education ielts speaking task 2

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IELTS Speaking Cue Card Topic: Education

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Education is a cue card topic that often comes up in the IELTS speaking part 2. Below you will find a list of some exam questions and answers that you could encounter during part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test.

The questions below are based on the real IELTS speaking exam. They serve as a great IELTS Speaking part 2 cue card prediction questions to help you prepare better before your test.

Education Speaking Part 2 – Cue Card 1

Talk about a new language that you learnt. Please say

You should say:

• when did you do it
• how did you do it
• who helped you with it
• and explain how you feel about it now.

I am going to talk about learning English. I have been learning English since I was a child. I went to an international school so from a young age some of the subjects were taught in English. This was really difficult at first as not only did you have to be good at science or maths, you had to listen to the teacher explain it in English too. When I went to secondary school, my parents employed a private tutor to teach me at home. The teacher was a native from the UK so the classes really helped me learn more typical phrases and the correct pronunciation. The classes were invaluable and have really paid off as my English is much better now. Since then, I have been self taught. I read books, watch TV series and listen to podcasts in English which really helps immerse me in the language. Sometimes, I chat with English speaking friends and they correct me and I ask questions about the bizarre phrases and colloquial expressions they use. English uses a lot of jargon and slang , it can be difficult to understand but eventually I managed to catch their drift . I make a note of new vocabulary and use an app on my phone to test myself every now and again. Now I am studying translation, I am using English every day so I don’t need to brush up on my skills as much now. I feel proud of my English level, I have worked hard to get to this point.

Education Vocabulary Speaking Part 2 – Cue Card 2

• paid off – got a good result
• bizarre – strange
• jargon and slang – technical and local dialect vocabulary
• catch their drift – understand their meaning
• to brush up on – to practice something after a long time

Other IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics

Here are other common topics that you could come across during the IELTS Speaking Part 2 test.

• Event / Instance
• Family / Friends

Talk about a skill that was difficult for you to learn. Please say

• when did you learn it
• why did you learn it
• how do you learn it
• and explain how you feel about this skill now.

I am going to talk about learning to dance. Most Italians are pretty good dancers and lots of my family members dance well. I think I was in secondary school when I realized I had two left feet . I had no natural rhythm at all and I felt embarrassed dancing in public. Dancing in public is a way of life in Italy, everybody dances at family events and special occasions. One of my friends offered to teach me to dance. She is a salsa teacher and gives classes in a studio. So, I decided to sign up and took up classes a couple of times a week. The first few classes were awful! I got really flustered trying to listen to the music and follow all the instructions at the same time. It probably took me a few months to feel more comfortable and less embarrassed. As well as the classes, I watched videos at home and copied the moves. Although I still wasn’t a natural, I persevered with the classes for six months, eventually starting to move my hips and not look like a giraffe dancing. After that, I gave up as I didn’t have enough time to attend the classes. I continued dancing with friends and family and got a few compliments on my dancing. I am proud that I made the effort to improve my skills and I will never forget the lessons. It is almost unheard of not to dance in Italy, we are a very musical and passionate nation.

Vocabulary for Cue Card 2

• have two left feet – no ability to dance
• sign up – register for a course or activity
• flustered – nervous and embarrassed
• almost unheard of – very unusual

Talk about an elementary school teacher you have a good memory of. Please say

• what he/she was like
• the subject he/she taught
• a memory you have of him/her
• and why you this is a good memory, in your opinion
• What he/she was like I am going to talk about Miss Elaine who was my favourite elementary school teacher. She was probably the kindest teacher I have ever had. She was very patient with us, but she also knew how to set 9 clear boundaries 10 . She would always let us know when we did something wrong, but she would also try to understand why we did it.
• The subject he/she taught Miss Elaine was my math teacher. I always struggled 11 with math, but she was there to help me, and she gave me a lot of individual attention 12 , which I very much needed, because I would get very anxious trying to solve a math problem on my own.
• A memory you have of him/her I remember that one time she gave us a worksheet 13 to complete. I could not do it and I started to tear up 14 . Everybody else was looking at me in the classroom. Miss Elaine ran to me and asked what was going on. I couldn’t really speak because I was crying and feeling stressed. Miss Elaine told me everything was okay and asked me if I was crying because I was nervous that I couldn’t solve the problems when others could. I just nodded 15 and she gave me a warm hug. Then she sat with me, and we solved the problems together.
• And Why you this is a good memory, in your opinion To me that is a good memory because I really felt like she wanted to and was able to understand me. Especially when you are young, it is hard sometimes to know, let alone 16 say how you feel. Her understanding and support 17 had a huge 18 impact 19 on my confidence.

Vocabulary for Cue Card 3

• set = (in this case) put
• boundaries = limits
• struggled = had problems doing something
• individual attention = focus on one person
• worksheet = a piece of paper with activities to complete or questions to answer
• tear up = have tears come up in your eyes
• nodded = said yes with the head
• let alone = even less
• support = help
• huge = extremely big
• impact = (in this case) effect

Talk about a skill that was difficult for you to learn. You should say

• what skill it was
• why you learnt it
• why it was difficult to learn
• and explain how you felt about this.

I am going to speak about learning to speak another language. I learnt to speak French a few years ago. I decided to learn in order to communicate better when I travelled abroad. I had learnt it at school but forgotten a lot in recent years and felt I should brush up on it. I wanted to challenge myself and prove to myself I could do it. So I found a teacher online and then we met face to face . The teacher was a French native but spoke really good English too which helped when explaining the grammar. As well as the classes, I listened to podcasts and used vocabulary apps to learn new words. At first, it felt near impossible to grasp the vocabulary and master the pronunciation. I felt really frustrated that I didn’t seem to be picking it up more quickly and it was embarrassing to repeat the same things over and over again in class. But I persevered and gradually it got easier. It was as if part of my brain opened up and started to accept and remember the language. I was elated . From that moment, I was on a roll ; learning new words and even going to a language exchange group to meet other like- minded people.  Now when I go on holiday to France, I feel more confident going into shops or ordering food in a restaurant so it was worth the effort and time I put into learning French.

Vocabulary for Cue Card 4

• face to face – in person
• grasp – to understand
• elated – very happy
• on a roll – a prolonged period of success
• like minded – similar thinking people

Describe an area of science (physics, psychology and so on) that interests you. Please say

• how do you know about it
• why are you interested in it
• What it is? I would like to talk about physics, an area of science that focuses on matter. It mainly deals with how matter moves in space and time, and what forces act upon it. In general, this field aims to make people understand how the universe behaves. For ordinary people, Physics is more understandable in situations like rubbing two things together and creating static electricity or the force applied whenever the washing machine dryer rapidly rotates. And to many, this subject can be identified when driving a car because natural forces help cars to start, move and stop.
• How do you know about it? I started learning physics when I was 8 years old as it was a formal subject in my school curriculum. As my class teacher used to teach concepts of physics in a very interesting manner, I developed keen interest in it during my childhood. What’s more my father is a science professor at a local university so I also got to know a lot about physics through him.
• Why are you interested in it? Physics interested me because it involves a lot of math. I find it easier to work with formulas for force and understanding how they work compared to other branches of science. Physics covers several areas and every time I encounter them in real life, my love for physics grows further. Moreover, I feel satisfied whenever I realize the scientific explanation and apply its practical aspect

Vocabulary for Cue Card 5

Talk about another course that you would like to take, not related to your previous studies. Please say

• what kind of course would it be
• what do you want to learn from it
• why would you choose it

I am going to talk about photography. I would love to take a photography course. I have always been interested in taking photos since I was a young child. I was given a camera when I was a teenager and used to go out taking pictures of animals and people. Nowadays, I mainly take photos using my smartphone but I miss the skill of taking really good photos. I would like to take the course so I could learn about setting up the shot, capturing a moment and also some of the technical stuff about filtering and perfecting photos.

I know that you can do these courses as an evening class or even during the summer but I just haven’t had the time or the money since I have started university. You can even learn online but I don’t think that is the same as a hands on experience.I have a friend who has completed the course and he takes amazing photos of people and beautiful architecture – it really is awe inspiring . If I did the course in the future, I would like to take a trip to a famous sight like Machu Picchu or the Niagara Falls and capture some amazing shots there. In the meantime . I am taking photos with my smartphone of me and my friends. I use the different filters and post photos on instagram so my friends and family back home can keep up to date with my life.

Vocabulary for Cue Card 6

• set up – prepared
• hands on – direct experience
• awe inspiring – amazing
• in the meantime – the time between now and something in the future
• keep up to date – to be informed of the current situation

Talk about a person you know who learnt a foreign language. Please say

• who is he/she
• what was his/her motivation for learning the language
• how frequently does he/she use it
• and how do you feel about him/her
• Who is he/she? I am going to talk about my aunt Tina. Aunt Tina comes from a multicultural family background, and is a polyglot , speaking French, Danish and Spanish fluently. She learnt French and Danish from her parents, and made the decision to major in Spanish at university. She completed her degree and later lived in Argentina for about ten years, where she met her husband, Pedro.
• What was his/her motivation for learning the language? Growing up with different cultures, my aunt developed a fascination for languages, and it seemed she was picking them up with ease. When she was fourteen years old, her parents travelled with her to Spain for the summer holidays, and she realised she was able to comprehend most of what was being said to her and around her. Her knowledge of French was a huge leg up, due to the common linguistic roots between French and Spanish. I think she really identified with the culture there, and her interest in the language grew stronger over time.
• How frequently does he/she use it? My aunt practises the language on a regular basis. Although she no longer lives in Argentina and her husband speaks a little French, they find it easier to communicate in Spanish. My aunt introduced the languages she knows to her children, and she was beside herself with joy when one of them expressed an interest in learning an additional foreign language in school. Sometimes, she would speak to her children in Spanish and they would respond in a different language. It is their way of learning new words and phrases!
• and how do you feel about him/her? I find her inspiring. Learning languages is like a walk in the park for her, and I admire her courage to pursue her dreams and live life as she sees fit .

Vocabulary for Cue Card 7

• Polyglot = someone who speaks more than two languages
• Fascination = strong interest in
• picking them up = (in this case) learning them
• leg up = help
• linguistic roots = linguistic origins
• on a regular basis = regularly
• beside herself with joy = extremely happy
• a walk in the park = extremely easy
• as she sees fit = the way she wants, as she believes is right for her

Describe you preferred location for studying. Please say

• where is this place
• what does it physically look like
• why is it your favourite place to study
• follow up question: Do other people you know use the same place to study?
• Where is this place? I am going to talk about my favourite place to study. It is actually a public library. As a tour guide, I need to constantly increase and update my knowledge of the places I tour, and the library provides me with all the resources I need for that.
• What does it physically look like? The public library I go to is quite big. It has a Victorian architecture and outside look to it, but it’s very modern on the inside. It offers a plethora of books on a variety of subjects, such as history, art, languages, and so on. Thereare plenty of tables and chairs throughout the library. Some chairs look more like armchairs an may be placed by large bay windows, although I prefer less exposed areas, to help me concentrate better. There is also an area with computers for people to use, as well as printers and scanners.
• Why is it your favourite place to study? I find myself being more productive at the library. I believe that being surrounded by books really sparks motivation in me. The members of staff are all so friendly, and I feel like there is little that can distract me there. It is really the ideal place for me to complete my work without any interruptions. I enjoy the abundance of books and resources there. The history section is of particular interest to me , due to my job. There are plenty of books on local history, and I feel like there are always new facts and anecdotes for me to learn.
• Follow up question: Do other people you know use the same place to study? I know people who use this library, but I don’t believe they go there to study. Many of them make use of the computers or borrow books rather than study. I see many people conduct research or focused on their own personal projects, but I do not know them personally.

Vocabulary for Cue Card 8

• plethora = range
• exposed = with nowhere to hide
• productive = making good use of time by completing many tasks and actions
• sparks motivation = inspires enthusiasm/motivation
• abundance = large quantities
• of particular interest to me = particularly interesting to me
• anecdotes = small stories that relate to a main subject

Talk about a course which left an impression on you.

• what course was it
• where did you take that course
• what was the course like
• and why did it impress you
• What course was it? I am going to talk about a course I took and which left a strong impression on me. That course was a Spanish course I took over the summer. I had studied Spanish in school but wanted to hone my skills.
• Where did you take that course? It was an intensive and immersive language course at a language institution in a nearby town. It was delivered by a Guatemalan teacher, which meant I got insight into Guatemalan culture and idioms. The institution was only a twenty-minute drive from where I live. Very convenient!
• What was the course like? The course was very engaging and inclusive. Our teacher used a myriad of media to teach us: films, videos. Books, magazines, recordings, songs, and more! It was truly immersive and I was completely hooked . The classes took place three times a week, and I would look froward to each class. Another aspect I truly appreciated about the course was the fact that she only spoke to us in Spanish, with the occasional English translations, where needed. It really forced us to think and produce in the language. It was great!
• Why did it impress you? I was very impressed by this course because I never realised the power of immersive programmes. I sincerely feel like I got more bang for my buck than with other more traditional courses. I can certainly feel that my speaking skills, and my reading skills for that matter, have increased tremendously . It also taught me about the power of visuals in conveying messages, and that anything is possible when we put effort into it! I did not expect that level of improvement on my part, and I am very thankful for the course and, of course, the teacher!

Vocabulary for Cue Card 9

• hone = sharpen
• engaging = (in this case) catching my interest
• myriad = range
• hooked = (in this case) so exciting I want to keep doing it
• bang for my buck = better value for the price you pay
• tremendously = in large amounts, to a very large degree

Cue Card 10

Talk about a practical skill you have learnt.

• what skill have you learnt
• how did you learn it
• and why is it an important skill
• What skill have you learnt? I am going to talk about an important practical skill I learnt when I was young. It is a cooking skill I use today and which involves frying eggs.
• When did you learn it? I believe I was about 12 years old when my mom called me to the kitchen. I was clueless about cooking, and quite frankly disinterested in the subject. But my mom, wise as an owl , said to me: “you may not find it interesting, but, believe me, you will find useful”. At the time I did not realise how right she was.
• How did you learn it? She showed me exactly how to do it, and even let me try it out myself. The first time, I went too strong, and part of the eggshell fell into the pan. I felt so embarrassed and told my mom I was giving up. My mom was never the kind of person to beat around the bush . She essentially told me to stop making excuses, and pull myself together so I can try again. She didn’t do it in a malicious way. She just wanted to help me get back on the horse . The second time, I managed to do it properly. She congratulated me and let me try it a few more times.
• And why is it an important skill? This skill is so very important, because it is one of the easiest meals to cook. It helps a lot when my schedule gets too busy for me to have the energy to cook anything else. It also inspired me to attempt to cook other dishes. When I mastered the skill, I thought to myself, if I can cook that, imagine what else I could make? It was a significant confidence boost for me

Vocabulary for Cue Card 10

• clueless = have no idea, have no knowledge of something
• wise as an owl = very wise person
• beat around the bush = avoid saying what you think because it is uncomfortable
• pull myself together = get over a negative emotional state
• malicious = evil, meaning to hurt
• get back on the horse = try again after a discouraging failure
• confidence boost = an action that helps increase someone’s confidence/self-confidence

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IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics & Questions

A list of common topics and questions for IELTS speaking part 2. Speaking part 2 is called:

“The Talk”

A face to face to talk to the examiner (3-4 minutes)

You will be given a topic card. You will have 1 minute to prepare your talk and then you will need to speak for 1-2 minutes. Start preparing as soon as you are given the card, paper and pen. The examiner will let you know when to start talking. Keep talking as long as you can. Most topics are stories about yourself or something that happened in your life.  The common topics are: an object (thing), a person, a place, an event (occasion) or an activity . See the examples below to help you prepare.

Art (object)

Describe a piece of art you like. You should say: what the work of art is when you first saw it what you know about it and explain why you like it.

Book (object)

Describe a book you have recently read. You should say: what kind of book it is what it is about what sort of people would enjoy it and explain why you liked it.

Communication (event/occasion)

Describe a piece of advice you recently received. You should say: when this happened who gave you the advice what the advice was and explain how you felt about the advice.

Daily Routine (event/occasion)

Describe a time of the day you like. You should say: what time of day it is what you do at that time who you are usually with and explain why you like it.

Embarrassment (event/occasion)

Describe a time you were embarrassed. You should say: when it was who you were with what happened and how you coped afterwards

Exercise (activity)

Describe an exercise you know. You should say: what it is how it is done when you first tried it what kind of people it is suitable for and explain why you think it is a good exercise.

Family (person)

Describe a member of the your family you get on well with. You should say: who it is what relationship you have to that person what that person is like what you do together and explain why you get on so well.

Gift (object)

Describe a gift you recently gave to someone. You should say: who you gave it to what kind of person he/she is what the gift was what occasion the gift was for and explain why you chose that gift.

Hobby (activity)

Describe an interesting hobby. You should say: what it is what kind of people do it how it is done and explain why you think it is interesting.

Internet (object)

Describe a useful website. You should say: what it is how often you visit it what kind of site it is what kind of information it offers and explain why you think it is useful.

Journey (event/occasion)

Describe a journey that didn’t go as planned. You should say: where you were going how you were travelling who you were with what went wrong and explain what you would do differently.

Kindness (person)

Describe a person you know who is kind. You should say: who it is how you know this person what sort of person he/she is and explain why you think they are kind.

Language (object)

Describe a language you have learned. You should say: what it is when you started learning how you learned it what was difficult about it and why you decided to learn that language.

Law (object)

Describe a good law. You should say: what it is who is affected by it and why you think it is good.

Music (object)

Describe a song you like. You should say: what kind of song it is what the song is about when you first heard it and explain why you like it.

News (event)

Describe some good news you recently received. You should say: what the news was how you received the news who gave it to you and explain why this was good news.

Old people (person)

Describe an old person you know. You should say: who this person is how old he/she is what this person is like and explain why you like this person.

Peaceful Place (place)

Describe a place that you find peaceful. You should say: where it is when you first went there what you do there and why you like it

Photograph (object)

Describe a photograph you like. You should say: what can be seen in the photo when it was taken who took it and explain why you like it.

Relax (activity)

Describe something you do to relax. You should say: what it is where you do it when you first did it and why you find it relaxing.

Respect (person)

Describe someone you respect. You should say: who the person is how you know about this person what this person does what this person is like and explain why you respect this person.

Sport (activity)

Describe a sports you would like to learn. You should say: what it is what equipment is needed for it how you would learn it and explain why you would like to learn this sport.

Time of Day (event/occasion)

Describe your favourite time of day You should say: when it is what you like to do  and why it is different to other parts of the day

Travel (place)

Describe a place you have recently visited. You should say: where you went who you went with how you got there and explain why you enjoyed it.

Unexpected (event)

Describe an unexpected event.

You should say: what it was when it happened who was there why it was unexpected and explain why you enjoyed it.

Vocation (object)

Describe a vocation you think is useful to society. You should say: what it is what it involves what kind of people usually do this work and explain why you think it is useful to society.

Water (place)

Describe a place near water. You should say: where it is how you get there how often you do there what you can do there and explain why you like it.

Your Favourite Shop (place)

Describe your favourite shop. You should say: where it is how often you go there what it sells and explain why you think it is a good shop.

Zoo (place)

Describe a place with animals. You should say: where it is how you heard of it what animals can be seen and explain why it might be an interesting place to visit.

More IELTS Speaking Topics

Topics and questions for speaking part 1 and speaking part 2.

IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topics & Questions

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Topics & Questions

Recommend for IELTS Speaking

• Will I get a low score if I speak for less than 2 minutes?
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• Speaking Part 2 Model Answer
• All IELTS Speaking Lessons, Tips & Model Answers

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IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics and Questions

The IELTS Speaking topics for IELTS Speaking Part 2 can seem intimidating at first. After all, it’s the one part of the interview where you need to give a long solo speech.

Fortunately, Magoosh is here to help! Right below, we have a PDF that includes IELTS Speaking Part 2 topics you can practice with, and a great video tutorial from Eliot. And right after that, you can read on for plenty of additional help with IELTS Speaking topics Part 2.

(NOTE: This post and its featured PDF are great supplements for anyone who’s following an IELTS study schedule with Magoosh . As a matter of fact, we specifically mention this article as a resource in our one-week IELTS study plan.)

Table of Contents

Ielts speaking part 2 topic card: main features, sample ielts speaking part 2 questions and answers, ielts speaking topics for part 2.

• The Takeaway

In IELTS Speaking Part 2, you will receive a “topic card” that contains a detailed, multi-part question. Take a look at this official IELTS Speaking topics sample prompt , script , and recording of a Task 2 question to get a sense of what to expect. You will have one minute to prepare a short speech in response to the topic card. Then you should speak for 1-2 minutes.

Preparing for Part 2 can really pay off. As noted above, Magoosh offers a great list of Part 1 and Part 2 IELTS Speaking topics to use as you practice. Obviously, it is impossible to predict the exact questions you will receive on exam day. However, the structure of Part 2 questions is very consistent. Each Part 2 card has three basic features that you should know well:

Feature 1: Topic Introduction

Feature 2: 3 Detailed Points

Feature 3: Discussion

The right side of the card below shows the typical appearance of a Part 2 question. The notes on the left (not included on an actual IELTS topic card) highlight the three main features of this question type.

Below is a sample IELTS Speaking Part 2 question and response. And for more example IELTS Speaking Part 2 questions, with answers, consider a subscription (or a 1 week free trial) to Magoosh IELTS .

Speaking Part 2 Topic Card

Notes and preparation.

You have one minute to plan your response before you speak. That may not seem like a long time to think of a response to all of these questions, but fortunately, planning a Part 2 response is simpler than it may look at first.

You will be provided with a pencil and some paper to plan your response. I advise students to read Feature 1 and Feature 2 first BUT to avoid writing notes about these questions. The best approach is simply to use these points on the card as reminders about what you need to say. At the beginning of your short speech, go through each point one by one with a brief response.

You should use most of your one-minute preparation time to plan your response for Feature 3. This point requires more detail and depth than the other talking points on the card. As you prepare, your goal should be to come up with at least two main points for Feature 3.

Hopefully, you can also think of some details and examples to support these points during your one-minute prep time. Keep in mind that you won’t have time to write detailed notes with complete sentences. Just write down a few words as reminders of what you plan to say.

Below is a sample of some notes related to the topic card above. For clarity in this blog post, I added more language on these notes than you would have time to include on the real exam.

Sample Notes:

The Situation/Who I gave advice to

• Future in danger: almost kicked off basketball team, risk of not getting into college
• Had ability: knew answers in class, but not doing homework

What advice was

• take more time on homework
• watch less TV, play fewer video games

Did friend take advice?

• got to stay on team
• got into college
• kept good study habits in college

Sample Response

Here is a sample response to the topic card shown above.

“When I was in secondary school, my best friend was doing very poorly in her classes, and she definitely needed some advice. She was about to be kicked off the basketball team for her low grades, and I was worried she might not get into college.

She wasn’t struggling from lack of ability. Actually, she was smart and always knew the answers in class. The problem was that she hated homework and often wouldn’t do it; instead, she would instead watch TV all evening. I told her she needed to take her studies more seriously and spend more time on her homework.

I suggested she could get that extra time by watching less TV. I’m happy to say she took my advice, and it really helped her. She was able to keep her grades up and continue playing basketball on the school team. She also got into uni, and she kept her good study habits in her college classes. I feel proud that my advice helped her.”

