IELTS Speaking Test # 101

Part One - Introduction

[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and
other familiar topics.]

Food and cooking:

Q. What sorts of food do you like eating most? [Why?]

A. I mostly like to eat traditional foods and anything that is healthy. From this regard, I
prefer homemade foods over fast food items. Some of my favourite food items are dates,
fruits, fish, Kabsa, Maqluba, Shuwaa, vegetables and Khabees.

Homemade foods, our traditional foods, fish, vegetables and fruits that I prefer are far
better than the street food and fast food in terms of their food values and nutritional aspects.
I believe eating habit takes time to grow and for a long, I have tried to follow a good diet.

Q. Who normally does the cooking in your home?

A. Well, my mother is in charge to prepare food and look after the menu. We have a
housemaid who helps my mother in that. Sometimes my elder sister assists my mom for
cooking but this is a very rare occasion.

Q. Do you watch cookery programmes on TV? [Why/Why not?]

A. Cooking is not my passion and I rarely try to cook in real-life. However, watching
cookery programme on TV is very interesting, at least in my taste. I often watch cookery TV
shows like Baking With Julia, Daisy Cooks!, MasterChef, and World Class Cuisine and like
the way they present new menus and their excellent way of cooking. They have taken
cooking in to the next level and it seems like cooking is an art to them.

Q. In general, do you prefer eating out or eating at home? [Why?]

A. I usually avoid eating outside and prefer to eat homemade items. Homemade food items
have better taste, food values and I enjoy my dinner with my family members more than
eating in a restaurant or a bistro. Furthermore, restaurant foods are quite expensive in my
country.

Part 2 - Cue Card

 [The topic for your talk will be written on a card which the examiner will hand you.
Read it carefully and then make some brief notes.]
Describe a house/apartment that someone you know
lives in.
You should say:
 whose house/apartment this is
 where the house/apartment is
 what it looks like inside
and explain what you like or dislike about this person’s house/apartment.
[ You will have to talk about the topic for one to two 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.]
Sample Answer to this Cue Card Topic:

Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Discussion topics:

Different types of home:

Q. What kinds of home are most popular in your country? Why is this?
A. In urban areas, high-rising buildings are the most common accommodation type for
people. Even though many of them like an independent two-storied bungalow, this is not
affordable for all. Only rich people have such houses.

The villages have mud houses, and tent houses which look quite different and have a great
traditional value in my country. With the modernisation and increasing population, the
traditional houses are being replaced by high-rising modern buildings.

Q. What do you think are the advantages of living in a house rather than an
apartment?
A. Houses are usually capacious, have spaces in front of it and offer better views than the
apartments. A house owner can design the house the way he likes, expand it and can
change the architect on his wish. Moreover, a homeowner enjoys a great freedom and
have open air and sunlight that the apartment dwellers often miss.

Q. Do you think that everyone would like to live in a larger home? Why is that?
A. I believe so. If people have had a choice, almost everyone would love to live in a large
house rather than an apartment.
An apartment is a minimum arrangement for a family to have some rooms to live in. It does
not offer open space, facilities to have gardens, flower plants and yard. The homeowners,
on the contrary, can enjoy these facilities and enjoy a great freedom which is unimaginable
in an apartment.

Finding a place to live:

Q. How easy is it to find a place to live in your country?

A. Well, it is moderately easier in a small town but quite difficult in a large city. Bit cities are
already struggling to accommodate a large number of population and proper housing is a
problem for many. If someone does not have a good budget to spend on his
accommodation per month, he will surely find it hard to arrange a nice place to live in.

Q. Do you think it’s better to rent or to buy a place to live in? Why?
A. I think owning a house is far better than renting one. However, this varies from person to
person and if the person wants to permanently settle in a place, he should think about
purchasing a place rather than renting one. However, for a brief staying, renting is a better
option in my opinion.

