This test should take around 16-18 minutes.
[Note: You will take the test with another candidate. During the test, you will be allowed to take notes to prepare your answers. The examiner will not mark your notes, only your speaking and listening skills are marked.]
Examiner: Hello Harry, hello Olivia. My name is George and I will be your examiner today. Let’s begin…
Phase 1a (4–5 minutes)
[The Examiner will select questions from those provided in the test pack, in a variety of areas such as name, nationality, work/study, where candidates live, and free time activities.]
Name:
Q. What is your (full) name?
Q. Can you spell it for me?
Q. What is the meaning of your name?
Nationality:
Q. Which country are you from?
Q. Where is your hometown located?
Q. How long have you lived here?
Q. What do you like about it?
Q. Is there anything you do not like about it?
Free time activities:
Q. Do you have any hobbies/interests?
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Phase 1b (5 minutes)
Examiner: Now I’d like you to ask each other some questions.
Harry, I’d like you to ask Olivia about her neighbours.
Olivia, I’d like you to ask Harry about his favourite time of year.
Now think about the questions you want to ask. You have one and a half minutes. You can write down your questions if you want to. If you don’t understand, please ask me.
[Note: You should write down 3-4 questions that you are going to ask. You should also think about what the other candidate might ask you.]
🕑 One and a half minutes for preparation…
Examiner: Harry, are you ready? Please ask Olivia your questions.
🕑 Two minutes…
Examiner: Thank you.
Examiner: Olivia, are you ready? Please ask Harry your questions.
🕑 Two minutes…
Examiner: Thank you.
Phase 2a (4 minutes)
Examiner: In this part of the test, you are going to listen to two recordings and answer some questions. You can make notes if you want to.
You hear two people talking about their plans for the weekend. Where do they want to go at the weekend? To a town, to the mountains, or to the park?
Play the Recording:
[You will listen to the recording only once.] Audio Copyright – Cambridge IELTS
Where do they want to go at the weekend?
Examiner: Harry, in the first recording, where does the woman want to go at the weekend? To a town, to the mountains, or to the park?
Harry: ………………..
Examiner: Thank you.
Examiner: Olivia, in the second recording, where does the man want to go at the weekend? To a town, to the mountains, or to the park?
Olivia: ………………..
Examiner: Thank you.
Examiner: Olivia, in the first recording, who can the woman see in Littlegate? And how much is a return ticket?
Harry: …………
Examiner: Harry, in the second recording, how many hours does it take to climb the mountain? And what is the man worried about?
Olivia: …………
Phase 2b (3-4 minutes)
Examiner: Now you’re going to talk together about places you like to go to at the weekend. Talk to each other about places that you like to go to, and what you like to do there.
[The examiner might prompt candidates with questions from the box below if they are experiencing difficulty in continuing the interaction or if they stray from the topic. He/she may also encourage candidates’ interaction by eliciting agreement or alternative opinions from candidates by asking questions such as “What do you think?”, “Tell us what you think.”, “And you?”]
Weekend plans – prompt questions
Q. Who do you like to go out with at the weekend? (What do you do?)
Q. Do you like going to new places? (Why?/Why not?)
Q. Which places are good for children to go to?
Q. What do people in your country like to do in their free time?
Examiner: Thank you. That is the end of the test.
Answer Section:
Phase 1a:
Name:
Q. What is your (full) name?
Answer 1: My full name is Harry Dawkins. You can call me just “Harry”.
Answer 2: Well, I am Olivia Jane Mary. My friends and family call me ‘Olivia’ and a few neighbours prefer to call me Mary.
Q. Can you spell it for me?
Answer 1: It’s [H-A-R-R-Y, D-A-W-K-I-N-S].
Answer 2: I spell it as [O-L-I-V-I-A, J( ‘j’ for January)-A-N-E, M-A-R-Y].
Q. What is the meaning of your name?
Answer 1: That’s an interesting question! Well, the first part of my name “Harry” means – ‘house protector’ or ‘rules the home’. It also can be an ‘army commander’ or a ‘lead fighter’. Then the last part of my name, which is “Dawkins” comes from the personal name of David. Daw was a common diminutive of David in the Middle Ages. The surname is a compound of daw and kin, and literally means “the kin of David”.
Answer 2: Olivia is a Shakespearean name which is nowadays very common in the UK. The Latin meaning of the name Olivia is ‘symbol of peace’ while it means ‘Olive’ in many other cultures. “Jane” was the middle name of my grandmother and it means ‘Jehovah has been gracious’ while in America it means ‘Gift from God’. Finally, “Mary” refers to the biblical mother of Christ.