This simple response answers each of the questions listed in all three features of the topic card directly. Without much planning or thought, you can go down the list and supply the necessary information to cover these points. Once you start expressing these points out loud in complete sentences, it’s not as hard to fill 1 to 2 minutes as you might think!

Now, let’s look at a number of other possible topic cards (these come from our IELTS Speaking Topics PDF). You can use the tips from this tutorial as you practice these topics.

1. Free Time

You should address:

• What the activity is and what it involves.
• When you first started doing the activity.
• Whether you do the activity alone or with other people.

And explain why you enjoy the activity.

• When you took the class.
• Where you took the class.
• The subject of the class.

And explain why the class was so useful.

• What the method of travel is
• How often you travel by this method.
• Whether this travel method is cheap or expensive.

And explain why this method of travel is your favorite.

• What the job is.
• The job requirements.
• The activities that are done on the job.

And explain why this job is your dream job.

• What the tradition is.
• How it’s celebrated.
• When it’s celebrated.

And explain why the tradition is important to your family.

6. Hometown

• Do you prefer to spend time at places in your hometown, or explore new places elsewhere?
• How often you go there.
• What you do there.

And explain why you enjoy going to this place.

• Who this person is.
• How you met your best friend.
• How often you see this friend.

And explain why this person is your best friend.

• Which season it is.
• What the weather is like during the season.
• What you like to do during the season.

And explain why this season is your favorite.

• What the food is.
• What it tastes like.
• How often you eat it.

And explain why you enjoy this food.

10. Music, Movies, Books, Television

• The name of the song.
• Who sings it.
• What the song is about.

And explain why the song is meaningful to you.

11. Recreation, Exercise, Sports

• What the sport is.
• Whether you play the sport, watch the sport, or both.
• How long you’ve been interested in the sport.

And explain why you think the sport is interesting.

12. Holidays

• What the holiday is.
• Who you celebrate the holiday with.
• How you celebrate the holiday.

And explain why you celebrate this holiday with other people.

13. Technology, Internet, etc….

• What the device is.
• What it can do.
• Whether you use the device for fun, for work, or both.

And explain why you purchased the device.

14. On a typical day…

• What you do.
• Why you do it.
• How important it is.

And explain why you do this thing at the beginning of the day.

15. Household

• What the piece of furniture is.
• How long you’ve had the furniture.
• Where it is in the house.

And explain why that piece of furniture is important.

16. News and Current Events

• What happened.
• When the story happened.
• Where the story happened.

And explain why you found this news story surprising.

17. Shopping

• Where this place is.
• What you can buy there.

And explain why you often shop at this place.

18. Decisions

• What the decision was about.
• What you decided to do.
• Why you made the decision.

And explain why you feel you made a good decision.

• What kind of art it is.
• What the art looks like.
• Where you saw the art.

And explain why you think this piece of art is good.

• Who gave you the gift.
• What the gift was.
• When you received the gift.

And explain why the gift was given to you.

21. Kindness

• What you did.
• Why you did it.
• How the person or people responded to your kind act.

And explain the reasons that the act was kind.

22. Language Learning

• What language you were learning.
• What the difficulty was.
• Whether or not you overcame the difficulty.

And explain why you found learning the language so difficult at the time.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: The Takeaway

Ultimately, timing is key to IELTS Speaking Part 2. The most common challenge my students face with these IELTS Speaking topics is either not speaking enough, or speaking too much and running out of time. Do practice responses and time them. This will help you figure out how to write notes that really do fill at least one minute of time, but less than two. Above all, take advantage of the flexibility of the timing. You have one or two minutes to speak, and that’s a really nice range that allows for a variety of answers.

And remember, the topic IELTS Speaking Part 2 is also the basis for Part 3 of IELTS Speaking . But Part 3 is formatted a bit more like Speaking Part 1 , because you give conversational responses rather than giving a “long turn” speech. You can also read about the “big picture” of these three parts by looking at our complete guide to common IELTS Speaking topics . And for general advice on how to navigate the entire IELTS Speaking section, check out our top 10 IELTS Speaking tips !

David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he’s helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in many scholarly articles , his Master’s Thesis is featured on the Reading with Pictures website, and he’s presented at the WITESOL (link to PDF) and NAFSA conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru. Come join David and the Magoosh team on Youtube , Facebook , and Instagram , or connect with him via LinkedIn !

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IELTS practice Speaking test - part 2

In the IELTS speaking part 2 test you will be given a task card on a particular topic, and this will include key points that you should talk about. 

This section of the Speaking test gives you the opportunity to speak for longer on a topic. You will be given one minute to prepare to talk about the topic on the task card.  A pencil and paper will be provided for you to make notes.

You will have to talk for 1-2 minutes, and then the examiner will ask you one or two questions on the same topic. Part 2 takes 3-4 minutes in total.

How to practise

Ask your study partner to listen while you speak about the task card topic. You should talk for 1-2 minutes. Your study partner should then ask you one or two questions on the same topic using the rounding off questions. Record yourself if you can.

Speaking test part 2: candidate task card

Describe something you own which is very important to you. You should say:

• where you got it from
• how long you have had it
• what you use it for; and 
• explain why it is important to you.

You will have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.

Rounding off questions

• is it valuable in terms of money?
• would it be easy to replace?

Listening to the audio

You can read the transcript of the audio to check any words that you did not understand. Do you think that this candidate performed well? Think about how you can improve your own Speaking test.

Transcript of the audio file

Reviewing your speaking practice test.

When you have completed all three parts of the practice Speaking test, listen to your recording of your own practice test to see how well you did.

You can also listen to the recordings and read the audio transcripts for each part of the test. These are designed to give you an understanding of the format of the test. They do not represent model answers.

Continue to Part 3

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• Academic practice
• General practice
• Task 1 Academic
• Task 1 General
• Task 2 (essay)

IELTS Speaking practice: Education

Travel & Holidays Friends Technology Sport Food Education Weather Environment Music Books & Films Health

This is a full IELTS Speaking sample with questions related to Education topic .

See IELTS Speaking vocabulary for Education topic >

You probably know what do such phrases as " bookworm " or " bachelor's degree " mean. However, it's not enough to simply know the meaning! In IELTS Speaking test you are assessed for your fluency and coherence , and thus you have to accurately use your advanced vocabulary while speaking. In this IELTS Speaking sample we collected various questions + model answers on Education Topic that you may encounter on the speaking test.

Our special formatting styles:

Useful linking phrases are in blue IELTS speaking vocabulary is in bold (put your mouse over such text to see explanations).

Do you work or are you a student?

At the moment I'm studying. I’m doing a graduate degree in molecular biology in the Vanderbilt University.

Why did you choose that subject?

I've always loved life sciences, particularly biology... And when I received my bachelor's degree An undergraduate course which usually lasts 3 or 4 years. I took a research internship in a laboratory where I studied interactions between proteins... And then I understood that I want to pursue my career in To continue career path in. biochemistry or molecular biology.

Can you describe yourself as a good student?

Well , overall I think I am a good student. ... I am not an eager beaver A very enthusiastic and hard-working person. , nor the teacher's pet Student whom teachers like the most. ... but I'm good at scientific subjects and, most importantly , I like studying.

Do you study English now?

Did you enjoy/Do you enjoy studying at school?

I've never really liked school... I'm not a bookworm A term to describe someone who really likes to read and spends a lot of time on it. and a lot of humanities subjects seemed too boring to me. However , the workload An amount of work one should do in a specific time period. was not too big... The other good thing about school is being able to see your friends. And fortunately , I had wonderful classmates.

Now, have a look at the card and prepare a monologue.

• When it was
• Why was it hard
• What you were doing at that time

I would like to talk about my last school year. It was really diffucult due to enormous amounts Very big amounts. of homework I had to do and all the exams I had to prepare for... Em, so I studied hard, having no time to goof around Spend time doing nothing important. ... Moreover , I forgot a lot of things from the school curriculum, that's why I had to do a lot of revision... But despite the tough preparation, I managed to set aside some time To take some time. to rest and interact with my friends and family... After all , my efforts were not in vain Without result. ... I passed all the exams well and was admitted to the university of my dream.

What are some essential qualities every teacher should have?

As for me , every teacher should be able to catch student's attention To interest someone. . It is very important to make your subject interesting to the others... Also , teacher should be a subject specialist A person who is very talented in one specific field. and a kind, helpful person. .

What are some pros of studying on a distance learning course?

To be honest , I think it's very advantageous to study in such way... It gives you more time flexibility, especially if you have a job... Not to mention that it is fairly cheap Not very expensive. , compared to face-to-face classes A traditional way of studying: in a classroom with a teacher. ...

Does everybody get equal opportunities to study?

Definitely not . I think it really depends on a country you live in... Moreover , it depends on your financial capabilities An ability to pay for something. ... Some schools and universities are just too expensive... Only a small fraction Small part. of people can afford to study there.

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IELTS Speaking Examples - Part 2

This page provides you with  IELTS speaking examples  for part 2 of the IELTS test.

In this part of the test you are given a topic card by the examiner and you have to talk about it for two minutes. You will be given a pencil and paper and one minute to prepare your answer.

Tips for Part 2

You should talk about the points that are on the card, but you will need to  add in extra information  otherwise you will probably finish before the time is up.

There is a lesson  here  to help you with this part of the test if you want some tips. Follow this link for further  examples of topics for part 2 .

When you read the model answers, notice how the short talk is  introduced  and also  concluded - though in the test you are unlikely to know when the 2 minutes talking is up so the examiner will likely stop you mid-sentence - that's not a problem. 

Also, notice how it is  well-organized . The parts in bold show you how the speaker follows and addresses all the parts on the card in a clear and coherent way. 

It's not an issue though if you speak about things not related to the bullet points as long as you are still talking about the broad topic.

IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 1

Describe a present you have given someone.

You should say:

• Who you gave it to
• What kind of present it was
• How it compared to other presents you have given

Explain why you decided to give this particular gift.

I’m going to talk about a present that I gave to someone.

The person that I gave it to was  a very good friend of mine at the time. His name was Kaaliya and he came from India. I knew him because we studied together at a language school in Cambridge. Although we were from different backgrounds and cultures, we got on really well and we had the same sense of humour so we became very good friends.

The present was a picture  that had been painted of the River Cam in Cambridge. It was not so big -  maybe around 10 inches by 14 inches, but it was very beautiful.  It came in a gold plated frame and the picture had been drawn by a particularly well-known Cambridge artist. It had been signed by this person as well.

It’s the first time I have given this person a present, and I guess  it’s quite different from presents that I have given to other people before  – I don’t recall ever giving someone a picture actually. If I’m buying for family then I’ll usually buy clothes or maybe some jewelry if it is a special occasion. Normally when I’ve bought something for friends it’s something more jokey so we can have a laugh about it, nothing that serious.

The reason why I decided to give this particular gift is  because we had spent a lot of time together in Cambridge and we had had some really fun times punting on the River Cam – that’s obviously why I thought this was an appropriate present.  We used to go punting at least once a week, sometimes a couple of times. On one occasion there was a group of about ten of us that went down there, and we spent the whole day sitting by the river in the sun and as usual we went on a boat trip together.  We all have a lot of photos to remind us of this great day.

So my friend, Kaaliya, is the person that I gave a present to and this was because I felt it would always remind him of the fun times that we had and also of Cambridge.

IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 2

Describe an old person that you know.

• What your relationship is to this person
• How often you see them
• What people think about this person

Explain why you like them

Ok, I’d like to tell you about  an old person that I know.

His name is John, and he is the owner of a small convenience store at the end of my street.

I would say that my relationship with him is  as a friend. I know him because I regularly go to the shop in order to buy things when I don’t have time to go to a supermarket. He’s quite friendly and I always have a chat with him. I’ve known him now for about five years - since I’ve lived in the area. That’s why I’d now call him a friend.

I’d say that I see him fairly regularly . Like I said, I go to the big supermarket out of town sometimes to stock up, but you always need odd things during the week such as milk, or some snack or other. So when this happens I just have a walk down to his shop. So I’d say I see him every one or two days.

I think John is pretty popular  as he’s been there for years as far as I’m aware, so most of the locals around the area know him. There will always be someone in the shop having a chat with him. They like him because he’s not just the shopkeeper but he’s also very involved in activities in the community. For example, I know he helps out at the old people’s home some nights, and he runs the quizzes at the local pub. He also helps to organize the fete that is held each year in the town.

The reason that I like him is  that he’s great to have a chat with. For instance, a while back I was having problems with my work, and I was really feeling stressed. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to at the time as my family is abroad and a couple of my good friends were not around. I mentioned it to John and he was great. He listened and also gave me some really good advice. He didn’t need to do that so it was great that he made the time to anyway. Generally, though, he’s really welcoming when you go to his shop. He’ll always have a smile on his face.

IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 3

Describe a happy childhood event . 

• When it happened
• Who was involved
• How you felt at the time

Explain why you remember this particular occasion.

I’m going to talk about  a happy childhood event that I remember, and that event was my 13th birthday.

It was 25 years ago now  because I’m 38. My birthday is on the 7th May. What happened was my parents surprised me on my birthday by telling me that they were going to take me to a theme park that is a few hours from our house. I’d never been before - it had only been open a few months and they knew that I really wanted to go. As I recall it was a Saturday that we went. They didn’t tell me until the morning when I woke up that day.

My whole family was involved in the event . I have a brother and a sister so of course they came as well as my Mum and Dad, and not only that, we also picked up my grandparents on the way so they could join us. They were too old to go on the rides but it was still a great trip out for them!

The theme park was really amazing. There was a huge roller coaster which I remember was really scary but still excellent fun. One particular thing I remember is the ghost train. My younger sister was not allowed to go on the ride because she was too young and she was really upset and jealous of me and my brother! I think it was lucky she didn’t though. It was really realistic – there were real people in there who were actually dressed up as ghosts and they jumped out just when you weren’t expecting it – it made us jump so many times!

How I felt really depended on what I was doing . Obviously I was excited the whole day, but I remember that I felt really exhilarated when I was on the rides such as the roller coaster, and scared but still excited on the ghost train.

The reason that I remember it so well is  that I had been so desperate to go to the theme park and I’d been talking to my friends at school for ages about how I wanted to go. So it was so great when I found out that I could. Also I remember it so well because all of our family was together. My Dad was pretty busy most of the time with his work so we didn’t always have much time to do things together when I was younger. 

So for these reasons, this was a really special occasion that I’ll never forget.

IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 4

Describe an environmental problem that has occurred in your country.

• The cause of the problem
• What effect it has had on your country
• The steps, if any, that have been taken to solve this 

Explain why you think this problem is so important to solve.

I'm going to talk about  a problem with the environment in my country.

One of the most serious problems at the moment is  flooding. This is starting to happen every year and each year it seems to get worse. I think it may be caused by a number of factors. Firstly there has been a lot of deforestation in the north of the country, a lot of it from illegal logging. Because of this, when it rains the water has nothing to soak it up so it just runs down the mountains and into the villages and towns. Another factor may be global warming. Scientists believe that this is causing more severe weather so this may account for the increasing amount of rain that we seem to be seeing. It also means the soil is more dry so again the rain water runs off it rather than being soaked up.

Unfortunately, there have been really serious effects on my country . As I said, the excess water runs into the villages and the towns through the rivers and the rivers then overflow causing massive flooding. This effects thousands of people who then become homeless. Several hundred usually die each year as well. It travels through the country as it starts in the north and goes down to the sea, so it can affect many towns and the capital city too. This also has repercussions for the government as they have to spend so much money managing the disaster each year.

The government is trying to tackle the problem , but it is not easy. They are trying to stop so much deforestation but a lot of the damage has already been done so what can they do? They are also starting to build defences such as walls along some of the major rivers that run through the town to try to stop them overflowing. Another thing they are doing is trying to improve their response systems. In most towns there is now a government organization responsible for coordinating relief operations and making sure they are prepared in advance.

I think this problem is a top priority to solve because  it has such devastating impacts. As I mentioned before, it causes suffering for so many people and it is also a huge expense for the government and as we are not a rich country we cannot afford this. It means that other services suffer because of a lack of money. There are other problems that my country has but I think that is by far the worst.

So, that is the serious problem in my country, and I only hope that it does not continue to get worse.

More IELTS Speaking Questions & Samples:

IELTS Speaking Questions & Topics for the Test

View IELTS speaking questions and topics for part 1, 2 and 3 of the test. The questions vary depending on which section you are on.

IELTS Speaking Environmental Problems for Part 3

Sample answers for IELTS speaking on environmental problems. Read a sample part 3 answer for a set of questions about environmental issues.

IELTS Speaking Long Turn Samples

IELTS Speaking Long Turn Samples: View examples answers for IELTS Part 2 speaking topics

IELTS Speaking Sample Questions for Part 3

View IELTS speaking sample questions for part 3 of the test. Questions in this part are of a more abstract nature than parts 1 and 2.

IELTS Sample Speaking Test - Education

View an IELTS sample speaking test on the topic of education.

Full IELTS Speaking Test - The Environment

View an IELTS speaking test on the topic of the environment. In parts 2 and 3, the topics are usually connected in some way.

IELTS Speaking Samples: Questions and Model Answers

IELTS speaking samples to help you learn the best way to answer questions from this part of the exam. Questions and answers from parts 1, 2 and 3 of the test.

Full IELTS Speaking Test Example

Full IELTS speaking test example including questions for parts 1, 2 and 3. View more sample tests on the following pages.

IELTS speaking questions with answers

These IELTS speaking questions with answers will help you to successfully prepare for parts 1,2 and 3 of the speaking test

Common IELTS Speaking Topics and Questions for Part Two

View IELTS speaking topics for part 2 of the test. In this section you have to talk on a topic for 2 minutes.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Sample Answers

These IELTS speaking part 2 sample answers cover a mix of topic that may come up in the long turn section of the test.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Sample: Listen to a candidate taking the test

Listen to an IELTS speaking part 2 sample audio, with comments on the performance of the candidate.

Listen to an IELTS speaking sample of a candidate taking the test

Listen to a live IELTS Speaking Sample - hear recordings of candidates taking IELTS practice tests, with assessments of their answers.

Sample IELTS Speaking Test - Teaching & Education

View a sample IELTS speaking test to help improve your score in the exam. This is on the topic of teaching and education.

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Samples: Questions and Answers

These IELTS speaking part 3 samples give you examples of the kinds of answers you can give in the third part of the IELTS speaking test.

IELTS Speaking Tips

Essential IELTS Speaking Tips to help you achieve the score you need in the IELTS Exam first time!

Speaking Test For IELTS

View a complete speaking test for IELTS - Many more speaking tests and practice exercises available to improve your speaking.

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IELTS Speaking Part 2: Questions, Topics, Tips and Preparation Advice

Here is my essential guide to Part 2 of the  IELTS Speaking test . In this guide you can find out everything you need to know.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: what is it?

• In IELTS Speaking Part 2, you give a  talk .
• You should be prepared to speak for   2 minutes (the examiner will ask you to speak for 1 to 2 minutes: ignore this! Aim to speak for 2 minutes. )
• It’s your chance to show the examiner how well you can talk for an extended period .
•  Many people call it “ The Long Turn ” because it is your turn to speak for a long time.
• 2 minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, but if you’ve never done it before, it can seem like forever! Even for native speakers. So practise speaking for 2 minutes!

So get prepared! Keep reading…

IELTS Speaking Part 2: what happens?

In IELTS Speaking Part 2, the examiner will ask you to speak for between one and two minutes on a topic.

• The IELTS examiner will give you a topic card . On the card, there will be a short description of a topic, with some ideas for what to include. The topic will be related to  personal experience , for example a person you know or an event you participated in.
• The examiner will give you exactly  one minute to prepare your talk. The examiner will give give you a piece of paper and a pencil to write down some ideas. You could make a list of ideas and keywords, or draw a mind map.
• After one minute, the examiner will ask you to  you to start your talk.
• You give your talk. You are expected to speak, without interruption from the examiner, for up to  two minutes . The examiner will listen and say nothing, but she/he might nod and gesture in order to encourage you to continue talking.
• After 2 minutes the examiner will interrupt you. They will probably ask you one extra question about the topic (sometimes they will ask 2, and sometimes 0ne question). You only need to give a short answer to this question.
• Then, you go straight into IELTS Speaking Part 3

NOTE: during the IELTS Speaking Test, the examiner will write some numbers down on a piece of paper. These are the times that different parts of the test started. For example, one time they write down is the start of your 1 minute preparation. Don’t worry about these numbers! They have nothing to do with your band scores!

What is the IELTS examiner looking for?

In IELTS Speaking Part 2, the IELTS examiner will assess your speaking task against the IELTS assessment criteria . There are 4 areas: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation.

To get a band score of 8.0 , this is what you must achieve in these 4 areas:

• Fluency and Coherence : you should speak fluently. Occasional hesitation for language or ideas is acceptable. Your talk should be coherent and well-structured. Your talk should also be relevant to the topic given.
• Lexical Resource : you should use a wide range of language appropriately with some idiomatic language (some mistakes are accepted). Your vocabulary needs to show that you can talk about a variety of different topics. This is what is meant by flexible use of language.
• Grammar : you should be using a wide range of grammatical structures with only very rare errors.
• Pronunciation : your pronunciation should be easy to understand throughout, and you should use a variety of pronunciation features, such as intonation, connected speech, word and sentence stress and a steady pace of speech (not too slow and not too fast). Speaking too fast will hold your band score down.

For more details, read my article on IELTS speaking band scores and how to get an 8.0 .

Typical IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics

IELTS Speaking task 2 topics are related to personal experiences and life events. Typical topics include:

• school, study and work
• important events or changes in your life
• places you’ve been to or want to visit in the future
• hobbies and free time activities
• goals and ambitions

Here are 5 typical IELTS speaking part 2 topics here. Think about how you might talk about these things.

A Beautiful Place

Describe a beautiful place to visit in your country.

You should say:

• where it is
• how to get there
• what there is to do when you are there

and explain why you recommend this place.

An Artist or Entertainer

Describe an artist or entertainer you admire.

• Who they are and what they do
• How they became successful
• How you found out about them

And explain why you admire them.

School Subjects

Describe a subject you enjoyed studying at school.

• When and where you started studying it
• What lessons were like
• What made the subject different from other subjects

And explain why you enjoyed the subject.

An Important Choice

Describe an important choice you had to make in your life.

• When you had this choice
• What you had to choose between
• Whether you made a good choice

And explain how you felt when you were making this choice.

Describe a job you have done.

• How you got the job
• What the job involved
• How long the job lasted

Describe how well you did the job.

Tips for IELTS Speaking Part 2

Now you know all the basic information about IELTS Speaking part 2. Now it’s time for some tips.

1. Make notes before you talk

The examiner will give you one minute to prepare your talk. You should write down some notes. Write down a list of words related to what you want to say, or draw a mind map. If you have to think about what to say when you’re talking, you will not be able to think about your language, so you are more likely to make grammatical mistakes. It’s also very common for candidates to panic when they are talking, and forget what to say; if you have notes, you won’t forget what to say if you panic.

MOST candidates don’t do this well. They write just 2 or 3 things on the paper, and they spend most of the preparation time thinking about what to say. The problem with this approach is that as soon as they start speaking, they forget what to say! SO MAKE DETAILED NOTES! Practise making notes as part of your preparation for the speaking test.

2. Memorise a good opener

Starting your talk is difficult, so memorise an opening phrase.

