Cue Card # 199: Describe an interesting neighbour you know

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 199

Describe an interesting neighbour you know.

You should say:

• who this neighbour is
• how long you have known him/her
• what sort of person he/she is

and explain why you think this neighbour is so interesting.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer:

Depending on how one defines “interesting”, I guess, I could say that I have had my fair share of “interesting” neighbours to talk about. One of them is known as “Lawrence”, and today, I would like to talk about him.

Lawrence is an “old”, about 75 years of age, a neighbour of mine, and I have known him for almost 10 years. 10 years is a long to know a person, so I guess it is fair enough to suggest that I know this neighbour of mine very well. In fact, I know him well enough to him by calling him a “bird grandpa”. But, before I explain why we call him “bird grandpa”, I should say what kind of person he really is.

Well, he is a kind of sharp-looking person, and his hairs are all white. He carries himself well to show that he is a friendly person, and he always has a friendly smile on his face. But when he gets mad, we all try to “steer clear” of him, apparently because you know when he is going to hit you with his “walking stick” – the stick that supports him in constant moving!

And, yes, he loves birds – all kinds of birds – so much that he never hesitates to spend tons of money to feed them. In fact, he has a large field, close to his big but old house, just for that purpose where he feeds hundreds of birds every morning; hence his name “bird-buddy”. In other words, since he loves birds so much, we like to call him a “bird grandpa” from time to time.

Anyway, I consider this “bird grandpa” interesting, mainly because even though, he is willing to spend tons of money to feed some unknown birds, he never likes to eat out at a restaurant, apparently because it would cost him a lot of money! I find him interesting also because I always find him walking and watching around with his “eagle eyes” as if he doesn’t want to miss any fun, even if you shout loudly behind to attract his attention!