IELTS Two Way Discussion: Sample Questions and Answers

For a summary and tips on Part 3: Two Way Discussion please read last week’s blog, which should give you extensive help in your preparation. Now, we will look at how Part 2: The Long Turn develops into the final part of the IELTS Speaking test. Remember that you shouldn’t just read this information I am giving, you MUST practise with it. That means getting a friend to read out the sample questions to you and then you must answer them. Even better is to record yourself giving the answers and then think how you can improve your answers – refer to my earlier blog on how to do this.

Example 1

If your Long Turn card looks like this…

Talk about an historical place in your country. You should say:

• what it is
• where it is
• what you can do there
• why it is interesting

…then your Two Way Discussion may develop with questions like these: So, you just told me about ______ and now I’d like to talk about that further.

1. How do you think an area benefits from having an historical place?
2. Are there any disadvantages to having an historical place in a region?
3. What do you think will happen to historic buildings in the future?
4. How do people in your country feel about protecting culturally important buildings?
5. You mentioned education. Do you think that school children learn about these places?
6. Should technology be used in historical buildings to increase their popularity?

Example 2

If your Long Turn card looks like this…

Talk about a place that you would like to travel to. You should say:

• where it is
• why you want to go there
• what you can do there

…you may have questions like these in your Two Way Discussion: So, now I’d like to talk more about travelling to far away places.

1. What advantages are there in reading up about a holiday destination before you visit?
2. Are there any disadvantages to this?
3. Is it good to have a local guide?
4. Do you think it’s better to visit important sites or meet local people?
5. Moving on slightly now, what are the benefits of taking a gap year before going to university?
6. What are the challenges of a gap year?
7. What preparation is necessary before taking a gap year?
8. Would you recommend people go on a gap year?

Example 3

If you were asked to talk about your favourite film in Part 2, then your Two Way Discussion may follow along these lines: So, thank you for telling me about about your favourite film and now I want to talk more about film in general.

1. How do Hollywood films compare to films from your country?
2. Why do you think films are important in peoples’ lives?
3. And do you think that there is too much violence in films?
4. What do you think abou the way men and women are portrayed in film?
5. And you talked about downloading. Do you think that downloading films is a crime?
6. OK and why are people so interested in the private lives of famous film actors?
7. Are film star salaries justified?

Example 4

Now listen to a Hungarian student (who scored a 9 on the IELTS test) answer these part 3 questions on the topic of food. You spoke about a typical Hungarian dish and now I’m going to ask you a few questions about food in general. Do men and women cook in your country? And what do you think they would cook? And do you think that situation will change in the future? You said that there isn’t a culture of dinner parties, but are restaurants popular? Is there a particular type of cuisine which is more popular? And like many other countries is there a problem with obesity in Hungary?   Teacher Comments on Answer This Two Way Discussion would achieve a very high IELTS Band Score because the student uses:

• Personal experience to give details to the answers
• Contrasts and comparisons
• Synonyms, instead of repeating the same word
• Different time tenses (the past, the future)
• Specualtion
• References to the media
• Good stress-timing and clear pronunciation
• Different phrases to begin sentences giving personal opinion

When you practise for the IELTS Speaking, bear these things in mind. Record yourself and analyse your answer. What could you have said differently? Did you miss out any of these important characteristics of a great answer? Practise, practise, practise and you will get the results that you deserve. Good luck!