Here are some good examples:

• “I’d like to talk about…”
• “Well, there are many _________ I could talk about, but I suppose the __________ I’ve experienced/had is/was….”

(The second example will help you get a better score than the others because the language is more advanced, but use the first example if the second sentence is too difficult to remember.)

For example, if your topic is “describe your favourite teacher”, you could say:

• “I’d like to talk about my favourite teacher.”
• “Well, there are many good teachers who I could talk about, but I suppose the favourite teacher I’ve had was…”

If your topic is “describe a beautiful place to visit in your country”, you could say

• “I’d like to talk about a beautiful place in my country.”
• “Well, there are many beautiful places which I could talk about, but I suppose the most beautiful place I’ve been to is….”

A good opener will impress the examiner, but the next tip will impress them even more…

Here are some more useful expressions for the IELTS Speaking Test (with a free download and practice activity).

3. Paraphrase the topic

When referring to the topic, don’t use the words from the topic card. Instead, use your own words. This is called paraphrasing .

So, if the topic is “describe a beautiful place to visit in your country” don’t say:

“I’m going to describe a beautiful place to visit in China.”

Instead, say, for example:

“I’m going to talk about a stunning destination, which people can travel to in the north-east of China.”

Paraphrasing lets you show the examiner how much vocabulary and grammar you know. In the paraphrase above, I changed “ place ” to “ destination ” and changed the adjective “ beautiful ” to “ stunning “. I also used a relative clause “ which people can travel to…”. I also added in some extra information: “the north-east of China.” Remember, together, grammar and vocabulary make up 50% of your marks, so it is very important to use a wide range of grammar and vocabulary.

4. Keep talking

Try to keep talking…and talking…and talking. Don’t worry about the time. The examiner will stop you after 2 minutes.

5. Don’t speak too quickly

Try to speak at a steady, natural pace. DO NOT speak too quickly – this will hold down your band score for pronunciation. Also, don’t speak too slowly. This will hold down your band score for Fluency and Coherence.

6. Decide what to talk about quickly (Lie if you need to!)

Sometimes it’s difficult to think of something to talk about. Let’s say you have to talk about your favourite teacher. Remember you have a minute to prepare your talk.

The wrong way : spend your preparation time thinking about who your favourite teacher was.

Was it Mr Smith? Or was it Mrs Jones? What was Mrs Jones like? She was quite interesting, but Mr Smith was quite kind. Oh, but what about Miss Brown, she was quite nice. I’ll talk about her…..

Finally, with only 10 seconds before you must talk, you suddenly remember Mr Black.

Oh, Mr Black. I remember! Yes, he was fantastic! I’ll talk about him!

But now you have to start talking!

The right way : choose a nice teacher you had. Any nice teacher will do. Then write down some words to describe him, and maybe some words to help you describe a story about him that you remember.

Being honest is not one of the assessment criteria . The examiner doesn’t care who your favourite teacher was. The examiner only cares about the language you use in your talk, your pronunciation and your fluency and coherence.

In fact, you could even lie. You could invent an amazing teacher to talk about. However, it is better to think of someone or something from your own experience because it’s usually easier to talk about, but if you can’t think of something to talk about from your own experience, invent it.

The key thing is to decide what to talk about in the first few seconds, then make notes about it.

7. Ask for clarification

If you don’t understand a word on the topic card or your task, you can ask the examiner to explain. But, don’t just say “I don’t understand.” Instead, use some more advanced phrases.

For example, you could say:

• “By…., do you mean…..?”
• “If I understand correctly, it means that….”
• “So, in other words, I should….”
• “So, is it ok if I talk about…?”

If you ask for clarification using good language, you will really impress your examiner!

IMPORTANT: ask for clarification quickly. Ask BEFORE the examiner writes down the time for the start of the 1 minute preparation. Otherwise the clarification will be included in the 1 minute preparation time.

How to prepare for the speaking test

1. get a preparation buddy (or a tutor).

It’s a good idea to find a preparation buddy to practise speaking with. Better still, find an IELTS tutor – a good tutor will show you how to do speaking task 2 in the best way, and will give you tips on how to improve. Then, with your preparation buddy, choose a topic from the slideshow above. Give your talk, then ask your buddy to ask you one or two questions on the same topic.Simply2. No buddies? Then just talk to yourself…or your cat

You can practise alone too. Simply choose a topic and talk to yourself in the mirror. Or give your talk to your pet. When you’re walking outside, or cleaning your house, choose a topic that you’ve practised before, and talk about it for 1-2 minutes. Any practice is better than nothing.

2. Record yourself on your phone or computer

Another good way to prepare is to record yourself giving your talk on your phone, either audio or video. Then listen to it afterwards. Then think about how you could improve.

3. Practise making notes

You should make notes for your talk in task 2 in the test, so you should also practise this before the test. Look at the topics in the slideshow above and practise making notes for each topic. At first, don’t time yourself, just practise making notes. Later, you can time yourself: give yourself two minutes, and then later practise making notes within one minute.

4. Watch some high level speaking tests

The British Council and IDP have created some videos of candidates taking the IELTS Speaking Test.  Watch these and listen carefully to the answers given by high level candidates. In particular, listen to candidates just above the level you are currently at, or at the level you are aiming for. So if you are aiming for a Band 7 in Speaking, don’t listen to a Band 9 candidate; listen to a band 7 or Band 8 candidate.

Here is an example of a very high level candidate.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 vs CAE Speaking Part 2

Some of you may be familiar with another Cambridge exam, C1 Advanced or CAE. The CAE also has a speaking test and Part 2 of the CAE is also called the long turn. So what are the main differences between IELTS and the Advanced? I asked an expert in the Cambridge Advanced exam, Cambridge Rory to describe the CAE Speaking Part 2 Long Turn, and the tips he gives his students. This is what he told me:

In the Cambridge Advanced Long Turn:

• You are given 3 pictures with 2 questions above them.
• You need to talk for 1 minute about 2 of the pictures, preferably without stopping.

Rory’s CAE Speaking Part 2 Tips

• Do not describe what you see in the pictures.
• Compare and contrast the pictures while answering the 2 questions at the same time.
• Talk about the similarities and differences between the pictures.
• Mention one point about one picture, then use a linking word to compare the same point for the other picture.
• Think of some topics beforehand which could apply to many different situations. This will help you if you freeze and can’t think of anything to say in the exam. Some topics I suggest are: solo or group activities, indoor or outdoor events and money.
• Find out and try to remember how the examiners mark your speaking tasks.
• Practice Practice Practice. Practise with a friend. Practise recording yourself. Practise shouting your answers from the rooftop of the highest building where you live 😉

The main differences between the IELTS Long Turn and the CAE Long Turn are:

• You are given pictures as prompts in the CAE. In the IELTS you are given a topic card (text only)
• In the CAE you need to talk about the similarities and differences between the pictures.

The Cambridge Advanced is aimed to test English language learners at a C1 level on the CEFR. This is equivalent to IELTS Band 7 to Band 8, so although the Long Turn has some differences, the language required is no easier than the IELTS Speaking Test.

Have you got any more tips and advice? Do you have any questions about IELTS Speaking Part 2? If you’ve done the IELTS test before, tell us about your experience. Write in the comments section below!

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About the author

Charlie is a former IELTS Examiner with 25 years' teaching experience all over the world. His courses, for both English language learners and teachers, have been taken by over 100,000 students in over 160 countries around the world.

27 thoughts on “IELTS Speaking Part 2: Questions, Topics, Tips and Preparation Advice”

Thanks for sharing ^^

Hello Charlie,

Thank you for the explanations and the tips! I’d like to report a few typos I’ve found in this guide: 1. “The key thing is to decide what to talk about in the first few second” should be “The key thing is to decide what to talk about in the first few seconds” 2. “Any practise is better than nothing” should be “Any practice is better than nothing” 3. “Looks at the topics in the slideshow” should be “Look at the topics in the slideshow”

I hope this helps!

Regards, Klinsman

Thanks very much for the corrections!

I would very much like to download your free eBook; The Essential Guide to the IELTS. Cheers.

Its nice guidance about speaking part 2. cue card topic

Hello, Charlie. Thanks for your helpful tips. I would like to download your free Guide to the IELTS if it is still available. Thank you in advance. Have a great day.

I’ll send it now. Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply,

I want more tips for my ilets speaking examination

Good advice

This was interesting .

Please share some more information about note making in one minute

Hi! I want to take also speaking topics. Thank for your sending

very informative and useful

Very informative and useful tips

Your tips were great.would you please send me your book?

thanks forthe useful lessons

Very good information!

I went through your postings on practising and improving the IELTS score. To me, they’re higher value. To acquire more knowledge of IELTS and improving the candidates who dreamt to sit for the exam, I believe your ebook will contribute a lot.

Best wishes to you.

Thank you for the most useful tips

Dear maam/sir Thank you for the useful tips. I wonder if can have more advice on ielts .

this was very helpful.. can’t wait to download the book

Really amazing site!

#Your tips were very useful.

I liked the speaking tips provided in your website. Thanks a ton for sharing this valuable piece of information, which could improve the holistic performance in IELTS.

Hello. Extremely useful tips! Thank you. I had no idea about strarting my speech. Now I got it.

Great piece of advice

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IELTS Speaking Part 2 Questions and Topics | Speaking Task 2

If you’re looking for some IELTS speaking task 2 topics and questions, then you’re in the right place. We have some of the most popular tasks for IELTS speaking, part 2 (also see IELTS speaking part 3 ). Keep on reading!

IELTS Speaking Part 2: What is it?

In the IELTS speaking test, part 2 is a talk about a certain topic for 1-2 minutes. You have 1 minute to prepare, then you talk, and there may be an optional rounding-off question.

In the beginning, you’ll be given a topic card with questions and a pen and paper for making notes. You have exactly 1 minute to prepare. After 1 minute, the examiner will ask you to begin. You can speak for 1-2 minutes, and the examiner will tell you when the time is up. If you’re below the 2 minutes, the examiner will pause and motion for you to continue speaking. There may be one question at the end about your speech before moving on to the next question.

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IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics

Before getting into the questions, let’s go over the topics first. There is a long list of possible topics and questions for the IELTS Speaking part tow. So, first, take a look at the list of speaking topics, and look for the questions relevant to those topics.

• Communication

Daily Routines

• Hobbies (Check out this list of hobbies in English )

The Unexpected

• Your Favourite shop

IELTS speaking topics part 2

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics and Questions

Here are some of the most common IELTS part 2 questions and speaking topics.

Describe a piece of art you like.

You should say:

• What it looks like.
• What you know about it.
• Where you can find it.
• And why you like it.

Describe a book that you’ve read recently.

• What it’s about.
• What kind of book it is.
• Who might enjoy this book.
• And why you chose to read it.

Describe an interesting city that you know.

• Which city it is.
• Some things you can see and do there.
• And explain why you think it’s interesting.

Communication – IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic

Describe a common way that people stay in touch with each other.

• What people use this communication method for.
• What some of the advantages and disadvantages are.
• How you use it.
• And describe whether or not you enjoy using it.

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Describe a time of the day that you particularly like.

• What the time of day is.
• What you usually do at that time.
• Who you’re usually with at that time.
• And describe why you like that time of day so much.

Describe an exercise you know.

• What the exercise is.
• What kind of equipment that you need.
• How people do it.
• And explain why you think it’s a good exercise.

Describe a member of your family that you get along well with.

• Who the person is.
• What they’re like.
• What you enjoy doing together.
• And describe why you like them so much.

Food – IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic

Describe your favourite food.

• What the food is.
• When you usually eat it.
• Whether you cook it or eat it when you go out.
• And describe why you like it so much.

Gifts (Giving)

Describe a gift that you recently gave to someone.

• What the gift was.
• What the occasion for giving it was.
• Whether it’s the kind of gift that you normally give.
• And describe why you chose it for this situation.

IELTS part 2 questions

Gifts (Receiving) – IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic

Describe a gift that you’ve recently got from someone.

• What the occasion was.
• Who gave you the gift.
• And talk about whether or not you liked the gift.

Describe a hobby that’s popular in your country.

• What the hobby is.
• What equipment you need for it.
• If there’s a certain age group of people who do it more often than others.
• And explain why it’s so popular.

Describe a website that you often visit.

• What the website is.
• How often you visit that site.
• What kind of information or entertainment you can get there.
• And describe why you think it’s particularly useful.

A Journey – IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic

Describe a memorable journey that you’ve taken.

• Where you went.
• Who you went with.
• What you did on that journey.
• And describe why it was particularly memorable.

Describe a language that you’ve learned.

• What it is.
• How long you’ve been learning it.
• Why you started learning that language.
• And describe whether you enjoy learning it or not.

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Describe a movie that you’ve recently seen.

• What the movie is.
• What kind of movie it is.
• Describe what happens in the movie.
• And describe whether or not you liked the movie and why.

Describe a museum that you’ve visited.

• What museum it is.
• What you can see there.
• How often you visit there.
• And describe why you liked or didn’t like it.

Describe a favourite musician or band of yours.

• Who the musician or band is.
• What kind of music they play.
• Whether or not you’ve been to one of their concerts.
• And describe why you like listening to them so much.

Describe something good that you’ve heard in the news lately.

• What the news is.
• How you heard about it.
• What you think about it.
• And explain why it was memorable to you.

Describe an older person that you know.

• Who this person is and how you know them.
• How old this person is.
• What this person is like.
• And explain whether or not you like spending time with them.

Describe a party that you went to recently.

• What party it was.
• Who was there.
• Where the party was held.
• And describe whether or not you enjoyed it.

Pets – IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic

Describe a kind of pet that you have or would like to have in the future.

• What kind of animal it is.
• Why people like having that animal as a pet.
• Some of the challenges in having that animal as a pet.
• And why you’d like to have that pet.

Describe someone that you respect.

• Who this person is.
• How you know this person.
• And explain why you respect them.

Describe a sport that you’d like to try.

• What this sport is.
• What kind of equipment you need for it.
• Why you haven’t tried it yet.
• And explain why you’d like to try it.

Describe something you own that’s important to you.

• What the thing is.
• How often you use it.
• What you use it for.
• And describe why it’s important to you.

ielts speaking part 2 questions and topics

Travel – IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic

Describe a place that you recently visited.

• What the place is.
• Why you decided to go there.
• Who you visited it with.
• And whether or not you enjoyed visiting there.

Describe an unexpected event.

• What happened.
• When it happened.
• And explain how it turned out differently than expected.

Describe a place near water.

• Where it is.
• What you can do there.
• And why you like visiting that place.

Your Favourite Shop

Describe a place that you like to shop at.

• What the shop is.
• What you can buy there.
• How often you go there.
• And describe why you like shopping there.

General IELTS Speaking Part 2 Tips

Training and practicing to get a higher score on IELTS Speaking part 2 takes time. It isn’t a change that will happen overnight. However, if you keep a few tips in mind and put your time into preparation, you will beable to improve your IELTS speaking score. Here are the best IELTS speaking part two tips:

• Manage time wisely: You will be given 1 minute to organize your thoughts and prepare to answer a question. Use that time efficiently. Then, you will be able to give a clear and complete answer during the 2 minutes of answer time.
• Use linking words and phrases: You want to make sure to connect your ideas and make your response sound coherent and cohesive. Just by using some linking words and phrases, your answer will sound way smoother and well-structured.
• Use descriptive language: Not only does using descriptive language make you sound more fluent, but it also makes it easier for the examiner to picture the situation you are describing.
• Be confident: It is crucial to speak confidently, clearly, and steadily. You don’t want to speak too fast or too slow. This often happens when you are too nervous. Stay calm, and believe in yourself. Confidence is the key.
• Practice, practice, practice: Nothing is more important than practicing. There is really no way to improve your speaking skills without practicing. Practice as much as you can.

Check out more tips for IELTS Speaking Test .

Improve your Score on IELTS Speaking Part 2

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If you’re looking to improve your score on the IELTS speaking test, then you’ll need to pick up a copy of this book on Amazon: IELTS Speaking Vocabulary Builder . It’s the book you need if you want to score more highly on the IELTS exam, particularly the speaking part. You can find lots of sample speaking test questions, along with answers.

Pick up a copy of the book today, and get ready for a higher IELTS exam tomorrow:

More Tips for IELTS Speaking Part 2

There are a number of things you can do to score more highly on the second part of the IELTS speaking exam. Here are some tips:

• Don’t attempt to memorize answers. You will get a very low score (band 1-2) for doing this.
• Choose what to talk about very quickly. Lie if you don’t immediately know something. The examiner is judging you on your English ability, not the content of what you’re saying.
• Be sure to use idioms , phrasal verbs , slang , and collocations to achieve the highest possible bands.
• Memorize a good opener for a variety of topics (I’d like to talk about…, My favourite…, Let me tell you about…).
• Use paraphrasing liberally. For example, you can’t go into all the tiny details about a movie or book in 1-2 minutes.
• Breath. Speak at a normal pace.
• Try not to stop until the examiner tells you to.
• Make notes to keep you on track.
• Don’t begin speaking until the examiner tells you to.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 and More

Check out these articles for more details about this English proficiency test:

IELTS Speaking Part 1

Speaking Evaluation for IELTS Speaking

IDP vs. British Council for the IELTS exam

Listening IELTS

IELTS Speaking Part Two Tips, Topics, Questions

FAQs About IELTS Part 2 Speaking

Here is a quick guide to some commonly asked questions about IELTS speaking topics part 2.

How can I prepare for IELTS speaking 2?

Get used to the common topics from IELTS part 2 speaking. Some of the common topics include art, books, city, movies, respect, and sports.

What are the 3 parts of IELTS speaking?

The three parts of IETLS speaking part 2 are the introduction & interview, individual long term, and two-way discussion.

How long is the IELTS speaking part 2?

First, you will talk for approximately 2 minutes. Then, the examiner will ask questions. In total, IELTS speaking part 2 takes about 3-4 minutes.

Join the Conversation: IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2

Do you have any topics or questions for the IELTS speaking task, part 2 that you’d like to add? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think about it .

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Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

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How to – IELTS Part 2 Speaking – How to do your best?

By ielts-jonathan.com on 25 April 2021 0

Preparing and Practising for the long turn in IELTS speaking 

This is the second section of the IELTS speaking test and its the area that can be the most worrying and the most challenging. 

Students see the main point to this task as being able to speak for two minutes on a topic they have never seen before.

Now that is a challenge!

Yet, it shouldn’t be like this!

Why do I think so?

Well, my first thoughts are, it’s the perfect opportunity to display what you can do in terms of language, with no examiner interruptions.

I also think because there is only one question, which is the prompt, even if you go off topic, you shouldn’t get penalised.

Once you have understood the advice I give, there are practice cards for the most recent and popular topics as well as a checklist for the understanding the marking criteria and assessment.

You can practice these questions by yourself, but it’s even better to practice with a partner or a teacher.

Remember, when you practice you need to focus on the four Speaking Band scores and not just being able to talk for two minutes!

What do the IELTS Speaking Criteria mean?

If you want to get a high score in the IELTS Speaking test, it is very important to understand how you will be assessed.

This will help you to improve your speaking performance and maximise your score.

How are you assessed in the IELTS speaking test?

There are four IELTS speaking criteria:

• Fluency and Coherence (FC)
• Lexical Resource (LR)
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA)
• Pronunciation (PRON)

These four IELTS speaking criteria each relate to a different area of your spoken English skills.

Understanding what the examiner is looking for in these these criteria will help you improve your speaking performance in Part 2. 🙂 

What is Fluency and Coherence?

In this section, the examiner is considering easily and how well you can respond to the examiner’s questions, for example;

• How easy is it for you to keep speaking?
• Do you pause or hesitate often when speaking?
• Do your ideas relate to the question?
• Can you link your ideas together?
• Can you explain what you mean, even if you forget the right word?

What is Lexical Resource?

This section is related to your knowledge and ability to use vocabulary which doesn’t  draw attention. The examiner will be thinking,

• How wide is your vocabulary?
• How accurately do you use words?
• Do you use collocations accurately?
• Do you use some less common words?

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy?

Among other things, the examiner is understanding how grammar is used to explain complex ideas, and whether the use structure and tense is natural or obvious or does it lead to confusion, for example,

• Do you use a range of structures?
• Do you get the word order right?
• Do you use the right tense?
• How often do you make mistakes?
• Do your mistakes make it difficult to understand what you mean?

How is Pronunciation assessed?

Finally, the examiner considers how well you modal a standard English, not whether you use British or American features. Questions the examiner will be asking are;

• Do you speak clearly?
• How easy are you to understand?
• Does your first language cause problems in your English?
• Do you use stress and intonation accurately?
• Do you use connected speech or link your words together?

How the band scores are awarded?

You will be given a band score in each of the four areas based on your performance across the whole speaking test.

Each area is assessed and given a complete band score by the examiner.

T o achieve an overall band score overall, you must be assessed in all four areas.

The final overall band score can be a complete score or a half-band score .

For example; FC 7, LR 7, GRA 7, PRON 7 would give you an overall IELTS Speaking Band Score of 7, but FC 7, LR 7, GRA 6, PRON 7 would give a half band lower score of 6.5.

So, if you need to get Band 7 for speaking then you have to aim for 7 in each of the four IELTS speaking criteria.

Other Speaking Guides

Complete Guide to IELTS Speaking

101 Task 3 Speaking Questions

101 Task 1 Speaking Questions

How to Respond and Practise for an IELTS Task 2 question

Part 2 questions consist of a discussion area with a number of prompts around common topic areas. These topic areas are extended for Part 3 of the test. 

Part 2 questions are a monologue and require you to speak in some detail around the topic area and around the prompts for 2 minutes. 

In everyday conversation, while it is perfectly natural to give short answers and not speak for a long time, expecting an interruption, a mistake often made in this section is to give the most basic answer possible when it’s important to extend the discussion topic and extend or elaborate on the prompts.

The greatest challenge to speak for the full 2 minutes. If you can’t do this, then there’s a good chance that you will be penalised.

Plan you response

• Use your planning time to make some notes
• Make a note for each prompt
• If you naturally speak quickly, slow down a little
• Add an extra prompt in case you still have speaking time

Remember, this part of the test is

• to demonstrate your fluency and coherence
• to give the examiners a chance to think about more complex language you’re using

This part of the test is a good opportunity to display your knowledge of word and sentence stress and u sing natural intonation will make your delivery more interesting.

Things to remember and do

The most important thing you can do is to keep speaking in a natural way .

You don’t want to give the examiner an opportunity to ask you any questions until you have finished! 

• When you are speaking, give yourself extra time to think with fillers , such as ‘ erm ‘, ‘ hmm’ , ‘ let me think ‘ 
• Don’t ask the examiner any questions and keep speaking until they say ‘Thank you’.

I’m often asked whether all the prompts have to be used, and if I’m honest, the advice I give is ‘no, they don’t’.

In fact, relying on the prompts too much can produce language that might seem too rigid or unnatural .

It’s also quite possible to not use any prompts as long as you are ‘ more or less ‘ on topic. 

Practise makes perfect

So you get a feeling for how long two-minutes speaking time is, and so you don’t run dry, it’s a real good idea to do some practice. 

That’s why you can find some common questions and prompts in this post.

Remember, when practicing, if you can record yourself you can notice the language you use and any errors you make!

There are some great apps that you can use to do this.

My particular favourite at the moment is Flipgrid. It’s really easy to use and share your recording with others for feedback.

