Introduction
The new 2026 TOEFL Speaking section starts with a Listen & Repeat task that looks harmless.
You see a simple map.
You hear a short phrase.
You repeat it once.
Then you see your score and realize how strict this task really is.
A perfect 5 requires an exact repeat. One missing word, even a small article like “the,” is enough to lose the top score.
I analyzed 504 real Listen & Repeat responses from 36 users, and the patterns were clear:
- Scores depend heavily on how many original content words you bring back.
- Article drops are common and costly.
- Perfect responses are rare, especially on the longest prompts.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- How the task is scored
- What Fluency, Intelligibility, and Repeat Accuracy actually mean
- Real examples of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 using sample prompts
- A practical training routine
- Answers to almost every question new test takers ask about this task
What Is the Listen & Repeat Task?
In the new TOEFL Speaking section, Listen & Repeat comes first.
You will:
- See a simple map or visual.
- Hear an instruction or announcement related to that visual.
- Repeat exactly what you heard, once.
The phrases start short and get gradually longer and more complex. The final item (usually Question 7) is the longest and hardest. This is the one that exposes weaknesses in listening, memory, and pronunciation.
Under the surface, this task measures three skills at the same time:
- How precisely you hear the sentence
- How well you store the structure in your short-term memory
- How accurately and clearly you rebuild the sentence
What My Speaking Score Measures
On My Speaking Score, Listen & Repeat is broken down into three SpeechRater Dimensions:
Fluency
Fluency is the smoothness and stability of your speech.
It includes:
- How often you pause
- How evenly you speak
- Whether your pace stays steady from beginning to end
In Listen & Repeat, good fluency means you deliver the whole sentence in one controlled, natural flow rather than word-by-word or with long gaps.
Intelligibility
Intelligibility is about how understandable your speech is.
It looks at:
- Consonant clarity (baggage vs. backage)
- Vowel quality (claim vs. climb)
- Word stress (identiFIcation vs. identifiCAtion)
- Whether a listener can reliably identify each word
If the system cannot confidently recognize a word, that word doesn’t count as “recovered,” even if you tried to say it.
Repeat Accuracy
Repeat Accuracy is the core of the Listen & Repeat score.
It measures:
- How many content words you repeat correctly
- How well you preserve word forms (plural vs. singular, verb tense, etc.)
- How closely your sentence matches the original in structure and meaning
Content words are the heavy lifters: nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and important prepositions.
Function words like articles (a, an, the), auxiliary verbs (is, are, must), and some prepositions also matter, especially if you want a perfect 5.
What the Data Says (504 Real Attempts)
I looked at 504 Listen & Repeat responses from 36 users. Here’s what stood out:
- Content word recovery drives the score.
When students recover all the content words, their scores rise sharply. - Article drops are common and expensive.
12% of all responses were missing at least one article.
None of these responses received a perfect 5. - Perfect repeats are rare.
Only 20% of all attempts were exact repeats.
On the hardest prompt (Question 7), only 4% of responses earned a 5.
Example:
- Prompt: “Welcome to the international airport.”
- Perfect: “Welcome to the international airport.”
- Penalty: “Welcome to international airport.”
That tiny missing “the” is enough to block a 5.
This task rewards precise reconstruction. Losing a key word, changing a structure, or dropping an article drops the score.
Official-Style Scoring: What 5–0 Actually Mean
ETS describes Listen & Repeat scores this way:
- 5 – Exact repetition; fully intelligible.
- 4 – Meaning preserved with minor differences that do not change the message.
- 3 – Response is mostly complete but meaning is changed or uncertain.
- 2 – Large portion missing; meaning is significantly incomplete or inaccurate.
- 1 – Very little of the original is captured; mostly unintelligible.
- 0 – No response or speech completely unrelated/unintelligible.
On My Speaking Score, this logic is reflected through Fluency, Intelligibility, and Repeat Accuracy working together.
