Tourist Attraction: IELTS Speaking Part 2 & 3 Sample Answers

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Let’s practice with a cue card and some easy questions about a popular topic – Tourist Attraction, which can help you get Band 8.0+ for IELTS Speaking.

Describe something you brought back from a Tourist Attraction

You should say:

• What is it?
• Where did you bring it?
• Why did you bring it?
• And explain how did you feel about it.

Sample Answer:

I bring back a lot of photos and plenty of stories from my travels. Travel always reinvigorates me. I also bring back modest presents for people who are close to me and souvenirs that usually don’t have any value but lots of memories – like museum brochures, concert tickets, postcards, calendars, prints of paintings, and fridge magnets. I bring these home with me to cherish in scrapbooks.

My favourite souvenir I’ve brought home is a set of high-end chef’s knives from Osaka. They are expensive, but they are the best knives I have ever used. I enjoy cooking, so every time I prepare something, I am reminded of my trip. It also combines my two great passions in life – cooking and travel. At every restaurant we went to during our stay, people would rave about the food and the skills of the chefs. I was inspired by the importance of good knife skills in Japanese cooking and the care that went into each meal. So I decided to learn it for myself.

I’m thrilled that it has motivated me to get better at cooking and expand my skill sets. In the future, I look forward to bringing home more new skills and knowledge, not just things.

OR

You should say:

• What it was?
• When and where do you go on this holiday?
• What did you do with it after you brought it home?
• Explain why you think it was something special.

Sample Answer:

(What it was)

Let me tell you about when I visited Nami Island, a place of interest in Seoul, Korea, and took something significant home.

(When and where you went on this holiday)

I visited Seoul for seven days during last year’s autumn with my friends. Although we tried a lot of delicious food and went sightseeing around the city, I was looking forward to the Nami trip the most to accomplish a secret mission. I was lucky to visit the island during its peak of autumn, and there were a lot of maple leaves on the island. It was the first time I have ever seen maple leaves. Therefore, I decided to pick some up and bring them home.

(What you did do with it after you brought it home)

So, I gave my friends the maple leaves I brought from the Korea trip as a gift, and I could tell by their faces that they were utterly blown away by the maple leaves even though their color had faded. Some of my friends also kept the leaves in their books as a bookmark.

(and explain why you think it was something special)

Visiting Korea in autumn and witnessing maple leaves was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. Having lived in a tropical country, I’ve never seen real maple leaves in person.

Sample Audio

Click on the audio to listen to the sample answer above. Pay attention to the intonation and pronunciation of the words

Vocabulary:

A place of interest:

Meaning: Sites of interest to tourists

Example: Cu Chi Tunnel is one of the sites of interest in Ho Chi Minh City.

To go sightseeing:

Meaning: To look around the tourist sites

Example: Last year we went to London, and we spent most of the trip going sightseeing, there was so much to see!

Accomplish:

Meaning: To finish something successfully or to achieve something

Example: The students accomplished the task in less than ten minutes.

Peak:

Meaning: Peak levels or rates are when they are at their highest

Example: Traffic congestion is really bad during peak periods

To be blown away:

Meaning: To be surprised so much

Example: Winning first prize and a full scholarship blew her away.

Fade:

Meaning: To (cause to) lose color, brightness, or strength gradually

Example: If you hang your clothes out in the bright sun, they will fade.

Once-in-a-lifetime:

Meaning: An once-in-a-lifetime experience or opportunity is very special because you will probably only have it once.

Example: A tour of Australia is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Speaking Part 3 Questions:

1. What souvenirs do people buy from tourist attractions?

Generally, people buy things which are available only in that place. For example, when going on a tour to hill stations, people buy powders of tea, coffee, and homemade chocolates which are special in hilly areas. When touring the Taj Mahal, people don’t forget to get a toy image of it. People also buy keychains, pens, and hats.

2. Why do people like to take photos while traveling?

Photos are wonderful and easy ways of capturing special moments. They serve as a testimony to the places that you have visited. They are also useful tools to capture age. For example, a two-year-old photograph can make him/her jump with joy when they look at it later when they have grown.

3. Is it good that the locals sell things to tourists?

It is partially good. Local people get business from the tourists, which helps them make a livelihood. But locals take advantage of the tourists, especially foreigners, and sell things at a higher price, which is not good.

4. What are the pros and cons of taking professional cameras when traveling?

Professional cameras help capture precious moments with very high quality. But some cameras are very heavy to carry and have high chances of getting stolen.

5. What would you like to buy when you are on holiday?

I love to buy handbags. I have a huge collection of them. I also buy scarves, hand-kerchiefs, keychains, and things which are special in that place.

6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking photographs?

Photographs have more advantages than disadvantages. They capture our special moments. It is a joy to look at our photos of when we were young. But the trouble is they have to be maintained properly. Poor maintenance will lead to them getting torn, and we would have lost some special moment of ours. For example, the photo could be torn between the eyes, and hence our face would not be visible.

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