IELTS Speaking Test in Macedonia – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What is your home like?
- What do you like or dislike about your home?
- Why do you like your home?
- If you had a chance to choose, what would be your ideal home?
- Do you like to travel to other cities?
- What kind of music do you like?
- Should we teach music to our kids?
- Do you think that a country’s traditional music is important to its culture? Why?

Cue Card
Describe a person who is doing a very important job. Please say

- Who is he/she?
- What is the job?
- Why do you think it’s an important job?

Discussion
- What are the main reasons for employees’ poor performance at work?
- Explain how the employers can motivate their employees to perform better, other than giving them a pay rise?
- Do you think people doing unpleasant jobs should be paid more?

IELTS Speaking Test in Kuwait – 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?
- What does your daily schedule look like?

Cue Card
Describe a training session that you have attended. Discuss the most exciting and memorable part of it.

Discussion
- What is your view of the latest technology?
- Do you think face to face learning is better than internet distance learning?
- Do you think schools are still needed or not?

IELTS Speaking test in the USA – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What do you like about your job?
- Why did you choose this profession?
- Is wedding ceremony important in your country?
- Who gets invited to a wedding in your country?
- What activities do you have at the wedding?
- What is the major difference between weddings today and 20 years ago?

Cue Card
Describe a city in your country. Please say

- What city is it?
- Where is it located?
- Why do you like this city?
- What would you do to improve the city?

Discussion
- What is the difference between living in a city and countryside?
- What would you suggest to improve living conditions in suburbs?
- What do you think the government should do to improve country living?

IELTS Speaking Test in the USA and Canada – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Where do you live?
- Is it an apartment or a house?
- What kind of accommodation do you prefer?
- Would you like to stay in a big house/small house? Why?
- In your country do people use boats?
- What do they use boats for?
- Would you like to own a boat?
- What would you do with a boat?
- Would you shop online or in stores for a boat?
- Have you ever been dissatisfied with your online purchases?

Cue Card
Talk about an interesting website you have come across recently. Please say

- Why have you visited it?
- How was it helpful to you?
- Did you find the information that you were looking for?

Discussion
- Do you think usage of the internet is different for different age groups?
- Do you think the government should consider educating elderly people to become computer-literate?
- Can we live without the internet?

IELTS essay, topic: Why do criminals commit another offence after being punished?

Many offenders commit more crimes after serving the first punishment. Why is this happening, and what measures can be taken to tackle this problem?

It is true that some criminals commit crimes again after they have been punished. While there are several reasons for this alarming trend, some effective measures can be taken by governments to tackle this problem.

There are two main reasons for re-offenders. Firstly, the prison system can make the situation worse. Criminals put together in prison and they make friends with other offenders. While they are locked up in prison, they do not have much to do there, and they would exchange information about what they have done before they came to the prison or they may plan crimes with other inmates. Secondly, offenders often do not have any other means of earning money. They are poor, uneducated and lacking skills needed to maintain a job. Also, a criminal record makes finding a job difficult as people usually avoid hiring ex-convict.

To solve this problem, governments should focus on rehabilitation of criminals rather than punishment. Above all, prisons need vocational training which makes inmates to prepare for life outside the prison. They can learn practical skills such as computer programming, car maintenance and graphic design. In this way, they can be hired for a position that requires this certain knowledge and skills. Community service is another way to reform offenders. Rather than being locked up in prison with other inmates, offenders can help society and become useful to their local community, and these activities would eliminate the negative influence that prisons can have.

In conclusion, it is true the re-offenders are one of the problems in our community; it can be solved by focusing rehabilitation rather than punishment itself.

This is a good essay. The requirements of the task statement are covered, the reasoning is logical and presented in a coherent, easy to follow way, the range of vocabulary is wide enough and the writer shows fluency and flexibility. Some minor errors in this essay include word choice and preposition errors (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows suggested corrections). Overall this looks like an IELTS Band 8 essay.

