40 IELTS Speaking Part 2 Tips, Questions and Band 9 Sample Answers

This post will furnish you with 40 useful IELTS Speaking Part 2 Tips, Questions and Model Answers of Band 9 to help you be well-prepared for the IELTS test (both General Training & Academic module).

In IELTS Speaking Part 2, you will have the opportunity to speak for longer (1-2 minutes) on a specific topic  based on the information on a task card given by IELTS examiner with key points you should talk about as follow:

You will have a pencil and a paper and 1 minute to prepare for the given topic so you should make use of limited time to note down key ideas you will give a talk about during 1-2 minutes.

Also check: IELTS Speaking Part 2

In all, Speaking Part 2 will takes 3-4 minutes.

How to be well-prepared for IELTS Speaking Part 2

• The most effective way is to practice daily at home with your partner who can listen while you speak about a particular topic and give an advice on whether your speaking is good enough or not and comment upon your pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc.
• Your study partner then should ask you several questions about your chosen topic using the rounding off questions. 
• Record yourself and self-mark in regards to the Speaking Criteria. I can also have somebody proficient in English or have experience in IELTS score your speaking.
• Maximize your score by practicing daily on the latest topics in Speaking Part 2

Top Tips for IELTS Speaking Part 2

– Make use of your preparation time (1 minute) wisely to jot down key words and main ideas for your topic. Keep in mind that you should never write down a full sentence in this preparation time because it is a waste of time and make you slow down your flow of thinking.

– During your 1-2 minute talk, try to talk about what you feel comfortable with to get the highest mark. It means that if you don’t like the suggestions on the cue card, you don’t need to follow them and try to follow the strategy: Introduction, main body and conclusion.

• Introduction: A formal-sounding introduction is unnecessary. Instead, you can jump straight into your answer: I would love to talk about… | I prefer talking about…because… 
• Main body: Your talk should have a variety of tenses and vocabulary. Therefore, you should:
  1. Talk about the past: Use linking words like “anyhow” to make a smooth transition into talking about the past. You can make the most of the following structures for the past tense:
  + Past simple (Verb_ed)
  + Past continuous (Was/Were Verb-ing): use the past continuous to talk about something which continued before and after another action (eg: The children were playing badminton when I came back) or something that happened at  a particular time in the past (I was reading book at 8:00 pm yesterday)
  + Past perfect (Had + Past Participle)
  + Modal verb + have + the past participle (eg: could/must/should/might/must  + have + known)
  + Used to Verb infinitive (when you want to talk about the past habits/actions/states that no longer exist.
  + Would Verb infinitive: Describe past habits 2. Give a detailed description: You can start off this by saying “So let me tell you about (X) in a little more detail.” This will be a great opportunity for you to show off your usage of vocabulary, grammar, collocations, idioms. Bear in mind that IELTS examiner will evaluate all the skills (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and coherence). However, this part 2 will especially test your fluency and coherence skills.3. Give your viewpoint: After provide IELTS examiner with a complete description, you can expand on your answer by saying: “If you ask me/In my view/I would say + (opinion on topic)”4. Talk about the future: You should use at least 3 tenses in your speaking to have a rich variety of grammar usage. You can start by ‘With regards to the future….’. For the future tenses, you can make use of the following:
  + To be going to Infinitive
  + Will/Won’t Verb infinitive
  + The future perfect- will have + past participle
  + Present continuous to talk about fixed arrangements. 
• Conclusion: Two other possible ways to more clearly finish your answer for IELTS Speaking Part 2 are: 
  a) by repeating the topic
  b) by repeating the main point, especially your main feeling in your story.
  Signpost your talk at the end with words or expressions like:
  “So …”  “As you can see …”   ”To sum up …”

The most important thing is that you should practice at home or with your study partner, using this strategy with many random topics choosen by your partner to make it more interesting and difficult. 

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Tips by Simon

Before the exam, prepare ideas for the six main topics:

1. Describe an object (a gift, something you use etc.)
2. Describe a person (someone you admire, a family member etc.)
3. Describe an event (a festival, celebration etc.)
4. Describe an activity (e.g. a hobby)
5. Describe a place (somewhere you visited, a holiday etc.)
6. Describe your favourite (book/film/advertisement/website)

Focus on vocabulary, not grammar or linking. In the exam, try to note down as many ideas as you can during the 1-minute preparation time – hopefully you’ll be able to use ideas that you have already prepared. You don’t have to cover all of the points on the task card, but it helps you to structure your answer if you do. Say as much as you can for each point, and use a real example or story at the end of your description if you need to fill time. Keep going until the examiner stops you.

You can download a collection of 40 IELTS speaking part 2 tips, questions and band 9 model answers below.
These IELTS speaking sample answers will provide you with great ideas about what you can say for a different set of IELTS speaking topics. You can also make the most of these 40 band 9 answers to  learn more IELTS vocabulary and  how to organize your ideas and structure your IELTS speaking answers.

Free Download 40 IELTS Speaking Part 2 Tips, Questions and Band 9 Answers by Simon:

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Tips, Questions and Band 9 Sample Answers Mirror 1