Top tips for IELTS Speaking Part 1

Do you know what is the most interesting thing about IELTS Speaking? It is the module that you can improve faster than many other modules? The more you practice, the more fluency and accuracy you get. You may know the Speaking test involves three parts. This article sheds light on only part 1. IELTS Speaking Part 1 is significant because it is the first chance to make a good impression on the examiner’s mind during the exam day. So you would want to give your best shot.

In this article, I will discuss 5 top tips to answer Speaking Part 1 questions and a wide range of recent speaking Part 1 sample questions so that your aspiration of scoring Band 7 or 8 comes true within the shortest possible time.

How long does this part last?

IELTS Speaking Part 1 takes around 4-5 minutes.

What are the most common contexts for IELTS Speaking Part 1?

Broadly, Part 1 questions are about general information questions; in a word, it deals with things about yourself, your background, origin, hobbies, preferences, etc. You may confront hundreds of different types of questions in IELTS Speaking Part 1. But they usually come from a handful of topics. So, usually, covering 10 aspects is enough for a brilliant performance in Speaking Part 1. They are given below.

• Home/ hometown
• Work/study
• Relationships (family, friends, neighbors, pets, wild animals)
• Likes, dislikes (swimming, traveling by bus/train)
• Arts (film, television, art, music, photography)
• Education (history, mathematics, science)
• Technology (computers, smartphones)
• Pastime (weekends, birthdays, breaks, vacations, national holidays)
• Styles and tastes (jeans, shoes, colors, hairstyle)
• Environment (weather, the sky)

Top 5 tips for IELTS Speaking part 1

• Do not give one-word answers like ‘Yes, No’.
• Don’t give too long answers.
• Never memorize answers.
• Don’t overthink.
• Maintain eye contact with the examiner.

How to prepare for the IELTS Speaking exam?

• Practice in pairs or groups; take topics from the list below.
• Make sure each of you answers at least 5 questions a day.
• Put yourself in the shoes of an examiner while asking others.
• Ask your others in the group to be the examiner now.
• Keep track of your strengths and weaknesses in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, and work on the weaknesses.
• Make meaningful lists of vocabulary, collocations, idiomatic expressions, and linking words.

Recent IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions

1. Study/ Work

Study

Where do you study?

What do you study?

Why did you choose to study this subject?

Is it a popular subject in your country?

Do you like your subject? Do you prefer to study in the mornings or in the afternoon?

Work
Where do you work?
Do you like your job?
Do you miss being a student?
If you had a chance, would you change your job?
Do you plan to continue with your job in the future?

2. Hometown/ home

Hometown

Where is your hometown?
Is it a big city or a small place?
How is your hometown like?
How long have you been living there?
How often do you visit your hometown?
Do you think it is a good place to live in?
What is your favorite part in your hometown?
What do you dislike about your hometown?
Are there any tourist attractions in your hometown?
Has your hometown changed much since you were a child?

Home

Where is your home?
Do you live in a house or a flat?
Who do you live with?
Which is your favorite room?
How are the walls decorated?
Do you plan to live there in the future?
What is your neighborhood like?

Family

How often do you meet with your family members?
Do you want to live with your family in the future?
Are you close to all of your family members?
How has your family influenced you?
Who do you feel most comfortable talking to in your family?

Friends

Do you have friends?
How often do you talk to your friends?
What do you think makes people have a long friendship?
Is it beneficial to have similar interests in a friendship?
How do people make friends?
Do you like to spend time with friends or alone?

Gifts

Do you like having gifts?
Do you give expensive gifts?
What do you give others as gifts?
What kind of gifts are popular in your country?

Food

What is your favorite food?
Are there any foods you dislike?
Is fast food getting popular in recent times?
Is taking healthy food essential to keep obesity in check?

Hobbies

Do you have a hobby?

Do you think hobbies should be shared?

Did you have a hobby as a child? What hobbies are popular in your country?

Shopping

Do you like shopping?
Do you compare prices when you shop?
Is it difficult for you to make a choice when you shop?

Reading

Do you love reading?
What do you love to read in your spare time?
Do you read newspaper?
Do you read news online or from a printed newspaper?

Fishing

Why do people go fishing?
Where can you see fish?

Music

Do you often listen to music?
Who is your favorite singer?
What type of music do you like most?
How much time do you spend listening to music every day?
Have you ever been to concerts?
Do you like to enjoy listening to live music?
How do you feel when you listen to music?
When do you like to sing?
Is it difficult to sing well?
Do you want to be singer?
What kinds of music do you like to sing?

Swimming/ water sport

Have you done water sports?
What water sports do you like doing?
What water sports do you want to try?

Gardening

Do you love gardening?
Do most people of your country love it?
On which occasion people gift flowers in your country?

