Buzz
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Weekends
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Example
1. How do you typically spend your weekends?
My weekends are often relaxing. I usually have breakfast and coffee in a small café near my apartment. The rest of the time, I either read books in my room or hang out with my friends.
- Either … or … : làm việc này hoặc việc kia
2. What is your favorite part of the weekend?
Friday’s and Saturday’s evenings because I could stay up later than usual and watch my favourite series on Netflix. Sometimes, I use this time to chat with my friends who live abroad.
- Stay up late: thức khuya
- Series (n): chương trình/ phim nhiều tập (khác với movie)
3. Do you believe your weekends are sufficiently long enough?
I’m quite content with the length of my weekends. Two days are enough for me to put my hair down and get ready for a new week of work.
- Content (adj): hài lòng
4. How significant do you consider having free time during the weekends to be?
Even though I like my job, I think having time to wind down is a must. It gives me time to cool my engine down and reflect upon my achievements as well as my flaws in the past week.
- Wind down (phrasal verb): thư giãn
- Must (n): điều bắt buộc
- Reflect upon/on (verb): chiêm nghiệm, tự đánh giá
- Flaw (n): lỗi lầm, điều chưa tốt
IELTS Speaking Part 2
IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a person you only met once and want to know more about.
You are required to:
- Who he/she is
- When you met him/her
- Why do you want to know more about him/her
- And explain how you feel about him/her.
Example
I’m going to talk about Khanh who sat next to me on a flight to Ha Noi last year. I was on vacation and was so excited to finally have the chance to visit the capitol city of my country. Once the plane took off, I noticed the passenger next to me was reading a fascinating magazine article that featured different types of Vietnamese traditional arts. Being an art enthusiast, I struck up a conversation with her.
She introduced herself as Khanh and that she was a student of the History of Art, and the trip was part of her final dissertation. She was en route to Ha Noi to visit museums and traditional craft villages in the northern part of my country. My first impression about her was that she had a beautiful face with curly hair. She wore a fashionable pair of glasses and when she talked about her study, I could see the passion and determination in her eyes. She spoke with a soft southern accent which fascinated me. I wondered why she chose to travel over a thousand kilometres to write her dissertation.
When I asked her this, she answered that she loved all kinds of arts, and she was keen to learn all Vietnamese traditional arts. Therefore, she wanted to start her journey from the North and later she would travel southward. I was really impressed with her ambitious project.
I would love to see how her final project turns out. Unfortunately, I forgot to exchange contacts with her. I wish her all the best and maybe one day she’ll be a well-known art critic or museum curator.
- Take off (phrasal verb): cất cánh
- Passenger (n): hành khách
- Feature (v): bao gồm
- Dissertation (n): luận văn
- Enthusiast (n): người đam mê
- Strike up a conversation (idiom): bắt chuyện
- Passion (n): sự đam mê
- Determination (n): lòng quyết tâm
- Wonder (v): thắc mắc
- Southward (adv): về phía nam
- Curator (n): người phụ trách/giám đốc bảo tàng
→ This question requires the candidate to describe someone they met once and wish to know more about. Apart from describing the appearance/characteristics, the candidate should specify where and under what circumstances they met this person, and explain why they want to know more about them. They can describe the person's interesting job, field of study, or admirable traits/achievements. Suggested sequence:
Introduce the character/situation encountered (where, when) → Describe appearance → Describe characteristics → Why this person is intriguing → Why the candidate wants to know more about this person.
IELTS Speaking Part 3: Building relationships
IELTS Speaking part 3: Example
1. How do people in your country typically make new friends?
There are many ways depending on your age group. In my country, children can befriend each other by going to school. I think that’s the same everywhere. For adolescents, they can join clubs and interest groups where they meet new friends with the same hobbies and interests such as singing, dancing, etc. For adults, obviously they can form friendships with their colleagues at work.
- Adolescent (n): thanh thiếu niên
- Interest group: nhóm lợi ích, một tổ chức
- Colleague (n): đồng nghiệp
→ This question requires candidates to suggest/analyze various ways people in their country make new friends. They can analyze based on age groups or professions.
2. Is it essential to share the same hobbies and interests when making friends?
I don’t think having mutual interests and hobbies is not crucial in forming new friendships. Yes, I admit that it could help, but it’s not necessary. Speaking from my experience, I want to have friends who can teach me about new things and open my eyes to the world. In return, I also want to share with them what I know and hopefully teach them something interesting in the process.
- Mutual (adj): có cùng, cùng chung
- Crucial (adj): quan trọng
- In return: ngược lại
→ This question asks candidates to assess whether having shared hobbies or interests is important in making friends. Candidates should give their personal opinion (approximation or denial) and then explain and analyze why.
3. What characteristics define true friendships?
For me, a true friend is someone who is trustworthy. They have to be a good secret keeper because I tend to confide a lot to people who I consider my friends. Another characteristic I wish my true friend to have is compassion. If you’re friends with someone for a long time, arguments and misunderstandings are bound to happen; a good friend should be able to forgive mistakes and not hold grudges.
- Trustworthy (adj): đáng tin cậy
- Confide (v): trải lòng
- Characteristic (n): phẩm chất
- Compassion (n): lòng bao dung.
- hold grudge: để bụng
