IELTS Speaking Test sample questions and How to answer
The IELTS Speaking Test takes 11-15 minutes to complete. In this test, the candidates require taking part in an interactive discussion with a ‘Certified IELTS Examiner.’ The test has got three parts:
• In Part 1 of the iELTS speaking test, the candidates are asked a few questions about himself, his work and his areas of interests etc.
• In Part 2 of the Speaking test, the candidates are given a topic to speak on covering the whole topic accurately, within 2 minutes.
• In Part 3 of the Speaking test, the candidates are required to carry a long and interactive discussion with the examiner, where in general the examiner asks a different question based on the discussed topics on part 1and part 2. In this part the examiner interrupts the candidates and asks further questions, usually the candidates are required to establish their views with logic.
For the ‘IELTS Academic Test’ and for the ‘ IELTS General Training Test’, the ‘Speaking Test’ follows the same pattern. Let’s discuss,
some sample questions and how to answer them in the speaking test.
Questions Part 1(Sample Topics)
About you and your family
Q.: What’s your Name?
Ans: My name is ‘Soham Sandhu’.
Q.: Describe yourself, in short.
Ans.: I am ‘Soham Sandhu, a resident of Hoshiarpur, Punjab. I am doing MCA, it’s my final year and I’m looking forward to joining a USA based company, ‘R.S. Solutions’, they have selected me through the campus interview.
Q.: Good, do you live with your parents or you belong to a big family?
Ans.: I live with my mother and younger sister, my father expired 5 years ago in a road accident.
Q.: Oh! that’s so sad. Do you spend enough time with your family?
Ans.: Actually, madam I need to spend a lot of time in the college and as I am engaged in a part-time job, it takes me around 11 pm to reach home, apart from Saturday and Sunday I hardly get any time to spend with my family.
Q.: So, who are actually your local guardians?
Ans.: No one exactly madam. My uncles and cousins reside in different states. The parents of my friends and my mother’s friends act as our local guardians and help us when needed.
About your work
Q.: Why do you do a part time job, being a student? Is it for earning or for gathering experience?
Ans.: No, madam not for experience, it’s for money. Actually, my father used to work in a private company, so my mother does not get any pension, she is engaged in a job at a low salary. Naturally, I need to earn some money to support the family.
Q.: It’s a tough life you are living. Don’t worry, it’s a passing phase, life will change, as soon as you get a job. Anyway, tell me how you get along with your family.
Ans.: I have a very strong bond with my family, once I get the job I am looking for, I’ll take my mom and my sister with me.
Q.: What do you think is in your country there is good bondage in the families or not?
Ans.: Well, madam to be very honest, gone are those days when people used to live in joint family, nowadays the concept of nuclear family is prevailing in our country and there are hundreds of cases of ignoring old parents and in most of the cases persons who themselves are well established in life, have seen to deny helping parents monetarily, more and more people are becoming self-centered and with very low moral values.
Q.: Good, so you are a person with good moral values. Tell me about your work ethics and how dutiful you are.
Ans.: Well madam, I am not bragging, but since my childhood I am a boy with high morals and it’s because of my parents, especially because of my deceased father, he used to teach me about moral values, duties to society, respecting seniors person and all that, I think I happened to be a very lucky son with great parents. Talking about my work ethics, its’ plain and simple, when I am getting paid for doing a job, I must do it with utmost sincerity. I try my best to fulfill my duties towards my company, and because of that, the MD of our company loves me very much.
Q.: Well, you are doing MCA as you said, tell me do you enjoy doing the course and would you like to work as a hardware engineer?
Ans.: Yes madam I want to work with a computer, you can call it my passion and that’s the foremost reason I love and enjoy my current part time job also.
Q.: Which you will give more priority, Job satisfaction or Good pay package?
Ans.: Surely pay package is something to reckon with but without at least some job satisfaction, I think I’ll not be able to stick with.
Q.: You have said ‘at least some job satisfaction’. Why didn’t you say about having complete job satisfaction?
Ans.: Madam, I think I should be realistic, I don’t think that anybody can be 100% satisfied with his job, each and everyone has to be flexible and be ready to compromise somewhere with something.
About your Education
Q.: Tell me about your education, which school you studied in, was it is an English medium school or not. Also, tell me about your favorite teacher, favorite subjects etc.
Ans.: I was a student of ‘Modern English School for Boys’, Hoshiarpur, it was an English medium school and a very reputed one, I completed my 12th level of study from the same school. My favorite teachers were the Physics teacher and the English teacher, consequently, my favorite subjects were Physics and English.
Q.: Do you think, your hometown and the state you live in has a ‘Perfect Education System’?
