it is a warm food memory, but his grandmother did the cooking, so the rater would hear an answer about her instead of him.
Make it specific. The interviewer asks: “Tell me about the last time you tried a new food.”
A first try: I tried a new food last month, and it was really interesting.
Which next sentence turns this into a real scene?
- Trying new food is a good idea, and I think everyone should do it more.
- I like food from different countries, especially when it's a little bit spicy.
- At the dining hall on Fridays, I usually order whatever new dish they have.
- My friend Aisha took me to a Lebanese place near campus, and I ordered falafel.
Show the answer
My friend Aisha took me to a Lebanese place near campus, and I ordered falafel.
A rater cannot score "interesting" until they know what happened, and the key gives a person, a place and the dish in one breath. The dining hall line is tempting because it has a place and a day, but it describes a habit, not the last time. The question asked for one occasion, and that answer still has none.
Answer the question asked. The interviewer asks: “Do you prefer cooking for yourself or having someone else cook?”
Which first sentence answers exactly what was asked?
- I'd rather cook for myself, because then I know exactly what's in it.
- A lot of people don't cook anymore, because delivery is so easy now.
- Last night my roommate made pasta for both of us, and it was great.
- Cooking at home is cheaper than eating out, especially for students.
Show the answer
I'd rather cook for myself, because then I know exactly what's in it.
The question offers two choices, and the key picks one in its first words and adds a reason to develop. The roommate's pasta is the tempting one because it is a real meal someone else cooked, but it never says which the speaker prefers, so the rater has to guess. The other two are general claims about cooking.
A reason that fits. The interviewer asks: “Do you think kids should learn to cook at school?”
A first try: Yes, I think cooking classes at school are a good idea.
Which reason actually supports this answer?
- Cooking takes a lot of time, and kids already have so much homework to do.
- It's a good idea because cooking classes are really helpful for students.
- Lots of kids never cook at home, so school might be where they learn.
- My favorite dish is my aunt's lentil soup, and she makes it on Sundays.
Show the answer
Lots of kids never cook at home, so school might be where they learn.
A reason has to explain why your answer is true, and the key does: if kids don't learn at home, school fills the gap. The "really helpful" line is the tempting one because it sounds like support, but it only repeats "good idea" in other words, and a rater hears that as going in a circle. The homework line argues for the opposite answer.
Stay on the question. The interviewer asks: “Do you think people will cook at home less in the future?”
A first try: Yeah, I think they'll cook a lot less.
Which of these next sentences drifts off the question and should be cut?
- Delivery apps are cheap and fast, and most people are really busy these days.
- My roommates and I ordered dinner four nights last week and cooked once.
- Even my mom, who loves cooking, orders noodles now when she works late.
- Her favorite noodle place is tiny, and the owner always gives her extra sauce.
Show the answer
Her favorite noodle place is tiny, and the owner always gives her extra sauce.
Every sentence should help answer whether people will cook less. The noodle place sentence follows the mom's dinner, not the question, and the rater hears a detail about a restaurant that says nothing about cooking. The sentence about the mom stays, because even someone who loves cooking ordering in is strong proof for the prediction.