IELTS Speaking Test in China and India – April 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- Tell me about your job.
- What is the most challenging part of your job?
- Would you recommend it to others?
- Do you think that you are overloaded?
- What do you usually do after work?
- What time do you usually get up? Why?
- What is the ideal time for sleep?
- Is excessive sleep dangerous?
- What transportation do you often use?
- How would you improve the public transportation?
- Who do you think uses the internet the most in your country?
- What is the difference in internet use between different age groups?
- Do you know anyone who doesn’t use the internet?
- What is the life like for those people who don’t use the internet?

Cue Card
Talk about your favorite website for online purchasing. Please say

- What website is it?
- How did learn about it?
- What do you buy there?

Discussion
- What are the benefits of the internet?
- Should internet use be compulsory for all students? Why?
- Can elderly people benefit from using the internet, as well?

Improve Your Listening and Speaking-Podcast # 53

IELTS Speaking Test in New Zealand – April 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What is the most used kind of transport in your country? Why?
- What needs to be done to encourage people to use public transport?
- Does your job require concentration and attention to detail?
- How do you concentrate, when you need to?

Cue Card
Describe an event where it was very crowded. Please say

- What event was it?
- Why did you attend it?
- How did you feel at the event?

Discussion
- What do you think about traveling in groups?
- What are the advantages or disadvantages of such a trip?
- Who do you think travels in groups more: younger or older people?

IELTS Speaking Test in Malaysia – April 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Where do you stay?
- Do you work or study?
- What do you do for a living (what job)?
- What is the most interesting place in the city that you would recommend to visit?
- Do you think gardens are important for people in the city area?
- What kind of building design is popular now?
- Would you like to be an architect, if you had a chance?

Cue Card
Describe a seminar or a speech that you have attended. Please say

- What kind of seminar/speech was it?
- Where was the seminar/speech held and who was the speaker?
- Was it helpful for you in some way?

Discussion
- Why do people get nervous when they speak in public?
- How can they improve their public speaking skills?

IELTS Speaking Test in Kazakhstan and the UAE – April 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- Do you live in a house or an apartment?
- Do you like your home?
- What would your dream home look like?
- What old building do tourists usually visit in your country?

Cue Card 1
Describe your favorite room at home. Please say
- What are the main features of this room?
- Why do you like to spend your time there?
- What do you usually do there?

Discussion 1
- Do you use a boat?
- What do people in your country use boats for?
- Would you like to have your own boat? Why?

Cue Card 2
Talk about your favorite subject at school/university. Please say
- What was the subject?
- What did you learn about?
- Why was it your favorite subject?

Discussion 2
- What do you think about new methods of teaching children?
- What are those methods?
- Do you think our current education system will change in the future?

Improve Your Listening and Speaking-Podcast # 52

Improve Your Listening and Speaking-Podcast # 51

IELTS Speaking Test in Romania – April 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Do you work or study?
- Where are you from?

Cue Card
Describe a dish that you’re frequently having. Please say

- What is this dish?
- How is it prepared?
- Why do you particularly like it?

Discussion
- Have eating habits changed over time in your country?
- What are the disadvantages of today’s diet?
- Should children be taught in schools how to eat properly?

Improve Your Listening and Speaking-Podcast # 50

IELTS Speaking Test in India – April 2013

Interview
- What is your name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where do you live?
- What entertainment facilities are available in your hometown?
- What kind of entertainment did you like as a child?
- Do you prefer living in a big or a small city? Why?
- How is the weather in your country?
- What is the difference between climates in other countries and your country?
- What is your favorite season?

Cue Card
Describe a training session that you have enjoyed a lot. Please say:
- What was it for?
- What is the reason you liked it so much?

Discussion
- Are you still in touch with your tutor?
- Do you believe that educational activities for children should involve fun?
- What skills are necessary to become a good teacher?
- Do you believe that physical education should be given free to everyone?
- Do you believe that people can learn new things at any age?
- Do you agree that every person should learn new skills regularly? Why?

IELTS Speaking Test in the Philippines – April 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- Do you do any household chores?
- Are there chores that you don’t like doing?
- Do you feel that you have to work too hard at times?
- What do you do to relax?
- Do you think people have more time to relax now than in the past?

Cue Card
Describe a situation when you were late. Please say
- What was the event you were late for?
- What was the reason that you were late?
- How did you feel about it?

Discussion
- All questions that followed were about time and our concept of time.

IELTS Speaking Test in Sri Lanka – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What is the most difficult task in your job?
- Would you recommend this job to someone? Why?
- Do you use bags?
- What are the qualities in a bag that you look for when choosing one?

