Vocabulary and Grammar Specifically For Speaking
Vocabulary and Grammar Specifically For Speaking
Speaking Part 1
Vocabulary - travel Vocabulary - travel
accommodation attractions
“accommodation” has two meanings. It can mean In IELTS conversations about travel and places,
the place where “attractions” refers to tourist
you live. “accommodation” refers to the attractions, interesting places that travelers like to
places people stay while they are travelling, places visit.
such as hotels, inns, and high rise
hostels. A “high rise” is a very tall building, often seen in a city
transport centre. High rise buildings
“Transport” refers to the way that people move from are especially common in and around the main square
one place to another if they of a city centre.
aren’t walking. city centre storey
The city centre is the business district found in the A “storey” is a single level of a building, and is also
middle of a city. Sometimes sometimes called a “floor.”
this centre is also referred to as “downtown.” traditional/quaint “traditional” and “quaint” are both
4 used on the IELTS to describe
main square towns, neighbourhoods, houses, and other locations
The “main square” is the small, most central area of a that look “old fashioned.” A
city centre, or of a place is traditional or quaint if its characteristics are
business district outside of the city centre. associated with a past time
period.
character
Trains
Do you like to travel by train?
Yes, I quite like them. If you are on a train you can relax and look out the
window, read, use your lap top - it's all quite comfortable. On the bus it's
more difficult to do those things because there is less space and the
movement can make you travel sick too. The only problem with trains in my
country is that they are often delayed or late. That can ruin your journey.
I do take interest in sports actually. I play football mostly - on Wednesday nights and
Sunday afternoon with a local team. I also play tennis and squash when I can but I
don't really get the time to do them as well every week. I work quite hard at the
moment, so I don't get a lot of free time unfortunately.
Do you prefer to spend your free time alone or with other people?
It depends on my mood really. I think most people need some time on their own.
Sometimes my work is quite stressful and I spend a lot of time there with others, so
it's good to just get home and relax and read a book or something. But I get bored if I
am alone too much so I like to go out and meet friends in the evening or play football.
Work
What is your job?
Actually I'd say I'm not too good! I don't really have a system in place to
organize things. I know some people have an electronic organizer or use some
device to plan what they are doing but I don't do that. But I always make sure I
am on time for appointments and things like that, and I meet deadlines and get
things done.
I mostly like to read biographies. I'm not sure why but it is interesting to read
about people's real lives, especially when they have had interesting lives and
have had to deal with many problems. I do read fiction as well, but I often find
it difficult to get hold of a book that I really like. I also like reading about
books to do with current affairs.
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.
Part 2
• Describe an old person that you know.
• You should say:
• What your relationship is to this person
• How often you see them
• What people think about this person
• Explain why you like them
Thankyou mam for the given question , it is such a nice question.
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 in fact. 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.
Part 2
• Describe a happy childhood event.
• You should say:
• When it happened
• Who was involved
• How you felt at the time
• Explain why you remember this particular occasion.
Thankyou mam for the given question , it is such a nice question
I’m going to talk about a happy childhood event that I remember, and that event was my 13th birthday.
It was 10 years ago now because I’m 23. 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 part 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 by 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 a younger.
So for these reasons, is was a really special occasion that I’ll never forget.
Part 3
Usage of future tense
Vocabulary on family
• family – a group of people who are related to each other
• - Mohit was very nervous when he met his girlfriend’s family for the first time.
• immediate family – your closest relations, such as your parents, children, husband or wife
• - My immediate family are my dad, mum and two sisters.
• nuclear family – parents and their children
• - The average nuclear family in the US is made up of parents and two children.
• extended family – a family unit that includes grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, and
uncles, etc. in addition to parents and children
• - I have a large extended family with many nieces, nephews and cousins.
• dysfunctional family – a family that is not behaving or working normally, where there is
conflict, misbehaviour, etc.
• - Cynthia came from a dysfunctional family and could often be seen wandering the street
on her own when she was young.
Q. 1: Is family important in your country?
Answer: Thank you for this question. Well, people in my country believe that family comes first and they
put their family ahead of anything else. They would do anything for the family and I am proud that
family bonding in my country is quite strong.