I’ve  used this in class and in speaking feedback groups.

Here’s the link.

Final points

The most important thing I could say about this area of the test is not to worry.

As long as you know what to expect and have some idea of the question categories, you can focus on the providing language for the assessment.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Common Questions Categories

Communication

Describe a decision that was difficult to make.

You should say

• what you had to make a decision about
• where and when you made the decision.
• How long it took you to decide

and explain why this was a difficult decision for you to make.

Describe something you have taught someone.

You should say:

• what the situation was
• what you taught
• who this person was

and explain how this may have helped this person

Describe a good law in your country.

• what the law is
• how you first learned about this law
• who benefits from this law (or, who is affected by this law)

and explain why you think this is a good law.

Describe a time when you took a risk

and you knew something bad might happen but it had a positive result.

• What risk you took
• What bad thing you thought might happen
• Why you decided to take this risk

and explain why the result was positive

Describe something you have been taught .

• what you were taught
• who taught you 

and explain how this has helped you.

Describe something you did with a group of people that you really enjoyed

• What you did
• Who the people were
• Where and when you did this

and explain why doing this with a group of people was enjoyable

Describe an occasion where you received good service from a company or shop.

• what the service was
• when and where you received the service
• whom you were together with

and explain why you think it was a good service

Describe a large company that you think is interesting

• What the company does
• How do you know about the company
• Whether you think it would be a good place to work

and explain why you think this company is interesting

Describe a practical skill you have learnt e.g cooking, driving.

• what the skill is
• how you learnt it
• why you learnt it

and how this skill has helped you

Describe an occasion when you waited for someone.

• who you waited for
• when you waited for the person
• where you waited for the person

and explain why you waited for the person.

Talk about a television channel that you like

• What the name of the channel is
• What types of programmes it shows
• When you usually watch this channel

and explain why you like this channel.

Describe something that you learned from television

• What you learned
• When you learned it
• Which show or channel it was

and explain if what you learned was useful.

Describe a book that you remember well

• What the title is and who wrote it
• What the books is about
• Why you read it

and explain why you remember it well.

Describe a magazine or newspaper article that you read

• When and where you read it
• What the article was about

and explain if you enjoyed it or not.

Describe a book/magazine that you enjoyed reading.

• what it was
• what it was about
• why you read it
• how often you read it

and explain what effect the book had on you.

Study and Work

Describe a subject you took in high or secondary school.

• what the subject was
• how the teacher taught this subject
• how long you studied this subject

and explain why you didn’t like it.

Describe a job that you think is hard to do

• Who usually does this job
• Where you learned about this job

and explain why you think it is a hard job to do.

Describe a time that you helped someone

• Who you helped
• When you helped them
• What you helped them with

and explain if it was difficult to help this person.

Describe a subject you didn’t enjoy (like) in high or secondary school.

Describe your favourite family tradition

• How the tradition started
• When it occurs
• What you do

and explain why it is your favourite tradition.

Describe someone in your family who you admire

• How this person is related to you
• What this person looks like
• What kind of person he/she is

and explain why you like this person.

Playing Sport

Describe a sport or physical activity you did as a child

• Where you usually did the sport or activity
• How often you participated in it
• What it involved

and also say if you like this sport or physical activity or not.

Talk about a sports event that you would like to attend

• Where the event usually takes place
• How often it occurs
• Who you would like to attend with

and also explain why you would like to attend this sports event.

Describe a conversation you had which changed your life

• When the conversation took place
• Who you had the conversation with
• What the conversation was about

and explain why the conversation changed your life.

Describe an important letter/email that you sent to someone

• When you sent the letter/email
• Who you sent the letter/email to
• What the purpose of the letter/email was

and explain if this was a difficult letter/email to write.

Describe a memorable experience with an animal

• What type of animal it was
• When it happened
• What happened

and explain why you remember it.

Describe an animal you dislike

• What type of animal it is
• What it looks like and where it lives
• How you know about this animal

and explain why you dislike it.

Describe an app or a programme that you like using on your phone or computer

• What this app or programme does
• When you use this app or programme
• How you found out about this app or programme

and explain why you like using this app or programme

Describe a form of technology that is important to you

• What the technology is
• What you use it for
• How often you use it

and explain why the technology is important to you.

Describe a device that you often use

• What the device is and what it looks like
• How you got it

and explain if you like this device or not.

Describe something you do to keep healthy.

• What the activity is
• When you do it
• How often you do it

and explain why you think it is a good way to look after your health.

Describe a time when you were not well

• When this was
• What your symptoms were
• How long the illness lasted

and say how it affected your life at the time.

Describe somewhere you like to shop for food

• Where this place is
• What this place is like
• What you buy there

and explain why you like buying food at this place.

Describe a meal that you enjoyed eating in a restaurant

• Where the restaurant was
• What you ate
• Who you had the meal with 

and explain why you enjoyed eating the meal so much.

Describe an experience abroad that you have had.

• where you went
• why you went
• how long  you went for

and describe what the experience was like.

Describe an interesting journey you have been on

• Where you went
• How you travelled
• Who you went with

and say how the journey affected your life.

Describe a city you know well and that has changed a lot.

• were this city is
• why it has changed
• how it is changed

>and say it has changed for the better

Describe an occasion when you got lost in a place that you didn’t know

• Where you were going
• When you knew you were lost
• How you found the right way

and explain how you felt about getting lost

Describe a place you have visited that is affected by pollution

• Which place you visited
• Why you visited it
• What kind of pollution there was

and explain how you felt about the pollution in this place

Describe a foreign country which you would like to learn more about

• What you already know about this foreign country
• How you would like to learn more about it
• How different it is from your own country

and explain why you would like to learn more about this foreign country

Describe a tourist attraction you visited

• When you visited it
• Why it is a tourist attraction

and say what you liked and didn’t like about the experience.

Describe a city you have visited which you would like to return to

• Which city you visited
• When you visited the city
• What you did there

and explain why you would like to go back to this city again

Describe a beautiful place where you would like to live.

• where this place is
• how you know about this place
• why you would like to live there

and explain why you would choose to live there.

What do you think of my advice?   Have you found it practical or useful?

Have you any experience of Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test?

Is there anything I’m missing?

Please share, it’s really useful, and you can comment with any suggestions or Task 2 questions I’ve not included.

I’m Jonathan

I’ve taught IELTS and University English in more than a dozen universities and schools around the world.

I’m a parent, traveller and passionate about language teaching and helping students achieve their dreams.

Whilst living in Austria or working in Asia, I run IELTS courses to help students get to where they want to be.

If you are serious about IELTS, connect with me to see how I can help you.

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IELTS Topic: Education

Posted by David S. Wills | Jun 23, 2020 | IELTS Tips | 0

In this article, I am going to tell you all about education and IELTS. As you know (if you follow this website), the best way to learn new vocabulary is to study in terms of topics . There are many IELTS topics , such as environment , space , sports , health , and crime. We have talked about education many times in the past but today I will devote a whole article to it.

I intend to look at this topic in a structured way. We will explore it as such:

• Reading & Listening

You can either study the whole lesson or else skip to the part that is most interesting for you.

Education Vocabulary

If we look at the topic of education and IELTS , we can quickly see that there is a huge amount of vocabulary to learn. In fact, this is a vast topic. I will assume that you already know the basic words like “school” and “teacher” (or else you are probably not reading this right now). Instead, I will look at some more advanced vocabulary for IELTS education.

First of all, let’s look at some school subjects.

School Subjects

There many be some regional differences in the words used for these subjects (for example, mathematics is known as “maths” in British English and “math” in American English.

Depending on where you study, most people learn a subject called “science” when they are young and later this becomes several subjects, including chemistry, biology, and physics. We also have “social sciences.” This includes many areas of study. You can read about it here .

British English vs American English

I actually wrote in depth about the differences between British and American English last year . For now, though, I will focus on the differences in language when it comes to education. Here are a few ways in which we talk about these differences.

*The British and American school systems are quite different and what is known as “secondary school” in the UK lasts for up to six years. As such, this overlaps the American version. Anyway, those final years in the UK would more likely be called “fifth/sixth form” or “fifth/sixth year,” depending on which part of the country you come from. In England, it is usually “sixth form” and in Scotland it is “sixth year.”

Some other differences

American people talk about their school years in this way:

• Freshmen (1 st year)
• Sophomore (2 nd year)
• Junior (3 rd year)
• Senior (4 th year)

In the UK, we do not commonly use these terms but in the last few decades it has become normal to talk about “freshers” as people in their first year of university. For example, they often talk about “freshers’ week” as the first week in the university year because this is when the new students arrive.

Reading and Listening

Because education is something that affects pretty much everyone in the world, it is a topic that is really common in IELTS. It could appear in any part of the test , including the reading and listening sections.

When it does occur, you should be prepared. This means that you ought to know lots of vocabulary about this topic and also have some life experience and opinions on the matter. You can achieve that by including this topic in your regular reading.

There are many ways to achieve this. You can go on Google News (or any news service that you enjoy) and subscribe to their education feed.

Let’s take an article for an example and do a little practice. We will look first at a piece called “ With no students, small college town worries over its future .” Let’s look at the first two paragraphs:

What happens to a college town when the students disappear? Ithaca, a small upstate New York city nearby gorges and vineyards, is finding out. Most of the 24,000 students at Cornell University and 6,200 more from Ithaca College effectively vanished in March when the coronavirus pandemic struck, leaving behind struggling restaurants and shops. Locals still reeling from the outbreak and resulting exodus are wondering when — or if — things will get back to normal.

It is an interesting text that deals with a familiar situation: the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this excerpt, you can see the word “exodus.” What do you think this means? Let’s isolate that sentence:

Locals still reeling from the outbreak and resulting exodus are wondering when — or if — things will get back to normal.

We can learn from the words around it. “Resulting” tells us that this thing happened because of the virus outbreak. We also know from the previous sentence that thousands of students are not coming to this place.

We can guess then, that “exodus” means “a mass departure of people.” This sort of skill is really important when it comes to IELTS reading. You need to be able to figure out the meaning of a word from context. Here is a video that shows you how to work out the meaning of difficult vocabulary:

I have covered the topic of education here many times, including this TED video lesson about making education better by introducing creativity to curriculums. (By the way, this is one of two possible ways to pluralise “curriculum”! The other is “curricula.”)

Here is another interesting video about education. This time it is about gender and education. Remember that sometimes IELTS topics overlap like this.

IELTS Speaking Topic: Education

The topic of education is really common in IELTS speaking. In fact, it is probably one of the most common topics that there is. As such, you need to be ready to answer these sorts of questions.

As you probably know, the first part of the IELTS speaking test is comprised of relatively simple questions that you should answer with one, two, or three sentences. You don’t need to develop your answers very much here.

Here are a few sample questions:

• Do you work or are you a student?
• Why did you choose that subject?
• Did you enjoy/Do you enjoy studying at school?
• Do you study English now?
• What kind of school did you go to as a child?
• Where do you study / Where did you study?
• What do you study/did you study in university?
• What was your favourite subject as a child?
• Who was your favourite teacher?
• Do you enjoy studying alone or with friends?

You don’t need to have dazzling grammar or vocabulary skills to answer these questions. You can just give pretty basic answers. For example:

Q: Do you work or are you a student?

A: I’m studying at the moment but I also have a part-time job.

Q: Where do you study?

A: I’m studying at Shanghai Jiaotong University . The word “jiaotong” literally means “traffic” but the common translation for the name is “Shanghai Communications University.”

Q: What are you studying there?

A: I’m studying English literature at the moment but I will move onto a business course next semester and continue studying English on the side. Literature was interesting for me but I don’t think it will help my career much.

Notice that there was very little specialist vocabulary here. The only word that I used that might require explanation is “semester.” A school year is made up of two semesters. (The word “term” can also be used but different countries have different systems. In some countries, an academic year is four terms, which means that two terms make up a semester. But this is not the same everywhere.)

There are countless possible education cue cards for IELTS speaking. You might be asked to describe one of the following:

• an important memory
• the actual school you attended

The list is extremely long, but let’s look at a few possible education cue cards in more detail.

Describe a Subject

You may well be asked to describe a subject that you studied in school or that you wish you had studied. Remember that it could be your favourite subject or a subject you hated. It is always important that you read the whole cue card and do not jump to conclusions.

Here is an example:

Describe a subject you enjoyed studying at school. You should say: – when and where you started studying it – what the lessons were like – what made the subject different from other subjects and explain why you enjoyed the subject

Describe a Lesson or Project

Describing a subject presents many possibilities. You can talk about many different aspects of your chosen subject, including the classes, the books, and the teachers. However, the cue card might present you with a more specific topic, like this one:

Describe a project that you did in school with your classmates or friends. You should say: – what the project was – what it was about – how you completed it and whether you enjoyed the project or not.

Describe a Period of Time

It can be harder to answer a cue card when the thing you must talk about is a memory or period of time. These can be a real challenge because thinking of the right vocabulary and grammar is quite difficult. When you are presented with this sort of question, you might have to be a little creative with your answers. Here is another example cue card:

Describe a period of time from your studies that was the most difficult for you so far. You should say: – when it was – why was it hard – what you were doing at that time and whether you felt you were successful in overcoming the difficulties.

Describe a Teacher

Finally, we come to the obvious IELTS speaking cue card: describe a teacher . This is definitely a common cue card and also quite an easy one. I think that most people who sit IELTS should be comfortable describing people like teachers. If you are not, you should look at my other lessons on how to describe people. You may also find this article about the good qualities teachers possess to be helpful.

There are lots of different ways that this could be phrases. It could be a teacher who influenced you, a teacher you liked, a teacher who helped you, your favourite teacher… and so on. There are numerous possibilities. But here is one example:

Describe a teacher from the past whom you remember. You should say: – what subject the teacher taught you – how old you were then – what were some special characteristics of this teacher and explain why you remember this teacher.

Of course, there are also lots of possible questions about education for part three of the speaking exam. In this section, you will most likely be asked questions like “are men and women equally capable of teaching?” and “should boys and girls be forced to take the same lessons?” The issues of gender , age, and other social issues will often intersect with the main topic.

Here are a few examples:

• What are some essential qualities every teacher should have?
• How are education priorities today different from those in the past?
• How well do you think schools should prepare young people for working life?

Education and IELTS Writing

When it comes to task 2 of the IELTS writing test, education is also a really common topic. Again, there are countless possible questions you could be given, so rather than prepare for any single question, it is better to build your skill in dealing with this topic.

You should be familiar with the vocabulary given at the start of this lesson and also with ideas about education on a global scale. It is ok to have different opinions from other people, but you should be aware of all sides of these issues.

Keep in mind that education does not just mean “school” or “university.” It involves much more: teaching, learning, childhood, adulthood, books, reading, etc. It could be about community colleges or distance learning. Do not be surprised by these questions and do not think that you can handle this topic just because you are comfortable talking about high school. There is much more to it than that.

Here, I will give you four sample band 9 answers to typical IELTS writing questions. Two are from task 2 and two are from task 1, both general and academic tests.

Question #1

Many businesses think that the new employees who have just graduated from schools lack interpersonal skills, such as working with colleagues as a team.

What has caused this and what are the solutions to this problem?

Sample Band 9 Answer

It is claimed by some business owners and recruiters that graduates nowadays tend to lack interpersonal skills. This essay will first explore why this is the case, before then suggesting how it may be remedied.

If it is true that graduates now lack the interpersonal skills necessary to succeed in the modern workplace, then that surely can be blamed on the exceptionally high level of theoretical knowledge necessary to achieve a good degree. As universities have become more competitive, the requirements for achieving a degree have gotten much more stringent, and students are required to spend all their time reading books and preparing for difficult assessments. It seems likely that this hinders their opportunities to socialize or work with others on productive tasks.

Solving this problem should not be terribly difficult. In fact, university faculties should pay attention to these complaints and implement solutions into their courses. Perhaps the most obvious suggestion is that students must be required to participate in more group activities throughout their education. For example, rather than studying all day and night to write an essay or sit an exam, students could be asked to prepare a group presentation together with their peers. Ideally, these groups should be picked at random to ensure that students develop the necessary skills to work with others whom they would not have previously chosen to work.

In conclusion, it appears that universities are failing students by not educating them in how to develop their interpersonal skills, and as a result they are struggling in the workplace. These universities should thus require students to develop their communicative abilities through specific group-based tasks.

Question #2

Some people think that a sense of competition in children should be encouraged. Others believe that children who are taught to co-operate rather than compete become more useful adults.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

People disagree over how to raise their kids, with many parents and teachers suggesting that competition is detrimental to their development. They think that children should be taught cooperation instead. This essay will look at both views, before deciding that these need not be mutually exclusive.

The argument against competition in children essentially revolves around the idea that it is unhealthy for children to be pitted against one another. Rather than teaching them to compete, these people argue, we should teach them to work together. Natural selection dictates that some children will invariably be winners while others will be losers, and in the modern era, this seems like an out-dated concept. All children should be winners.

On the other hand, competition is a part of life and therefore children should be exposed to it from the beginning. It needn’t be unfair, of course. When children are taught healthy attitudes towards competition – such as sportsmanship – then it is actually tremendously beneficial for them. They can learn how to participate in natural activities and then deal healthily with the result, whether that is victory or loss.

However, it seems to me that there is no real distinction between competition and cooperation. Team sports, after all, involve both these elements. If children play football, basketball, or rugby, then they will work with their teammates to compete against another team. In the end, both aspects are learned.

In conclusion, there is no need to separate competition from cooperation, and neither should be removed from a child’s education or environment. Both are important for child development.

Question #3

You recently did a short cookery course. The cookery school has asked for your feedback on this course.

Write a letter to the course director at the cookery school. In your letter

• describe what you enjoyed about the course
• say how much cooking you have done since the course
• suggest another cookery course you’d like the school to offer

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing in response to your request for feedback on the cookery course I recently attended. I am happy to give you some of my thoughts on the course.

First of all, I really enjoyed it. I had wanted to study French cooking techniques for several years and so I was really excited to see that this course became available. It certainly did not disappoint me, and I was delighted by the processes that I learned during that amazing week.

Since the course, I have been cooking and baking for my friends and family at every opportunity. They have been really impressed with my newfound skills, and I will continue to practice what I have learned.

As for suggestions, I do think that it would be worth adding some other sorts of cuisine to the courses on offer. I would love to learn how to cook Thai food, for example.

David S. Wills

Question #4.

There is a bar chart and a pie chart containing information taken from a survey on adult education. The bar chart describes why adults go into education and the pie chart shows who the respondents think should pay for it. People mostly go into education out of interest, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is believed that they should pay for it themselves.

According to the data, forty percent of adults go into education due to some sort of interest in a particular subject, while thirty-eight percent do it to gain qualifications. These are far and away the most common reasons, as the next most frequently cited reason was almost half this value. Several reasons were picked by about twenty percent of people, including the fact that it may help them earn a promotion at work. The least frequently stated answer was that adult education is a good way to meet new people.

The survey results showed forty percent of people believe the individual should pay the costs of a course. This matches quite well with the previous data, as the same percentage of people did these courses purely out of interest.

About The Author

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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Professor Emanuel Costa

Ielts speaking part 2 70+ questions.

These IELTS Speaking Part 2 questions have been organised into more than 14 different topics with more than 70 questions. 

The IELTS Speaking Part 2 requires the candidate to speak for 2-3 minutes about a given subject. 

Practice the questions as much as you can so you are confident on the day of your exam. 

Part 2 Topics (Updated April  2023)

Parties/events/celebrations

Food/Restaurants 2 Answers People NEW |   Sample answer Gifts/possessions Education NEW |   Sample answer

The environment and nature Behaviour Hobbies/ interests Family Friends Decisions/ memories Important buildings Work NEW Trips New

Your neighbourhood NEW

Housework NEW

TV and Entertainment NEW

Machines NEW

Animals NEW

IELTS Speaking Part 1100+ Questions

IELTS Speaking Part 3 100+ Questions 

IELTS Speaking Band 9 Sample Answers

IELTS Speaking Tips

All you need to know about the IELTS

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Essays

Parties/events/ celebrations

1. Describe an event that you attended recently

2. Describe a holiday that you have celebrated recently

3. Describe a festival that is celebrated in your country

4. Describe a party that you attended recently

Food/Restaurants

5. describe your favourite meal.

6. Tell me about an embarrassing experience you've had with food.

7. Talk about a restaurant you like to go to.

8. Tell me about a particularly good meal you had.  

9. tell me about someone you think is important

10. Describe a famous person from your country

11. Describe a person you admire in your life.

12. Describe a person who has had a significant imp act on your life.

Gifts/possessions

13. Describe a gift or present that someone gave you recently

14. Describe a gift you have received that was important to you

15. Describe a possession that is important to you.

16. Describe something difficult you learned to do.

17. Describe a teacher from your past that you remember

18. Describe a subject you enjoyed at school

19. Describe a project or assignment you completed in school that you are proud of.

20. Describe a course or subject you wish you had taken in school.

The environment and nature

21. Describe a plant in your country that you think is very important.

22. talk about a time when you visited a natural park 

23. Tell me about an outdoor activity you enjoy

24. Describe a time when you or someone you know did something wrong

Hobbies/ interests

25. Describe a hobby you enjoyed when you were a child

26. Talk about a game you used to play 

27. Describe a sport you liked to play when were a child.

28. Describe a sport you like watching on TV

29. Describe a sport you would like to play in the future

30. Describe a hobby or interest you have now.

31. Describe a competition you participated in. 

32. Describe a relative who you are like.

33. Describe a close friend from your childhood

Decisions/ memories         

34. Describe a decision that you made that was important to your life.

35. Tell me an important piece of advice you were given.

36. Describe a photograph of you that you like.

37. Describe a funny story that happened to you. 

38. Describe a time when you did something well. 

Important buildings

39. Describe a museum that you visited

40. Describe an important building in your country

41. Describe a job you would like to have

42. Describe a memorable day at work

43. Describe your first day at work

44. Describe a job that you have had in the past.

45. Describe a difficult work situation that yo u have faced in the past and how you overcame it.

46. Describe a memorable coworker t hat you have worked with in the past.

47.  Describe a time when you had to work in a team to achieve a common goal.

48.  Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision at work.

49. Tell me about a trip you went on that you enjoyed.

50. Describe a trip you would like to take in the future.  

Your neighbourhood

51. Describe your neighbourhood.

52. Describe a place of interest in your neighbourhood.

53. Describe a local business in your neighbourhood.

54. Tell me about a household chore you enjoy or hate doing. 

55.  Describe a time when you had to clean something that was particularly difficult to clean.

TV and Entertainment 

56. Tell me about a program that you enjoy watching. 

57. Tell me about a TV show or film you watched recently.

58. Describe a live performance or concert you attended and enjoyed.  

59.  Describe a video game that you enjoy playing.

60. Tell me about a memorable trip to the cinema. 

61.  Describe a movie that made you think deeply.

62. Tell me about an important machine in the home.

63.  Describe a machine that you find interesting.

64. Describe a house or apartment that you would like to live in?

65. Describe a house or apartment that you have lived in.  

Animals 

66. Describe an intersting animal you have seen

67.  Describe your favourite animal.

68. Describe a pet you know

69.  Describe an experience you had with animals.

70. Describe a wild animal you have seen in its natural habitat.

Parties/ events/ celebrations

Describe an event that you attended recently

You should say:

What and where the occasion was

Who was there

What happened

Describe how you enjoyed it

Part 2 

Describe a holiday that you have celebrated recently

What the purpose of the holiday is Who you celebrated with Why this holiday is important to you

Describe some activities that you did as part of the celebration

Describe a festival that is celebrated in your country

When you celebrate it Why it is celebrated How people in your country celebrate it How do you feel during this festival?

