IELTS Speaking Part 2: Cue Card Topics and Tips

- What are the most popular part two cue cards

for IELTS speaking and how do you prepare for them?

Let's find out.

(bright music)

Hi, it's Keith from English Speaking Success

and the Keith Speaking Academy,

where you become a confident speaker of English.

Now, many students I know find part two

of IELTS speaking the most difficult

and it really is, sometimes it's like a lottery, right?

What are you going to get?

Maybe, oh, thank you.

Describe a public building that has recently been built

in your neighborhood.

Uh?

Or you may get, oh, thank you.

I'd like you to describe a hobby you have, hooray.

I hit the jackpot.

So, I can understand why students get nervous.

They don't know what's coming,

but that's why it's so important you prepare well.

You should become familiar with the most popular

and common topics that you're going to get

in IELTS speak in part two.

You can find lots of the questions

or cue cards on the internet and just become

familiar with those.

And then for each topic or question,

think about what you could talk about,

get a main idea, and then possibly two or three details.

I suggest maybe three details.

In fact, the three step approach

is something that I teach in my new online course,

"Crack IELTS Speaking Part 2,"

link down below if you want to check it out.

The thing is, what many students do

is they start to write out their answer.

Don't do that because A, it won't sound natural.

B, you'll try and memorize it.

C, the examiner will know and give you a low score.

Don't memorize your answer.

Just get the idea in two or three details,

worry about the exact words in the test.

That's when you think about that.

If you are preparing the right way

and developing your speaking skills,

you can do that in the test.

The most important thing is getting your ideas.

So in this video, I'm gonna go over the most popular

kind of cue cards that you may get

and tips on how to answer them.

Remember in part two, you will be asked

to talk about your life and your experience, right?

An experience may be of a person, of an event,

an activity, or even something in your life.

So similar to part one, part two is about you.

It's in part three that the conversation

gets general and maybe more abstract.

Okay, so let's look now at the first,

most popular kind of cue card.

Right, the first most popular kind of cue card

is to describe a person.

For example, describe a person who inspires you.

Now, sometimes the question may focus

on different kinds of people.

So read the question carefully.

It may be not a person but a friend,

a well-known person, a teenager,

an older person, a person you know.

So look carefully and notice the difference between a person

and a person you know.

So if the question is, describe a person who inspires you,

that could be your dad, your mom, Elon Musk, right?

But if it says, describe a person you know

who inspires you, that's not Elon Musk.

You don't know him, I assume you don't know him.

If you do know him, can you introduce me?

Or if you do know him, why are you doing IELTS, right?

So be careful with that.

Let's take a complete cue card here, right?

Describe a famous person who inspires you.

You should say who it is, how you know about them,

what they do, and explain how they inspire you.

My tip number one here for part two questions

is develop your answer.

You should be speaking if possible, for up to two minutes

until the examiner cuts you off.

So you want to develop your answer.

The great thing is IELTS does it for you.

It gives you three bullet points to follow.

And really that's the three steps. So simple.

The mistake many students make

is they do something like this.

I'm gonna talk about Elon Musk.

I know him because he is famous.

He runs Tesla.

He inspires me because he's productive.

And that's just not enough. It's too short.

You're giving one phrase or a sentence per point.

You have to develop the answer.

You want to be saying something like,

"I want to talk about Elon Musk.

He's an American, very famous person.

I know about him, well, I discovered him really

when he bought Twitter, because he was in the newspapers.

There was a lot of news about that event.

And then I discovered also that he runs

an electric car company, Tesla.

And also I think he's dabbled in a different,

in different businesses, including space travel.

So I think he's now famous worldwide.

I admire and respect him.

He inspires me, particularly because he's so productive.

I've read some articles about him

on how he manages his time, and it really inspires me

to get productive and get the kind of results

that he's getting too."

And da, da da da da dah.

And that is how you're developing your answer.

Branch off, talk about different things.

I'm still following my three points,

but develop your answer.

And a side point, you don't have

to follow the IELTS three points.

