IELTS Speaking - Part 1

The questions in Part 1 are on general topics about your life. Your answers are from your
life and experience. There is no right or wrong answer.

1. About you
2. Study
3. Work
4. Your town
5. Free time
6. Holidays
7. Places to go in your free time
8. Transport
9. Shopping
10. Your neighbourhood
11. Reading
12. Sports and games

About you

1. What is your (full) name?

2. Can I have your name please?
3. Could you tell me your full name please?
4. What shall I call you?
5. How can I address you?
6. Does your name have any special meaning?
7. Is your name important to you?
8. Do Korean people like changing their name? Why?
9. Have you ever changed your name? Why or why not?
10. Why do so many people change their name?
11. Do you work or study?

Study

1. What are you studying?

2. Where do you study that?
3. What’s your major?
4. Is it a popular subject in your country?
5. Why did you choose that subject?
6. If you had a chance, would you like to change the subject?
 7. Do you plan to get a job in the same field as your subject?
8. What do you find most interesting about your course?
9. What is your favorite subject?
10. What do you dislike about your study?
11. What do you hope to do after your graduation?
12. What are your ambitions for the future?
13. Do you hope to gain any qualifications?
14. What are the advantages of studying instead of working?

Work

1. Can you describe your job to me?

2. What do you do for a living?
3. How long have you been doing it?
4. Can you describe one of your typical working days?
5. What’s your daily routine on a working day?
6. Why did you choose to do that job?
7. What things do you enjoy about your work? Why?
8. What do you think is the attraction of your work?
9. What is your ideal job?
10. Do you want to change your current job? Why or why not?
11. Are you willing to keep your job permanently?
12. What are your plans for the future?

Your town

1. Can you describe your city to me?

Tell me something about your hometown.
Where are you from?
Where is your hometown?
Where do you come from?
2. What is the name of the street you live on?
What kind of street do you live on?
3. What is the oldest place in your hometown?
4. What do you like about your city?
5. What is the weather like in your city?
6. What building is considered famous in your city?
7. What is there for a foreigner to do or see in your hometown?
8. What jobs do people in your city do?
9. How has your city changed over the last twenty years?
10. How could your hometown be improved?
 11. Is there good public transportation in your hometown?
12. What changes have taken place in your city in recent years?
13. Do you think it is better to live in the center of town or outside in the country? Why?

Free time

1. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

2. How much time do you have each week for doing these things?
3. Why do you like doing these activities?
4. How did you start doing this activity at first?
5. Is there some other hobby or sport you would like to try? Why?
6. How has the way people spend their free time changed over the years?

Holidays

1. What do you do when you have a holiday?

2. Who do you usually spend holiday with?
3. Where do you like to spend your holidays? Why?
4. Can you describe a typical day in your holidays?
5. Why are holidays and important to you?
6. If you could take a holiday anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why?
7. What do people usually do during holidays and in your town?

Places to go in your free time

1. What do people do in your town in their free time?

2. Where can they go out for entertainment, or to enjoy themselves?
3. Which do you prefer: eating in restaurants or eating at home?
4. Which are the best places to eat out?

Transport

1. How did you come here today?

2. What is public transport like in your town?
3. How do you think it could be improved?
4. Do you think people should use public transport more? Why (not)?

Shopping

1. How much time do you spend shopping every week?

 2. Do you enjoy going shopping? Why (not)?
3. What is your favourite shop and why do you like it?
4. What problems are there with shopping in your area?

Your neighborhood

1. Can you describe the house where you live to me?

2. What is there to do in the area where you live?
3. What do you like about the area where you live?
4. How do you think it could be improved?
5. Do you think it is better to live in the centre of town or outside in the country? Why?

Reading

1. Do you enjoy reading? Why?

2. What sort of things do you read?
3. Tell me something about your favourite book.
4. What are the advantages of reading instead of watching television or going to the
cinema?

Sports and games

1. What sports are most popular in your country?

2. What sports and games did you most enjoy playing
3. When you were a child?
4. Do people take as much exercise as in the past?
5. Why is exercise good for you?