Describe a party that you attended recently

And describe how you enjoyed it

Food/ Restaurants

describe your favourite meal

What's in the meal?

How often do you have it?

Who prepares it?

How do you feel when you have it?

Tell me about an embarrassing experience you've had with food.

Where did the incident happen?

What was the problem and what happened?

How did you feel about the incident?

Band 9 Audio and Tapescript Sample Answer: Tell me about an embarrassing experience you've had with food. 

Talk about a restaurant you like to go to 

Where it is What the restaurant looks like, in and out What kind of food they sell and what kind of food you order Why you like the restaurant.

When is a good time to go?

Band 9 Audio and Tapescript Sample Answer: Talk about a restaurant you like to go to. 

Tell me about a particularly good meal you had. 

You should say :

Where you were  Who you were with  What you had

Why did you enjoy it so much?   

I'd like you to tell me about someone you think is important

You should say: 

Why you think he/she is important?

Describe him/her

Band 9 Audio and Tapescript Sample Answer:

Someone you think is important.

Describe a famous person from your country

What this person is famous for How people in your country feel towards him/her How you feel towards this person

Describe a person you admire in your life.

Who this person is

How you know them

What qualities they possess that you admire

What they have accomplished or done that you find impressive

How they have influenced your life

And explain why this person is important to you.

Describe a person who has had a signifi cant impact on your life.

What they have done for you that has had an impact

What you have learned from this person

How your life has changed as a result of their influence

Gifts/Possessions

Describe a gift or present that someone gave you recently

What the occasion was

Who gave it to you

What it looked like

Explain how you felt about receiving it

Describe a gift you have received that was important to you. 

Who gave it to you. 

What it looks like and how you use it

Why is it important to you

Describe a possession that is important to you. You should say where you got it from. What you do with it. Why it’s important to you.

How you would feel if you were to lose it.

Describe something difficult you learned to do.

- What you learned to do

- How you learned to do it

- Why it was difficult

And explain whether you're glad you learned to do this or not.

Describe something difficult you learned to do

Describe a teacher from your past that you remember

What class the teacher taught and how old you were. What the teacher’s special qualities and characteristics were. 

Why you remember this teacher. 

Describe a subject you enjoyed at school

How old you were Why you liked it. if you found it easy or difficult

Describe a project or assignment you completed in school that you are proud of.

What the project or assignment was

When and where you completed it

How you went about completing the project or assignment

What you learned from completing the project or assignment

Why you are proud of this project or assignment ​

And explain how this project or assignment has influenced your education or your life.

Describe a course or subject you wish you had taken in school.

What the course or subject is

Why you did not take it at the time

Why you wish you had taken it

How this course or subject could have helped you in your personal or professional life

Whether you plan to pursue this course or subject in the future

And explain how taking this course or subject could have impacted your education or your life.

The Environment/ nature

Describe a plant in your country that you think is very important.

What is it?

Where is it grown?

How is it used?

Why is it important to your country?

talk about a time when you visited a natural park 

Say who you were with Describe the park When you went What you did there 

How you felt while you were there

Tell me about an outdoor activity you enjoy

What the activity is. Where you do it. if you do it alone or not

How you feel when you do this activity.

Describe a time when you or someone you know did something wrong

Who were you with?

Where were you?

What happened?

How did you feel about this incident?

Hobbies and interests

Describe a hobby you enjoyed when you were a child

What was the hobby?

How old were you?

How often did you do it?

Why did you enjoy it?

Talk about a game you used to play 

You should:

Explain the game Say who you used to play it with Say where you used to play it Say how often you played it Say why you liked the game 

Describe a sport you liked to play when you were a child. You should say:

What the sport was. Where you played it Who you played it with Why you liked playing this sport.

Describe a sport you like watching on TV

What the sport is When you watch it If you watch it alone or with other people

Why you like watching it.

Describe a sport you would like to play in the future

What the sport is When you first became interested in it Why you don’t play it now.  

Why you would like to play it.

Describe a hobby you have now.

How often you do it When you started What the hobby involves

How you feel when you do it

Describe a competition you participated in. 

You should say What the competition was Who was involved Any moments that stand out How you did How did you feel once it was over?

Describe a relative who you are like.

Describe them physically Describe their personality Why you think you two are alike.

How do you feel when you two are together.

Describe a close friend from your childhood  

Where you met this person Why you liked him/her What you used to do together 

Do you still have contact with them, why, or why not?,

Decisions/ memories

Describe a decision that you made that was important to your life.

What the decision was. Who you were with when you made it The consequences of your decision

How you felt after you had made it.

Tell me an important piece of advice you were given.

When you received the advice. Where you were Who gave it to you.  

If you followed the advice.

Describe a photograph of you that you like. 

where it was taken

when it was taken

who took it

and explain why you like it.

Describe a funny story that happened to you. 

  When it happened

Where you were

Who you were with 

What happened 

How you felt after

Describe a time when you did something well 

What did you do? Was it difficult?   How did you feel about it afterwards?  

Describe a museum that you visited

Where the museum is What’s in the museum Who you went with How was your overall experience?

Describe an important building in your country

You should say: What the building looks like What the building is used for and why it’s important When it was built

Would you like to visit this building?

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Work

Describe a job you would like to have You should say:

What the job involves What qualifications you need  

Why you would like to have this job

Describe a memorable day you had at work You should say:

When and where it was Who you were with  What happened and it was memorable  

How you felt after. 

Describe your first day at work You should say:

When it was What the job was What happened How you were feeling   

if you think this was a good or a bad first day

Describe a job that you have had in the past.

What the job was When and where you had the job What your responsibilities were How you felt about the job

And explain why you decided to leave the job or why you would like to leave the job.

Describe a difficult work situation that you have faced in the past and how you overcame it.

What the situation was

When and where it occurred

What you did to resolve the situation

How you felt about the experience

And explain what you learned from this experience and how it has helped you in your work since.

Describe a memorable coworker that you have worked with in the past.

You should say

Who the coworker was

When and where you worked with them

What their job was

What made them memorable

How they influenced your work experience

And explain why you remember this coworker and what you learned from them.

Describe a time when you had to work in a team to achieve a common goal.

What the goal was

Who was in the team

What your role in the team was

What challenges you faced and how you overcame them

Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision at work.

​ What the decision was

What factors influenced your decision

How you arrived at your decision

What the outcome was

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Trips

Tell me ab out a trip you went on that you enjoyed.

Where you went Where you stayed Who you went with

What did you do there?

Describe a trip you would like to take in the future.

Where you would like to go on this trip

What you would like to do and see on this trip

Why you would like to take this trip

Who you would like to go with (if anyone)

When you would like to take this trip

And explain what preparations you would need to make for this trip.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Your neighbourhood

Describe your neighbourhood

What it looks like What you can find there What you like to do there

How do you feel about your neighbourhood?

Describe a place of interest in your neighbourhood.

What the place of interest is

Where it is located in your neighbourhood

What it looks like

What activities or events take place at this place of interest

Why this place of interest is significant or interesting to you

And explain whether you would recommend this place of interest to others.

Describe a local business in your neighbourhood.

What the business is and what it sells or provides

Where the business is located in your neighbourhood

What the atmosphere of the business is like

How long the business has been operating

Why this business is significant or interesting to you

And explain whether you would recommend this business to others.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Housework

Tell me about a household chore that you enjoy or hate doing. 

What the chore is When and why you do it How often you have to do it

Why you enjoy or hate doing it. 

Describe a time when you had to clean something that was particularly difficult to clean .

What the item was

Why it was difficult to clean

What tools or methods you used to clean it

How long it took you to clean it

How you felt after completing the cleaning

IELTS Speaking Part 2: TV and Entertainment

Tell me about a program you enjoy watching

What the program is What time it's on How often you watch it if you watch it with someone else

Why you enjoy watching it

Describe a TV show or movie that you recently watched.

What the TV show or movie was

What the storyline was about

Who the main characters were

Why you enjoyed or didn't enjoy watching it

Whether you would recommend it to others

Describe a live performance or concert you attended and enjoye d.

What the performance or concert was

Who the performers were

What the venue was like

What your favorite part of the performance was

How you felt during and after the performance

Would you go again?

Describe a video game that you enjoy playing .

What the video game is called

What type of game it is (e.g. action, adventure, puzzle)

Who developed and published the game

What the objective of the game is

Why you enjoy playing it

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Cinema

Tell me about a trip to the cinema that was memorable

What you watched Who you went with Why you wen

Why it was a memorable experience

Describe a movie that made you think deeply.

What the movie was called

What the plot of the movie was

What themes or issues the movie explored

How the movie made you think deeply

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Machines

Tell me about an important machine in the home

What it is Who uses it Why it's important

How do you feel about this machine?

Describe a machine that you find interesting.

What the machine is

What it does

How it works

Where you saw or learned about the machine

Why you find it interesting

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Houses

Describe a house or apartment you would like to live in. 

Where it is or where it would be What you would like to do there Who you would or would like to live there with

Why would you like to live in this place?

Describe a house or apartment that you have liv ed in.

Where the house/apartment was located

What the house/apartment looked like

What kind of rooms and features it had

Who you lived with

What your experience living there was like

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Animals

Describe an interesting animal you have seen. 

What animal it was When and where you saw it

Explain how you feel about this animal

Describe your favourite anima l.

What the animal is

What its behavior is like

Where it lives

Why it is your favorite animal

Describe a pet you know  You should say:

What it is  Whose it is What it looks like How it behaves   

and how you feel about this pet

Describe an experience you had with animals.

What kind of animal(s) were involved

Where and when the experience took place

What happened during the experience

Describe a wild animal you have seen in its natural habitat.

What kind of animal it was

Where and when you saw it

What the animal was doing

Recent posts

• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Gift
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Birthday
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Family
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Movie
• IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Book
• Link copied!

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics & Cue Cards with Answers

Are you preparing for the IELTS Speaking Part 2 ? Look no further! We have compiled a list of cue cards on the most common topics, such as travel, sport, hobbies, movies, family, education, and technology.

Additionally, we have provided sample answers to each cue card to help you improve your speaking skills and gain insight into what examiners are looking for.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Travel

Describe a place you have visited that you would like to go back to..

You should say:

• where the place is
• what you did there
• why you enjoyed it

and explain why you would like to go back

Sample Answer:

The place I would like to go back to is Bali, Indonesia. During my stay there, I visited a lot of beautiful beaches, tried surfing, and also went trekking to explore the island’s lush greenery. What I enjoyed the most was the laid-back lifestyle and the warm hospitality of the locals. They were always eager to share their culture and traditions with me. The reason why I wish to return to Bali is because of the unforgettable experiences I had during my stay, coupled with the desire to explore more of the island’s natural beauty and cultural richness.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Sport

Describe a sports event you enjoyed watching..

• what event you watched
• where you were
• who you watched it with

and explain why you think this movie had such an impact on you

Last week, I watched a tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. I was at my friend’s house, and we watched it together. The match was incredible because both players are so talented and it was hard to know who would win. I enjoyed watching the match because of the high level of play and the competitive spirit of both players. It was also great to watch it with my friend and discuss the different tactics and strategies used by both players. Overall, it was a really fun and engaging experience.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Hobbies/Activities

Describe a hobby or activity you enjoy doing in your free time..

• what the hobby or activity is
• how often you do it
• why you enjoy it

and describe how it benefits you

I enjoy hiking in my free time. I usually try to go at least once a month, but sometimes I’ll go more often if I have a free weekend. I enjoy hiking because it’s a great way to get outside and enjoy nature. It’s also a good workout, and I like the feeling of accomplishment I get from reaching the top of a mountain or finishing a long hike. Hiking also benefits me by reducing my stress levels and helping me clear my mind. Being out in nature is a great way to disconnect from technology and focus on the present moment.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Movies

Discuss a movie that had a significant impact on you..

• what the movie is about
• how the movie made you feel
• how it made you see the world differently

The film that had a significant impact on me is “Before the Flood”, a documentary about climate change. The film follows Leonardo DiCaprio as he travels around the world to learn more about the impacts of climate change and what we can do to stop it. Watching the film made me feel scared and helpless, but also motivated to take action. It made me see the world differently by showing me the real-life consequences of climate change and how it affects people and animals all over the world. I think this film had such an impact on me because it presented the issue of climate change in a clear and urgent way and made me realise that we all have a responsibility to take action to protect our planet.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Family

Describe a person in your family whom you admire..

• who the person is
• why you admire them
• how they have influenced or inspired you

and describe how your relationship with them has changed over time

The person in my family whom I admire is my father. He has always been a hardworking and dedicated person who puts his family first. I admire him for his work ethic and his ability to balance his professional and personal life. He has always been an inspiration to me in terms of his values and his approach to life. Over time, my relationship with him has deepened as I have come to appreciate the sacrifices he has made for our family and the lessons he has taught me about the importance of family and community.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Education

Describe a skill you learnt outside of school that has helped you in your education..

• what skill it is and how you learnt it
• why you decided to learn it
• how it has helped you in your education

explain how this skill could be useful for other students as well

A skill I learnt outside of school that has helped me in my education is learning how to code. I learnt it by taking online courses and attending coding boot camps. I decided to learn it because I wanted to understand how software worked and how I could create things on my own. This skill has helped me in my education by allowing me to automate tasks, analyse data, and create interactive projects. It has also opened up opportunities for me to pursue a career in technology. This skill could be useful for other students as well because it develops problem-solving abilities and helps them understand how technology works, which is becoming increasingly important in today’s world.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topic: Technology

Describe a device that you find useful..

• what the device is and how it works
• when and where you got it
• how you use it in your daily life

and explain how this device has improved your daily routine

One of the most helpful devices I own is my fitness tracker. It is a small device that tracks my physical activity, heart rate, and sleep patterns. I got it as a gift last year and use it every day to monitor my fitness goals. It helps me stay motivated, reminds me to move more, and tracks my progress. It provides me with insights into my sleep quality, which helps me adjust my sleep routine. It has improved my daily routine by making me more active and aware of my physical health. It motivates me to push myself towards achieving my fitness goals. Overall, my fitness tracker is a great addition to my life that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to improve their fitness and health.

Recent Posts

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151 IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 with Model Answers

47 min read

Updated On Mar 04, 2024

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Predicted Cue Cards Topics 2024

Since you have landed on this page, it is for sure that you are looking for IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 with model answers to boost your  IELTS preparation  and confidence for the same. 

Well, we have come to the right place!

IELTS Speaking   Part 2 , also known as the “Long Turn,” is a critical section of the speaking test. The examiner will give you a cue card in which a topic will be mentioned. After one minute of preparation, you will be expected to speak for 2-3 minutes on the topic, after which the examiner will ask questions based on the topic, which is  Part 3 of the Speaking test . We understand the significance of mastering this section, and that’s why we’ve compiled a rich collection of 151 IELTS Speaking Topics with Model Answers. 

Before we move to the most important part, you can also check out the latest IELTS Speaking Part 2 topics 2024 with model answers by IELTS high scorers on the IELTS Material website ( ieltsmaterial.com ) to be prepared for your speaking test. 

For Band 9 Sample Answers for all Part 1,2,3 topics in 2023, you can take a look at  IELTS Speaking Actual Tests 2023 & Suggested Answers (Ebook) .

Top 5 Predictions for IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 for 2024

As you are preparing for your IELTS Speaking for 2024, it is crucial to learn about some of the most important topics that might appear in the exam. Here’s a speculative glimpse into potential IELTS Speaking topics for 2024:

Topic 1 – In a Hurry

Describe an occasion when you had to do something in a hurry.

You should say:

• What you had to do?
• Why did you have to do this in a hurry?
• How well did you do this?
• And explain how you felt about having to do this in a hurry.
• Do you think it’s OK to arrive late when meeting a friend?
• What should happen to people who arrive late for work?
• Can you suggest how people can make sure they don’t arrive late?
• Is it better to study for long periods or in shorter blocks of time?
• What are the likely effects of students not managing their study time well?
• How important is it for students to have enough leisure time?

Topic 2 – New Development

Describe a new development in the area where you live.

• What is the development?
• When/Where did you notice it?
• How long did it take to complete it?
• And explain how you feel about it.
• Tell us about the development in your area in the past and the present era.
• What kinds of developments are undergoing in your area in this modern era?
• Are you living in a developed or developing country?
• What transportation do you use the most?

Topic 3 – First Day at School

Describe something you remember about your first day at a new school.

• Where was it?
• How old were you then?
• What do you remember?
• And explain how you felt about it.
• Do you think students should be taken to school by their parents or go by themselves? 
• What is the effect if parents interfere with children’s life too much?
• Should children rely on their parents or be independent?
• How can children become more independent?
• How does changing school affect children?

Topic 4 – Person Growing Plants

Describe a person who likes to grow plants.

• Who is the person?
• How do you know the person?
• What types of plants does he/she grow? 
• Why does he/she grow plants?
• What kind of plants do people like to grow in their homes?
• Is it important to have plants at home?
• Are there many people growing their own vegetables?
• Do you think it is good to let kids learn how to grow plants?
• What do you think of the job of a farmer?
• What is the difference between traditional and modern agriculture?

Topic 5 – Noisy Place

Describe a noisy place that you have visited.

• Why did you go there?
• Why was it noisy?
• And explain how you felt about being there.
• Do you like to live in a noisy place?
• Do you like to go to noisy places?
• Where can you hear a loud noise?
• Do you think there is more noise in people’s lives today than in the past?
• Do you think that cities will become noisier in the future?

To make you happier, here are some more topics for IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 for 2024! All you have to do is  check out this PDF !

IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 with Model Answers from October-December 2023

It’s a common belief that IELTS questions tend to reappear, making it a smart move to familiarize yourself with recent themes. Take charge of your practice and leverage insights from the latest topics from the last quarter of 2023 for optimal readiness.

1. Describe a good law in your country.

• What is the law?
• How did you first learn about this law?
• Who benefits from this law (who is affected by this law)?
• And explain why you think this is a good law.

IELTS Speaking PART 3

• Is there any situation where people disobey the law? = Do you think that people obey the law all the time?
• Do people like being a policeman in your country?
• What qualities should a police officer have?
• Why do some people prefer to be a lawyer?

Model Answers

2. Describe a healthy lifestyle you know.

• What is it?
• How do you know it?
• What would one do to live this healthy lifestyle?
• and explain why it is healthy.
• Do women pay more attention to their health than men?
• Could governments do more to promote healthier lifestyle options?
• Do you think most people worry more about their health as they get older? What do old people in your country do to keep fit?
• What else can people do to keep fit besides sports?
• Do you think that the tobacco companies should be held reasonably responsible for a person’s addiction to nicotine?

3. Describe something you do to help you study or work.

• How do you learn it?
• When do you do it?
• And how you feel about the method.
• Is salary important to you? What is the impact of salary on doing work?
• What kinds of jobs are easy to get in a foreign country?
• Should young adults work abroad?
• If they don’t work abroad, would it be helpful for them to travel to a foreign country?
• Is it hard to find an interesting job in your country?
• What kinds of preparation should people do for a job interview?
• Why do some people keep changing their jobs?
•  What should a good employer do?
• How would you define ‘an interesting job’?
• What are the disadvantages of working overtime?

4. Describe an occasion when you wore formal clothes.

• What occasion was it?
• When was it?
• And explain why you wore it.
• What kinds of clothes do people wear after work?
• Do you think it is necessary for children to wear school uniforms?
• Where do people in your country buy clothes?
• When do people wear formal clothes?
• Will the way we dress influence the way we behave?
• Do people wear formal clothes more often or less often than in the past?
• Is fashion important where you live?

5. Describe a time when you received money as a gift.

• Who gave it to you
• When it was given to you
• Where it happened
• How you felt about it
• In your country, when (on what occasions) do people give gifts to others?
• What sorts of things do they give?
• Do people today still give the same kinds of gifts that people used to give, many years ago?
• Why do people like to receive gifts?
• Do you think it’s suitable to give money as a gift?
• Do you think it’s a good idea for people who are doing business with each other to exchange gifts?
• Why do some people not give gifts to others very often?

6. Describe a person you have seen who is beautiful or handsome.

• Where did you see this person?
• When you see this person?
• What did the person look like?
• Why do you think this person is beautiful or handsome?
• Do you think beauty only relates to a person’s appearance?
• Do you think the media influences our idea of beauty?
• How has people’s idea of beauty changed over the last few decades?

7.Describe a time you borrowed something from your family or friend.

• What you borrowed?
• Who do you borrow it from?
• What did you borrow it for?
• And explain why it was useful to you.
• Why do some people lose contact with their childhood friends?
• How do people in your country make friends these days?
• Why is it hard to maintain friendships for some people?
• Why Is it easier to make friends on the internet than in reality?
• What qualities do you think are important in a friend?
• Do you think it is a good idea to borrow money from a friend? Why or why not?
• What factors may result in the breakdown of a good friendship?
• Friendship is the most important relationship. Do you agree? Why? Why not?

8. Describe a skill you need a long time to learn.

• Where can you learn it?
• How to learn it?
• And explain why you need a long time to learn it.
• Compare the importance of practical skills and academic skills.
• How can people learn practical skills?
• What practical skills do children learn at school in your country?

9. Describe a film or TV show that made you laugh a lot.

• What was it?
• When did it happen?
• Who was with you?
• And explain why it made you laugh.
• Do young people like to watch TV nowadays?
• What kind of TV programs do young people like?
• Do you think TV will be replaced by computers?
• What do you think about TV advertisements?
• Why do people like watching television?
• How popular is watching television in your country?
• What types of programs are generally on television in your country?
• What effects can watching television have on children?

10. Describe an activity you would do when you are alone in your free time.

• What do you do?
• How often do you do it?
• Why do you like to do this activity?
• How do you feel when you do it?
• How do people in your country spend free time?
• Is there any difference in spending free time now with the past?
• Does this change bring any advantage?
• How does finance affect the way people spend free time?
• Is it important to have a hobby?
• Is it harmful to spend too much time on a hobby?
• Where do young people in this country usually spend their free time?
• How do the men in your family usually spend their free time?
• How do the women in your country usually spend their free time?
• Do men and women spend their free time differently? How?

11. Describe a piece of good news you heard (from TV or the Internet).

• What was the news about?
• When did you get this news?
• Where did you get this news from?
•  And why you think it was good news.
• Do you think that news is censored in some countries?
• Will newspapers disappear in the future?
• What would the world be like without news?
• How has it changed over the years?
• Do you think people need to know all of the news?
• Do you think it’s important to read the newspaper and know what is going on in the world? Why or why not?

12. Describe a family business you know.

• What is this family business?
• How do you know about it?
• Who are the customers of this family business?
• And explain why the business is successful.
• Do you think governments should regulate exports?
• Do you think globalization is a positive development ?
• How to be a successful businessman in your country?
• Do people in your country like to work for big companies or small companies?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having relatives in a family business?
• Are men and women equally good at running a business?
• Is market research important for export business?

13. Describe a time when someone didn’t tell you the whole truth about something.

• When did this happen?
• What was the situation?
• Who you were with?
• And why the person didn’t tell the whole truth.
• When is it acceptable to lie?
• What do you think about the fact that everybody has lied at least once?