Q. 2: How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in your country?
Answer: From my experience, I can say that my grandfather had an extended family and people at that
time used to live together with close relatives. As far as I have heard, their forefathers also live in a joint
family and the number of family members was sometimes more than twenty. However, the trend of
living in an extended family has changed remarkably in cities where most of the families are nuclear in
nature. The villages in my country still have large families who live together but the number is shrinking
day by day.
Answer: I believe more people will have a nuclear family and the size of the family will be small in the
future. People do not like to have more than two children nowadays and who knows they will consider
having one baby policy in the distant future. The very norm that a man gets married to a woman and
have their own children to form a family is being challenged by the concept of same-sex marriage and
this trend will increase in the future.
Q. 4: What role do grandparents play in the family in your country?
Answer: Grandparents in a family are like the pillars of virtue and they play an important role. They maintain a balance
for the family by nurturing the old traditions and values and teach how to adhere to the roots. With the increasing
number of both working parents, grandparents often look after the children. They often advise the rest of the family
time to time regarding family matters as they have more experience and thus their advice often saves us from taking
wrong decisions. From this sense, they act like reliable mentors.
Q. 5: Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly, the family or the government?
Answer: I believe the family has the major responsibility to look after their elder family members and support them
personally as they did in their youth age. These senior citizens have sacrificed a lot throughout their lives to form a
family and then to make them happy. The young members should do everything in their power to accompany their
elder members and provide them with their necessities.
Having said that, the government has some responsibilities as well. These elder members were once taxpayers and
thus they deserve healthcare, entertainment and other facilities from the state.
• How do you think it will change people's buying habits in the future?
• Buying from the internet is becoming more and more popular. For example, we’ve seen many book
shops close down because people can buy online at cheaper prices from sites such as Amazon. It
makes life much easier if products can be delivered direct to our door, especially with our busy
modern lifestyles. I think this will only increase in the future as more people feel safe to buy online
and online shops make it easier to purchase this way. Also, I think our lives are only going to become
busier, so more people will choose to shop this way.
• What will happen if there is complete setup of online buying and no more offline buying?
• I guess that will save a lot of time as we know online buying things have been very convenient in this
lockdown period as well . In the situation of social distancing online purchasing commodities was
suggested to everyone with delivery facilities in different areas. Even if the whole setup will be online
I guess there will be many pros and cons when it comes to small shops.
Environmental disasters
• Why do you think environmental disasters caused by humans happen?
• It could be for different reasons. In some cases it is simply because not enough care is taken. Maybe
procedures are not good enough. It could also be because the drive for profit means that there is cost
cutting and that again could mean that good procedures are not in place. There is usually a situation when
a disaster happens where blame will be deflected and it is difficult to establish exactly who is responsible.
Nobody wants to admit responsibility because it means they will have to pay compensation. Sometimes a
disaster can happen because of a simple mistake by someone.
• Do you think there will be more environmental disasters caused by humans in the future?
• I don't think there will necessarily be more. Procedures are always getting tighter so in theory there
should be fewer, but mistakes will always happen so I'm sure they will continue unfortunately.
Governments must continue to prosecute any companies that do cause environments problems or
disasters so that they are less likely to happen again.
Present ,Past and future
• Art Galleries
• Are there many art galleries where you live?
• No, not that I know of. I live in a small town so I don't think there are any, though we do
have a few museums and other cultural institutions. In our capital city there are quite a
few art galleries, however.
• Did you like to go to art galleries when you were a child?
• I've never been that interested in art to be honest, so not really. We were taken to one as
part of a trip when I was at school. It has a lot of paintings from famous artists from our
country. It was quite interesting to see I guess but I've not been to any since.
• Should people have to pay to go to art galleries?
• I think it depends really. If possible they should be free because if people do have to pay
they are less likely to go and see it. But on the other hand these things cost money so a
small fee may be necessary if it can keep the art gallery going and keep it open. Ideally
though the government should pay for this as I believe this kind of thing is paid for by our
taxe
Usage of different tenses in the
question
• IELTS Speaking Part 3 Topic: Family.
• 1. Is family important in your country?
2. How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in
your country?
3. How do you think the family will change in the future?
4. What role do grandparents play in the family in your country?
5. Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly,
the family or the government?
6. Why is the number of joint families decreasing in modern time?
IELTS Speaking Part 3 Topic: Choosing work & Work-Life balance.
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