CONTENTS

SAMPLE ANSWERS
1 Sample questions and
answers from speaking part 1,
2 and 3
1. 2.

TOPIC:
KEY VOCABULARY
3. 2 Words and terms frequently
used when talking about
education.

FAMILY
4.

WORD FORMATION
3 Learn how to use wide
variety of parts of speech,
such as nouns, verbs,
adjectives

Sample answers, useful COLLOCATIONS

vocabulary and resources 5. 4 Find out groups of words that

usually used together by
native speakers
for IELTS speaking exam
USEFUL RESOURCES
5

References to teaching and
authentic materials related to
this topic: IELTS blogs,
podcasts, videos and articles


1. SAMPLE ANSWERS
PART 1
-Sure. We are really close to each other. I am happy
1. Do you have a large or small family? that I could tell them anything. They are always there
to listen when I have problems.
- I come from a large family. Now, I just have my mom,
an older brother and three younger brothers. My father 5. Is yours a typical family?
passed away 17 years ago. I am the only daughter in
the family. -Well, I can say that, yes, our family is a typical one. A
family, who stays by each other through good times
2. How much time do you spend with your family? and bad times.
- For now, I live one in another city far from my family
6. Are there many different types of family in your
so I only spend about two weeks each year with them.
country?
3. What do you like to do together as a family?
-Yes, types of family in terms of number and the
-My family enjoys cooking together and having special members of a household. There are small families with
meals together. We catch up and talk about our lives. one two children to large families with about eight or
We look back and share memories especially when more children. There are also households with
we were still young. We enjoy music as well. So, when extended families.
we get together, we play several musical instruments
7. Who are you closest to in your family?
and sing along.
-I am closest to my mom. I think it is because we are
4. Do you get along well with your family?
the only women in the family. So, we share the same
ideas about many things.

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com

PART 2
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.
IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com
The person I admire the most, not just in my family but
in the whole world is my mom. She is a great wife and
a wonderful mother. She is loving, caring, open-minded
and very understanding.
I love how she looks at things. She is very optimistic. I
love her courage in raising me and my brothers well
since my father passed away. She has been a single
mom for about 17 years and did her best to act both a
mother and a father to us. She’d always stood up for
us.
My mom resigned from work few years after my father
died. Her reason was to spend much more time for the
family especially when we were growing up. She felt
the need to guide us physically and emotionally. She
then started her own business which she is still running
till now.
I love her so much. She is not just a mom but also a
mentor and a friend.


PART 3

1. In what ways have families in your country changed in recent?

The roles of husbands and wives changed in recent years. Both spouses have
been more open to perform different roles such as working outside the home or
pitching-in with the household duties. Another change I think is limiting the number
of children in the family. Parents nowadays think of having smaller families due to
high cost of living.

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

Traditionally, husbands and wives had clear-cut roles in the society. Husbands
used to provide the financial need of the family, while women were expected to
take care of the house. Changes had occurred over time and both husbands and
wives started to take part in each of these roles. I think this change is good. It is not
necessary to define each role. I think whatever role each husband or wife takes, as
long as it is good for the family, it is okay.

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

Both are important but family is more important for me than friends. Friends may
come and go but I know that my family is always there and will always be there no
matter what happens in my life and no matter what decisions I take.

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com


2. KEY VOCABULARY

the male partner in a marriage She was having breakfast on the beach in Thailand
husband with her husband

a married woman. Jackson lives at his family home in Wimbledon, south

wife London, with his wife of 26 years and their three sons.

the brother of someone’s father or He was talking very softly, like he was our uncle
uncle mother

the sister of either of your He was not certain which cottage his aunt rented
aunt parents, or the wife of your during the winter .
parents' brothers

a son of someone's brother or I'm assuming your nephew is young

nephew sister

Kathy must divide 7 boxes of cookies among her 4

niece a daughter of someone’s brother nieces
or sister.

a child of someone’s uncle or I understand that you have an uncle and a cousin
cousin aunt who live near the docks

a husband or wife, considered in In a marriage, both the persons are each other's
spouse relation to their partner spouse

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the daughter of one's spouse and In 2012 my stepdaughter, who was 14 at the time,
stepdaughter his or her previous partner decided to get me out of her life

one's father's second, third, etc. How's your stepmother treating you?
stepmother wife

the mother of one's spouse Mother-in-laws are mostly seen as nightmares

mother-in-law
the father of one's spouse Her father-in-law a powerful figure in the
father-in-law community inBritain

family that includes, ot only of For many years I was conscious that I was the first
extended family parents and children but also of woman in my very large extended family to do this .
grandparents, aunts, uncles etc

a mother, father, and their A nuclear family is merely a couple and their children,
nuclear family children, considered as a social as opposed to an "extended" family
unit

look after to adulthood Everyone has a way to bring up their child

bring up

someone's father or mother Children learn by example, and so how you choose to
parent live your lifeas a parent is one of the most important
factors in determining how they willlive theirs.