14. Describe a party that you joined.

• When did it take place?
• Who was there?
• What did you do here?
• And how you felt about the party.
• What are the things the old and the young like doing in their free time?
• Should parents spend a lot of money on their children’s parties?
• Why do some people dislike attending parties?
• Why do people throw parties?

15. Describe an old person who is interesting.

• Who is this person?
• How do you know this person?
• What do you do with this person?
• And why you think this person is interesting.
• Why do some young people dislike living with old people?
• What are the advantages of living with old people?
• What are the causes of the generation gap?
• What’s the difference between teenagers and children?
• Is it possible for parents and children to be friends?
• How do teenagers treat old people in your country?

16.  Describe a time when you got up early in the morning.

You should say 

• Why did you get up early?
• Who were you with?
• And explain how you felt about getting up early.
• What effect would sleeping late have on one’s life?
• What do you think are the benefits of getting up early?
• What kinds of jobs require people to get up early?
• Do you think old people find it easier to get up early than young people?
• What time do people usually get to bed (in your country)?
• What do you think are the benefits of having a nap in the middle of the day?

17. Describe a book you want to write.

• When did you have this idea?
• What kind of book do you want to write?
• What is the book about?
• And why do you want to write this kind of book?
• What kinds of books do old people like to read?
• Are you a good storyteller?
• How do you think people will read in the future?
• Do you think that the internet and television will eventually make books obsolete?
• Do you think that it is more valuable to read a book than to watch television?
• What kind of books are considered good reads in your opinion?

18.  Describe an impressive advertisement you remember well.

• When and where did you see it?
• What was advertised?
• What were the contents of the advertisements?
• And explain why you remember it well.
• Why do some people hate advertisements?
• Do people buy stuff after watching advertisements?
• Is music useful in advertising?
• What are the advantages of TV advertisements?

19. Describe a time that you had to change your plan/ you changed your mind.

• What made you change the plan?
• What was the new plan?
• And how you felt about the change.
• What’s the most important factor in decision-making?
• Do you think adults always make better decisions than children?
• Do you like to make quick decisions?
• What can people learn from wrong decisions?
• Should parents make decisions for their children?

20. Describe a time you received horrible service.

• Where did you receive it?
• What happened?
• And why the service was horrible.
• Why do some people choose to buy in the street market rather than the shopping mall?
• Do you think the discounted goods have good value?
• How often do people in your country go shopping?
• What kinds of places are popular for shopping in your country?
• Do you think online shopping will replace shopping in reality?
• Have you ever had a shopping experience?
• What would you do if you bought something disappointing from the internet?
• How is online shopping so popular these days?

Model Answer 1 Model Answer 2

21. Describe a beautiful city you’ve visited/ Describe an interesting part of your country.

• Where is it?
• When did you go there?
• What did you do there?
• And explain why you like it.
• Do you think modern life gives people enough time for leisure?
• What’s the most important factor for a tourist attraction?
• Do you think we should have more public holidays?
• What do people need before traveling to another country?
• Is there any difference between young tourists and adult tourists?
• Do you think tourism will harm the earth?
• Which method of travel do you consider the safest?
• In 20 or 30 years, how do you think traveling will be different from what it is today?

22. Describe a person you wanted to be similar to when you were growing up.

• Who was this person?
• When did you first meet the person?
• What did the person do?
• And you would like to become this person.
• What are the parents’ responsibilities for their children?
• What’s the influence of parents on their children?
• What would children do to make their parents proud?
• What do you think are some of the most difficult problems faced by parents?

23. Describe an interesting talk or lecture you heard.

• When you heard it?
• Where did you hear it?
• What was it about?
• And explain why you think it was interesting.
• Why do people feel nervous when they are giving a speech to others?
• How can people improve their public speaking skills?
• Can you suggest any methods that would help reduce nervousness?
• Is it good for people to visit schools and give a talk to children about different things?
• What type of person is best suited to give a talk to a group of students? What kinds of people should be invited to give a speech?

24. Describe a time you enjoyed your free time.

• Where were you?
• What did you do ?
• And how you felt about it.

25. Describe an intelligent person you know.

• What does this person do?
• And why do you think this person is intelligent?
• Are most intelligent people happy? Why?
• Do you think intelligent people are selfish?
• Do you think intelligent people are helpful?
• Who do you think plays a more important role in children’s education, parents or teachers? Why?
• What qualities do you think a good teacher should have?
• Why are some children more intelligent than others?

26. Describe a person you know who speaks a foreign language well.

• What language(s) do they know?
• What does he/she use this language (or, these languages) for?
• And explain why you think they (he/she) learned it well.
• Do you think it’s possible to learn a language perfectly?
• Is learning a new language important?
• What benefits for one’s career does knowledge of foreign languages bring?
• Who do you think learns a language faster, children or adults?
• Do you think that English will become the most commonly used language in the world?
• Do you think foreigners will be learning your language in the future?

27. Describe a kind of food people eat during a special event.

• What event do people usually eat?
• How is it cooked/made?
• And explain why it is for the special event?
• Describe what you think is a healthy diet
• Are there many vegetarians in your country?
• Why do you think some people choose to be vegetarians?
• Is the food that people eat today in your country different from the food that people used to eat in the past? (if yes, in what ways has it changed?)
• How do you think the way we eat will change in the future?
• Is American-style ‘fast food’ popular in your country? (Why? Popular with whom?)
• What do you think of this popularity- is it a good thing?

28. Describe an important plant in your country.

• What is it called?
• What does it look like?
• Where and how it is grown?
• Why do you like or dislike it?
• And explain why it is important.
• Do people in your country like to grow plants at home?
• Do old people grow plants?
• How do schools teach students to grow plants?
• Why should we save trees?

29. Describe a time you looked for information from the internet.

You should say

• When did you do that?
• What information did you search for?
• Why did you look for it on the internet?
• What are some of the different reasons why people use the Internet?
• Some people say that different age groups have different tastes on Internet content. What do you think?
• What influences can (or, does) the Internet have on children/teenagers?
• Do you think parents should control what Internet sites their children visit on the Internet?
• What (kinds of) people don’t use the internet?
• What are the disadvantages people suffer because they do not use the Internet?

30. Describe a time you were scared/ Describe a frightening experience you had.

• Where did it happen?
• Why were you scared?
• How did you feel about it?
• What’s the best way to gain experience in life?
• Do you agree that we learn best from our mistakes?
• Can we gain life experience in books and movies?
• Which is more important, experience or potential?

31. Describe a time that you took medicine.

• Who gave it to you?
• Why did you have it?
• Should smoking in restaurants be banned?
• What are some things people can do to keep healthy?
• What foods do you think are unhealthy?
• Do you think traditional medicine is a good alternative to modern medicine?

32.  Describe a journey that you went on by car.

• Where did you go?
• And you felt about the journey.
• Is driving skill important?
• Do you think cars are a daily necessity?
• What will cars look like in the future?
• What are the advantages of owning a car?
• What are the disadvantages of owning a car?

33. Describe a subject you used to dislike but now have an interest in.

• What is the subject?
• Why did you dislike it?
• What are you interested in now?
• And explain why you become interested in it.
• Can computers help us in math areas?
• What is the first subject learned by children in childhood?
• What methods can be applied to make math class more interesting?
• How do schools teach math in your country?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a calculator?
• Do you think students should choose the subjects they like?
• What subject would be added to high school?
• What is the most useful subject?
• Can the students in your country choose their favorite subjects?

34.  Describe a situation when you didn’t have enough time.

• What did you try to do or finish?
• And explain why you didn’t have enough time for it.
• Do people nowadays have more pleasure time than before?
• What is the main reason people do have enough time?
• Can people manage their time wisely when they are older?
• How can people balance their time for working and their private life?
• Is it important for people to relax during the day?

35. Describe a book you have read recently.

• Who wrote it?
• What is it about?

IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 with Model Answers from July-September 2023

Now it’s a good idea to get to know the recent topics from July-September 2023. Be in control of your practice and use these 35 topics to be well-prepared for your IELTS Speaking to achieve a  high band score .

1. Describe a newly built public facility (such as parks, cinemas..) that influences your city.

• Where is this facility?
• When was it built?
• What can people do there?
• And what influences this facility has.
• What are the advantages of living in the countryside?
• What are the disadvantages of living in the countryside?
• What kinds of people live in the countryside?
• What do people living in the countryside like to do?
• How has life changed over time in the countryside?
• Do you think it is better to live in the countryside or in the city?
• Do you think that landmarks will make a city more famous, why?
• What interesting things can we do in big cities?
• What’s the difference between living in the city and the countryside?

2. Describe someone you haven’t seen before but you would like to know.

• Who he/she is?
• How did you know this person?
• What you want to know about this person?
• Why do you want to know more about him/her?

3. Describe a teenager you know.

• Who she/he is?
• What does she/he look like?
• How did you get to know him or her?
• Why do you like him/her?
• And explain how you feel about him or her.
• How much freedom should parents give to their teenagers?
• What do you think are some of the greatest problems facing teenagers today?
• How does the media affect the thinking patterns of the teenagers of today?
• Do you think teenagers today should show more respect for adults?
• What’s the difference between teenage girls and teenage boys?
• Do you think it is better to raise teenagers in the city, a small town, or the country?
• What is it like to be a teenager in your society?
• What are the advantages of being a teenager?

4. Describe a time that you invited family or friends to have dinner at home or in a restaurant.

• Who organized this meal?
• Where you had it?
• What do you talk about during the meal?
• What you ate and drank and explain why you had this meal with your friends?
• Do people in your country prefer to eat at home or in restaurants? 
• What would you say are the benefits and drawbacks of eating in a restaurant?
• What do people usually cook for special festivals?
• More and more people are having (or, getting) their meals delivered, so would people cook at home?

5. Describe a time you received a call from someone you don’t know.

•  When was it?
•  Where were you when you received it?
•  What was the call about?
•  And explain how you felt (after) when you received this call.
• Do you think it’s good to talk loudly on a bus?
• In your opinion, would it be a good idea to have laws prohibiting speaking loudly in public?

6. Describe a person who helps protect the environment.

• What does he/she do to protect the environment?
• How difficult is it to do that?
• And explain how you feel about the things he/she does.
• What do you think is the main danger the world faces in terms of the environment?
• What examples are there of how we damage the natural world?
• Are there litter laws in your country?
• What is the penalty for littering in your country?
• Are there any lessons to learn from nature?

7. Describe a game you played in your childhood.

• What the game was?
• When did you play it?
• Who did you play it with?
• How did you feel about the game?
• Do you think playing with electronic toys has a good influence on kids?
• Which do you think is better, for children to play with toys alone or with other kids?
• Are there differences between toys for girls and for boys?
• Why do parents buy lots of toys for their children?
• What are the differences between today’s toys and old toys?
• What factors should you keep in mind while purchasing toys?
• Do you allow children to buy toys of their choice?

8. Describe another language (not English) you would like to learn.

• What language would it be?
• How would you learn it?
• What difficulties do you think you would have?
• And explain why you would choose to study this language.
• What kind of quality should a language teacher have?
• Why do people want to learn a foreign language?
• Which language is likely to become dominant in the future?
• Do you think that disappearing languages should be protected or should we just let them fade away?
• What are the advantages & disadvantages of being monolingual?
• Should foreign language study be required?
• Why is English used in so many places?
• Do you think language affects thought?
• Do you think that a language other than English should be used as an “international language”?

9. Describe your favourite animal.

• What kind of animal is it?
• Describe it briefly.
• Why do you like this animal?
• And describe why it is your favourite animal.
• What do you think of the poaching of some precious animals such as pandas?
• What should we do to protect endangered animals?
• Do you support doing experiments on animals?
• Why do some people refuse to eat animals?

10. Describe an important decision made with the help of other people.

•  When did it happen?
• Who helped you to make the decision?
• What was the decision?

11. Describe a healthy lifestyle you know.

• And explain why it is healthy.

12. Describe someone you would like to study or work with.

• How long have you known this person?
• What have you done together?
• And why you would like to study or work with this person.

13. Describe something interesting happened in your school.

• Should schools teach both arts and science?
• What school activities are good for school children?
• What kinds of courses are useful for university students?
• Are there good colleges in your country?
• Why do some students dislike studying at school?

14. Describe a time when you used the internet to solve a problem.

•  What problem was it?
•  When did you do this?
•  How long did it take you?
•  And explain why you used the internet to solve this problem.
• What influence does the internet have on people (individually), and society?
• Do you think libraries will disappear one day?
• What do people use the internet for?
• Would you say many people waste time “surfing the internet”? 
• How do you think people will be using the internet in 10 years (time)

15. Describe an outdoor sport you played for the first time.

• When you first played?
• How did you learn to play the sport?
• And how did you feel about the sport?
• What kinds of sports are popular in your country?
• Do you think young people should play dangerous sports?
• What do parents do to make their children like sports?
• What do you think about the current competition program?
• Why are competition programs so popular?

16. Describe a place you plan to travel to that is far away from your home.

• Where would it be?
• How would you like to go there?
• What would you do there?
• And explain why you would like to go there.
• Which method of travel do you consider to be the safest?

17.  Describe a female leader you would like to meet.

• Who is she?
• What does she do?
• What is she like?
• And explain why you would like to meet her.
• What is gender inequality in the workplace?
• What are the causes of gender inequality in the workplace?
• Do women have more responsibility for taking care of children?

18. Describe an interesting place in your country that not many tourists get to.

• Where is it located?
• Why is it interesting?
• What can you do there?
• Why do so few people go there?
• What kinds of tourist sites are popular in your country?
• What can governments do to prevent pollution in tourist sites?
• What are the advantages of visiting less-known places?
• What are the disadvantages when there are too many tourists on one site?

19. Describe an appointment that was put ahead of the schedule.

• What type of appointment it was?
• When it was?
• Why it was brought forward?
• What is the main reason people cannot have enough time to do?
• Do people nowadays have more pressure than before?
• Can people control their time wisely when they are older?
• Modern technologies make people use time up or reduce the time?

20. Describe a success your friend has achieved.

• Who is your friend?
• What was the success?
• What did he or she do?
• How did you feel about the success?

21. Describe your grandparent’s job.

•  How long has he or she had this job?
•  How did he or she get the job?
•  And whether you would like to have this job.
• What should a good employer do?
• How would you define an interesting job’?

22. Describe a friend or a person who encouraged you to achieve a goal.

• What did this person encourage you to do?
• How did this person help?
• And explain why this encouragement helps you to achieve the goal.
• Is it important for teenagers to have goals?
• What do you think would encourage young children to learn more?
• How should we encourage children?
• How could we make children interested in things that they don’t have an interest in?

23. Describe a water sport you would like to try in the future.

• What sport is it?
• When and where would you do it?
• What preparations and equipment would you need?
• And explain why you would like to try this sport.
• Can you suggest why many people like to be in (or, go to) places near water?
• Why do you think transport on the water was developed?

24. Describe a singer that you like.

• Who he/she is? 
• Where and when you heard him/her sing for the first time?
• What types of songs does he/she sing?
• And explain why you like his/her music.
• Why do some people seem to be better at singing than others?
• Do you think there are benefits from being able to sing well?
• Do you think people need to learn how to sing (or is it a natural skill)?
• Do you think everyone (or anyone) can be trained to become a singer?
• Do you think women are better singers than men?
• What advice would you give someone if they wanted to learn to sing? 
• What do you think is the most important quality that a singer needs to have?
• Can you suggest why some old songs are still popular today?
• Do you think it is a good idea to teach music to children in schools? 
• How do you think the music industry will evolve (change, develop) in the future?

25. Describe a quiz program or game show on TV you like.

• What is it like?
• Why do you like it?
• Do people in your country like to watch TV?
• Why do some people like to watch TV on their computer?
• Are there any differences between the children’s games and adults’ games?

26. Describe a time that you got up early in the morning.

You can say:

27. Describe a time that you invited family or friends to have dinner at home or in a restaurant.

• What did you talk about during the meal?
• What do people usually cook for special festivals? 

28. Describe a piece of information that you think is not correct.

•  What information?
•  Where did you hear/read this information?
•  When you heard/read it?
• and explain why you think it is incorrect.
• What kind of job needs information?
• How can someone tell if the information they receive is right or wrong?
• Would you say people trust the information that is found online?

29. Describe a person who has interesting ideas or opinions.

•  Who is this person?
•  How do you know this person?
•  What interesting ideas/opinions does he or she have?
• And explain why you think his/her ideas are interesting.
• At what age do you think (young) people begin to have their own ideas? (Why?)
• When do children start to have their own ideas?
• Who do you think has more influence on children’s ideas, their parents or their teachers?
• Can you suggest why children, as they grow older, have more and more disagreements with their parents about ideas?

30. Describe the historical building you have visited.

•  Where was it?
•  What did it look like?
•  What did you learn there?
•  And explain why you visited this historical building.
• Are there any historic buildings in your hometown?
• Do people in your country often visit historical buildings?
• Do children like to go to that kind of place?
• Do you think people who damage historical relics should be put in prison?
• Would people in your country agree to use government funds to preserve historic buildings?

31. Describe a prize you would like to win/ Describe an award you would like to receive.

• What prize (or award) it is (or, would be)? 
• How do you know about (or learned about) this prize/award?
• What would you need to do to get it (or, how would you win it)?
•  And explain why you would like to win this prize (or, receive this award).
• Is it good to have a competition? 
• Do you think it’s good to award prizes in school and/university?
• Do you think companies should give their employees prizes?

32. Describe a person you know who speaks a foreign language well.

33. describe a time when you used the internet to solve a problem..

• How do you think people will be using the internet in 10 years (time)?

34. Describe a time you received a call from someone you don’t know.

•  Do you think it’s good to talk loudly on a bus?

35. Describe a famous person (still living), not from your country, who you would like to meet.

• Where does this person come from?
• How did you first learn about him or her?
• Why / how is this person famous?
• And explain why you would like to meet this person.
• How do people become famous?
• Do you think there are any drawbacks to being famous?

IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 with Model Answers from April-June 2023

By now you are completely sure that it’s a good idea to learn about recent topics and get a strategic advantage of acquainting yourself with the most recent themes. Therefore, empower your preparation by practising these topics and derive insights derived from the model answers for the same.

You will find some of the topics with their Part 3 questions on this page. For the remaining ones, click on the respective links to get the Part 3 questions with their model answers. Get going!

1. Describe a good experience of online shopping.

• What you bought?
• Why did you buy it?
• And explain why you think it was a good experience.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping?
• Do you think it is safe to shop online?
• Do you think the government should impose more control over online shopping?

2. Describe a time you taught an older person something new.

• Who you taught?
• What you taught?
• Why did you teach this person?
• And explain how you felt about it. 
• Is it easy for old people to use new technology?
• Why do some old people refuse to use new technology?

 3. Describe a time the vehicle you were travelling in broke down.

• Where were you going?
• How long did it take to fix the vehicle?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of private transport?
• What needs to be improved in public transport in your country?

4. Describe a product or application which is based on artificial intelligence.

• What exactly is it?
• What is it used for?
• How is it used?
• And explain what you think of it. 
• Can Artificial Intelligence be conscious? 
• How does AI help us in everyday life?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of AI?

5. Describe a job you would most like to have

• What it is?
• Why you would like to have this job?
• What skills you will need to do this job?
• And explain why you want to have this job.
• Which occupation should be given better pay?
• Is being rich a good thing?
• Do you think people should save for the future?
• What makes a person choose a job apart from the pay it offers?

6. Describe a time you went out with your friends and had a good time.

• When you went out?
• What did you do?
• And explain why you had a good time. 
• What is the difference between staying with friends and staying with family?
• Do science and technology improve the relationship between people?

7. Describe something a child did that made you laugh.

• Who was the child?
• How old he or she was?
• What can make children laugh?
• Which is the best age to have children?

8. Describe the practical skill you learned.

• What was the skill?
• Who did you learn it from?
• How did you learn it?
• And explain how useful it was.
• What is the most practical skill in this modern world?
• What kinds of skills are difficult to learn?
• What kinds of professions require practical skills?

9. Talk About a Time When You Changed Your Opinion.

You should say :

• What was the original opinion?
• Why did you change it?
• And explain how you felt about it?

10. Describe an impressive advertisement you remember well.

11.  describe a bag you want to own or have (in future)..

• What kind of bag is it?
• Where do you want to buy it?
• How much will it cost you?
• Why do you want this kind of bag?

12. Describe a person you know who is beautiful or handsome.

• When and where did you first meet?
• What personality does he or she have?
• And explain why you think this person is beautiful or handsome.

13. Describe a Prize that you Received.

• When did you receive it?
• What did you do for it?

14. Describe a Person Who You Think Wears Unusual Clothes.

• What his/her clothes are like?
• Why do you think his/her clothes are unusual?

15. Describe an interesting old person you met.

• How did you meet this person?
• What did you do or talk about?
• And explain why you think this person was interesting.

16. Describe the practical skill you learned.

17. describe an old person you know and respect..

• Who he or she is?
• What is he or she like?
• And explain why you respect him or her?

18. Describe a perfect house you saw.

• What did it look like?
• What special features did it have?
• And explain why you liked it.

19. Describe a Skill That You Can Teach Other People.

• How can you teach others this skill?
• How do you feel about this skill?

20. Describe a Person Who Impressed You Most when You Were in Primary School.

• How did you know them?
• Why did this person impress you?
• How do you feel about this person?

21. Describe a time you found something someone lost.

• When and where did you find it?
• What did you do after you found it?
• And explain how you felt about finding it.

22. Describe a friend’s success that you were proud of.

• Why did he or she do this?
• What difficulties did he or she have to overcome?
• And explain why you were proud of his or her success.

23. Talk about a famous athlete you know.

• How do you know him/her?
• What has he/she achieved?
• Why is he/she famous?

24. Describe an outdoor sport you would like to try for the first time.

• How did you get to know it?
• Is it difficult to do?
• And explain why you would like to try it.

25. Describe an activity you do to stay healthy.

• When did you start doing it?
• How much time do you spend doing it?
• And explain how this activity helps you stay healthy.

26. Describe a Polite Person Whom you Know.

• And explain why you think this person is polite?

27. Describe a subject you didn’t like before but have interest now.

• When do you study the subject?
• Why didn’t you like it before?
• And explain why you have an interest in it now.

28. Describe a time you enjoyed a free day off work or school.

• How long did the free time last?

29. Describe a Place you Visited on Vacation.

• Where was this place?
• Who did you go there with?
• Why did you like this place?

30. Describe a job your grandparents did.

• What job was it?
• When and where did your grandparents do the job?
• How long did he or she do the job?
• And explain how you think about this job.

31. Describe something that you want to learn more about or improve.

• How you would learn it?
• Where you can learn it?
• And explain why you want to keep learning it.

32. Describe a party you enjoyed.

• When and where did it take place?
• Who held the party?
• What did people do at the party?
• And explain why you enjoyed it.

33. Describe a piece of good news you recently heard on TV or the Internet.

• And explain why you think it was a good piece of news.

34. Describe an important decision you made with the help of others.

• Who helped you make this decision?
• What happened after the decision was made?
• And explain how you felt about the decision.

35. Describe a time you changed your plan.

• What was the plan?
• What did you do instead?
• And explain how you felt about changing the plan.

IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 with Model Answers from January-March 2023

Now we have come to the last part of the 151 IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3 with Model Answers. Here, as you can see we have listed only the Part 2 question of the IELTS Speaking test. 

However, if you need the complete set with their model answers, you can  book a free trial to talk to our experts   and get the PDF for yourself!

1. Describe an ideal house.

• Where is this place?
• When do you want to live there?
• And explain why you think it is ideal for you.

2. Describe a radio program that you found interesting.

• What was this program?
• When and where did you listen to this program?
• What were the contents of the program?
• And explain why you liked this program.

3. Describe a game that you played in your childhood.

4. describe a time you taught a young person how to do a thing..

• What did you teach?
• Who did you teach it to?
• Why did you teach it to this person?

5. Describe a historical period you are interested in.

• What is the historical period?
• What happened during that period?
• Why do you find it interesting?

6. Describe a situation that others didn’t tell you the whole truth.

• Who was involved?
• Why didn’t they tell you the whole truth?
• And explain how you felt when you found out you were not told the whole truth.

7. Describe the advice you received on your subjects or work.

• Who did you receive it from?
• What did you do after receiving it?
• And how did you feel about it? 

8. Describe an experience of visiting a friend.

• Who you visited?
• Who you did?
• Why did you visit him or her?

9. Describe a time you spent a lot of money on something.

• When did you buy it?
• Where did you buy it?
• And explain why you spent a lot of money to buy it.

10. Describe a situation when you celebrated your achievement.

• When did you celebrate it?
• Who did you celebrate it with?
• And how did you feel about it?

11. Describe a film you would like to share with your friend.

• Where did you watch it? 
• Who did you watch it with?
• And why do you want to share it with your friend? 

12. Describe a place where you read and write (not your home).

• How often do you go there?
• Who do you go with?
• And explain how you feel about it?

13. Describe a place you remember well that is full of colours.

14. describe a toy you got in your childhood..

• When did you get it?
• How did you get it?

15. Describe a piece of software you use often.

• What is it for?
• How useful is it?
• And explain why you use it often. 

16. Describe a city you went to with your family.

• When did it happen? 
• Where did you go? 
• How was it?
• And explain why you liked it. 

17. Describe an important technological product you bought.

• How did you use it?
• And explain why you think it is important. 

18. Describe a person who taught you something important.

• What is he/she like?
• What he/she taught you?
• How did you feel about him/her?

19. Describe equipment of yours that had problems.

• What problem did it have?
• How do you fix it?

20. Describe a complaint that you made and you were satisfied with the result.

• Who did you complain about?
• What did you complain about?
• And explain why you were satisfied with the result.

21. Describe a time you taught something new to a younger person.

• Who and what you taught?
• Why do you teach this person?
• And how you felt about the teaching.

22. Describe an item you bought but don’t often use.

• And explain why you don’t often use it.

23. Describe something you made by hand that you gave to other people.

• Who you gave it to and when?
• How did you make it by hand?
• And explain why you gave that handmade gift to that person.

 24. Describe something lost by others but found by you.

• Who did it belong to?
• When was it lost?
• How did the person lose it?
• How did you find it?

25. Describe a present you received which was made by hand.

• What was it like?
• And how did you feel about the present?

26. Describe a time that a piece of equipment was broken (such as TV).

• What the equipment was?
• What was the problem?
• What did you do after it was broken?

27. Describe a person who helps others in his spare time.

• Who is he or she is?
• What does he or she always do to help others?
• Why does he or she always help others?
• And explain how you feel about this person.

28. Describe a park or garden you visited and liked.

• And explain why you liked it there.

29. Describe something special you brought back home from a holiday.

• When and where did you buy it?

30. Describe a piece of clothing you often wear.

• How often do you wear it?
• Where did you get it?

31. Describe a time you gave advice to others.

• Who did you give the advice to?
• What advice did you give?
• Why did this person need your advice?
• And explain how useful the advice was.

32. Describe an unusual vacation you had.

• When and where did you go?
• Who did you go with?
• And explain why it was unusual.

33. Describe a regular thing you do every day.

• When and where do you do it?
• How long do you spend doing it?
• And explain why you always do this thing.

34. Describe someone you would like to work or study with.

• What would you like to work on with this person?
• Whether you’ve worked together before?
• And explain why you would like to work with this person.

35. Describe an intelligent person you know.

• How old is this person?
• What does he do?
• And explain why you think he or she is intelligent.

Sometimes, only getting the topics might not be enough for preparing yourself for the IELTS exam. You need to know to answer the questions, what kind of vocabulary to use or how to maximize your efforts using the marking criteria for IELTS Speaking. 

To do all this in one go, all you have to do is take part in our IELTS webinars to learn proven tricks to help you succeed in IELTS Speaking! So,  click here to explore !

Additional Reads

• IELTS Speaking Practice Test – How to Use them Right in 2024
• IELTS Speaking Tips 2024
• Is Accent Important in the IELTS Speaking Test? | IELTSMaterial.com
• IELTS Marking Scheme 2024 – Complete Overview
• 7 IELTS Fluency Problems | IELTSMaterial.com
• IELTS Speaking: I don’t understand the question – Advice & Tips
• HIGH SCORING IELTS SPEAKING MODEL ANSWERS WITH AUDIO (BASED ON PAST PAPERS)
• IELTS Speaking Test –Tone | IELTSMaterial.com

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30 + Difficult IELTS Cue Card Topics with Answer pdf

Kasturika Samanta

Kasturika is a professional Content Writer with over three years of experience as an English language teacher. Her understanding of English language requirements, as set by foreign universities, is enriched by her interactions with students and educators. Her work is a fusion of extensive knowledge of SEO practices and up-to-date guidelines. This enables her to produce content that not only informs but also engages IELTS aspirants. Her passion for exploring new horizons has driven her to achieve new heights in her learning journey.

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Srijah Tanna

Posted on Mar 30, 2021

This blog has an impressive list of IELTS speaking test 2 topics. This is going to be super helpful for me cause I am studying for IELTS now. Thanks for sharing

Sandeep Bam

Posted on Mar 5, 2019

can i get these questions with model answer? please i have subscribed to this website

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Ielts speaking task 2- speech evaluation and detailed analysis, following is a recent exam question asked in the ielts speaking test for task 2. the answer has been evaluated by one of our expert trainers., the question as it appeared in the test is as follows:, now, i’m going to give you a topic and i’d like you to talk about it for 1-2 minutes. before you talk you’ll have one minute to think about what you are going to say and you can make notes if you wish. do you understand here’s some paper and a pencil to make notes, and here is your topic., talk about a website. you should say:.

• When did you hear about it?

What is it about?

• What information do you get from the website?

Here is how you should spend the 1 Minute Preparation time given for this Task:

In the 1 minute that you have to think about the topic, you need to do the following:

• Talk about a website .
• What is it about ?
• Talk about a website – name (the first website name that comes to your mind or something you use very often)
• When did you hear about it? – friends / marketing campaign / news / advertisement; approx. year / approx.. time period;
• What is it about ? – it’s past / beginning – examples; present / currently – examples; changes in website, if any;
• What information do you get from the website? – products / services / information / social media – examples about offerings.
• Is the website popular? How & why do you say so? OR
• Any recent news on the website OR
• Any personal inputs on the website’s usage by yourself, family & friends.
• About the future of such websites, etc.

Let’s now look at a model answer to the question above.

Before we look at how to approach the topic above, here are a few things you should know about the IELTS Speaking Test:

• In the IELTS Speaking Test, your knowledge of a certain topic is not tested . Instead, the examiners are more interested in  how you say things .

Fluency & Coherence

Lexical resource (vocabulary).

• Grammatical Range & Accuracy and

Pronunciation

• Usually, the topics are on things you have done or experienced e.g. a book you have recently read or a piece of advice you have recently received or describe a rule or law you are for or against, etc.
• The Cue Card or Task Card is to guide you. And although you are not directly graded for speaking on the topic, your speech has to be related in some way to the topic on the Cue Card. For example, if you were given the Task to “Talk about a piece of art you like”, it does not necessarily have to be a famous painting or sculpture. It could just be a clay model done by your niece or nephew or may even be something you drew as a child that you really liked.

TRANSCRIPT:

A website that I would to talk about today is called “BigBasket.com”. BigBasket is an Indian online food and grocery store and I heard about BigBasket through a marketing campaign that it had held in our community nearly 5 years back.

BigBasket was one of the first of its kinds in India and it started operations more than 5 years back. At the time the website listed various branded and unbranded products under various categories – starting everyday grocery item; personal care products and fresh fruits & vegetables. But now it has expanded its offerings to include kitchenware, babycare and even sweets and savories from your favourite specialty store nearby. BigBasket offers home-delivery of their products at a time that is convenient to the customer. It also offers the convenience of selecting any mode of payment such as cash or coupons and of course credit and debit cards. Another interesting feature of the website is that it guarantees customer satisfaction, which essentially means that customers are allowed to return products and get a cashback for the same.

BigBasket offers detailed information about almost all their products including length, weight, price, of course, and details like composition, benefits & usage of some of their items.

So, as an online store, I think BigBasket has remained one of the leading & largest online food & grocery stores in India because they keeps adding & upgrading their offerings to attract new & existing customers. And thus despite competition from various players like Amazon, Daily Ninja, Ninja Kart, etc., they have managed to remain market leaders in this space.

SPEECH EVALUATION & ANSWER ANALYSIS

Now, let’s analyse the above answer and understand how it would score in the Test. The speech would be analysed on the basis of the 4 criteria mentioned earlier, i.e.:

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

The above speech would be marked a band 8 in fluency & coherence as:.

• The candidate has spoken for a little more than 2 minutes at a constant speed, without noticeable hesitations or self-correction. The pauses that have been taken are either for emphasizing a point or to punctuate a complex sentence. For example, listen–: 01 – 07 sec – There is a pause after the first line to emphasize the following line that gives further information about the website mentioned in the first line. The pause breaks the monotone and makes the speech more listening-worthy.
• An introduction – listen to: 1 to 10 secs, where the student speaks about what BigBasket is about.
• A body – listen to: 21 – 60 secs, where she elaborates what Bigbasket listed in the past and what it currently lists & lastly,
• A conclusion – listen to: 1:39 – 2:06 secs, where she concludes by putting forth her view as to why BigBasket has remained a leading online grocery store.
• When did you hear about it? – The introduction mentions it – listen to: 12 – 20 secs.
• What is it about? – The body describes the website and its various offerings & special features in detail – listen to: 21- 1:25 secs.
• What information do you get from the website? – Before concluding the speech, the student covers this point briefly to enumerate the information listed on the website being discussed – listen – 1:26 – 1:38 secs.

In the above speech:

• A variety of words have been used to present ideas. However, there is no unnecessary use of words. For example, in the introduction, the phrase “marketing campaign” has been used to tell about the event. However, note that no details were given. This makes the speech crisp & to the point but at the same time states the idea clearly.
• Words & phrases have been used skillfully throughout e.g. savories, expanded its offerings, home-delivery, cash back, etc.
• There are no mistakes in the usage of words.

For the reasons stated above, the response would score an 8 band in this criterion.

The criteria to evaluate Grammar are as follows:

• Use of a wide range of sentence structures and
• Majority of sentences should be grammatically error-free.

A speech that uses a wide range of sentence structures that are appropriate & with majority of them being error-free would attract an 8+ band. Inappropriate usage of sentences or a high frequency of grammatical errors would attract a lower band. The above speech would score an 8 band in this criterion as:

• It uses a wide range of simple & complex sentences that are error-free. For example,
• In the introduction about the website, the speaker has used only simple sentences. Listen 0:01 to 0:11 secs.
• Listen – 0:30 – 0:45 secs. It is a long & complex sentence “… at the time the website listed …….. vegetables…”. The speaker has used appropriate pauses & intonation to say the sentence and bring out the idea effectively.
• There are no grammatical errors in the sentences used in the speech.

The above speech would score an 8 band in this criterion as:

• It is spoken in clear English that can be understood throughout.
• Please note that although the speaker speaks in native English, her speech is clear and can be understood throughout.
• The student has used accurate words & intonation appropriately, wherever needed.
• The speaker has emphasized words correctly and has used intonations appropriately. For example: the speaker emphasizes “…one of the firsts of its kinds…”. Listen – 0.21 to 0:25 secs. Also, in the audio listen to – 1:14-1:25 secs, “….Another interesting feature ….. cashback for the same …” where the speaker has used intonation effectively to bring out an interesting point about the website.

BASED ON THE ABOVE ANALYSIS, THE SPEECH WOULD SCORE AN OVERALL ​8+ BAND IN TASK-2 (Cue Card question) of the SPEAKING TEST.

Want to know your current speaking band, get a free  evaluation by one of our expert trainers.

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Speaking part 2 Samples IELTS EXAM

Speaking part 2 samples the speaking sub-test takes between 10 and 15 minutes. the sub-test consists of an interview with a trained examiner and is recorded for a later evaluation. there are 3 main parts of a speaking test and the assessment of the examinees is done twice for clarity. you can also like our facebook page ieltsfever  for getting regular updates, click on the cue card to get the answer thanks.

Sample 1    Describe a stressful day at school/ University/ work

Sample 2    Talk about an interesting part of your country

Sample 3    Talk about a thing you complained about something

Sample 4    Describe a person who works on protecting the environment

Sample 5    Talk about something that you borrow from your friend

Sample 6    A visit you made using public transport cue card

Sample 7    Describe a memorable story told by someone

Sample 8    Describe plant grown in your country you think is important  

Sample 9    Talk about a game you enjoyed when you were young  

Sample 10   Describe an activity you enjoy doing when you alone

Sample 11   An animal you like the most ieltsfever cue card

Sample 12   Describe an important Tree or plant in your country

Sample 13   Talk about an own thing which would like to remove  

Sample 14   Describe a time when you had some medicine

Sample 15   Describe a faraway place that you would like to visit  

Sample 16   Talk about your teenager friend ielts cue card

Sample 17   Talk about a subject that fascinates you

Sample 18  Talk about something you like to do in your leisure time

Sample 19   Describe someone who gave you money as a gift for study

Sample 20   Talk about that you recently bought and felt happy about it

Sample 21  Talk about a time when you helped someone

Sample 22  Describe when someone gave you something you wanted

Sample 23  Describe place you often visit with friends and family

Sample 24  Describe country where you would like to work for a short time

Sample 25  Talk about a time when you had to be a polite cue card

Sample 26  Talk about your favorite place for shopping

Sample 27  Describe a time when something made you happy

Sample 28  Talk about an interesting talk or lecture

Sample 29  Talk about the happiest situation in your life

Sample 30  Talk about a quiet place that you want to visit again

Sample 31  Describe a recent event that made you happy

Sample 32  Describe a family business that you know

Sample 33  Talk about a book you recently read

Sample 34  Talk about a building that you admire

Sample 35  Talk about a person who helped you at some point of time

Sample 36  Describe a person you never met but heard a lot

Sample 37  Describe a young child you met

Sample 38  Describe a useful website you have mostly visited

Sample 39  Describe a film or TV show that made you laugh.

Sample 40  Describe cooking competition you would like to participate  

Sample 41  Describe the idea of your dream vacation

Sample 42  Describe a time you preferred to study indoors or outdoors

Sample 43  Describe something you made by hand for your friend  

Sample 44  Describe a good law which you like  

Sample 45  Describe a piece of equipment you had repaired.  

Sample 46  Describe a time when you searched for information from the internet  

Sample 47  Describe something important you lost

Sample 48  Describe a foreign language you would like to learn ( Not English)

Sample 49  Talk about a beautiful city which you most like  

Sample 50  A decision you made with someone’s Help  

Speaking part 2 Samples Speaking part 2 Samples Speaking part 2 Samples Speaking part 2 Samples Speaking part 2 Samples

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IELTS Writing Task 2 – Topic: EDUCATION

ielts writing topics 2019

1.  As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.

Sample Answer 1

There have been immense advances in technology in most aspects of people’s lives, especially  in the field of education. Nowadays, an increasing number of students rely on computers to  research for information and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. Others have  decided to leave the original way of learning to get knowledge through online schools. These  changes in the learning process have brought a special concern regarding the possible  decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom.

Some people believe the role of teachers started to fade because computers have been helping  some students to progress in their studies quicker than when compared with an original  classroom. For example, in the same classroom, students have different intellectual capacities,  thus some would be tied to a slow advance in their studies because of others‟ incapacity of  understanding. In this way, pupils could progress in their acquisition of knowledge at their own  pace using computers instead of learning from teachers.

However, the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact  influences them in positive ways. Firstly, students realize that they are not dealing with a  machine but with a human being who deserves attention and respect. They also learn the  importance of studying in group and respect other students, which helps them to improve their  social skills.

Moreover, teachers are required in the learning process because they acknowledge some  student’s deficiencies and help them to solve their problems by repeating the same explanation,  giving extra exercises or even suggesting a private tutor. Hence, students can have a bigger  chance not to fail in a subject.

In conclusion, the role for teachers in the learning process is still very important and it will  continue to be in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its  consequences.

 (303 words)

Sample Answer 2

Nobody can argue that the acquisition of knowledge is more fun and easier with  computers. The mere activity of touching and exploring this device constitutes an  enjoyable task for a kid. This, accompanied with the relaxing attitude and software  interactivity, usually conduce to a better grasping of new knowledge. At a higher  educational level; the availability of digital books, simulator and other academic  materials, provide the student with an ever accessible source of information, that  otherwise would not be at hand.

But, besides the increasing complexity and behavior of intelligent software, which is  usually embedded in the academic digital material, the need of human interaction in the  learning process will always be present, at least in the foreseeable future. There is the  necessity for a human being to be able to determine what the specifics needs of each  individual are. The expertise of a teacher in how to explain and adapt complex concepts  to different individuals can hardly be mimicked by a computer, no matter how  sophisticated its software is.

As computers are becoming a common tool for teaching, teachers should be more  aware of their role as guides in the acquisition of knowledge rather than transmitters of  facts. They have to be open minded to the changes that are taking places, keep  updated and serve as a problem solvers in the learning process, thus allowing students  to discover the fact for themselves.

To summarize, in my personal view, teachers play and will() play an important role in  the classroom, especially at the primary level. No matter how complex computers  become, there will be no replacement for the human interaction, but in the way haw this  interaction takes place.

 (279 words)

2. In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

Sample Answer

It is quite common these days for young people in many countries to have a break from  studying after graduating from high school. This trend is not restricted to rich students  who have the money to travel, but is also evident among poorer students who choose to  work and become economically independent for a period of time.

The reasons for this trend may involve the recognition that a young adult who passes  directly from school to university is rather restricted in terms of general knowledge and  experience of the world. By contrast, those who have spent some time earning a living  or traveling to other places have a broader view of life and better personal resources to  draw on. They tend to be more independent, which is a very important factor in  academic study and research, as well as giving them an advantage in terms of coping  with the challenges of student life.

However, there are certainly dangers in taking time off at that important age. Young  adults may end up never returning to their studies or finding it difficult to readapt to an  academic environment. They may think that it is better to continue in a particular job, or  to do something completely different from a university course. But overall, I think this is  less likely today, when academic qualifications are essential for getting a reasonable  career.

My view is that young people should be encouraged to broaden their horizons. That is  the best way for them to get a clear perspective of what they are hoping to do with their  lives and why. Students with such a perspective are usually the most effective and  motivated ones and taking a year off may be the best way to gain this.

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3. Some people believe that a college or university education should be available to all students. Others believe that higher education should be available only to good students. Discuss these views. Which view do you agree with? Explain why.

People learn through their entire lives. They constantly improve their knowledge and  develop. I think that a college or university education should be available to all students  because every person has the right to choose the way to self-perfection. Bellow I will  give some of my reasons to support my position.

First of all, every person should have the chance to get a higher degree, gain new  knowledge and experience. However, some people believe that higher education should  be available only to good students. I think it is silly. It is like to make unavailable  traveling for one who does not have IQ high enough.

Second of all, some young people do not do well at school but they have great  personality and ability to learn. They are self-confident, persistent and patient. With  these qualities they can get higher grades then their classmates who are talented but  lazy. Imagine for example situation when a teenager gets high grades because his or  her parents constantly make him or her study and help to do most of the homework. In  this case a child does very well at school but I think a college can show the opposite  results.

Finally, it is a discrimination against students to make available higher education only  for good ones.  So, if a student does poor and gets low grades he/she should be sent down. But if a  person was never given a chance to try himself/herself at college, what to do in this  case?

To sum up, I think that all young people should have the chance to get a higher  education. To take or not this chance must be up to them.

 (277 words)

4. Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family and friends. Other people believe that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. Compare the advantages of these two different ways of learning about life. Which do you think is preferable? Use specific examples to support your preference.

From my everyday experience and observation I can stand that the best way of learning  about life is through personal experience. However, some people think that it is wiser to  learn about life through listening to the advice of family and friends. It does not mean I  totally disagree with this way of learning. Moreover, I think that it is wise for a person to take an intermediate position because each of these ways has its own advantages.  Bellow I will give my reasons to support my point of view.

From the one side, learning through one’s personal experience brings many benefits.  First of all, scientists say that personal experience has greater impact on a person. I  have to agree with this. Take for example children. They will not believe their parents  that something can hurt them until they try it and make sure in it. Furthermore, most  likely they will remember this experience longer. Second of all, people learn how to  analyze their mistakes, make conclusions and next time try to avoid them. So, I think it  is a great experience that makes people stronger, more self-confident and persistent.  They gain more knowledge and experience that will be very helpful and valuable in the future.

From the other side, listening to the advice of family and friends brings many benefits  too. Parents with great patience pass down their knowledge and experience to their  children. They teach them all they know and they want their children do not make the  same mistakes. In addition to those practical benefits, learning from someone’s advice  is painless. For example, parents nowadays very often talk to their children about drugs.  I think it is a great example when one should not try drugs in order to gain new  experience. I think it is a case when children must trust their parents.

To sum up, I think it is wise to combine both of these ways to learn and try to analyze  personal mistakes as well as not personal. I think together they can greatly simplify  one’s life and make the way to success shorter.

 (350 words)

5. With the pressures on today’s young people to succeed academically, some people believe that non-academic subjects at school (eg: physical education and cookery) should be removed from the syllabus so that children can concentrate wholly on academic subjects. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

What young people should study at school has long been the subject of intense debate  and this is a question that certainly does not have one correct answer.

We need to provide young people the best possible chance of doing well at school. In  traditional curriculum there is a wide variety of subjects with a mix of academic and nonacademic subjects. In this way a young person is formed with a rounded education.  Non-academic subjects would include sports, cooking, woodwork and metalwork. I  believe this is the best form of education. A young person should learn things other than  academic subjects. Sport is particularly important. Young people have to learn to love  sport so that they can be fit and healthy later in life. If not we will be raising an obese  and unfit generation.

I totally understand the point of view that education is so important that students must  be pushed as hard as possible to achieve their best. It sounds a good idea to only  expose the students to academic subjects as then they can spend all of their school  hours on studying areas that will get them into university and good jobs later in life. I just  feel a more rounded education would produce a better individual. We must remember  too that a lot of people, maybe even most people, aren‛t academically minded and  would benefit more from a more vocationally based education. Forcing academic  studies onto them would lead to failure and the student leaving school too early.

Therefore I agree that although a wholly academic curriculum would suit and benefit  some young people, I believe that for most students non-academic subjects are  important inclusions still in today‛s syllabuses.