You can have your own and talk about different things.

Just make sure you're describing a famous person,

who inspires you.

And develop your answer. Let's move on.

Right, another very popular kind of cue card

is to describe an event.

For example, describe a memorable trip you took.

Many events are very clear, right?

Like a wedding or a party or a trip

or a holiday can be an event.

Sometimes it's more about experiences.

And often the question is, describe a time

when something happened.

Describe a time when you were stuck in traffic.

Describe a time when you were bored.

Things like that.

Now, do you remember I talked earlier about the lottery.

What if they ask you about an experience you've never had?

Or what do you do, what if they say,

describe a wedding that you went to like this.

Now what if you've never been to a wedding?

It's possible.

So tip number two, for you, if you've never had

the experience, talk around it.

If you can't talk about a wedding,

talk around the wedding, about related things.

Almost imagining, right?

Because the worst thing is to say, "I don't know."

Or, "I've never been to a wedding.

Sorry, can I have a new topic?"

You will not get a new topic.

So at least talk about related things.

You could say, "Well, I've never been to a wedding actually,

because none of my friends have got married yet.

They're all quite young.

I would love to go to a wedding.

I think it'd be very exciting.

I've seen weddings on TV and they seem to be

very, you know, exciting events and lots of fun.

I imagine it would be quite emotional to go to a wedding.

I suppose if I went to a wedding,

I would, what would I do?

If I went to a wedding, I would enjoy the food,

chat to lots of people, maybe tell stories about my friends.

I wouldn't like to give a speech.

And talking about my feelings,

I think a wedding would be, you know,

a very emotional experience."

So you can see how, you know, I'm talking,

I'm talking and talking around the topic.

Things like, I've never done it.

I suppose if I did it, I would, things like that.

There's always a way around it.

Let's move on.

Okay, another very popular category is things.

Describe a thing.

For example, describe a gift you received

that you didn't like.

Oh, dear.

Things could be objects, right?

Very specific things like a gift,

something you bought, a toy, a book, a telephone

or an electrical device.

But they can also be more abstract,

like a story, a film, a job, or a website.

Okay, tip number three here is

to read the question carefully and identify the keywords.

Do you remember when I talked about people, right?

Identify the kind of person, it's important, the same here.

Identify the keywords.

In the example I gave you, describe a gift you received

that you didn't really like.

The key words are gift, received in the past tense

and didn't really like.

So you must talk about a gift.

Not one that you gave, but one that you received.

Not one in the future, but one you got in the past,

not something you like, something you didn't really like,

right, really like.

These are really key words that are gonna help you identify

what to talk about and how to develop your answer.

Now, I recognize sometimes when you get this kind

of question a bit like the lottery, you go,

"I've got no idea.

I love the gifts people give me," right?

If that happens, you can always think like,

think like the opposite, right?

Think of a gift that you wouldn't like to receive

and then make up a story imagining you received it.

For example, just an example, right?

I don't like philosophy.

I think a terrible gift for me would be a philosophy book.

So let me imagine, oh yeah, make up a story where somebody,

a friend gave me a philosophy book

and that is the story I'm gonna tell in my answer.

Got it? Let's move on.

Okay, another category is places.

Describe a place, for example,

describe a city you would like to visit.

Places can include countries, cities, areas,

neighborhoods, even smaller, maybe a park,

a building, like a library or a museum.

Even smaller, it could be a room in a building

or in your house.

So it can be large, medium, or small.

A bit like your McDonald's fries, french fries.

So here my tip number four for all of your part two

questions is read the question carefully

and notice the tense.

Notice the tense.

The last tip, we identified key words,

but here really focus on the tense

'cause this is where I see a lot of students

making the mistake.

You know, for example, it says,

"Describe a city you would like to visit,"

and the student begins, "I'd like to talk about Paris.

I went there last week and it was great.

It's one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to."

Uh oh, that's not answering the question.

You need to describe a city you would like to visit.

Okay?

Now you can talk about Paris if you've never been there.