Q. Do you agree that there is a right age for young adults to stop living with their
parents? Why is that?
A. I do not think that someone should ever leave his parents permanently, at least I would
never do so. However, it is quite logical that someone needs to leave his house for better
education and job opportunity but this does not mean that that the person has to decide at
a certain age that - 'well, I have lived with my parents for a long and now the time has come
for me to start living with my fiance or friends'. In my country, a boy or a girl leaves the
house for higher studies and reunite with the family after she/ he has a job.
 Describe a house/ apartment that someone you
know lives in.
Please say:
 whose house/apartment this is
 where the house/apartment is
 what it looks like inside
and explain what you like or dislike about this person’s house/apartment.
Sample Answer 1: (House in Sheffield, England)
Well, at first, I was a bit flummoxed by this topic. I suppose that’s because it is easy to take
for granted the sorts of accommodation people live in, and not really pause to think about it
all that much. I have moved around a lot for work and so try not to get too attached to
houses or flats I’ve rented as I am never sure how long I might be in them. The location of
the accommodation is usually the most important thing for me when I’m choosing where I
live, and so I don’t really tend to judge other people’s living situations as they too can be
precarious. However, now you have given me the topic to talk about, I can think of one
example of where a friend lives that immediately comes to mind. I’m going to tell you all
about her house, where it is, what it’s like (as best I can) and the pros and cons of her
choice of home.

So, this friend of mine is someone who I’ve known for years. She is married, and shares
her home with her husband and two almost grown up children. They are quite a sporty
household, interested in lots of activities like walking, cycling, running and music. Both her
sons play in student bands. My friend also runs her own business (mail-order cookies) from
the basement of her home, so it’s quite a busy household!

The house is in Nether Edge, which is an established residential suburb in the south-west
of the City of Sheffield, England. This is in colloquial terms quite a ‘posh’ area of Sheffield!
It is a relatively affluent area with wide tree-lined streets and lots of little boutique shops,
delicatessens and even its own well-established amateur theatre in the area. It has a real
community feel, everyone there seems to know their neighbours and take an interest in
what is going on on their doorstep. The houses tend to be Victorian, built of solid
stone. The grandest houses have their own walled gardens and are packed with ‘original
features’ like large windows, beautiful old fire-places, picture rails and wooden floorboards.
Some of the houses have now been sub-divided into flats, and there are a few newer
properties tucked away within the region. Generally, though, it’s a very pretty area of the
city, with a mix of attractive terraced houses and some larger detached properties. It is
certainly a very ‘desirable’ place to live, particularly for people with families, as it is safe,
with a community feel and properties large enough to accommodate the biggest of families.
The house my friend lives in is a beautiful rambling Victorian home. It has many original
fireplaces with black hearthstones and attractive tiles along the sides of the open fire grates.
There are wooden floors a-plenty, high ceilings and the house goes up three floors high as
well as down into the basement. She has converted this area into a lovely kitchen for her
business on one side of the basement, the other side has racks of bikes carefully stored
away in the dry. In the walled garden, she can keep a few chickens – which is a relatively
rare privilege in what is almost a city location. Because the house is usually a hive of
activity, the kitchen is always a warm and friendly place where you can sit at the large
kitchen table and catch up on gossip over a cup of coffee. From the hallway, there is a
large reception room where in winter you can snuggle up in front of a roaring open fire on
one of the two squidgy sofas placed in their for guests. The house has great character, a
little bit of faded grandeur perhaps, but it is really impressive.

What do I like about the property! Well, it’s gorgeous, I love the quirkiness of the Victorian
property, the luxury of a real fire and the original features are stunning. It is a busy
household where there is always something going on and a warm welcome too, it isn’t just
the architecture of the building and the possessions within it that make it an attractive
property, it is the family within it! In my dreams, I’d love to live in a property like this,
however, the reality could be a bit different. The tall ceilings and large rooms are indeed
gorgeous, but they aren’t very practical in an English winter. The property is hard to heat
and the electricity bills must be huge. All those open-fires and so many stairs and rooms
make it hard to keep clean. Old houses don’t tend to have much in the way of storage, so
there is a constant battle to find ‘homes’ for the clutter of living. Still, I reckon that would be
a small price to pay for such a lovely home, one day perhaps... In the meantime, I feel very
lucky that my friend is so willing to welcome me and others to come and visit her there and
enjoy it too. I’ve had some very happy times in that lovely home, but you know what, if she
had to move I’m sure as she is so hospitable, I’d find I quickly became just as attached to
her new home even if it was a complete contrast and a small, modern flat in a high rise
block. It is people that make a home, not the bricks used to construct the walls that
surround them!