IELTS Speaking Test in Milan, Italy – March 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 it there?
- What will your dream house look like?
- How many hours a day do you write?
- Do you like writing? Why?
- What are the subjects/topics you were asked to write about in school/university?

Cue Card
Talk about your best friend. Please say

- Who is he/she?
- How did you meet?
- What did you do together?
- Why did you become so close to each other?

Discussion
- Would you remember a person that you only met once?
- Is it important to have a close friend? Why?
- Why do you think some friendships last for a long time?
- Is the relationship between workmates or colleagues the same as friendship?
- Is it more difficult to find a good friend or a partner for marriage?
- Do you think that modern technology has helped people to form friendships?

IELTS Speaking Test in Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What part of your job is the most challenging for you?
- Do you recommend this job to others? Why?
- Do you enjoy taking photographs?
- Is there any family photo that you like in particular? Why?

Cue Card
Talk about someone that you know, who made a wrong decision. Please say

- Who is this person?
- What was the decision?
- Why did he/she make this decision?
- Did you advise him/her before they made this decision?

Discussion
- Do you think that you always make the right decisions in your life?
- How do you usually make your decisions?
- Do you think it is better to consult with others before making any decisions?
- Do you believe that emotions play a role in making a decision?
- Do you think that young people today ask their parent’s opinion before making a decision? Why?
- How do you think the government can make good decisions?
- Do you think that cooperation between countries helps governments to make the right decisions?

IELTS Speaking Test in Vietnam – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- How can I call you?
- Where are you from?
- Where do you live?
- Is it a house or an apartment?
- What is your dream house like?
- Are buildings in your country mostly traditional or modern?
- When you have a holiday would you spend it on a boat tour with your friends?
- Will you own a boat in the future?
- Why do you like boat tours?

Cue Card
Describe your favorite show/performance. Please say

- What is it?
- Where did you see it?
- Explain why you like it.

Discussion
- Can you name some cultural activities in your country?
- Describe the role of those activities play in the life of the society.
- What would happen, if traditional cultural activities would die out?
- Does the government support cultural activities?
- Should drama and dancing be taught at school?
- Compare the attitude of boys and girls towards drama and dancing, are there differences?

IELTS Speaking Test in Mongolia – March 2013

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

Cue Card
Describe a cafe that you like to visit a lot. Please say

- Where is it located?
- Why do you like it?
- How often do you visit it?

Discussion
- Is a cafe a good place to meet people?
- Compare a cafe and a restaurant, what are the differences?
- Do you like to meet with your friends at home or outside?

IELTS Speaking Test in Nigeria – 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 major challenge at your job?
- Would you recommend this job to others?
- Do you like to take pictures?
- Why do you think it is so?
- Do you have a family portrait at home?
- What is so unique about it?
- When was the last time you took a picture?
- Do you think people exercise a lot these days?
- Do you exercise yourself?
- What exercises do you do?

Cue Card
Describe a major event in your country. Please say

- Who takes part in the event
- What is important about the event
- Why you like/dislike this event.

Discussion
- Do you think people from the countryside forget their local culture when moving to the city? Why?
- How do we encourage preserving the culture?

IELTS essay, topic: Schools should select students by their academic abilities, agree or disagree?

Some people think that schools should select students according to their academic abilities, while others believe that it is better to have students with different abilities studying together. Discuss both views and state your own opinion.

Some people contend that mixed ability classes are more beneficial for children’s development than streaming them on the basis of judgement about their academic abilities. However, from my perspective, I disagree with this contention.

Admittedly, mixed ability classes provide a better environment for children’s all-round development. In such classes, children with different abilities study together and in turn they can learn from one another. From example, a student, who is good at academic study but weak in dancing or painting, can learn how to dance or paint form his peers. In this sense, mixed ability classes allow students to develop their abilities in different subjects instead of only academic abilities.

Despite the argument above, I believe streaming students brings more benefits to teachers and students. As for teachers, separating children with better academic abilities from others facilitates effective teaching. This practice helps teachers to control their students more conveniently and easily. Compared with mixed ability in which teacher should consider students’ differences when they are using teaching methodologies, streaming makes this situation simpler. To be more specific, students are at the same level of academic ability in a class, and in turn teachers can use the same methodologies for them all. In this way, the narrower the spread of ability in the class, the more convenient the teaching can be.