But what you should be saying is things like,

"I would like to visit.

I have never been to.

It would be great to go there.

Hopefully I will go there next year."

So you can use different tenses,

but those are the kind of phrases you should be using

for that question.

Remember, notice the tense.

Let's move on.

Okay, the next category is describe an activity.

An activity can be anything from a hobby,

an exercise, a skill, maybe a routine that you have.

For example, this question, describe a hobby

you used to have but no longer do.

Let's take all of the tips so far and just analyze this.

So let's look at the key word, hobby, okay, that I have,

not anybody else but me.

The tense, I used to have.

So it's in past but no longer do.

So I did, but I don't do it now.

So I need to be careful about that.

Again, I can make something up.

I can make up a hobby of reading philosophy books.

No, I can make up a hobby, I dunno, of reading,

but that I've stopped.

So, I have to make sure it's clear I no longer do it.

Reading, that's quite a difficult one

'cause why would you stop reading?

Maybe some kind of exercise.

Something like that, okay.

The other thing to remember, of course,

is to develop your answer.

You've got the bullet points.

IELTS help you, but I can make up my own if I want.

So my answer might look something like this.

I'd like to talk about painting, actually,

that's a hobby I had as a child.

I used to paint a lot.

I painted at school almost every day.

I used to paint animals. Oh, they were my favorite.

I was very good at painting animals.

My teacher used to say I was the best in the class.

However, now things have changed

and now of course I'm a working adult

and I find that I'm too busy, so I don't paint anymore.

I just can't find the time.

It's a shame.

I feel bad about it because you know,

painting I think can be very creative, relaxing.

It helps reduce stress.

But right now I just don't have time.

Or I should say I haven't found the time or prioritized it.

Maybe that's something I will change in future, we'll see.

But yes, painting is something I used to do,

but I don't do now.

Something like that.

Can you see how I developed the answer?

Can you see all the different tenses I was using?

But how, actually it was quite a simple answer.

Don't overthink things, just talk naturally.

A final tip, if you find that you're talking

and you finish early, like after a minute,

give another example.

It's better than saying nothing.

So imagine, I've been talking about painting,

da da da da dah, but then I run out of ideas.

There's still a minute on the clock.

Give another example.

Oh, another hobby I used to do actually,

was stamp collecting.

It was my dad who started me on that hobby.

It was great.

Da da da dah da da da.

And keep talking until the examiner stops you.

You can do that.

Another tip, another great tip, let's move on.

So there you have five part two categories,

cue cards and tips for answering them.

Did you enjoy that?

If you did, could you subscribe to the channel?

It helps a lot.

And turn on notifications to find out about other videos.

If you want more help with part two,

I have other videos on YouTube.

Search for part two.

Go to my website, Keith Speaking Academy, resources there.

Oh, there's also a new course I've just released

"Crack ILELTS Speaking Part 2."

It's short, it's fast.

It'll give you a great foundation for your part two answers.

Link below if it's right for you, go and go for it.

Go and sign up.

I know not everybody can join a course.

There is good news, right?

Here's an action point for you.

Go to the IDP website, official partners of ILELTS.

They have speaking topics there.

Not the complete cue card, but just some topics and titles.

That's fine.

Go and have a look and start thinking about the ideas

and the examples you could talk about.

Think about two or three details you could talk about.

Don't worry about the cue card and the bullet points.

You don't have to look at those.

You can make up your own bullet points, right?

Well, what, when, why?

Simple as that.

And start thinking and applying the tips in this video

to those part two questions.

Don't write out your answer, not necessary.

Just think of the example, the idea

and a few details, and that's it.

And Bob's your uncle, you'll be great.

Remember, the secret is in the practice, as I said,

as I said in this video, fluency is really easy.

It's just a formula. It's all it is.

But maybe that's a conversation for a different day.

For now, thank you so much for watching.

Hope this was useful. Take care.

See you in the next video or in the course,

whichever comes first.

All the best now. bye-bye.

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