Ans.: I think Madam hardly anybody knows here what is meant by ‘Perfect Education System’. It is a highly neglected and ignored system, except in some of the main cities of Punjab. In most of the schools all over the state and especially in villages, classes are not taken properly, resulting students to appoint private tutors, thus being a ‘Private Tutor’ has become a lucrative business. Most of the English medium schools maintain some discipline and they make the students abide by some rules and regulations. But, the scenarios in non-English medium schools are very poor, in these schools English is taught as the second language and there are hardly any students who know a little bit of English. In most of the schools, teachers don’t check student’s homework ever. In the village areas, neither students nor teachers stay present in the classes, all in all, the education system is incredibly poor and neglected in this state.
Your Hometown
Q.: How is your hometown?
Ans.: Well, my hometown Hoshiarpur is underdeveloped compared to other places of Punjab. The communication is a big problem, congested locality and frequent power cuts have made life a hell. We often have to face problems with illiterate and uncontrolled young goons, which pose major threats to the safety of the young girls. It may sound strange but in spite of all problems, people in our locality, especially in the village areas are very helpful and broadminded.
Q.: What are the major industries in your hometown?
Ans.: There are some major manufacturing units of Paint and Varnish, Agricultural equipment, Tractor Parts, Diesel parts etc., as a whole there are a good number of manufacturing units in Hoshiarpur.
Q.: Is it a tourist spot?
Ans.: Not particularly very attractive one, but including a wildlife sanctuary, there are a few tourist spots here and there like Bajwara Fort, Shimla Pahari etc.
The examiner might ask you a lot more questions on your hometown, like ‘How good your hometown is for traveling?’ or ‘What is hometown famous for?’ and so on, but don’t be too blemish about everything of your hometown or country. Now, let me present some sample questions on the basis of answers to these questions, you might be asked some more questions in Part 2 of the speaking test.
General Questions
Q.: Who is the most reputed writer or poet in your country?
Ans.: Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore was the most famous writer, poet, novelist, song composer, dramatist, and a playwright and creator of a dance form known as ‘Rabindranrittya’. He was the pride of Bengal and of course the whole nation India. He is still remembered for his ‘Multiple Talents’ all over the world.
Q.: Yes, I have read some of his creations. Can you tell me which famous award did he get? Also, tell me which award he refused to accept and why?
Ans.: Sure, madam, he was awarded the most prestigious award, ‘The Nobel Prize’, he got it for writing and translating ‘The Geetanjali’ into English. He was also honored by providing ‘Knighthood’, which he later abdicated by him in protest to the ‘Mass Killing’ ordered by the British Indian Army’s Colonel Reginald Dyer.
Q.: Have you heard of Sir William Shakespeare? Tell me what he was famous for?
Ans.: Yes, madam, I know the great and famous ‘English Poet, Dramatist and Playwright’, Sir William Shakespeare, I have read a few dramas of him, which were included in our syllabus, to be honest, I haven’t read much of him.
Weather
Q.: How is the weather in your country? Which season prevails in your country?
Ans.: Overall the weather in our country is fine. As you know Madam India is a big country, different states are known for different weather conditions. In Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, it is extremely cold during the winter while during the summer Rajasthan and Gujarat and some other states suffer from extremely hot weather conditions. Interestingly in West Bengal, there are contrasting weather conditions, in summer some districts suffer from extremely hot weather condition but in the winter the district Darjeeling enjoys snowfall. Naturally, it’s not right to say that India is a summer prone country or winter prone country. The Monsoon is also different in different states, for example, the state Meghalaya is known for havoc rainfall, while the state Rajasthan suffers from extremely insufficient rainfall.
Apart from these, a candidate might be asked on different topics like traveling, usage of computer and Internet etc. But the candidate has to answer very wisely, keeping in mind that in part 3 the examiner might ask questions on the basis of his answers on part 1 and 2, to clarify more, if a candidate says in part 2 that, his favorite poet is William Shakespeare, he might be asked questions like, ‘Which drama of Shakespeare is your favorite?’ If the candidate doesn’t have at least some knowledge on Shakespeare’s creation he should not mention his name.
IELTS Speaking Test questions asked in Part 2 (Sample Topics)
In this section of the Speaking test, you will get a longer time to speak on a given topic on a task card, you will get 1- to 2 minutes to prepare to speak, you can take note on a paper as well. You will get 3 to 4 minutes to speak on the given topic. You should maintain caution while speaking, speak only within your knowledge limit, otherwise if you get asked questions on your discussion in part 2 you may land up in trouble. The topic given on the task card might be like:
Describe the Economy and the Industry, also speak in brief about the people and culture of your hometown.