Home

1. Where is your home?

2. Do you live in a house or a flat?
3. Who do you live with?
4. Are there many rooms in your house?
5. What is your favorite room?
6. How are the walls decorated?
7. What would you change about your home?
8. Do you plan to live there in future?
9. What facilities are there in your house?
 10. What is your neighborhood like?

Art
1. Are you good at art?
2. Did you learn art at school when you were a child?
3. What kind of art did you like?
4. Is art popular in your country?
5. Have you ever been to an art gallery?
6. Do you think children can benefit from going to art galleries?

Birthdays

1. Do you enjoy your birthdays?

2. Do you usually celebrate your birthdays?
3. What did you do on your last birthday?
4. Can you remember a birthday you enjoyed as a child?
5. Do most people celebrate their birthdays with a party in your country?
6. Which birthdays are considered important in your country?

Clothes

1. Are clothes important to you?

2. What kind of clothes do you usually wear?
3. Do you ever wear traditional clothes in your country?
4. Where do you usually buy your clothes?
5. Have you ever worn a uniform?
6. Do most people in your country follow fashion?

Daily routine

1. When do you usually get up in the morning?

2. Do you usually have the same routine every day?
3. What is your daily routine?
4. Do you ever change your routine?
5. Is your routine the same today as it was when you were a child?
6. Do you think it is important to have a daily routine?

Evenings
1. What do you often do in the evenings?
2. Do you do the same thing every evening?
 3. Do you prefer to spend your evenings with family or friends?
4. Do you ever study or work in the evenings?
5. What is a popular activity for young people in your country in the evenings?
6. Do you do the same things in the evenings as you did when you were a child?
Family and friends

1. Do you spend much time with your family?

2. Who are you closest to in your family?
3. Do you prefer spending time with your family or friend?
4. Who is your best friend?
5. Are you still friends with people from your childhood?
6. Is family important in your country?

Food

1. What is your favorite food?

2. Have you always liked the same food?
3. Is there any food you dislike?
4. What is the common meal in your country?
5. Do you have a healthy diet?
6. What do you think of fast food?

Hobbies

1. Do you have a hobby?

2. What equipment do you need for it?
3. Do you think hobbies should be shared with other people?
4. Did you have a hobby as a child?
5. What hobbies are popular in your country?
6. Why do you think people should have hobbies?

Internet

1. How often do you go online?

2. What do you use the internet for?
3. How do you get online?
4. Do you have your own computer?
5. What’s your favorite website?
6. Do you think children shod be allowed unsupervised access to the internet?

Leisure time
 1. What is your favorite leisure activity?
2. What did you enjoy doing in your free time as a child?
3. Do you prefer to spend your free time with other people or alone?
4. What is the common leisure activity in your country?
5. Do most people in your country get two days off a week?
6. Do you think leisure time is important?

Music
1. Do you like music?
2. What’s your favorite type of music?
3. Can you sing?
4. Did you learn music at school?
5. If you can learn a musical instrument, what would it be?
6. Do you think music is important?

Neighbors and neighborhood

1. Do you like your neighbors?
2. Are neighbors usually close to each other in your country?
3. What is your neighborhood like?
4. How could your neighborhood be improved?
5. Do you think it’s important to have a good relationship with your neighbors?

Newspapers

1. How do you usually get your news?

2. Do you often read the newspaper?
3. What kind of news do you usually follow?
4. How do most people get the new in your country?
5. Do you think international news is important?

Pets
1. Do you have a pet?
2. Do you like animals?
3. What’s your family animal?
4. What is a popular pet to have in your country?
5. Did you have a pet as a child?
6. Why do people have pets?

Reading
1. Do you often read books or magazines?
 2. What is your favorite kind of book to read?
3. Do you often read newspapers?
4. Do you have any e-books?
5. What book did you read as a child?
6. Do you think it is important to encourage children to read?

Shopping

1. Do you like shopping?

2. What’s your favorite shop?
3. Do you prefer shopping alone or with others?
4. What kinds of shops are there where you live?
5. Have you ever bought anything online?
6. Do you think men and women have different opinions about shopping?