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com

the way in which a child is cared In the great majority of cases, it should be the decision
upbringing for and taught while it is growing of parents when to ask for help and advice on their
up. children 's care and upbringing

Legal dissolution (ending) of a The rate of divorce has increased,as has the
divorce marriage proportion of men who are never or previously married

arrangements for looking after Waiting lists for childcare are often long and by the
childcare children while parents work time a vacancy for childcare arises, the doctor may
be moving to another post.

Period of human life between Having survived a very troubled adolescence she
adolescence childhood and adulthood had made a successful start on a service career and
hoped to achieve officer status

first few years of a child's life I spent my formative years in Taiwan

formative years when his/her character develops

similarity in the way two people Family resemblance can almost always be detected
resemblance look or behave to some degree

to look or behave like somone My son takes after me; my daughter takes more after
take after someone from your family her dad.
She takes after her mother. (She appears to be like
her mother.)

meeting family has on special At holiday family gatherings, relatives fill every room
family gathering occations and holidays such as in my mother's home
Christmas or New Year

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com


3.WORD FORMATION

noun Some women choose to bring up children alone without
bring up a male partner .

noun Your upbringing only limits you if you let it limit you
upbringing

noun Our divorce was finalized four months ago

divorce
verb we made the decision to divorce a year and a half ago
to divorce
adjective I am recently divorced
divorced

verb The answer depends who you are .

depend
noun Additional allowance spaid to students with children or
dependant other dependants

adjective I do believe basketball is heavily dependent on

dependent managers.

noun Her second marriage to athlete Peter Edmond produced

marriage two children - John, 11, and Grace, 8.

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com

The best age to marry is when you have the skills and
to marry legal status to provide for a family

I am married.
married

noun We have relations in UK and Scotland.

relation
adjective The number of entries defines the relative importance of
relative the topic.

noun It is hard to have a sustained relationship between two

relationship people who come from two different worlds and live so far
away from each other.

verb This volume contains two chapters: the first relates

relate mainly to the mother and the second mainly to the infant.

noun The spouse responsible for paying child support sends a

support check with a remittance form.

verb The course wasn't easy at times, but I stayed focused and
to support my friends supported me throughout.

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com


4.COLLOCATIONS
During Interview they asked a question on the family
family background.
background
The era of a single member of a family supporting the
member of a family is gone
family
I wasn't invited to their family gathering
family gathering
We were going to lead separate lives, getting together
to lead separate occasionally
lives
The rest of the time we cook and clean and look after
look after children
children
There's not many family activities I can think of in Breston
family activities
Many household chores can be automated
household
chores
One can be successful without the support from family and
family and friends
friends

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com

As a child I remember family outings to the airport
family outings restaurant to watch the planes take off and land.

large adjective+
close
family
close-knit
immediate
nuclear
one-parent
single-parent
middle-class

come from verb+family

be in
family
have
start
bring up
raise
feed
support

background family+noun
history
family
connections
relationships
ties
member
life

business family+noun
home
family
commitments

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com

income
holiday

a member of a family phrase

family
single adjective+
unmarried
parent
widowed
divorced

over-protective adjective+
caring
parent
devoted
strict
working

supportive adjective+
ex-, former
wife
pregnant
faithful
good
loyal
jealous

meet verb+
marry
wife
desert
leave

His wife has just given birth phrase

wife
IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com

to a son

get along well with

close adjective+
near
relative
distant
blood
elderly
old
young
female

have verb+
lose
relative
care for
give support to
help
look after
support

live with verb+

stay with
relative
visit

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com


5.USEFUL RESOURCES

THIS TOPIC ON IELTS BLOGS

§ IELTS Speaking Part 2: family celebration [ielts-simon.com]
§ IELTS Speaking Practice: family - part 1, 2 and 3 sample questions [ielts-academic.com]
§ IELTS Speaking: Famil [ielts-exam.net]

PODCASTS

§ What Image of Marriage Do We Want Our Kids To Have [GSPN.tv]
§ Is It Really The Collapse of Parenting? [thenewfamily.com]

ARTICLES

§ Which is Better for the Family: One child, two children or more? [quora.com]
§ Should I Rise My Son and Daughter Like It's the 1950's? [quora.com]

VIDEOS

§ Jennifer Senior: For parents, happiness is a very high bar [TED TALKS]
§ My immigration Story [TED TALKS]

IELTSspeakingvocabulary.com