In this IELTS speaking practice test, we look at several common IELTS topics including the Part 2 cue card "describe an interesting journey you have been on".
IELTS Speaking Practice Questions and Sample Answers
These IELTS speaking questions and answers are based on an IELTS speaking test in Australia recently.
IELTS Speaking Part 1
Do you like to draw?
Not now, in fact I can’t really remember the last time I drew anything, but when I was a child I used to love drawing.
Are drawings important in people’s lives?
I think it depends on the individual, for some people, yes, they’re important and for others, well maybe no, or not so important.
I think they’re probably more important for children – because they normally do a lot more drawing than adults.
Is it hard to draw?
No, but it’s hard to draw well – you need to have talent to draw really well, and you need to practice a lot.
Can you tell me how you spend your birthdays?
Well, normally I don’t do anything special, maybe go out and meet some friends, go for dinner or a couple of drinks. Every year seems to be something different, so it depends where I am and who I’m spending time with.
Please, describe your most interesting birthday.
I think it was the first year I spent living abroad, in a different culture, and they made a really big deal of it.
As I said, I don’t usually do anything very special, but they thought it was very important and made a big fuss about it all and arranged a party with lots of people and everything.
Do all your friends know when your birthday is?
No, some do, but some don’t ... a little strange I know.
IELTS Speaking Part 2
Cue Card Topic
You should say:
- Where you went
- Who was with you
- Why the trip was interesting
Describe An interesting journey when you were young
I remember my most interesting journey, when I was about six years old, with my parents. We travelled by car up north and the thing that I remember most was the amazing scenery which was quite different from where we used to live. I couldn’t really remember seeing big mountains before that trip, but the ones I saw were so huge and steep that I recall being seriously impressed by them.
I also saw some amazing rivers running down through the mountains and I can remember there was a waterfall, with the water cascading down the side of one of the mountains, and I also saw a lot of animals that you wouldn’t normally see living in a city.
It was a long trip, I seem to remember it took most of the day, although we stopped every now and then to take a break and have something to eat before continuing.
I remember that for a lot of the time I just sat in the car and my face was like pushed up to the window just watching all these things go past as we travelled along the road.
Every time I thought I had seen the tallest mountain – we would go round the next bend in the road and there was an even taller mountain right in front.
As we went up the mountain road you could see right down into the valley below and I remember feeling a little afraid because I thought if the car fell off the road then we would drop all the way down to the bottom – it was a long way down. It’s funny thinking about it now.
I guess that particular journey was the most interesting journey I have ever made because it was the first time I really remember seeing really different landscape from the normal things I would see where I grew up – so it was really impressive and I can still remember the colours and the different smells in the air as we drove along the road.
Looking back on it now, yes, it was my most interesting journey when I was a child.
IELTS Speaking Part 3
Discussion Questions
How can people travel around your country?
There are all the normal forms of transport, you know, cars, buses, trains, airplanes. I suppose if you were thinking about visiting various different places then a car might be the easiest and most convenient way of doing it. Then you could stop and start and go wherever and whenever you want without any problems.
Using the train is quite fast, but they’re only between the major cities, so if you want to go anywhere else, you’d probably have to get a bus, and airplanes are quite expensive, and again they only fly between the largest cities, so if you want to see the country, using a car is probably your best bet.
Can you compare the prices of different types of transportation?
Well, that’s quite easy, flying is the most expensive; then comes the car, if you take into account fuel and maintenance etc., and then the bus, and the most economic would be using a bicycle, which is actually becoming really popular again here at the moment, because fuel is so expensive and there’s so much traffic congestion.
Which type of transportation will be used the most in the future?
Well, I think the way things are developing, we’ll continue to use cars, but as we’ve already seen - the cars we’ll be using in the future will be very different from what we’ve been used to so far.
We can already see the beginning of ‘smart cars’ and eco-friendly cars. They’re smaller, cleaner, hybrid and much less wasteful with fuel - I’m sure that we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future.
What benefits do people get from travelling?
It depends where they travel to. For example, you could say that there’s very little benefit from travelling to work everyday – apart from working and getting paid.
However, if we’re talking about travelling abroad or visiting a place you wouldn’t normally go to, then I think that travelling can have a lot of benefits - it can be fun, interesting, relaxing and provide a welcome break from just doing the same old things over and over again.
Certainly, travelling abroad makes you appreciate what’s good and bad back home, and also broadens your perspective on life, culture and such things – so it’s quite an experience.
How would you answer this IELTS speaking test question about describe an interesting journey you have been on?
- Which childhood journey do you remember the most?
- Why was the journey special?
- What's your best memory from that journey?
IELTS Speaking Tips
Similar questions on the topic of a journey
- Describe an interesting journey you have been on
- Describe a long and interesting journey you have made
- What is the most exciting journey you've been on?
- Describe an exciting journey you once took
- Describe an interesting trip
- Describe an interesting trip you have taken
- Describe a journey you make everyday
- Describe an exciting journey
- Describe a journey that you particularly enjoyed
- Describe a journey you made in the past that you remember well