Score Examples for a Sample Prompt
More Examples With a Long Prompt
Prompt (Airport Q7):
“If your flight is delayed, you may receive updates through the airline’s mobile app.”
- 5: Exact repeat, clear and smooth.
- 4: “If your flight is delayed, you can receive updates through the airline’s mobile app.”
- “May” → “can” is a small meaning shift, but the core message is still intact.
- 3: “If your flight is delayed, you may receive updates on the airline app.”
- Missing “mobile” and changing “through” to “on” reduces accuracy and changes nuance.
- 2: “Your flight delayed… receive update… airline app.”
- Several words and structure missing; listener must guess the meaning.
- 1: “Flight… delay… receive… airline…”
- Only isolated content words survive.
- 0: Silence, a completely different sentence, or fully unintelligible speech.
How To Train for Listen & Repeat
1. Listen for chunks, not individual words
Break each sentence into small meaning groups:
- “Please have your boarding passes / and identification ready / for security.”
- “Carry-on liquids must be placed / in clear plastic bags.”
- “If you’d like a guided tour, / they begin every hour / near the gift shop.”
Your memory stores chunks more easily than a long string of words.
2. Lock in the content words
Pay special attention to the “heavy” words:
- airport, baggage claim, restrooms, security, liquids, luggage, mobile app
- city museum, ticket, audio guides, information desk, galleries, guided tour, flash photography
If you keep every content word and the structure, you are close to a 5.
3. Protect your articles and small words
From the data:
- 12% of responses dropped an article.
- None of these scored a 5.
Articles and function words often decide whether you get a 4 or a 5. Listen specifically for:
- a / an / the
- your / their / our
- is / are / must / may / can
- in / on / at / through / near
4. Repeat in one breath
Deliver the sentence as one connected unit:
- No long pauses in the middle.
- No “restart” if you get nervous.
- One controlled breath, one clean sentence.
5. Train with real prompts and check MSS data
Use sets like the ones below:
Airport set
- Welcome to the international airport.
- Baggage claim is straight ahead.
- You will find restrooms near every main gate.
- Please have your boarding passes and identification ready for security.
- Carry-on liquids must be placed in clear plastic bags.
- Do not leave your luggage unattended at any time.
- If your flight is delayed, you may receive updates through the airline’s mobile app.
Museum set
- Welcome to the city museum.
- Please keep your ticket visible.
- Audio guides are available at the information desk.
- Special exhibits are located on the second floor.
- You’re free to explore the galleries at your own pace.
- If you’d like a guided tour, they begin every hour near the gift shop.
- Flash photography is not permitted, and cell phones must be silenced during your visit.
Record your answers, check Fluency, Intelligibility, and Repeat Accuracy on My Speaking Score, and look for patterns.
What Real Improvement Looks Like
Most learners improve in this order:
- Fluency becomes smoother, with fewer pauses.
- Intelligibility improves as pronunciation and stress become clearer.
- Repeat Accuracy increases as your brain gets better at holding sentence structure.
Once you reliably keep all content words and almost all function words, your scores stabilize in the 4–5 range across all seven prompts.
Listen & Repeat FAQ
Do I need to speak fast to get a high score?
No. The task does not reward speed alone.
Very fast speech can even hurt your score if it reduces intelligibility or causes you to drop words. Aim for a natural, comfortable pace where every word is clear and you do not run out of breath.
What if I know I made a mistake? Can I correct myself?
You should try to produce one clean sentence.
A quick self-correction may cause more harm than good:
“Luggage um bag ah…baggage claim is straight ahead.”
Long repairs or multiple restarts can hurt fluency and increase the chance of losing words.
What if I repeat the sentence twice?
The instructions tell you to repeat only once. Saying the sentence twice can confuse the scoring system and is risky. Stick to one complete, confident repetition.
Does my accent matter?
Having an accent will not hurt your score.
What matters is intelligibility:
- Are the consonants clear?
- Is the vowel length reasonable?
