2022

Recently we shared the questions from an IELTS exam in India. Here are some model answers, to show you a great way to respond to those questions:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

1. Do you like sports?

Yes, I’m an avid fan of football and have been since I was a kid. Apart from this, I enjoy quite a variety of other sports, but I gravitate towards team sports like soccer or basketball, mainly because I find that these types of games offer the most excitement and suspense, especially since we get to see different teams interact with each other. On the whole, these types of sports are just more engaging and fun in my opinion.

2. What do you like more, watching or playing sports?

Well, I love to actively participate in sports, especially football. As a teenager, I preferred playing soccer over basically anything else. However, these days I am more of a spectator since I barely have any free time. I have my hands full with my busy work schedule and family obligations.

3. With whom do you usually watch or play sports?

Well, as I mentioned before I hardly play any sports anymore, but if I do get a chance, I generally join some of my old college buddies for a game or two and our local recreational center. It’s nice to catch up with them and unwind after a stressful week at work. But, as I said, I most often just watch the games on TV with my kids at home. We prepare snacks and make an evening of it, especially if it’s an important match like a final.

4. Is there a sport you would like to play in the future?

Honestly, I have always wanted to try my hand at something adventurous like skydiving or parasailing. It would be amazing to get an actual birds-eye view of the world, but I don’t think I could ever work up the courage to try out something so extreme, and risky.

5. Do you keep things instead of throwing them away?

Oh, I am a hoarder of note! For some reason, I always believe that something as trivial as ketchup packets, shopping bags or bottles will come in handy later on, which is hardly ever the case. And I must add this habit is not just for little things, I love keeping mementoes of special family moments as well. So, to reiterate, I don’t usually discard things, I am too sentimental for that.

6. Which items do you usually keep? Why?

As I mentioned before, I generally try not to throw out anything, I believe that almost anything can be recycled and made useful again, and this is a habit that I try to inculcate into my family members as well. So, we reuse plastic packaging, and shopping bags and try to repair our garments instead of just disposing of them. Even fresh food waste like vegetable peels are used as fertilizer in our little food garden. Regarding the mementoes I mentioned earlier, I usually keep old invites, letters, and the adorable drawings by my kids. Literally, anything that can serve as a reminder of a happy time with family ends up being saved.

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe something that helps you concentrate. You should say

– what it is
– when you do it
– how it helps you
– and explain why you need it to concentrate.

Answer

Well, if I think about it, there is really only one thing that helps me concentrate and that is listening to music. Now that might seem counterintuitive, since most people think that music is distracting, but for me, personally, it helps me to drown out the busyness and noise that usually surrounds me at work and with my kids at home.

I discovered this trick when I was in high school, studying for my final exams. We had recently moved to a new house in the city center and this, coupled with the fact that I had two very rowdy younger brothers, meant that my home was filled with the constant barrage of unending noise from both inside and outside. It was nearly impossible to concentrate on my studies, so I would put on my headphones and listen to some soothing classical music to drown out the noise and calm me down. And I actually still use this method today whenever I have any sort of new material to go over for work or I have a project with a fast-approaching deadline.

All in all, music helps me to settle down and focus on the tasks at hand. And perhaps another reason why this activity is so useful is that I become so subconsciously aware of the rhythm of the tune, that recalling it also helps me to remember the main ideas of whatever I was studying at the time. One of my all-time favorite pieces to listen to is Moonlight Sonata, which is one of Beethoven’s most compelling compositions about unrequited love.