Speaking Home |Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
In Part 3, you and the examiner discuss some topics related to the topic you spoke about in Part 2. The time limit for Part 3 is about 3-4 minutes. The examiner will help you and move the conversation along.
Examples
So if your Part 2 (Long Turn) topic was "Describe something you bought recently," Part 3 might be about buying habits in the UAE, consumers, materialism, shopping, consumer protection, or differences between shops now and in the past, or a prediction about shopping in the future.
If your Part 2 (Long Turn) topic was "Describe a teacher you had in school," Part 3 might be about education, training, the internet and education, changes in education in the last twenty years, the importance of training, etc.
Examples of Part 3
|
Topic in Part 2 |
Possible Related Topic in Part 3 |
| Describe a place you visited recently | How does tourism affect a country? Does it have some advantages? Can cultures learn from each other? |
| Describe a friend | Is friendship important in your culture? How many close friends can you have? Are friends more important than family? |
| Describe a child you know |
What is the role of parents in raising children? Has the role changed in recent years? Who is responsible for discipline? |
| Describe an object you like |
Do possessions make people happy? Why do people buy things? Are people in your country wise consumers? |
| Describe a photograph | Are images important in your culture? What is the role of advertising? Do films and television influence our decisions? |
| Describe an historical figure | Who are the most influential people in your society? Are there many heroes or role models today? What are the qualities of a good leader? |
| Describe an important event in your culture | How do different cultures celebrate events? What is the importance of festivals? How have special occasions such as weddings changed in your culture? |
Successful students:
- Comment on the question
- Relate the question to their own experience
- Divide up their answers
- Use modals (could, might, may) the past perfect, and future tenses correctly
- That’s interesting. I was watching a program about that last week
- That’s a big problem today. I heard Sheikh Mohammed talk about that in a speech in Dubai.
- Oh, that’s very difficult to predict! I don’t think anybody really knows what is going to happen.
- Wow, that’s a tough question. It depends on your point of view.
- Yes, I’ve often thought about that.
Relate the question to their own experience
- That’s very important because I am getting married next month
- That’s an interesting question because I work in computers, so I often wonder what the future of technology will be.
- That’s a tough question because I am not an economist.
- That’s funny – the other day I was in Al-Ain and someone asked me the same question.
- My kids often ask me the same question
- Basically, there are three ways to look at this problem. One way is to imagine….
- I think there are several ways to solve this problem. I think one way would be to…
- It depends on how you look at it. For example, if you were a parent, you would have one opinion, and if you were a student, you might have another perspective.
- I think two very different things will happen. First of all, there might be…
- There have been several effects. One effect is that
- I suppose you could break it up into two or three areas. First…
In the IELTS speaking test, Part 1 focuses on Present Tense, Part 2 on the Past, and Part 3 on the future and modals (can, could, might, may, etc.) You are expected to predict, guess, analyse, relate, suggest and evaluate (give your opinion) in this part.
- Download tips for the IELTS Speaking Test (Word version) (Adobe Acrobat version).
- Don’t overdo the “That’s an interesting question.” Use it once, relate it to something, and mean it. Watch this video from dcielts.com to see what happens when someone overuses it…
- Don’t forget to check YouTube for examples of Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3 Speaking!
- Here’s one of the best resources out there: from the Australia Network television service, an excellent series of videos and other resources. Start with this cheerful video about IELTS Speaking Part 2 from Lester Chin. You can download videos and transcripts. Amazing resource. Highly recommended!