- Can a typical listener recognize the word?
If the words are recognizable, your accent is fine.
What if I do not understand one of the words?
If you miss a word, try to keep the sentence structure and every other word. Guessing a similar-sounding nonsense word usually hurts more than it helps.
Example:
- Prompt: “identification”
- Better: keep silence on that word but maintain the rest of the sentence.
- Worse: say “idenciflication” in a way that becomes unintelligible and disrupts the sentence.
Can I change the grammar if the meaning stays the same?
Small changes might still give you a 4, but they block a 5.
Examples:
- “You may receive updates” → “You can receive updates”
- “Restrooms are near every main gate” → “You can find restrooms near every main gate”
These preserve meaning but are not exact repeats. For consistent 5s, match everything exactly.
What if I forget an article like “the” or “a”?
Dropping an article is one of the most common errors.
- “Welcome to the international airport.”
- Response: “Welcome to international airport.”
This is enough to prevent a perfect 5. The meaning is almost the same, but the sentence is not an exact match. Train yourself to hear and repeat these small words.
What if I only remember the beginning of the sentence?
This often leads to a 2 or 3, depending on how much is missing.
- “If your flight is delayed, you may receive updates through the airline’s mobile app.”
- Response: “If your flight is delayed…” (then silence)
You captured part of the idea, but the main message about updates and the app is gone. To fix this, practice chunking the sentence into 2–3 units and holding all of them in memory.
Can I use my own words if they mean the same thing?
This is risky. Listen & Repeat is not a paraphrasing task.
- Prompt: “Flash photography is not permitted.”
- Response: “You can’t use flash cameras.”
The meaning is similar, but the wording is different. That kind of change will not earn a 5 and may score around 3–4 depending on how close it is. Aim for reconstruction, not paraphrase.
Do I need to copy the speaker’s intonation exactly?
Exact intonation is not required.
You should:
- Use natural English rhythm
- Avoid reading-robot or word-by-word delivery
- Place stress on the correct words (baggage CLAIM, mobile APP)
You do not need to imitate the speaker perfectly, but keeping similar rhythm and stress helps both intelligibility and memory.
What if I panic and say “I don’t know”?
That is effectively a 0 for that prompt.
Even if you are unsure, try to repeat as much as you remember:
- Half the sentence with correct structure is much better than giving up.
Any attempt to reconstruct the original sentence is better than “I don’t know.”
Can I prepare by memorizing common airport and museum phrases?
Learning common phrases helps your brain recognize patterns and chunks (for example, “located on the second floor,” “at your own pace,” “must be placed in”).
However, the actual TOEFL prompts may use different wording, so you still need to practice:
- Listening closely
- Repeating exact sentences, not just familiar patterns
Think of memorized phrases as warm-up, not as a shortcut.
What if the speaker talks too fast?
TOEFL recordings are designed to be clear and consistent, but they can feel fast if you are nervous. You cannot change the speed on test day, so your training should include:
- Listening to short sentences at natural speed
- Repeating them exactly
- Gradually increasing complexity
With enough repetition, your brain adjusts to the pace.
Does background noise on test day affect my score?
If the testing environment is approved, noise is usually controlled. If you hear noise during the test:
- Focus your attention on the voice and the content words.
- Keep your eyes on the screen and “anchor” your mind on the visual map and the sentence meaning.
Your preparation should assume that the audio will be clear, but building mental focus helps you handle distraction.
Final Thoughts
Listen & Repeat is a precision task. It measures how accurately you can hear a sentence and rebuild it.
To prepare for the 2026 TOEFL Speaking format:
- Train your ear to capture content words and small function words.
- Practice repeating full sentences in one smooth breath.
- Use your My Speaking Score data to track Fluency, Intelligibility, and Repeat Accuracy over time.
Perfect 5s are rare in the data, but they follow a simple pattern: every word comes back, clearly and confidently. The more you train that pattern, the less “new” and scary this task becomes.