Below are sample responses from participants in the 15-Day TOEFL Speaking Challenge

Question 1
What do you miss most about your home when you are away? Use specific details in your explanation.
Preparation time: 15 seconds
Response time: 45 seconds

1.

Well, I had never thought anything about missing my home until I went for a trip to the U.S. for educational purposes. I was alone for six months over there. I missed my whole family. I missed my home. I missed my home’s environment. I really missed my son’s giggle. He’s five years old. I missed the food prepared by my Mom and above all, I missed my wife’s daily hug which she used to give me in the morning.

2.

Sitting around the table and having dinner with family is the thing that I miss the most when I’m far away from my family. That’s the time that all family get together. They come from their work from outside and sit together and talk about their difficulties and that’s what I don’t have when I’m far away from my family and I’m away my home and this is really a blessing to be with family and have dinner with them around the table.

3.

In my view, I miss my mother and my sister in my country the most for two important reasons. First, I remember that my mother make a lot of delicious food for me like beef and ? and chicken, which I couldn’t bring them. I have to go to restaurant to bring any food, which is not delicious like my mother. And second I remember that my sister is not just my sister, she’s my friend too. We spend a lot of time alone outside to go shopping, eating at night, and cooking at the ? and laughing, and watching the TV. That’s why I miss both of them.

4.

I’ve been studying in the U.S.A. for a year and I came here ? apartment own time. Back when I was at home, I used to eat out with my family very often and then talked about my day at school, but now it’s difficult for me to hang out because of my Thai ?. The next thing that comes to my mind is sturdiness. Generally, Americans have a fast lifestyle and it is really distractful for me because I cannot keep up with the pace sometimes. That’s by having more opportunities and higher living standards. I miss my home most of the time.

5.

I think I would miss my Mom’s food if I were far from home for a couple of reasons. First of all, she’s a really good cook and she makes the best food in the world in my opinion and so I really got used to her food. Beside that, it’s not just about food because having her food reminds me of lots of memories from my childhood and the time the whole family got together and had a good time. So because of these reasons I would really miss her food more than anything.

6.

Well for me what I miss more about my hometown are people and a sense of community. As I’m a people person, I like to talk to everyone, even in the street or if I’m in a cab, I like to talk to the taxi driver. While living here in Dubai, there’s no sense of community. Everyone is really independent in this neighbor thing and talking to each other, it’s not there anymore. Moreoever, people in Egypt are very helpful. For example, my colleague went to Egypt last summer. She’s from Lebanon and she got lost, but everyone helped her to reach the place she wanted. That’s why people are the most important thing for me.

7.

I would say that the thing I miss the most would be food because food is very different between countries and between cultures. My home country and the United States have totally different food. For example, I have rice at every meal in Thailand, but I only have rice like once or twice a month. So, rice is one of the things I miss the most. Also, tasty Thai food is very different from the food in the United States. We don’t have cheese and stuff and I feel like I’m kind of sick of cheese and I miss spicy food in Thailand and so I think food is the one I miss the most.

8.

The thing I miss most when I’m away from home is my Mom’s care. I miss her good morning kiss. I miss the family gathering around the table ? I miss our laughter together, our talks, and before I travel back to my medical school early in the morning or anywhere, my Mom always walks me to the door, gives me a hug, prays for me, and hearing her prayers is a blessing, guarding me through the day.

9.

Generally, I’m a little conscious to get the opportunity to meet new people and go to different places, but sometimes you miss something. In my case, I used to miss the spicy food because I really love the chili in almost everything. Sometimes I find it difficult to find spicy food in other places. The second thing that I will miss is probably my bed because I really love to sleep in a soft bed and sometimes when I travel to other places, maybe I couldn’t find a soft bed. These two things I miss the most when I am away from my country.

10.

When I’m away, I really miss two things. The first one would be my Mom. I really miss how she takes care of us and her food. It’s amazing. I’ve eaten in so many kinds of restaurants, but I always prefer her food because although it is simple, she makes it amazingly, maybe because she loves us so much and the second thing that I really miss is our get-togethers with my family and cousins and my aunts and uncles. ? are very basic, but when they come together they make a blast, so I really enjoy those days when we go to parks or anywhere for picnicking, they’re amazing.

11.

When I am away, the thing I miss the most is the routine because every day I get up early, I prepare the breakfast for my husband and my daughter. At that moment I feel really comfortable the situation and I miss that when I’m away on a business trip. The other thing I miss apart from my daughter is my cat because I’ve had her since she was little and she’s 15 years now. So for me, she’s like another child. I miss her very much. I know she’s very good at home because my father-in-law takes care of her, but I miss her.

12.

When I am far away from my home there are two things I miss the most from my home. The first is my family and friends because every morning I have coffee with my family and this is really my ? to spend time together with my family and during the evening time I can go out with my friends to the beach or watch some movie and ? I really like the place in my home town because it’s not too hot and not too cold because it’s too ? far away. There’s the beach and mountains, but they are, so that’s why there are two things I miss the most when I’m far away from my home.

13.

When I’m away I miss some things about my home. Firstly, I miss spending time with my family as much as we can together. We got used to going somewhere on the weekends, just getting in the car, and driving to another city to explore new places and the second thing is a special smell in my home when they’re cooking dinner together or a special perfume of my Mom. So for those reasons I really miss some things in my home when I’m away.