Buzz
How to craft a compelling response for Speaking Part 2 when lacking extensive knowledge on the topic? Explore answering the prompt “Describe a historical event in your country” in IELTS Speaking part 2.1. Part 2: Describe a historical event in your country
Describe a historical event in your countryYou should say:When the event took placeHow you learnt about this eraWhat happenedWhy you find it interesting
Everyone should have a ready topic related to History as a backup when entering the Speaking exam room. However, for those who don’t have time to prepare, what should they do?
In fact, there’s no need to take unnecessary risks or pretend to know a lot of details about history to impress IELTS examiners for a high band score.
Specifically, accuracy of content is not a criterion in Speaking assessment. Therefore, you can openly admit that you're not particularly interested in this issue... Then steer the conversation towards what you do know. You can watch Mr. Tung's detailed answer guide in the video below:
2. Sample (Sample)
“So this question is really giving me a hard time. I actually don’t know the first thing about history, kind of embarrassing to admit this. Of course, I took History when I was in school but most of that stuffs kind of went over my head. So this question is really difficult for me.
Having said that, I guess I could tell you about a historical era or more correctly an event that everybody is supposed to know about, it is the Independence day of VN. This event took place on September 2nd 1945. And of course, I learned about this event extensively when I was in school, given it was important. However, it has been a while, so my recollection of what my teacher taught me may not be very accurate, so bear with me here.
So basically before Independence day, VN was under the oppression of the French colonial empire. But after this Independence day, VN managed to break the shackles of colonization and then became a sovereign country. I think this event is kind of usher in an era of economic prosperity, and everybody’s lives became dramatically better. So I guess I’m not that interested in history or this event as I was saying, but I think I should be. I think it would give me an appreciation for our nation and our heritage, our heart, our forefathers.”
(Original sample by Mr. Đặng Trần Tùng)
3. Lexicon
Vocabulary related to the topic:
- Independence Day (n) Ngày lễ độc lập
- to be under the oppression of : chịu sự áp bức của
- colonial empire: đế chế đô hộ
- to break the shackle: phá tan xiềng xích
- colonization (n) sự xâm lược
- sovereign (adj) (quốc gia) độc lập, có chủ quyền
- to usher in: định hướng, dẫn dắt, bắt đầu
- to give someone a hard time: khiến ai gặp khó khăn
- to go over one’s head: (cái gì) lướt qua trí não ai (không thể nhớ được)
- recollection (n) sự hồi tưởng, kí ức
- economic prosperity: sự phát triển/thịnh vượng của nền kinh tế
- to give an appreciation for: khiến ai trân trọng