[Lucy Marris (2016): Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam)]

Model Answer 2:
My younger sister, who is married to a doctor, lives in a large apartment and this is quite an
elegant apartment in my opinion. For this cue card topic, I would like to talk about this
apartment which is located in the northern part of the (…say the city name here…).
My sister’s name is Emmy and his husband is a renowned doctor. They bought this
apartment 2 years ago and live there with their only son Christopher. The apartment is on
the 3rd floor of a six-storied building which is located in the 2nd lane of the (… say the area
name here…). It is only 20 minutes walking distance from my house. On an average, I visit
my nephew and sister twice in a month.

The whole apartment is more than 2600 square feet and has 4 bedrooms, one dining room.
The verandahs are quite large and my sister had put several flower pots there which have
enhanced the beauty of the whole apartment. The apartment is comparatively spacious and
the while coloured indoor looks new to me. The rooms all have attached bathrooms with
them and most of the furniture were bought from the most renowned and branded shops.
My sister had an interior designing diploma and she has put every effort to make her own
house look beautiful. From a neutral point of view, I would say she is a talented interior
designer as she has been quite successful to make the interior of her own house
impressive. The large wooden furniture, the modern and sophisticated design of most of
the furniture and handpicked wall-frames gives a rich impression to a guest who visits this
apartment.

I like this apartment because it has got a large space, unlike many other apartments I have
visited. The rooms give complete privacy to the house members as they are not adjacent to
each other. The interior of the apartment is quite attractive. Moreover, my sister, as an
interior designer has designed it perfectly. The apartment gives me the impression of
beauty and comfort. For these reasons, I love this apartment.

More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task

Card topic:
Topic: Describe the most polite person you have come across in
your life.
1. The house belongs to Mr Samuel and this is located in the northeast corner of the main
street of the locality I live in Thailand. The house has a grandeur look. The furniture and
interior are decorated with modern design. In fact, I was greatly amazed at the inner look
than the outer one. I like the house because it is beautiful and spacious. It has a very nice
garden in front of the house and all the rooms are capacious. He is also planning to build a
small swimming pool inside the house which would increase the attraction indeed.

2. Richard took me to his apartment last month. In fact, I went there to get some music CDs.
The apartment is located near the 7central station in Paris. It was a small apartment –
around 700 square feet. And the inner environment was not so good. I felt suffocated after
entering the apartment. And I also could not like the apartment because it not well
organized. My friend Richard is a not an organized person at all. So, he keeps the place
untidy which caused irritation to me.

3. Living in a small apartment could be beneficial and Patrick has proved it. He lives in the
opposite apartment of mine here in Japan. He is a foreign businessman struggling to settle
in Japan. He has nicely decorated his apartment. In fact, he is all set to get married to his
fiancé and so, decorated his apartment. The furniture and other necessaries are set in the
right place. And I like the apartment for the outstanding colour combination. He has
combined different shades together which makes it look wonderful.

4. Marry lives with her parents in a large house here in Germany. The house is located in a
prime location in Munich. This is an extraordinary house that is not available in the present
days. The inner part of the house is divided into separate sections and the number of
rooms is more than I imagined. The house was built a long ago by her forefathers and still
bears the testimony of the past days. I like the house for several reasons and the large and
spacious corridors are one of them. There are ample spaces too for recreation in large
yards.

5. Majority of the houses in India are smaller now and when I went to meet Mr Arvind at his
house, I was disappointed to see the house condition. The house was located in a corner of
the new street in Mumbai. It did not have a good look. In line with the outer part, the inner
side was almost ruined. In fact, it needed a renovation. The inner part of the house was
almost ruined and I was unable to stay there for longer times fearing the fall of the roof.
Actually, I could not like the house from the beginning because of its too much shabby and
almost broken outlook.
Part 3: Discussion topics:
Different types of home:
Q. What kinds of home are most popular in your country? Why is this?
Q. What do you think are the advantages of living in a house rather than an apartment?
Q. Do you think that everyone would like to live in a larger home? Why is that?

Finding a place to live:

Q. How easy is it to find a place to live in your country?
Q. Do you think it’s better to rent or to buy a place to live in? Why?
Q. Do you agree that there is a right age for young adults to stop living with their parents?
Why is that?