On top of this, steaming enables students to learn in an effective way. According to students’ different abilities, they are taught in different ways that are more suitable for them. In the top streams, students use more difficult materials, therefore, they can learn more. In sharp contrast, teachers can explain the material more slowly to those in bottom streams. Under this circumstance, students with different academic abilities can study effectively and efficiently.

In the final analysis, mixed ability classes are beneficial for students’ versatile development, but in my opinion, segregating students based on different academic ability is better for both teachers and students.

The writer presented a balanced discussion of the topic, effortlessly delivered in a form of a fluent, well-written IELTS essay. The arguments and reasoning a laid out in a coherent, logical way. A wide range of vocabulary is used in this work. There are very few spelling errors that could have been caught in an additional round of proofreading (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections). Keep up the good work! Overall, this essay seems worthy of IELTS Band 8.

IELTS Speaking Test in India and the UK – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Where do you live now?
- Describe your city.
- Where would you like to live in the future?

Cue Card
Talk about a gift that you gave to someone recently. Please say

- What was the gift and when was it given?
- Whom did you give it to?
- How did you feel about it?

Discussion
- Talk about the importance of gifts in your country.
- What kind of gifts do you like to give?
- What is the role of advertisement in gifts industry?

IELTS essay, topic: Children these days are suffering from obesity, why and how can it be solved?

Modern children are suffering from those diseases which were once considered to be meant for adults only. Obesity is a major disease prevalent among the children. What are its causes and solutions.

Nowadays, increasing rate of overweight children and adults is a worldwide health issue. Obesity is a major problem which is increasing day by day in school going kids. There are various reasons behind it. This essay will discuss the causes of obesity and offer some solutions.

The first cause of obesity is junk food. It is often seen that mostly children are fond of burgers, pizzas, noodles and coke. These types of foods are easily available to them in school canteens. Children love to purchase chips, chocholates, - ice-creams for lunch. Moreover, in this modern era, parents are working and they do not have time to cook at home. Parents often buy dinner for their kids instead of preparing food at home. This calorie-rich diet is making children obese. This problem can be solved by teaching children to cook healthy foods for themselves and banning junk foods and fizzy drinks in schools. This diet can be replaced by milk, juice and fruits for lunch.

The second cause of obesity is sedentry life style. It is true that the use of computers and televisions is increasing in children. They spend most of their time watching television or playing video games on computer. This technological advancement has reduced the level of physical activity in this specific age group. This issue can be resolved by encouraging children for physical exercises. Parents can take their kids to park for playing with friends. Furthermore, schools can add sports in curriculum to maintain physical fitness in their students.

To sum up, it is clear that main causes of obesity are unhealthy eating and less physical activities. This ailment can be prevented and treated by healthy eating habbits and physical exercises.

IELTS Speaking Test in Sudan – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- What type of transport do you usually use?
- Do you think transportation in your country is good? Why?
- How would you upgrade the transportation in your country?

Cue Card
Describe a situation when you were late. Please say

- When was it?
- Why were you late?
- How did you feel about it?

Discussion
- Do people in your country accept excuses for being late? Why?
- What type of excuses do people in your country accept?

IELTS Speaking Test in Chennai, India – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- What is your home town?
- What do you like about your hometown?
- Would you like to live there in the future?
- Do you like your job?
- Would you recommend your job to others?
- Do you like to take photographs?
- What is the latest photograph you have taken?
- What are the ways according to you to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

Cue Card
Talk about your favorite meal and how often do you eat it. Please say

- What is it?
- Why is it your favorite?
- With whom do you eat it?

Discussion
- Do your friends also like this meal?
- How have food habits of people changed over the years?
- What are good habits of eating that people are expected to follow nowadays?
- Is it good to watch TV while eating?
- How have food habits changed in your hometown?
- Is the food they have now different from the past?
- What is the unique food habit that your community follows in your hometown?

