In this article, I will give a list of the most common IELTS speaking topics and questions for part 2 IELTS speaking. You should use this list to prepare answers and practice speaking.
If you are interested in some common topics and questions for part 1 or 3 , you can find them at the below links.
IELTS SPEAKING PART 2 COMMON SPEAKING TOPICS AND QUESTIONS
In IELTS speaking part 2, the examiner gives you a question card with one main question and some prompts to help you with ideas. You will be given on minute to read the question and you can write down some keywords if you wish. You will then have to speak for a maximum of two minutes. After you finish, the examiner will ask you a follow-up question.
It is important that you speak for more than 90 seconds in this part of the exam. Many students struggle to do this fluently. Common problems include:
- Not having ideas.
- Repeating the same information.
- Unorganized answers.
- Slow unnatural speech.
It is therefore incredibly important to prepare for this part of the speaking exam. An effective way to prepare for IELTS speaking part 2 is to choose a question below and prepare for one minute. Then, speak aloud and record your answer. Following this, listen to the recording of your answer and correct any mistakes you made. You should think about the following things:
- Is your answer long enough? Your answer should be more than 90 seconds long.
- Is your speaking natural? You should not have long pauses. On the other hand, you should not rush through your answer.
- Is your pronunciation clear?
- Do you repeat yourself? You should try to avoid this by making notes carefully.
- Are you making grammatical errors? Repeated grammatical errors are common in this part, especially near end of students’ answers. Watch out for mistakes in tenses, especially past simple.
Check out our sample answers here to see what I takes to get a high score.
Common areas here include:
- Describing a person. eg. a friend.
- Describing a place/building. eg. a restaurant you like.
- Describing an event. eg. an important day in your life.
- Describing an activity. eg. something you do in your free time.
Below is a list of common topics and questions for this part
Describe a person you admire.
You should say.
- Who he/she is.
- What he/she is like
- How you know about this person.
- Why you admire this person.
Describe a website you often use.
You should say:
- What kind of website it is.
- How often you use it.
- Why you like it.
- If there is anything you would like to change about it.
Describe an environmental problem.
You should say:
- What the problem is.
- What the cause of it is.
- What the effects of the problem are.
- How we can solve this problem.
Describe a long journey you went on.
You should say
- Where you went
- How long it took
- Who you went with
- How you felt about that journey.
Describe an item of clothing you like wearing
You should say:
- What the item of clothing is.
- How often you wear this item.
- Where you got it from.
- And say why you like wearing this item.
Describe a photograph you like.
You should say:
- What the photo is of.
- Where you took it.
- When you took it.
- Why you like it.
Tell me about a teacher you have had.
You should say:
- what subject(s) (s)he teaches or taught
- what the teacher is/was like
- how he/she taught
- And say whether other people had a similar opinion of this teacher.
Describe a TV show you watched as a child
You should say.
- What it is about?
- When you watched it
- Why it was special to you
Describe a successful small business you know
You should say:
- What kind of business it is
- What the company does
- How you know about this company
- Why you think they are successful
Describe an important letter you have received.
You should say:
- Who the letter was from
- What the letter was about
- How you felt about it
- Why this letter was important
Describe one of your neighbours
You should say:
- What kind of person your neighbour is
- His/her appearance.
- What you think of this neighbour
- When you usually see this neighbour
Describe a place that you have visited that you particularly liked.
You should say:
- When you visited this particular place?
- Who came with you?
- What was special about this place or memorable?
Describe a book you’ve read that was interesting.
You should say:
- When you read the book
- What the book is about
- Why you like the book
- Why other people would find it interesting
Describe a foreign language you’d like to learn
You should say:
- Which language it is
- How you would learn this language
- Why it might be difficult
- Why you would like to learn it
Describe a movie you’ve seen that had an impact on you.
You should say:
- What is the film about?
- Why you like the movie?
- What themes the movie contains?
- How this movie had an impact on you?
Describe a museum.
You should say:
- Where it is.
- When you visited it.
- What it looks like.
- If you would like to go to a similar place in the future
If you found this useful , you may also be interested in our
IELTS SPEAKING MASTERCLASS
which contains essential strategies, sample answers with key vocabulary for more than 40 IELTS speaking topics, listening exercises and quizzes. You can learn more about it
here.