Sports
1. Do you like sports?
2. What’s your favorite sport?
3. How often do you watch sports on tv?
4. Did you like playing sports as a child?
5. What is the popular sport in your country?
6. How do most people in your country keep fit?

Tv

1. Do you often watch tv?

2. What sort of things do you watch on tv?
3. What is your favorite tv program?
4. Do you ever watch foreign programs or films?
5. What did you watch on tv when you were young?
6. Do you think children should watch tv?

Transport

1. How did you get here today?

2. What’s your favorite weather?
3. Do you like the weather in your country?
4. Do you ever use public transport?
5. Do you like the transport system in your country?
6. What is the difference between taking a bus or a train?
Weather

1. What’s the weather like today?

2. What’s your favorite weather?
3. Do you like the weather in your country?
4. Does the weather ever effect the way you feel?
5. Does the weather in your country ever effect transportation?
IELTS Speaking - Part 2 & 3
In the second section candidates are given a topic card and then have one minute to
prepare after which they must speak about the given topic. The third section involves a
discussion between the examiner and the candidate, generally on questions relating to
the theme which they have already spoken about in part 2.

 Beautiful places
 Family
 Shopping
 Eating and food
 Travelling
 School
 Adventure
 Newspapers
 Sport

Beautiful places

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

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.

Part 3

Attitudes to tourism

 Why do you think people like to travel to different places in their free time?
 How do you see tourism changing in your country in the future?

Conserving the countryside

  Why is it important to protect the countryside?
 In what ways is the countryside in danger in your country?

Historic buildings and monuments

 Why are historic buildings and monuments important to a city?

 Is it better to keep old buildings, or build new modern ones?

Family

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe the person in your family who you most admire.

You should say:

 what their relationship is to you

 what they have done in their life
 what they do now

and explain why you admire them so much.

Part 3

Attitudes to family

 In what ways have families in your country changed in recent years?

 Should husbands and wives have different roles within the family? Why (not)?

Family or friends

 Which are more important to you: your family or your friends?

 What conflicts can arise between a person's family and a person's friends?

Family responsibilities

 What responsibilities do parents have towards their children?

 What responsibilities do children have towards their parents?
 Shopping

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe your favorite shop.

You should say:

 where it is
 what things it sells
 what sort of people are its customers

and explain why you like the shop so much.

Part 3

Things to buy

 What typical things can visitors to your country buy?

 What things do young people like to buy in your country?

Money

 Is it a good idea to save money? Why (not)?

 Do you think that people are happier if they have money? Why (not)?

Shopping

 What can shops do to make shopping more pleasant for their customers?
 Do you think that in the future people will do most of their shopping using the
Internet? Why?/ Why not?

Shopping

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe your favorite shop.

You should say:

 where it is
 what things it sells
 what sort of people are its customers

and explain why you like the shop so much.

Part 3

Things to buy

 What typical things can visitors to your country buy?

 What things do young people like to buy in your country?

Money

 Is it a good idea to save money? Why (not)?

 Do you think that people are happier if they have money? Why (not)?

Shopping

 What can shops do to make shopping more pleasant for their customers?
 Do you think that in the future people will do most of their shopping using the
Internet? Why?/ Why not?

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe an open-air or street market which you enjoyed visiting.

You should say:

 where the market is

 what the market sells
 how big the market is

and explain why you enjoyed visiting this market.

Part 3

Shopping at markets
  Do people in your country enjoy going to open-air markets that sell things like food or
clothes or old objects? Which type of market is more popular? Why?
 Do you think markets are more suitable places for selling certain types of things? Which
ones? Why do you think this is?
 Do you think young people feel the same about shopping at markets as older people?
Why is that?

Shopping in general

 What do you think are the advantages of buying things from shops rather than
markets?
 How does advertising influence what people choose to buy? Is this true for everyone?
 Do you think that any recent changes in the way people live have affected general
shopping habits? Why is this?

Eating and food

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe a special occasion when you had a really enjoyable meal.

You should say:

 what the occasion was

 who was at the meal
 what you ate

and explain why the meal was so enjoyable.

Part 3

Attitudes to food

 What do you think a healthy diet consists of?