IELTS Speaking Test in Australia – March 2013

Interview
- What’s your full name?
- Where do you come from?
- Do you work or study?
- What are you studying?
- What do you like to do after classes?
- How many hours do you think is enough for you to sleep daily?
- Do you think it is convenient to sleep for short periods of time?
- Do you think elderly people need to sleep fewer hours?
- Do you prefer to read news in the Internet or in a newspaper?
- Do you prefer to read local news or international?

Cue card
Tell me about your ideal holiday/vacation. Please say

- Where would you go?
- Whom would you like to go with?
- What would you do there?

Discussion
- Where do people from your country prefer to go on vacation, locally or abroad?
- Do you think people should plan their vacation before they go? Why?
- What things do they need to plan?
- Do you think a holiday has to be expensive to be enjoyable?

IELTS essay, topic: Public libraries should only provide books, not videos or DVD, agree or disagree?

Public libraries should only provide books and should not waste their limited resources on expensive high-tech media such as software, videos or DVDs. Do you agree or disagree?

With the proliferation of high-tech media, some people hold that the public libraries would be rendered obsolete if they do not offer software, videos or DVDs to their users while other assert it’s only a waste of limited resources and the libraries should offer books only.

High-tech media is, in many ways, indeed superior to the books in terms of entertainment, attraction, and functionality. For instance, videos and DVDs function as a visual means to assist people to have a first-hand experience even though those people have not physically visited or seen the objects which are introduced in the books. Also, despite the audio-visual equipment would be prohibitive to install, the capital cost would be lowered by appealing to a sizable number of users.

More importantly, software could assist the library goers to access the Internet to update their knowledge on a daily basis; in contrast, books typically take multiple months to be published, which in turn render their contents outdated to some extent. In addition, upon learning that the computer literacy has become an essential skill recently, public libraries should take on the responsibility to educate its users how to operate a computer.

Furthermore, it is a common practice for most public libraries to share their resources via the Internet. In this way, even if one book of interest cannot be found in one library, the borrower still could locate the book from other libraries and then request the librarians to transfer the book to that particular library.

In conclusion, public libraries would benefit in multiple ways if they are equipped with the high-tech media.

This is a good essay. There are only a few errors indicating that the writer needs to take care with verbs, prepositions and sentence formation (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections). Overall, this work seems worthy of IELTS Band 8. Remember to always proofread your essay before submitting it. Keep up the good work!

IELTS essay, topic: Children should be engaged in paid work, agree or disagree?

In many countries children are engaged in different kinds of paid work. Some people regard this as completely wrong, while others consider it a valuable work experience, important for learning and taking responsibility. What is your opinion?

The issue of whether or not children should be engaged in some paid work has sparked a heated debate. While some argue that having some employment experience is conducive to a child’s learning and development, I contend that it would bring harm to the child’s heath and learning.

First of all, a workplace designed for adults is normally shortage of child-friendly facilities. Desks and chairs are too high for a child; the light switches are installed on the walls unreachable by children; also emergency training and facilities such as phones are only provided to adults. Furthermore, various hazards such as polluted air and chemical fumes are still produced in factories and farms. Undoubtedly young people would suffer in such workplaces.

Also, children would find it frustrating when they are not properly inducted before starting a job. A child working in a cement factory would feel a setback when he could not get immediate support while struggling with the procedures of recording different raw materials that is required by the job. Further, without sufficient support, a child’s misunderstanding or inappropriately communicating with adults would only disappoint him and prevents him from active learning and interacting with other people.

To conclude, a child’s paid employment experience would lead to a negative impact on their health and active learning. However, recognizing the importance of children’s learning and their awareness of responsibility, it is advisable to encourage them to be involved in some volunteering opportunities where they can meaningfully learn and interact with other people with sufficient care and support in place for such jobs.

This is a good essay. There are only a few errors (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections), but otherwise this work seems worthy of Band 7.5 or 8. Remember to always proofread your essay before submitting it. Keep up the good work!