Cue Card
Describe a team project you have been involved in recently. Please say

- What project was it?
- When did it happen?
- Were you happy with the results or not? Why?

Discussion
- Are you still in touch with the team members?
- What features of a team are important to its success?
- Do you think working alone is good in certain cases? Why?
- Do you think some people cannot work in a team? Why?

IELTS Speaking Test in Taiwan – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- What can I call you?
- Do you work or study?
- Where are you from?
- Are there any old buildings in your hometown?
- How do you keep your body healthy?
- What exercises will you do in the future to maintain healthy lifestyle?

Cue Card
Talk about a TV program that you like. Please say

- What is it?
- What is it about?
- Why do you enjoy watching it?

Discussion
- What is your opinion about media in Taiwan?
- Do you think the media in Taiwan has more positive or negative influence on the community?
- Do you think the media should take responsibility for the community?
- Do you think the TV News channels should focus more on the local or international news?
- How do people connect to the Internet news?
- Do you think television would be replaced by the Internet one day? Why?

IELTS Speaking Test in Brazil – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you live in an apartment or a house?
- What kind of accommodation do you prefer?
- Would you like to stay in a big or a small house? Why?
- What music genre do you prefer?
- How many hours a day do you sleep?
- Do you think elderly people sleep more than young people?

Cue Card
Describe the moment you met a friend for the first time. Please say

- Who is he/she?
- Where did you meet?
- What was the first thing you did together?
- Why did he/she become your friend?

Discussion
- Do you usually remember a person that you only met once?
- What is more important: friendship or family? Why?
- Do you think it is important to spend time with family?

IELTS essay, topic: the development of technology causes traditional skills to die out, agree or disagree?

When a country develops its technology, the traditional skills and ways of life die out. It is pointless to try and keep them alive.To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Nowadays, technological advances and their rapid and wide applications are having a significant impact on a nation’s traditional skills and ways of life. Some argue that such impact is so extraordinary that it would make conventional skills and life styles obsolete. However, I believe they would continue to thrive by providing alternatives to modern ways of life, and innovative ideas for modern technologies.

First of all, traditional skills and ways of life are becoming an alternative solution to the problems caused by “mainstreamed” ways of life which are greatly influenced by modern technologies. For instance, a cozy restaurant where traditional, home-brewed beer is served, offers another experience to people who are bored with branded beers that have the same flavor and come out of mass production with new technologies. It is in such a venue where traditional skills are preserved, people become relaxed and educated. Providing diversity and thus enriching modern ways of life, such traditional skills and ways of life would continue to have their place.

Furthermore, conventional skills provide innovative ideas to the development of modern technologies. For example, sparkled by how the word “Love” is traditionally knitted into a sweater by some ethnic minority women in some parts of Asia, some business managers from textile industry have developed some production lines by applying the traditional skills to Computer-Aided Designs (CAD). The products have boosted the companies’ sales which in turn have increased their investment in preserving traditional skills for further developing their technologies.

To conclude, traditional skills and life styles are increasingly becoming a useful alternative to the homogeneity brought by global applications of modern technologies. However, the evolution of technologies is a selection process, whereby some would become obsolete, but there is no doubt that some would thrive when their roles are appreciated.

This is a good essay. The requirements of the task statement are covered, the arguments make sense and are presented in a coherent, easy to follow way, the range of vocabulary is wide enough and the writer shows fluency and flexibility. There are only a few errors (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows suggested corrections). Overall this looks like an IELTS Band 8 essay.

IELTS Speaking Test in India – March 2013

Interview
- What’s your full name?
- Where do you come from?
- Do you work or study?
- What is your work schedule like?
- What do you like to do after work?
- How many hours of sleep do you need daily?
- Do you think it is convenient to sleep for short periods of time?
- Do you think elderly people need to sleep fewer hours?

Cue Card
Describe a futuristic book or film that you have read/seen recently. Please say

- How did you come to know about it?
- What was it about?
- Did you like/dislike it?

Discussion
- What do you prefer: modern or traditional style buildings? Why?
- What type of building were you living in when you were little?
- Can you tell me about any traditional building that became a tourist destination?
- What makes it attractive for tourists?
- What is your favorite futuristic book or film? Why?
- What technology in your opinion has been proven very useful in today’s world? Why?
- How would you like a robot helping with your work? Why?

IELTS Speaking Test in Australia – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What subject are you studying?
- Do you like reading books?
- What type of books do you read?

Cue Card 1
Talk about a library that you are going to. Please say

- Where is it located?
- Why do you like/dislike it?
- How often do you go there?

Cue Card 2
Describe a very crowded place that you have visited recently. Please say

- What is this place?
- Where is the place located?
- Why did you go there?

Discussion
- What do you think about the population growth rate?