Ans.: Hoshiarpur is mainly an ‘Agricultural’ area and lot of people are engaged in agriculture and farming. The economy of this city is mainly dependent on the ‘Agricultural Products’, naturally, a major section of people is dependent on this field. Apart from that, Hoshiarpur has some small and large scale industries also, which are like, making steel wire, tractors, cotton thread, filament yarn. The major industries are like: Mahavir Spinning Mills, Amrita Paper, Hawkins Cookers Ltd. (Which is the maker of Hawkins Pressure Cooker, a very reputed brand of India.), JCT Mills, Oswal sugar and a few more. A major community of Jat community is present in Hoshiarpur, Punjabi is the language of the town. The town is known for its Punjabi fairs and festivals. Some reputed persons to mention who belong to Hoshiarpur are, ex-prime minister of India Mr. Manmohan Sing, Amrish Puri a reputed Film actor of Bollywood, Mickey Singh singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, model and actor, D.P.Singh a science popularizer and environmental activist of Punjab, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, a reputed Classic and Ghazal singer and so many more famous persons are there who are prides of the district Hoshiarpur.
*** There will be a few more questions but nothing to be scared; these questions are not exactly for testing your depth of general Knowledge.
IELTS Speaking Test questions asked in Part 3 (Sample Topic)
In part 3 of the test, the examiner asks questions on the basis of the discussed topics in part 2. This part provides the candidate to speak on more thought about issues and ideas. This session actually is an interactive one and last for 4 to 5 minutes. As this is an extended communication on a topic you will get more chance to show your fluency, your range of vocabulary and your depth of grammatical knowledge.
Questions can be asked on different topics, like Art, The way the local girls dress, Literacy, Family, Morality or Moral values, Influence of politics on the students etc. Let me present a few samples.
Influence of politics on students
Q.: What do you think, should students join politics or they should stay away from it?
Ans.: I strictly believe that students should stay away from politics. The student life is the time to build the career, their focus shouldn’t be shifted from study to anything else. Moreover, these days politics is full of violence and we have seen and heard of so many students got killed or injured severely in violence. These incidents I think to support my view strongly, students minds should not be diverted towards anything other than study. Student’s minds are like molds of clay, easy to shape up, easy to influence their decisions, senior students who are active politicians make the young ones to join politics by convincing or even threatening. When any violent situations arrive the young ones are pushed to the front line thus being the target of police actions of Lathi charging or firing or both.
Influence of Television shows on teenagers
How do you think the Television programs Influence of the mind of young ones?
Q.: Is watching television programs a craze among the teenagers in your country?
Ans. Speaking, in general, the teenagers love watching Cartoon and Crickets. Some of them are extremely addicted towards TV programs and remain glued to it, ignoring other jobs and thus affecting their study. Moreover, not all types of programs and some advertisements are suitable for kids and teenagers it contains adult contents, so in the absence of parents often teenagers are found to watch and enjoy such programs, which certainly bad for them and in the broader sense for the society.
Q.: Which types of programs are most popular in your country? Are they worth watching by the teenagers?
Ans.: Most housewives prefer to watch the serials (soap operas), which deal with extremely critical family relationships and these serial makers don’t even spare children to act as baddies. From my point of view, children, especially the teenagers should not be allowed to watch such programs as the characters, especially the baddies transmit negative impacts on the young minds. Though it is not wise to generalize, these types of programs do not deserve watching by any section of people as these do not provide any good or positive message to the society.
Questions on culture or heritage etc.
Q.: Name an artist or a famous person you admire the most and explain with reasons to admire him.
Ans.: I must say, I admire and respect Kabiraj Poet Rabindranath Tagore the most. I simply wonder how a person in a single life span could create so many different things of such a high quality. At that time there was no computer no gadgets to help a person; he worked with just pen and paper. He was a freedom fighter as well. I respect him from the core of my heart.
The IELTS candidates can score high in the speaking test by:
Giving accurate and to the point answers.
A candidate should not fumble while answering, rather he should buy time by saying, Well…, Actually….., I think…. and so on.
Using short phrases or group of words like ‘it depends on…’ and he might also use conditional sentences.
Using speculative verbs, such as ‘Suppose….’
Candidates must not speak in a very low voice so that it becomes annoying for the examiner.
When a candidate gets to speak, he must use the opportunity to impress the examiner by showcasing his vocabulary, his sense of the construction of sentences and also the right sense of grammatical knowledge.
These are some real samples like question answers. A candidate might get scared and think, ‘How would I answer so many questions in such a short time like 1 to 2 minutes?’. No reasons to be scared, not all the questions are asked, what are shown are some patterns of questions asked in the speaking test, which are asked keeping the time frame in mind. As the part 1 and part 2 takes in total 4 to 5 minutes to complete, the remaining time i.e. 7 to 10 minutes are the time limit for the part 3.
Originally posted 2017-06-22 16:34:21.