IELTS Speaking Examples - Part 2

This page provides you with IELTS speaking examples for part 2 of the IELTS test.

In this part of the test you are given a topic card by the examiner and you have to talk about it for two minutes. You will be given a pencil and paper and one minute to prepare your answer.

Tips for Part 2

You should talk about the points that are on the card, but you will need to add in extra information otherwise you will probably finish before the time is up.

There is a lesson here to help you with this part of the test if you want some tips. Follow this link for further examples of topics for part 2.

When you read the model answers, notice how the short talk is introduced and also concluded - though in the test you are unlikely to know when the 2 minutes talking is up so the examiner will likely stop you mid-sentence - that's not a problem. 

Also, notice how it is well-organized. The parts in bold show you how the speaker follows and addresses all the parts on the card in a clear and coherent way. 

It's not an issue though if you speak about things not related to the bullet points as long as you are still talking about the broad topic.

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IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 1

Listen:

I’m going to talk about a present that I gave to someone.

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.

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IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 2

Listen:

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. 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.

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IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 3

Listen:

I’m going to talk about a happy childhood event that I remember, and that event was my 13th birthday.

It was 25 years ago now because I’m 38. 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 park 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 my 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 younger. 

So for these reasons, this was a really special occasion that I’ll never forget.

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IELTS Speaking Examples - Cue Card 4

Listen:

I'm going to talk about a problem with the environment in my country.

One of the most serious problems at the moment is flooding. This is starting to happen every year and each year it seems to get worse. I think it may be caused by a number of factors. Firstly there has been a lot of deforestation in the north of the country, a lot of it from illegal logging. Because of this, when it rains the water has nothing to soak it up so it just runs down the mountains and into the villages and towns. Another factor may be global warming. Scientists believe that this is causing more severe weather so this may account for the increasing amount of rain that we seem to be seeing. It also means the soil is more dry so again the rain water runs off it rather than being soaked up.

Unfortunately, there have been really serious effects on my country. As I said, the excess water runs into the villages and the towns through the rivers and the rivers then overflow causing massive flooding. This effects thousands of people who then become homeless. Several hundred usually die each year as well. It travels through the country as it starts in the north and goes down to the sea, so it can affect many towns and the capital city too. This also has repercussions for the government as they have to spend so much money managing the disaster each year.

The government is trying to tackle the problem, but it is not easy. They are trying to stop so much deforestation but a lot of the damage has already been done so what can they do? They are also starting to build defences such as walls along some of the major rivers that run through the town to try to stop them overflowing. Another thing they are doing is trying to improve their response systems. In most towns there is now a government organization responsible for coordinating relief operations and making sure they are prepared in advance.

I think this problem is a top priority to solve because it has such devastating impacts. As I mentioned before, it causes suffering for so many people and it is also a huge expense for the government and as we are not a rich country we cannot afford this. It means that other services suffer because of a lack of money. There are other problems that my country has but I think that is by far the worst.

So, that is the serious problem in my country, and I only hope that it does not continue to get worse.

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