 (283 words)

6. In many countries, sports and exercise classes are replaced with the academic subjects. Discuss the effects of this trend.

Over the past few decades, academic subjects have become increasingly important in  this fast-changing information-based society. Nowadays, there has been a growing  debate as to whether it would be more effective to replace physical education classes  with academic subjects. Despite the importance of sports, I highly believe that it is  inevitable and more efficient to focus more on academic subjects for several reasons.

Those who argue that sports and exercise classes are needed in school base their case  on the following arguments. First of all, sports are a good way to build character and  develop personality. That is, there are necessary for learning about competition,  cooperation, and good sportsmanship. In addition, as a majority of children these days  are addicted to the Internet, they find it hard to leave their computer. Consequently, a  growing number of children are becoming overweight or obese due to a lack of  exercise. So, if schools foster an environment that deprives students of getting a proper  physical education, it will have a long-term negative effect on children both mentally and  physically.

Nevertheless, people should not ignore the fact that devoting more time and energy to  academic subjects will benefit students more in the long run. The time devoted to  physical education now would be better spent teaching students English. This is  because speaking fluent English will give young people an advantage over other college  applicants and job seekers in the near future. Besides, science will undoubtedly benefit  youth more than physical education as well. The principles learned in science will  provide the necessary foundation for solving and difficult problems that are sure to arise  in students’ futures.

In summary, there are high hopes that educators and parents exercise wisdom in  teaching young generations.

 (288 words)

7. Some people think high school graduates should travel or work for a period of time instead of going directly to study at university. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

High school students face many decisions as they prepare to graduate, including what  they are going to do after graduation. Some high school students go directly to college  or university after graduation. Others prefer to travel or work for some time before going  to university.

For those who choose to go college or university after graduation, there are advantages  and disadvantages. One of the big advantages of going directly from high school to  college is that you are still in the habit of studying. By going to college after graduation,  you do not lose the study skills that you developed during high school. The big  disadvantages, however, is that you may not be ready for college. You may not know  exactly what you want to study, or you may be more interested in freedom and parties  than in your courses. At that age, it is often difficult for students to take on the  responsibilities of college.

There are also advantages and disadvantages to working or traveling before starting  college. Working or traveling allows you a better idea of what you want to do with your  life. You gain practical experience that helps you define what you want to study. You  also are well prepared for the responsibilities of college or university studies. On the  other hand, by the time you start college, you will probably have obligations, like a job or  spouse, which keep you from focusing on studies. In addition, travelling or working  before college may cause you to spend enough time out of school that you forget how  to study.

The desicion of what to do after high school graduation can be a difficult one. Deciding  whether to go straight into college or university or take time to work or travel is  something that faces every high school student. After thinking about the advantages  and disadvantages of both options, the decision should be based on what is best for  you.

 (322 words)

8. The student who study from the school to university get benefit less and contribute less too, than those of student who go to travel or job and get skills and experience before going high. Do you agree or disagree?

Nowadays, in our competitive world, to succeed, knowledge from school and university  is not enough. Therefore, the student who study from the school to university get benefit  less and contribute less too, than those of student who go to travel or job and get  experience and skills before going high. There are two following reasons to prove for my  opinion. I call the group of people who study from school to university is group A and the other group is group B.

Firstly, at school and university, what group A gain is almost theory, theory and theory.  Of course, theory is very necessary, however, you can’t do everything with theory. You  must have practicable experience. This is what group A lack very much. Although in the  third of fourth year at university, group A can be apprentices in some companies, to help  them approach their future jobs, they aren’t trained well because of short time. And the  real job is still very strange with them. After graduating, without experience, group A  can’t accomplish their work perfectly. On the other hand, it take them time and money to  keep up with other experienced ones and may be scorned. Therefore, group A can  contribute less than group B who have the most two important things: skills and  experience.

Secondly, as group A is contribute less, they surely get less benefit. Moreover, many  companies which employ people in group A have to train them from the back-ground.  These companies take this cost from group A‟s salary to get rid of the fact that their  employees may leave after being trained to other companies. So, less benefit is  unavoidable and certain, Whereas group B are more loyal and effective workers. They  also have useful experience and skills. Besides, their education is the same as or even  higher than group A. As the result, group B get more benefit absolutely.

In conclusion, I think student should go to travel or job before going high. Therefore,  they can’t only have basic knowledge but also skills and experience which are useful for  them to get a good job and a brilliant future.

 (355 words)

9. Disruptive school students have a negative influence on others. Students who are noisy and disobedient should be grouped together and taught separately. Do you agree or disagree?

There is no doubt that some students in schools behave badly and their behaviour  causes difficulty for others either because it has a negative effect on the group or  because ordinary students find it difficult to study with them.

One solution is to take these students away and teach them on their own. However, if  we simply have them removed after one or two warnings, we are limiting their  educational opportunities because it seems to me that a school which caters for difficult  students is a sort of “prison” whatever name you give it and the people who go there may never recover from the experience. This can then cause problems for the wider  society.

Perhaps we need to look at why the disruptive students behave badly before we  separate them. Disruptive students may be very intelligent and find the classes boring  because the work is too easy. Perhaps these students need extra lessons rather than  separate lessons. Or perhaps the teachers are uninspiring and this results in  behavioural problems so we need better teachers. On the other hand, most studentsput  up with this situation rather than cause trouble, and some people argue that we have to  learn to suffer bad teachers and boring situations and that students who can’t learn this  lesson need to be taught separately.

So before we condemn the students to a special school, we should look at factors such  as the teaching, because once the children have been separated, it is very unlikely that  they will be brought back.

 (254 words)

10. Some people think that universities should not provide so much theoretical knowledge but give more practical training throughout their courses. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

In the past, a majority of academics have held the opinion that universities should only  offer a theoretically-based approach to teaching throughout their courses, as opposed  to the more recent trend towards empirical acquisition of knowledge involving more  “hands on” experience. Is this the most effective way for students to learn vital  academic information while undertaking their degrees? Undoubtedly, advantages and  disadvantages of both academic learning styles have to be evaluated.

Firstly, on the one hand, despite being the more traditional educational approach,  learning from theory in relevant academic discourses to identify established knowledge  allows us to gain a professional insight. For example, students can easily identify facts  and opinions from past discourses. In addition, students acquire knowledge more easily  when given relative theoretical examples to build upon. For instance, in subjects such  as history or sociology, studying textbook examples allows students to unravel complex  academic theories which they could expand on. Alternatively, there are some  disadvantages for students.

On the other hand, there is no doubt that students could find themselves reading  tedious and monotonous academic papers. For instance, university degrees involving  the evaluation of numerous „long-winded‟ academic discourses provide little inspiration  for students, discouraging enthusiasm. Obviously, interest can be stimulated through  empirical research in class. By this I mean that „the human brain learns best by doing‟.  Although time-consuming, there is no substitute for learning from making mistakes.

In conclusion, while both approaches have benefits and drawbacks in our ever- changing academic world, I honestly believe that a more practical approach promotes a  stronger acquisition of academic knowledge. In spite of the comprehensive nature which  theoretical teaching can possibly provide, practical learning equals more positive  learning for future generations.

 (281 words)

11. People attend college or university for many defferent reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge). Why do you think people attend college or university?

People attend college for a lot of different reasons. I believe that the three most common  reasons are to prepare for a career, to have new experiences, and to increase their knowledge  of themselves and of the world around them.

Career preparation is probably the primary reason that people attend college. These days, the  job market is very competitive. Careers such as information technology will need many new  workers in the near future. At college, students can learn new skills for these careers and  increase their opportunities for the future.

Students also go to college to have new experiences. For many, it is their first time away from  home. At college, they can meet new people from many different places. They can see what life  is like in a different city. They can learn to live on their own and take care of themselves without  having their family always nearby.

At college, students have the opportunity to increase their knowledge. As they decide what they  want to study, pursue their studies, and interact with their classmates, they learn a lot about  themselves. They also, of course, have the opportunity to learn about many subjects in their  classes. In addition to the skills and knowledge related to their career, college students also  have the chance to take classes in other areas. For many, this will be their last chance to study  different subjects.

Colleges offer much more than career preparation. They offer the opportunity to have new  experiences and to learn many kinds of things. I think all of these are reasons why people  attend college.

 (265 words)

People attend colleges or universities for a lot of different reasons. I believe that the  three most common reasons are to prepare for a career, to have new experiences, and  to increase their knowledge of themselves and the world around them.

Career preparation is becoming more and more important to young people. For many, this is the primary reason to go to college. They know that the job market is competitive.  At college, they can learn new skill for careers with a lot of opportunities. This means  careers, such as information technology, that are expected to need a large workforce in  the coming years.

Also, students go to colleges and universities to have new experiences. This often  means having the opportunity to meet people different from those in their hometowns.  For most students, going to college is the first time they’ve been away from home by  themselves. In additions, this is the first time they’ve had to make decisions on their  own. Making these decisions increases their knowledge of themselves.

Besides looking for self-knowledge, people also attend a university or college to expand  their knowledge in subjects they find interesting. For many, this will be their last chance  for a long time to learn about something that doesn’t relate to their career.

I would recommend that people not be so focused on a career. They should go to  college to have new experiences and learn about themselves and the world they live in.

 (243 words)

12. Nowadays, education overseas has become more accessible and growing numbers of people send their offspring to study in other countries. However, this trend has its detractors. I strongly believe that the pros far outweigh the cons, and will examine both below.

One of the greatest advantages is that the children learn to be independent. Having to cook,  clean, and pay bills instills this in them. Often they have to work part-time to make ends meet,  and this impresses upon them the importance of work and money management.

Another important factor is that these children will be exposed to different cultures and ways of  thinking. They will become more open-minded and tolerant and are likely to become more  adaptable individuals.

One of the main motives for sending young people abroad to study is that it enhances their  employment prospects. In my experience of living in foreign countries and speaking to various  youths, it seems that a foreign education is regarded as something desirable and helpful in  getting a decent job. A degree from Britain, for example, is seen as being of a higher standard  than one from a developing country. Furthermore, living in a foreign country may lead to fluency  in a second language, which is another selling point for prospective employers. In addition,  many companies are keen to recruit people with a global outlook.

There are a few drawbacks however. For instance, without parental supervision, the new found freedom children experience may lead to harmful practices such as drug-taking and drinking.  Reluctance or inability to reintegrate into their mother country is another. To sum up, it can be  seen that the advantages of studying abroad for children are more numerous than the  disadvantages. Of course a lot depends on the age of the child, but I believe that for most  teenagers it would be a positive experience.

 (266 words)

13. It has been said, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

“Experience is the best teacher” is an old cliché, but I agree with it. We can learn a lot of  important things from books, but the most important lessons in life come from our own  experiences. Throughout the different stages of life, from primary school to university to  adulthood, experience teaches us many skills we need for life.

As children in primary school, we learn facts and information from books, but that is not all we  learn in school. On the playground we learn how to make friends. In our class work, we learn  how it feels to succeed and what we do when we fail. We start to learn about the things we like  to do and the things we don’t. We don’t learn these things from books, but from our experiences  with our friends and classmates.

In our university classes, we learn a lot of information and skills we will need for our future  careers, but we also learn a lot that is not in our textbooks. In our daily lives both in class and  out of class, we learn to make decisions for ourselves. We learn to take on responsibilities. We  learn to get along with our classmates, our roommates, and our workmates. Our successes and  failures help us develop skills we will need in our adult lives. They are skills that no book can  teach us.

Throughout our adulthood, experience remains a constant teacher. We may continue to read or  take classes for professional development. However, our experiences at work, at home, and  with our friends teach us more. The triumphs and disasters of our lives teach us how to improve  our careers and also how to improve our relationships and how to be the person each one of us  wants to be.

Books teach us a lot, but there is a limit to what they teach. They can give us information or  show us another person’s experiences. These are valuable things, but the lessons we learn  from our own experiences, from childhood through adulthood, are the most important ones we  learn.

 (346 words)

People are learning and practicing through their entire life. I believe that life  experience and practice are the basic reasons of the humankind’s evolution. However,  in my opinion, knowledge gained from books plays a very important role in the modern  life.

The most obviously important advantage of books is that they hold all knowledge gained  by previous generations. People write books about their discoveries and inventions,  which are gained through practice and experience. This knowledge is accumulated in  books that are passed from generation to generation. So, basically, people get all  knowledge about the previous achievements from books, analyze it and than, according  to their experience and new data, write new books. In this case, books are the holders  of humankind’s experience.

For example, at old times people thought that the Earth was flat. It was concluded from  observations and studying. However, the next generations, using the experience of  their ancestors, proved that the Earth was round.

Personally, I think that books are very important because they are able to give people  the basic and fundamental knowledge. Books store history, the important events and  discoveries. Without them it is difficult and sometimes impossible to move forward,  make new discoveries and inventions.

To summarize, I think a person should take basic knowledge from books because it will  help him to make his own inventions, conclusions and discoveries. Only using both  books and one’s experience one can move forward.

 (237 words)

14. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should read only those books that are about real events, real people, and established facts. Use specific reasons and details to support your opinion .

Some people think that fiction books have no use at all. They claim that people should  read about real events that took place, real people, and established facts. I have to  totally disagree with this statement. From my everyday experience and observation I  can stand that fiction, miracles and fairy tails are required in our life. For several  reasons, which I will mention below, I believe that fiction books play an essential role in  our life.

First of all, it is kind of difficult to imagine a six year old child reading about politics or  history with the real facts that are not always pleasant. I think that children need  miracles and Santa Claus because the real world is too complicated for them. They are  too innocent and inexperienced to know the real facts and understand what a real life is  about. In addition, I am sure that making a child read only non-fiction books can result in  shock.

Second of all, following this statement about refusing from reading books about fiction  events we also should refuse from festivals, parades, and celebration such holidays as Halloween because most of the characters there are fictional. Moreover, comic books  will disappear as well as animated films and fiction movies. The disadvantage of nonfiction lies in the facts that nothing happens to excite the mind and spirit. From the other side, fiction provides a great slope for a mind to think creatively.

In conclusion, I think that people need miracles. We can not be satisfied with only naked  truth. Human kind must believe in something and this belief helps people break limits and make new inventions.

 (273 words)

15. Going overseas for university study is an exciting prospect for many people. But while it may offer some advantages, it is probably better to stay home because of the difficulties a student inevitably encounters living and studying in a different culture. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

There is no doubt that going to study in a foreign country, with its different language and culture,  can be a frustrating and sometimes painful experience. But while overseas study has its  drawbacks, the difficulties are far outweighed by the advantages. Indeed, people who go abroad  for study open themselves up to experiences that those who stay at home will never have.

The most obvious advantage to overseas university study is real-life use of a different language.  While a person can study a foreign language in his or her own country, it cannot compare with  constant use of the language in academic and everyday life. There is no better opportunity to  improve second-language skills than living in the country in which it is spoken. Moreover, having  used the language during one’s studies offers a distinct advantage when one is applying for jobs  back home that require the language.

On a university campus, the foreign student is not alone in having come from far away. He or  she will likely encounter many others from overseas and it is possible to make friends from all  around the world. This is not only exciting on a social level, but could lead to important overseas  contacts in later professional life.

Finally, living and studying abroad offers one a new and different perspective of the world and,  perhaps most important, of one’s own country. Once beyond the initial shock of being in a new  culture, the student slowly begins to get a meaningful understanding of the host society. On  returning home, one inevitably sees one’s own country in a new, often more appreciative, light.

In conclusion, while any anxiety about going overseas for university study is certainly  understandable, it is important to remember that the benefits offered by the experience make it  well worthwhile.

 (299 words)

16. Many students do not finish school. Why is this, and how can the problem be solved? School Drop-Outs: Problems and Solutions

Today, although most students in the UAE complete school, a large number still drop  out because of family, social and work pressures. This problem requires serious action  from both individuals and the government.

Most students who do not complete school do so because of family problems. Girls,  especially, want to get married and start a family. Some parents are not interested in  education and do not support their children in studying. Social problems are also a  contributing factor. Education is compulsory but, despite this, some people do not take it  seriously. Furthermore, jobs are available even if students do not have a good  education. The third reason is work pressure. Some families are poor and need their  children to work in order to increase the income. All these problems will create young  people who do not have any skills and who will not be able to improve their lives for the  family and the country.

There are several things that can be done about these problems. Parents should be  encouraged to send their children to school. Schools with baby-minding facilities should  be opened specially for married students. The government needs to stress the  importance of education and even offer financial support to students to continue. This  will encourage students to stay at school rather than start working.

In conclusion, there are several things that the government can do to allow more people  to finish school. However, a number of society attitudes also have to change if the  country’s young people are to achieve their full potential.

 (256 words)

17. Does a university education lead to success in life?

It is very difficult to answer the claim that a person needs a university education to be  successful in life because success in life means different things to different people. This  essay starts by defining three different ideas of success. Following this, it looks at which  types of success are dependent on a university education.

Success in life can be achieved in different ways. Many magazines and television  programmes tell us that success means having a lot of money, having a fulfilling career,  and being powerful. In contrast, most religious and spiritual organizations claim that  success means finding spiritual happiness and being at peace with God and with yourself. Another idea of success focuses on relationships – being surrounded by  people who love you and care about you, spending time with family and friends.

A university education can help you achieve some types of success, but it makes little  or no difference to whether or not you are successful in other areas of life. Undoubtedly,  a university education is essential if you want to have a career in a profession such as  law, engineering, teaching, or medicine. However, you do not need a university degree  to become a wealthy and powerful movie star, sports star or business person. In fact, a  university education does not generally enable you to achieve spiritual happiness, or to  have successful relationships with family and friends.

In conclusion, there are many different types of success. A university education may  help you to achieve professional success in some careers. However, it will not help you  to achieve success in other areas of your life such as your spiritual life or your  relationships.

 (275 words)

18. Education: Losing its Value

Today, it seems to be universally accepted that increased education is a good thing.  Thousands of colleges and millions of students spend vast amounts of time and money  chasing pieces of paper. But what is the value of these qualifications? This essay will  discuss whether education has been devalued.

Supporters of education (usually teachers or educators, or those who have an interest  in stopping people thinking for themselves) say that increased levels of education will  open doors for students. Certificates, diplomas, and degrees are held up as a status  symbol, a passport to a private club of money and power.

However, the truly powerful are not those who have taken degrees, but people who  have stood back and looked at what is really important in life. They have seen  opportunity and followed dreams. These people are found in every part of society. Like  many brilliant people, Einstein was a weak student at math. Like many successful  businessmen, Bill Gates never completed college. Like many inventive and creative  people, Edison never went to school. The greatest religious teachers do not have letters  after their name, but have looked into their hearts for meaning. Similarly, the world’s  political leaders do not have master’s degrees or doctorates. These are the people who  shaped our century, and they are too busy with real life to spend time in the paper  chase.

Students in college are being sold an illusion. They are made to believe that self-understanding and society approval will come with the acquisition of a piece of paper.  Instead of thinking for themselves, and finding their own personality and strengths, they  are fitted like square pegs into round holes.

The role of education is to prepare masses of people to operate at low levels of ability in  a very limited and restricted range of activities. Some of these activities are more  challenging than perhaps the assembly lines of the past, but still the ultimate purpose is  equally uninteresting. More worryingly, despite the increased level of education, people  are still not genuinely expected to think for themselves. In fact, the longer years of  schooling make the job of brainwashing even easier.

There is still a role for study, research, and education. However, we need to examine  our emphasis on education for the sake of a piece of paper, and to learn the real  meaning and revolutionary challenge of knowledge.

 (395 words)

19. Education: Still Invaluable!

In the past, degrees were very unusual in my family. I remember the day my uncle  graduated. We had a huge party, and for many years my mother called him “the genius”  and listened to his opinion. Today, in comparison five of my brothers and sisters have  degrees, and two are studying for their masters’. However, some people think that this  increased access to education is devaluing degrees. In this essay, I will look at some of  the arguments for and against the increased emphasis on degrees in our society.

People have several arguments against the need for degrees. They say that having so  many graduates devalues a degree. People lose respect for the degree holder. It is also  claimed that education has become a rat race. Graduates have to compete for jobs  even after years of studying. Another point is that studying for such a long time leads to  learners becoming inflexible. They know a lot about one narrow subject, but are unable  to apply their skills. Employers prefer more flexible and adaptable workers.

However, I feel strongly that this move to having more qualifications is a positive  development. In the past education was only for the rich and powerful. Now it is  available to everyone, and this will have many advantages for the country and the  individual. First of all, it is impossible to be overeducated. The more people are  educated, the better the world will be, because people will be able to discuss and  exchange ideas. A further point is that people with degrees have many more  opportunities. They can take a wider variety of jobs and do what they enjoy doing,  instead of being forced to take a job they dislike. Finally, a highly educated workforce is  good for the economy of the country. It attracts foreign investment.

In conclusion, although there are undoubtedly some problems with increased levels of  education, I feel strongly that the country can only progress if all its people are educated  to the maximum of their ability.

 (336 words)

20. It is often said that the subjects taught in schools are too academic in orientation and that it would be more useful for children to learn about practical matters such as home management, work and interpersonal skills. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

A criticism often heard these days is that the subjects taught in schools tend to be too  academic, and contribute little to preparing a young person for the real-life tasks he or she will  have to perform after graduation. They say that academic subjects are rooted in the past, and  are not useful for solving modern problems. I disagree with this point of view for three reasons.

My first reason is that it is the duty of parents, not teachers, to prepare their children to deal with  the practical affairs of life. The home, not the classroom, is the ideal place to learn about home  management and interpersonal skills. As for work abilities and attitudes, they are best learned  “on the job” and under the supervision of an experienced older worker.

My second reason is that academic subjects have withstood the test of time. They represent the  accumulated wisdom of our ancestors down through the ages, and, far from being impractical,  they equip us with the knowledge and confidence to make sound judgements about any  problems which may crop up. In addition, academic subjects are good for training us in mental  discipline, while practical subjects are weak in this regard.

My third reason is based on the saying “Man does not live by bread alone.” Schooldays devoted  solely to instruction in down-to-earth practical matters would be dull indeed! Lessons in the best  literature of the world, and the epoch-making scientific and geographical discoveries of the past  enrich our lives and make us feel that we are part of the great family of mankind.

All in all, the teaching of academic subjects in schools is entirely appropriate. It is my firmly held  view that practical subjects have no place in the classroom. On the contrary, the curriculum  should be more academic!

 (300 words)

21. It has been said, “Not every thing that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

“Experience is the best teacher” is an old cliché, but I agree with it. The most important,  and sometimes the hardest, lessons we learn in life come from our participation in  situations. You can‟ learn everything from a book.

Of course, learning from books in a formal educational setting is also valuable. It’s in  schools that we learn the information we need to function in our society. We learn how  to speak and write and understand mathematical equations. This is all information that  we need to live in our communities and earn a living.

Nevertheless, I think that the most important lessons can’t be taught; they have to be  experienced. No one can teach us how to get along with others or how to have self-respect. As we grow from children into teenagers, no one can teach us how to deal with peer pressure. As we leave adolescence behind and enter adult life, no one can teach us how to fall in love and get married.

This shouldn’t stop us from looking for guidelines along the way. Teachers and parents  are valuable sources of advice when we’re young. As we enter into new stages in our  lives, the advice we receive from them is very helpful because they have already bad  similar experiences. But experiencing our own triumphs and disasters is really the only  way to learn how to deal with life.

 (232 words)

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