Traveling

Do you love traveling to outer places?
What would you do if you had the opportunity?
Do you think it is necessary to see other planets?
When was the last time you went traveling?
Do you like to travel by air?

Picnic

Did you go on a picnic when you were a child?
How often do you go on a picnic now?
Where do you go on a picnic?
What is the difference between a picnic and cooking at home?

Meeting strangers

Do you like meeting strangers?
How do you feel when you get to know the strangers?
Do you often meet strangers?
Can you tell if you like someone when you meet him/her for the first time?

Internet

Do you use internet very much?
When was the first time you used the internet?
Is the internet very important to you?
Do you think you can live without the internet?

Neighbor/ neighborhood

Do you know your neighbors?
Do you like your neighbors?
Why are neighbors important?
How often do you meet your neighbors?

Neighborhood

What is your neighborhood like?
Do you think your neighborhood is a good place for children?

Pets/ animals

Are people of your country fond of pets?
What kinds of animals people like to keep as pets in your country?
Do you think cities are suitable places for having a pet?
Do children in your countries like animals?

Sports

Do you love sports?
Do you like to watch sports on TV or live?
Which are the popular sports in your country?
Who is your favorite sports star?
What kind of sports would you like to try in the future?

TV

Do you like watching TV?
Which TV program do you like most?
How much do you spend watching TV?
Did you watch much TV when you were a child?

Weather

What’s the weather like in your country?
Does the weather affect what you do?
Does it rain a lot in your hometown?
Does rain affect transportation in your hometown?

Color

What’s your favorite color?
Are there any colors you dislike?
Are colors important to you?
Are there any colors that have special meaning in your country?
What colors would you choose to paint the walls of your room?

Childhood

Did you enjoy your childhood?
What is the first memory of your childhood?
Did you have a lot of friends while you were a child?
What did you enjoy doing as a child?
Do you think it is better for children to grow up in the city or in the countryside?

Birthdays

How do children celebrate birthdays in your country?
How did you celebrate your last birthday?
What kinds of birthday gifts do you like to receive?
Is there any difference between the way you celebrated your birthday in the past and in the present?

Arts

Do you like art?
Do you think art classes are necessary?
Are you good at art?
What kind of paintings do people like?
What benefits can you get from painting as a hobby?
How often do you visit art galleries?

Gadgets

Smartphones
Do you have a mobile phone?
At what age did you get a mobile phone?
What do you most use it for?
Is it a nuisance if people use phones in public places like buses or training?

Computers
Do you think computers help society?
Do you think computers are bed for health?
Do you think computers have changes the world?
What do you mostly do in a computer?

Headphones
Do you use headphones?
What type of headphones do you use?
When do you use headphones?
In what situations you will not use headphones?

Apps

What kinds of apps do you often use?
What kinds of apps would you like to have in the future?
What’s the most popular apps in your country?
What was the first app you used?
Do old people in your country like to use apps?

Science

What science subject did you like in school?
What do you find most interesting about science?
Is there anything that you do not like about science?
Is your present study/ work related to science?

Sky & stars

Do you like to watch the sky?
Can you see the moon and the stars where you live?
Do you prefer the sky in the morning or the sky at night?
Is there a good place to look at the sky where you live?
What is the sky like at night in your hometown?

Happiness

Is there anything that makes you happy?
What do you do to stay happy?
Can you stay happy all the time?
Is it important to be happy?

Sample IELTS Speaking Part 1 Answers

Examiner: Are you a member of a big family?
Sample answer: My immediate family is not particularly large. I come from an extended family with a lot of uncles, aunts, and cousins. Birthdays and other celebrations are boisterous, packed occurrences since we are a tight-knit family.

Examiner: When was the last time your family got together for a get-together?
Sample Answer: Last year, we gathered as a family to commemorate my grandfather’s eightieth birthday. He has a special place in my heart. He has kept up healthy relationships with the entire family, so it was a joyous occasion for all of us.

Examiner: Would you take a friend on a family holiday?
Sample answer: I have, in fact. My family and my best friend got to know each other quite well because she came to visit me at my house on a regular basis. My family believes that we should nurture our friendships, so when we went on vacation to the beach last year, they encouraged me to bring my friend along.

Three techniques to manage the exam day well

1. Consider the exam as a conversation with a friend or co-worker and feel excited.
2. Try to paraphrase the questions while answering.
3. Buy time technically when you find a question difficult

How to buy time?

There is nothing wrong with taking a pause while you need some time to think before what you say. To do that you can use the expressions below.

• That’s an interesting question
• I have never thought about that, but …
• Let me see
• That’s a good point
• That’s a difficult question but I will try and answer it
• Well, some people say that is the case, however, I think …
• Let me think about that for a minute

Practice, practice, and practice. Success will be heading your way soon. All the very best with your IELTS test on behalf of the British American Resource Center! Please comment down whether you find this helpful.