Speaking Test – Part 1,2,3 – Your friends
IELTS speaking part 1 – sample questions and answers
Topic – Your friends:
Q. Do you prefer to have one particular friend or a group of friends? [Why?]
Answer: I think it’s a tough question to answer. But I will try. Naturally, I would like to have a group of friends from my school, my neighbourhood, and a few online friends but someone truly special would become my best friend. One particular friend, who I believe would be a truly great friend and completely reliable, is hard to find but will remain my buddy for a long time while many other friends would be for a short span of time.
Answer: Having one friend is certainly good, but having a group of friends is even better primarily because you get to lean onto more people than just one when you are in need. Getting to know different people with different backgrounds and interests helps me to grow as a dynamic person. When you get the chance to learn about someone new, you have a new insight, and you get to experience new things because he/she will almost inevitably introduce you to different ideas and thoughts.
Besides, allowing myself to step out of my comfort zone and letting my guard down with new friends will really help me build up my strengths and confidence which are absolutely essential to succeed in the future not only in my personal life but also in professional life.
Q. What do you like doing most with your friend/s?
Answer: I like to have conversations with my friends and hang out with them. I often play indoor and outdoor games with them. Since we can virtually say anything to our friends and do anything with them, we can be truly ourselves with our friends. I sometimes, prefer to travel to different cities with my friends, and I went to Milan a few months ago with two of my close buddies.
Answer: I mostly like to hang out with my friends over a cup of coffee or some snacks that we all like. Then, there are times, when we just love to hit a movie theatre to enjoy one of our favourite movies together. Another thing also, which we really like, is to have some stimulating conversation and/or debate among ourselves about the various aspects of our societies as well as what is happening in our part of the world.
Q. Do you think it’s important to keep in contact with friends you knew as a child? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: I think childhood friends are special in a sense. We make friends during this phase of life very innocently and without any expectation from them. Besides, childhood memories are truly special and our childhood friends are a part of these reminiscences. So keeping in touch with those buddies are important. However, from a practical point of view, having regular contact with all childhood friends is not possible as we lose contact with many of them as we grow older.
Answer: Friendship is like a special “gift” to me, and I try not to take any “friendship” for granted. Therefore, if someone was my friend as a child, I would certainly make every effort to keep in touch with him because this kind of friendship carries special memories. Besides, when we develop a friendship as a child, we usually do it without any expectation of “personal gains”, and as a result, this kind of friendship paves the way for even a better and stronger kind of bond between two friends later on in our life.
Q. What makes a friend into a good friend?
Answer: I believe it takes time, common interests, and a similar mentality to bring friends even closer. We make many friends in our life and some of them become close friends as they prove through their activities that we can trust them and share anything with them.
Answer: I am not really into judging whether someone is a good friend or not. In fact, the very fact that someone chooses to “befriend” me is a matter of great joy and happiness for me. Therefore, I would say that every friend is a “good” friend to me. But, in my opinion, a good friend would turn into even a better one if he or she remains by my side not only during my happy days but also during the ‘not-so-happy days because as they say, “a friend in need is a friend indeed”, and I happen to agree with it whole-heartedly.
Q. Are your friends mostly your age or different ages? [Why?]
Answer: Most of my friends are about my age. Only two or three of them are junior to me by five to six years. As my friends are mostly from my class, it’s natural that we do not have a noticeable age gap. For junior friends, they are from my neighbourhood and were my playmates in my childhood. So they became good friends of mine over time despite the age difference.
Q. Do you usually see your friends during the week or on weekends? [Why?]
Answer: As I am still a student and have a few good friends in my college. So I mostly see them during the weekdays when we have classes to attend. If we have something special to do or a plan to execute, we even meet on weekends. As for my friends from my neighbourhood, I mostly see them in the evening on weekends.
Q. The last time you saw your friends, what did you do together?
Answer: We watched a movie together at our house. That would be around two weeks ago and we watched the latest Avengers series movie. After the movie, we had numerous conversations and we talked about our plans after we graduate from college. Since I was preparing for my IELTS exam, we did not meet afterward. But we will hopefully meet again within two to three days.
Q. In what ways are your friends important to you?
Answer: My friends actually represent me. As it is commonly believed, a person could be judged by the companies he keeps, and this is true in my case as well. They are my friends because we are like-minded. They often inspire me to attain excellence and carry on in my troubled days.
I can be absolutely myself with my friends, can share anything with them and they are by my side whenever I need them. From this regard, they are important to me to a great extent. I can recall numerous occasions when they selflessly supported me. I believe friends make life worth living and more colourful.
Q.Are your friends mostly your age or different age? Why?
Answer: Most of my friends are my age and I have a few friends who are seniors to me. The reason I have friends of my age is that they were mostly my classmates initially and then became my good friends. Most of my friends are from my high school and college and that naturally makes them be my age.
Q. Do you prefer one or two close friends or many friends?
Answer: When I was in my early teens, I preferred many friends but nowadays I have few friends but they are very close to me. So I would say, I prefer having few close friends than having too many ordinary friends.