 Which do people in your country prefer: traditional food or fast food such as
hamburgers or pizzas?

Learning about food

 Do you think children should be taught about healthy diets and cooking at school? Why
(not)?
  At what age do you think children should be taught to cook?

Food aid

 What can be done to prevent poor people in the world going hungry?
 Should rich countries help poor countries with more than just food?

Travelling

IELTS Tip

Travel is a verb: I enjoyed my travel trip very much. It is only used as a noun in a general
sense, e.g. travel broadens the mind.

Trip refers to both a journey: the trip there was fine; or a short stay: a business trip; or a
holiday: I’m going away on a trip.

Journey only refers to getting from one place to another: the journey there was very
uncomfortable.

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe a memorable journey you have made.

You should say:

 where you were going

 how you were travelling
 why you were making the journey

and explain what made the journey so memorable.

Part 3

Travelling and learning

 What do people learn from travelling?

 Do you think the growth of international tourism is a good thing? Why (not)?

Tourism and culture

  How has tourism changed the way people in your country live?
 How should tourists behave when they visit your country?

Ways of travelling

 What do you think is the best way for a tourist to travel if they want to learn about
your country?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of travelling by plane?

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe a journey that you remember well.

You should say:

 where you went

 how you travelled
 why you went on the journey

and explain why you remember this journey well.

Part 3

Reasons for daily travel

 Why do people need to travel every day?

 What problems can people have when they are on their journey, for example to work
or school? Why is this?
 Some people say that daily journeys like these will not be so common in the future. Do
you agree or disagree? Why?

Benefits of international travel

 What do you think people can learn from travelling to other countries? Why?
 Can travel make a positive difference to the economy of a country? How?
 Do you think a society can benefit if its members have experience of travelling to other
countries? In what ways?
 School

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe a school which you went to.

You should say:

 when you went there

 how many people studied there
 how long you spent there

and explain what you liked and disliked about it.

Part 3

Attitudes to education

 How has education changed in your country in the last ten years?
 Is a good education more important to a boy or a girl? Why?

The focus of education

 How well do you think schools prepare young people for working life?
 Do you think schools should teach subjects like art, music and dancing? Why (not)?

Education and technology

 How important is it for schools to have computers for their students?

 Is the Internet a valuable educational tool?

Adventure

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe an exciting experience in your life.

You should say:

 when the experience took place

 where the experience took place
 what happened exactly

and explain why the experience was so exciting.

Part 3

Safety and danger

 In what ways is life becoming safer, and in what ways is it becoming more dangerous?
 Should people always avoid danger, or is it a good idea sometimes to take risks?

Taking risks

 What risks should people try to avoid?

 Do you think people take fewer risks as they grow older? Why (not)?

Adventure

 How important is it to have adventure in our lives?

 What do people learn about themselves from having adventures?

Newspapers

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe a newspaper or magazine you enjoy reading.

You should say:

 what kind of newspaper or magazine it is, e.g. fashion

 how often you buy it
 what articles and information it contains

and explain why you enjoy reading it.

Part 3
Attitudes to newspapers

 In what ways are newspapers better for learning about the news than listening to the
radio or watching television?
 Do you think newspapers should be completely free to say whatever they want?

Tastes in reading

 What do people enjoy reading in your country?

 Do you think it is important for people to read a lot? Why (not)?

Public and private lives

 What sort of stories do newspapers and magazines publish about well-known or

famous people in your country?
 Do you think the media should be allowed to publish stories about the private lives of
public figures?

Sport

Part 2

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe an exciting competition or sporting event you have witnessed.

You should say:

 what the competition or sporting event was

 when and where it took place
 who won

and explain why it was exciting.

Part 3

Sport & Health

 What do you do to keep fit?

 Are you good at sport?
 What sports do you play?
 What is the most popular sport in your country?
 What are the best ways to keep fit?
 Do you think most people consider exercise a chore or do they find it fun?
 What is the most popular form of exercise in your country?
 Do you think people in your country are less healthy than they used to be?
 How can we encourage young people to stay healthy?
 Should governments intervene to force people to be healthier?