Describe a childhood friend whom you remember well – IELTS Speaking part 2, 3

IELTS Speaking part 2 Discuss a childhood friend you remember well

Discussing a childhood friend whom you remember very well

To begin with, candidates should directly introduce information about their childhood friend. Some basic information about this friend includes: Who are they? What is their name? How old are they? What is the nature of your close relationship with them?

Next, candidates should vividly describe situations where both of them met and portray the personality of the friend. Candidates should employ a variety of adjectives to describe the friend's personality traits to impress the examiners. Additionally, candidates can explore some activities they enjoyed doing with their childhood friend.

Finally, candidates need to explain why they admire this friend. This is the most important part, and candidates should allocate ample time for this section.

Structure of Discussing a childhood friend whom you remember very well

Sample for IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a childhood friend whom you remember very well

Listen to Mytour's Part 2 podcast sample:

Friendship has the incredible ability to enrich and transform each person’s life. In my own life, especially during my youth, I was fortunate to have a wonderful group of friends. While many people were close to me, Tam stands out in my memory.

For most of my childhood, he was my best buddy. We initially met when I was six years old. He lived just down the street from us in the same neighborhood. On the first day of school, I got to know him. He came up to me as I was aimlessly walking around and inquired as to whether I was a native. When we did finally start talking, we discovered that we had a lot in common. They clicked straight away and became friends for the next ten years until his family moved across the country.

Our shared values and passions were perfect. We enjoyed a variety of interests in common, such as collecting comic books, playing video games, watching animation, and reading. We used to do almost everything together, including attending classes and engaging in extracurricular activities. In each other’s homes, we also spent a lot of time playing games and finishing our homework.

We both aspired to work as professionals in education in the future. We have similar food and dressing preferences. We had such a close relationship that I often considered him a brother rather than a friend. Out of all the kids nearby, he was the one I spent the most time with. He was the only one there. One of the best parts is that I still cherish and remember the time we spent together.

Highlighted Vocabulary

• Aimlessly (adv): vu vơ
• Inquire (v): thắc mắc
• Click straightaway (v): tiến thẳng vào
• Extracurricular activities (n): các hoạt động ngoại khóa
• Cherish (v): trân trọng

IELTS Speaking part 3 Discussion on a childhood friend whom you remember well

Listen to Mytour's Part 3 podcast sample:

1. Do you still stay in contact with your childhood friends? What are the reasons behind it?

That contains a bit of a variety. Some of them I do stay in touch with, but not all of them. Even if it is no longer important to their lives, I try to stay in touch with those who were particularly close to me because I like to know what they are up to and out of respect. Even yet, many other childhood acquaintances I had throughout the years have developed into completely different people from the ones I knew before. It seems reasonable that I have changed in this way as well.

• Stay in touch with (v): giữ liên lạc với
• Acquaintances (n): người quen

2. Do you believe that online social media will replace face-to-face communication?

I believe it already has and will continue to, but it won’t completely replace face-to-face communication. Humans are social creatures, and while social media can undoubtedly fill some of these requirements, text and video will never be able to capture everything that we have come to value and want in interpersonal connections over the centuries.

• Interpersonal connections: kết nối giữa các cá nhân

3. How significant are childhood friendships for children?

It can be the most significant element of childhood, except interactions with family. We all learn how to engage with others and to communicate during our formative years. What is acceptable as well as what is not. The rest of your social life is built on the foundation of these early friendships.

• Interactions with (n): tương tác với
• Formative years (n): những năm vừa qua
• On the foundation of: trên nền tảng của

4. What is the experience like for children who do not have friends during their childhood?

In no way is it a nice sensation. When you’re a child, you want to be adored yet lack the ability to defend yourself when you feel uneasy. It is a highly unpleasant sensation to realize that one does not belong and to see other kids gathered together without involving oneself. You live your life under the impression that you are an oddity who is unworthy of anyone’s love or attention. A person with this kind of background may be expected to have thicker skin, but in my experience, that wasn’t the case.

• Sensation (n): cảm giác
• Defend yourself (v): bảo vệ bản thân
• Oddity (n): sự kỳ lạ
• Unworthy (adj): không xứng đáng
• Thicker skin: mặt dày

5. Why do you find it easier to confide in friends rather than family members?

I think your friends have a lot better sense of what is meant by understanding than your family ever will. Please note that I am referring to two different types of connections when I refer to friends and family. To be more specific, a family, such as parents, cannot think of anything that is beyond their knowledge.

• Beyond sb’s knowledge: ngoài tầm hiểu biết
• Critical (adj): phê bình
• Preconceived notions (n): định kiến