Q. Do you usually see your friends during weekdays or on weekends? Why?
Answer: I usually see my friends during weekends. Weekdays are busy days and after I get back home in the evening, I prefer to stay at home with my family members.
Q. Do you prefer to stay alone or with your friends?
Answer: I usually prefer to be with my friends. However there are times when I need my personal time and in this case, I prefer solitude rather than companies.
Q. The last time you saw your friends, what did you do together?
Answer: Well, we played badminton together and had our dinner at a nearby restaurant. That’s the last thing I can recall doing with my friends and that would about a week ago.
Q. In what ways are your friends important to you?
Answer: I share many common interests with my friends and that makes us have pleasant activities and conversations together. They are quite helpful and supportive to me in times of desperate times. I can share almost anything with them and that makes them special to me. Having good friends is like being blessed and that’s why they are very important to me.
Q. What do you prefer: going out with your friends or spending your spare time staying at home?
Answer: That depends. Sometimes I prefer being with my friends and sometimes I prefer staying at home with my family members. I try to maintain a balance in terms of spending time with my friends and with my family. For example, while playing any outdoor sports, I prefer going out with friends. However, I enjoy watching movies and dining out with my family members.
Q. Do you have many friends? Why? Why not?
Answer: As I’ve already said, I had many friends when I was in my high school. But these days I have comparatively fewer close friends.
Q. What do you usually do with your friends?
Answer: I enjoy playing outdoor games, watching movies in a theatre, having conversations related to recent political and international issues, sharing my updates and concerns, going long drive with my friends. The best part is the open conversation we can have related to almost any topic.
Q. Are friends as important to you as your family?
Answer: To me, my family is more important. However, this does not make my friends less important to me. Naturally, family comes first for almost everybody and then the friendship. I am no exception.
Q. Do you think friendships change as we get older? How?
Answer: Yes, I believe so. In early ages, we are prone to make many friends and only a few of them remain for a long. At this stage in life, the friendship is not that deep except in some cases. On the contrary, when we get older we prefer to have few friends but most of them remain as loyal and close friends. In young ages, our expectations from friends are to enjoy their companionship and doing all the crazy things with them. However, in older ages, we expect far more from our friends and they become more like family members than being simply friends.
Q. What do you expect from a good friend?
Answer: Well, that’s a tough question! Not that I have not thought about it, but I have never drawn a solid conclusion about it! Umm, my expectation from a good friend is that he would be a good companion, a good listener, would criticise me whenever needed, would be supportive and positive. He must be honest and would have a sense of humour. Finally, I expect him to be more like a family member than an outsider.
Examiner: Do you come from a large family?
Answer: My immediate family is not very big. I have a large extended family that includes many uncles, aunts, and cousins. We are a close-knit family, and we like to keep in touch with one another, so birthdays, and other celebrations, are noisy crowded affairs.
Examiner: When was the last time you had a family function?
Answer: Our extended family got together last year to celebrate my grandfather’s eightieth birthday. He is very dear to my heart. He has kept up healthy relationships with the whole family, so it was a happy occasion that we all enjoyed.
Examiner: Would you take a friend on a family holiday?
Answer: I have. My family and my best friend got to know each other quite well, as she visited me quite frequently at my home. My family believes that we should nurture our friendships, so they encouraged me to bring my friend along when we took a seaside holiday last year.
IELTS speaking part 2 – sample question and answer
Examiner: Tell me about your best friend.
To answer this question in full,
- discuss who the person is,
- the circumstances of your meeting,
- and what it is that you like about them.
Answer: My best friend and I got to know each other when we were still very young. We lived in neighbouring houses. We had a lot in common, so we soon hit it off.
As we have grown older, we have moved apart. Because of this, we have to some degree lost touch, but anyone who has had a lifelong friend would understand that she will always be dear to my heart.
When we do find ourselves in the same city, we arrange a dinner date, so that we can enjoy each other’s company. We share the same ideas, and we share a common background.
We enjoy reminiscing about our past exploits. When we struck up a friendship, as children, we were inseparable. In those early days, we built up a relationship of trust that time and distance cannot break.
IELTS speaking part 3 – sample questions and answers
Examiner: Do you think that after-hour friendships between working colleagues are appropriate?
Answer: I think that it is important to have a good working relationship. Colleagues should extend the hand of friendship to newcomers in the workplace. I don’t believe, however, that professional relationships should extend into the domestic domain as this may affect office politics.
Examiner: Do you think that social media is changing the way that we relate to our friends and family?
Answer: In some ways yes. Social media allows us to build up relationships with distant cousins, even with those that live on foreign soil. It also helps us to make connections with long-lost friends, who we may never have spoken to or seen again. On the other hand, we often spend far too much time on our digital devices instead of socializing face to face.
Examiner: Do you think that people who enter into a long-term relationship, should continue with their friendships from their single days?
Answer: I think that it is important to nurture our friendships whether or not we are in a long-term relationship. Not all relationships stand the test of time, and if you have relationship problems you may one day need a shoulder to cry on. In my view, too many people abandon their friends when they become involved in relationships.
