IELTS speaking test 1 – Parks and gardens, Countryside, Food and hobbies, Future living
IELTS Speaking Practice Test #1
This section of the site is for you to try a complete IELTS speaking test. Ideally, speak aloud when answering the questions and record yourself to review your pronunciation, grammar, and content.
Part 1A
Part 1B
Part 1C
Parts 2 and 3
Parks and gardens
Countryside vs city, outdoor exercise
Food and hobbies
Future living, rural life, living standards, studying abroad, mobility, migration
Part 1
Do you enjoy visiting parks or gardens? Click to show answer Yes, I do. I like going for walks in parks because it is peaceful and I can enjoy nature. It helps me relax after a busy day.
Do you prefer to spend time in the countryside or in the city? Click to show answer I prefer the countryside. It is quieter, cleaner, and less crowded. The city is convenient but can feel stressful sometimes.
How often do you go for walks or exercise outdoors? Click to show answer I try to go for a walk at least three times a week. It helps me stay active and clear my mind.
Do you prefer to eat at home or in a restaurant? Click to show answer I prefer eating at home. I like cooking my own food and it’s cheaper. But sometimes I go to restaurants for special occasions.
Do you enjoy trying new foods? Click to show answer Yes, I enjoy trying new foods. It is interesting to experience different tastes and learn about other cultures.
How often do you eat with your family? Click to show answer I usually eat with my family at dinner time. It is a good time to talk and share how our day went.
Do you enjoy drawing or painting? Click to show answer I like drawing a little, but I’m not very skilled. I enjoy it mostly as a way to relax, not as a serious hobby.
What do you usually do in your free time? Click to show answer I usually read books, watch TV, or go for walks. Sometimes I meet friends or play sports.
Have your hobbies changed since you were a child? Click to show answer Yes, when I was a child I spent more time playing games outside. Now I have different hobbies like reading and listening to music, which I enjoy more as an adult.
IELTS speaking test 1 with model answers
Topic Card:
Describe a place you’d like to live in the future.
You should say:
Where it would be
What it would be like
Who you would live with
You should also say why you would like to live there.
Click to show the first paragraph of the model answer Well, I’d really like to live somewhere that has a comfortable temperature, not too hot or too cold. I think New Zealand has the perfect climate for me – although there are four different seasons, it can still reach temperatures of over 25 degrees in the summer, and in some places it doesn’t freeze in the winter, even overnight, so that would be good for me. I have heard that it’s also a beautiful country – I’ve seen some photographs of the national parks and they look amazing. I think they have even used the landscapes in a lot of films like Lord of the Rings.
Click to show the second paragraph of the model answer Of course I would take my family with me, which is another reason to think New Zealand would be a good place to live – it has a reputation for being a safe country, so would be perfect as I have two young children who are about to start school. My wife is a nurse, and like most countries, New Zealand is also in need of more people with a medical background in the workforce, so I think it would be easier for her to get a job in a hospital. In addition to everything I have already mentioned, I have also heard that New Zealand has a relatively small population – I think there are about five million people – and they are a very welcoming and friendly nation. In my country, most people live in the city and it is often overcrowded, so moving to a country that has some open spaces would be perfect.
Click to show the third paragraph of the model answer I would like to live somewhere near one of the larger cities. Maybe not right in the middle of the city, but close so that it’s accessible if I need to go. But regardless of all of these positive aspects of living in New Zealand, I don’t think we would ever actually move there. We have a wide circle of friends here, and our parents both live nearby, so we see them quite often. I think perhaps the ideal situation would be to live somewhere for a few months of the year, but not permanently. That wouldn’t really work for the children though, as that would interrupt their school schedule a little too much.
Part 3
What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a rural area? Click to show answer Hmmm… There are a number of clear advantages when considering health implications. City life tends to be much more hurried, leading to greater degrees of stress and tension, so a clear advantage of living in the countryside is that people tend to live much more stress-free lives. They don’t have to contend with traffic jams, queues and the sheer number of people. There is also the environmental factor. The air quality in the city I live in is particularly bad – a combination of exhaust fumes, industrial pollution and a number of other factors. In the countryside, the environment is cleaner and this has obvious health benefits. However, there are issues about living in the countryside that I would find a problem. Shopping, for example – I like the fact that I can get almost anything I need without travelling too far, but living in more rural areas you wouldn’t have access to the array of shops you have in the city.
Has the standard of living changed much in your country over the last ten years? Click to show answer Well, there are still significant differences between rich and poor people, with some people continuing to live well below the poverty line, but in general I think there has been a significant change. There has been an increase in tourism over recent years which has brought money into the country, and that has improved most people’s living conditions. There has also been a much greater focus on education, with an increasing number of children attending school, which of course will have a significantly positive effect on the standard of living here in the future. However, there has been only minimal progress with regards to healthcare, so I would say the standards there haven’t really improved very much.
Do you think more people will choose to leave their native country and live abroad in the future? Click to show answer Well, I think that a greater number of people may choose to travel to other countries, and may find a location they would prefer to live in than their home country. However, many people are not emigrating permanently, and may choose to return to their country of birth. In the future, I think that this migration is probably going to continue, but the main difference will be that travel becomes more affordable so even lower income families will have the option to relocate overseas, so the numbers will increase. Of course, it’s likely that some of the countries that are currently so heavily favoured, such as the USA or the UK, will be less popular destinations in the future, so an increasing number of people may choose to live in countries that at the moment we don’t really think about for immigration.
Do you think students should be encouraged to study overseas? Click to show answer That would very much depend on their course of study. I would say that the benefits of studying science-related subjects overseas are limited. Although you may get to see how other countries conduct research or experimentation, the basic rules and operating procedures in science will not vary between countries. However, I would say that there would be substantial advantages for students on courses involving people or language. For example, if studying the English language, it can be extremely beneficial to spend some time living in an English-speaking country. Also, for a student studying design-related subjects, it could be extremely advantageous to see other countries to absorb other perspectives and influences. Having said that, however, studying overseas should only be encouraged if it could be offered equally to all students, not just to those whose families could afford the costs.
Do you think that increased mobility has had a negative effect on communities? Click to show answer Hmmm… that’s not something I’ve ever really thought about, but… I suppose there are changes to local communities when people leave and new people arrive, but I wouldn’t agree that they were necessarily negative. New arrivals into a community may be able to offer new things that would definitely benefit the local people, but then there is also the lack of long-term bonds that can often be a significant part of smaller communities. Living in a city, there is less of a community feeling and this does have an effect on social behaviour, I think. We have problems with vandalism and graffiti that I imagine would be much less common in a community where everyone knows each other and people are easily recognised. However, I would say that on the whole an increase in people’s ability to move to other communities is a positive thing.
