IELTS Speaking, Part 2: Practice Questions with

Sample Answers
ielts-academic.com/2011/11/24/ielts-speaking-ielts-speaking-part-2-practice-questions-with-sample-answers

IELTSAcademic November 24, 2011

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Practice Questions

For each question, you have one minute to prepare your answer, and you should then
speak for one to two minutes.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Sample Answers and Analysis

Question 1

Describe a major decision you have taken in your life.

You should say:
– What the decision was
– What other choices were available to you
– Why you made the decision you did
And explain if you think the decision was a good one.

A really important decision I’ve made recently is to study abroad, which is the reason I’m
here talking to you now. No-one from my family has ever had the chance to study abroad
before. My parents were actually hoping I’d start working for our family textile business as
soon as I graduate. I think it’s too soon to join the family business though. I really want to
study marketing – especially fashion marketing – and English so I can sell our company
products to buyers all over the world. If I study fashion marketing in the UK, I can learn
how to do business in the fashion industry, which is of course very competitive and fast-
moving. As for whether it was the right decision, I’m pretty confident it was and I can’t
change my mind now anyway because I borrowed money from my parents to pay for my
tuition. I’m going to do my best to finish my course and I will go back to my country with
new ideas that will help expand our business. All I need now is to get a good score in
IELTS. So, anyway, that’s an important decision in my life.

Like many questions in IELTS Speaking Part 2, this one deals with an event or action in
the past. There is, however, a switch to the present when the candidate is required to
reflect on the decision.

This IELTS candidate scores highly by:

Getting straight to the point and saying what the decision was in the very first
sentence
Paraphrasing the topic: A really important decision

1/4
 Using a range of tenses – past simple, present simple and present perfect – with
great accuracy
Using a wide range of grammatical forms such as a conditional sentence (If I…) and
a cleft sentence (All I need now is…)
Signalling parts of the question: As for whether it was the right decision…
Avoiding over-formality and using expressions such as actually and pretty that are
appropriate to conversational style
Providing a summarising sentence to wrap up the response

Question 2

Describe something you do to forget about work or study.

You should say:
– What the activity is
– How often you do it
– How it helps you forget
And say whether you would recommend other people try the same thing.

I’d like to talk about horse-riding, which has been my hobby since I was around ten years
old. I’m actually the joint owner of a horse with two of my friends and we take turns
looking after him, cleaning out the stable and so on. I don’t have a part-time job so I spend
most of my weekends at the stable. Taking care of a horse is quite a dirty business so it’s
obviously very different from studying at college. That means I can forget about my classes
during the week when I’m at the stable on the weekend. There’s quite a large field next to
the stable and I just get a wonderful sense of freedom when I’m riding around on my horse.
College seems a million miles away! Do I think other people would enjoy horse-riding? Yes,
absolutely. I think everyone should give it a try. Horses are absolutely wonderful animals,
very gentle and intelligent. If you ever have the chance to ride a horse, you should definitely
give it a try.

This is a much trickier question because the words work and study in the first sentence
may lead some IELTS candidates to speak about either of those topics. In fact, you should
speak about some kind or leisure activity or other form of relaxation that helps you forget
about work or study.

This IELTS candidate scores highly by:

Showing a clear understanding of the question

Getting straight to the point by mentioning the activity in the first sentence
Using present simple verbs throughout to show that this is a regular activity
Sticking to the question even though the topic might be a very enjoyable one to
speak about
Showing awareness of hyperbole (a million miles), phrasal verbs (give it a try) and
other forms common to spoken English
Using a rhetorical question to move from one part of the question to another: Do I
think…?

2/4
 Ending with a clear concluding sentence, in this case a recommendation

Question 3

Describe a language you would like to learn.

You should say:
– What the language is
– Where it is spoken
– Why you are interested in this language
And say if you think you will ever actually have the chance to learn it.

Let me tell you about a language I’ve always wanted to learn, which is Russian. It’s spoken
in Russia, obviously, but also in many other countries which have been influenced by Russia
including places like Mongolia and Kazakhstan. It’s quite a difficult language to learn
because the alphabet is not the Roman one, which means that you have to learn to read and
write from scratch, a but like studying Chinese or Japanese. Well, the reason I would like to
learn Russian is that the energy industry is huge and there are lots of jobs. A lot of my
country’s oil and gas comes from Russia so it’s really useful to be able to speak that
language if you want to work in the energy field. I have actually been to Russia before so I
know from experience that a lot of Russians can’t speak English very well, so that’s another
good reason to learn their language. The only problem is I’m already thirty years old and
I’ve spent more than fifteen years learning English. I don’t know if I would ever be able to
learn Russian successfully because it’s a difficult language for anyone to learn, especially
someone older like me. But it would be really great to try.

One problem IELTS candidates have with hypothetical questions such as this one is that
they fail to recognise them as hypothetical. Since candidates are already learning English,
they should talk about another language that is neither English nor their first language.
This can be realistic (e.g. Spanish) or unrealistic (e.g. Ancient Greek). It doesn’t matter as
long as the language is not one you are currently learning.

This IELTS candidate scores highly by:

Beginning with an impact sentence: Let me tell you about…

Using would to show that the response is hypothetical
Signalling parts of the question: The reason I would like to learn Russian is…
Using reference links to avoid overuse of the topic word ‘Russian’: that language;
their language; it
Giving more than one reason
Returning to the main point of the question in the final sentence

Teacher’s Note

What is the secret of a high score in IELTS Speaking Part 2? Hint: it’s not about
answering all parts of the question within the time limit! All three sample answers have
these things in common: the topic is stated very clearly at the beginning; references are

3/4
made to the question throughout; there is awareness of spoken
english forms; verb tense is accurate; most importantly, the
speaker makes a huge effort to keep talking.

4/4