IELTS Speaking Test in Oman – March 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Where do you live?
- May I see your ID?
- Do you do some housework at home?
- What housework do you dislike to do at home?
- Is it important for a child to do household chores? Why?
- Do you live in a house or an apartment?
- Do you like your home?
- What kind of home would you like to have in the future?

Cue Card
Talk about a meal that you were invited to. Please say

- When and where it took place?
- Who has invited you?
- Explain why you enjoyed the meal.

Discussion
- Explain the importance of having a meal together as a family.
- What are the problems that working parents are facing with meal preparation?
- What is the difference between a daily meal and a meal prepared for a special occasion?
- Do you agree that there are more foods available these days as compared to the past?

IELTS Speaking Test in Almaty, Kazakhstan – February 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- What do you do to have a healthy lifestyle?
- What activities would you like to do for healthier lifestyle?
- Can you tell me about seasons in your country?
- What season did you like the most as a child? Why?

Cue Card
Talk about an interesting lesson or training that you have attended. Please say
- Where did it take place?
- What was the lesson/training?
- Why did you like/dislike it?

Discussion
- Should lessons taught at school be fun? Why?
- Describe an image of the perfect teacher, in your view.
- What do you think about the statement “It is never too late to learn”?
- Do you agree with it? Why?
- Do you think government should support elderly people who want to study?

IELTS essay, topic: Should people spend a lot on weddings and birthday parties?

Some people think that spending a lot on holding wedding parties, birthday parties and other celebrations is just a waste of money. Others, however, think that these are necessary for individuals and the society. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Throwing parties can be expensive. While some people do not find these fancy parties worth what they cost, others believe parties are important to both individuals and the society.

People choose to throw parties for a number of reasons. For starters, parties can make better teams. Project kick-off parties are good opportunities to break the ice and help team members to know each other better. Victory parties create a sense of success and belonging. Companies do not see parties as wastes of money and allocate budget to support such events. Moreover, parties often leave good memories. From our own experiences, we all have happy memories of our birthday parties when we were little. Every family has great photos took on family parties in their album. In addition, contrary to what some people believe that spending on parties is a waste of social resources, parties actually create value, either by employing people in the party planning business or by offering people better party experiences.

The popularity of parties, however, causes some tension in the society. Parties are hard on introverted people who find themselves uncomfortable in parties. This is a clinic symptom which psychologists call it “social anxiety disorder”. There are other ways to celebrate important events that may have greater value for their cost. For instance, companies could send out gifts after successful projects and parents could take their children on family trips to celebrate birthdays.

In my opinion, while a party is a form of social event that brings many benefits to individuals and the society, other choices should also be considered, either to cut spending or to relieve the stress of those who are not fond of parties.

This is a very good essay. Other than minor inaccuracies there are no problems (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections). Seems to be worth IELTS Band 8.

IELTS Speaking Test in Sri Lanka and Australia – February 2013

Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Have you ever visited a museum?
- How many times?
- What were the benefits of these visits to you?
- Did you visit museums as a student?
- Is there any museum that you would like to visit in the future?
- Do you think children should visit museums as a part of their studies?

Cue Card
Talk about your neighbor or roommate. Please say
- Who is he/she?
- When did you meet?
- Do you see each other a lot?

Discussion
- What is the difference between neighborhood and neighbors?
- What are the characteristics of a good neighbor?
- What is the difference between a real neighborhood and the one shown on TV?

IELTS Speaking Test in Azerbaijan – February 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 it?
- Do you use computer in you daily life?
- Did somebody explain to you how to use computer in the first place?
- When did you use a computer for the first time?
- What did you use it for, the first time?

Cue Card
Describe a present that you have given to someone. Please say
- What was it?
- Who did you give it to?
- Why did you choose it?

Discussion
- Did he/she like the present?
- What kinds of things are usually given as gifts in your culture?
- On what occasions are you expected to give presents?
- What kind of presents do people give to little kids?
- Is the cost of gift of any importance?