So, I can say that the meaning of my name might indicate ‘the mother of Christ who was a gift from God and a symbol of peace’ if it does not sound like I am stretching the meaning too much!
Nationality:
Q. Which country are you from?
Answer 1: I am from Singapore. It is a beautiful island city-state in Southeast Asia.
Answer 2: I am from Canada. I was born in Brazil but later on, I moved to Canada with my family.
Q. Where is your hometown located?
Answer 1: Interestingly, Singapore does not have any state or separate cities. This is a small country and I have always lived in the downtown area which is also the capital of the country.
Answer 2: My hometown is Bayfield, Ontario in Canada, and it is a fabulous town with bobbing boats, charming boutiques, picturesque landscape and gorgeous looking houses.
Q. How long have you lived here?
Answer 1: I was born in Singapore and I have been living in Singapore city ever since.
Answer 2: I left Brazil with my family when I was five years old. As far as I can remember, I have always lived in Bayfield, Ontario. To be more precise, I have lived there for more than two and a half decades.
Q. What do you like about it?
Answer 1: I love Singapore city as it is a beautiful and distinguished place. People are friendly and you can enjoy delicious local menus once you are here. The authority has preserved colonial architectural splendour which makes this country exceptionally artistic. The home to the world’s highest, largest rooftop pool, this country has been termed with many names – the Lion City, the Garden City, the Fine City, the Little Red Dot – all venerable nicknames reflect how unique and gorgeous a city Singapore is really is!
Answer 2: Bayfield is one of the friendliest places in Canada and many visitors fall head over heels in love with this historic little place with a cosmopolitan flair. Bayfield is brimming with heritage and architectural designs. Gorgeous looking shops, charming boutiques, bobbing boats, and ringing bicycle bells make it some kind of fairytale! I absolutely love being there.
Q. Is there anything you do not like about it?
Answer 1: If I have to say something that I do not like about Singapore city, it would be the humidity. During the summer, the humidity is often unpleasant. Next thing that comes to my mind is the crowd. If you are someone who doesn’t like crowd, this is not your place.
Answer 2: Well, I think we do not have enough doctors in our area. This is perhaps the only aspect I hate about this place.
Free time activities:
Q. Do you have any hobbies/interests?
Answer 1: I like to visit new places whenever I can manage time. So travelling is my hobby and passion. Apart from that, I like to read books and classic literature is my favourite.
Answer 2: I love to collect stamps and this is a hobby I have been enjoying for a decade. Besides, I love to listen to music. ‘Celine Dion’ and ‘Bob Dylan’ are two of my favourite singers.
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Answer 1: Well, whenever I have free times, I plan to visit someplace interesting. Besides, I enjoy reading a good book whenever I have a holiday or weekend. When I am not reading, I update a travel blog that I manage. These activities pretty much occupy my free time!
Answer 2: I just love to listen to my favourite music whenever I am free and have nothing to worry about (or perhaps sometimes I listen to music to release my stresses). Besides, I like watching sports on TV and hang out with my friends. During long vacations, I enjoy travelling to a new place.
Phase 1b:
Q. Examiner: Now I’d like you to ask each other some questions.
Harry, I’d like you to ask Olivia about her neighbours.
Olivia, I’d like you to ask Harry about his favourite time of year.
Neighbourhood:
1. How long have you been living in this neighbourhood, Olivia?
2. How well do you know your neighbours?
3. How often do you see them or meet them?
4. Can you tell me about a time when your neighbours helped you?
5. Is there anything that you do not like about your neighbourhood, Olivia?
Favourite time of the year:
1. What is your favourite season, Harry? [Why?]
2. What is the weather like at that time of year, Harry?
3. How is that season different from other seasons?
4. What do you usually do during this time of year?
5. Is there anything you do not like about this season? [Why?]
Phase 2a:
Q. Examiner: Harry, in the first recording, where does the woman want to go at the weekend? To a town, to the mountains, or to the park?
Answer: to a town. (Harry answers this question)
Q. Examiner: Olivia, in the second recording, where does the man want to go at the weekend? To a town, to the mountains, or to the park?
Answer: to the mountains. (Olivia answers this question)
Q. Examiner: Olivia, in the first recording, who can the woman see in Littlegate? And how much is a return ticket?
Answer: (her) cousin. £7. (Olivia answers this question)
Q. Examiner: Harry, in the second recording, how many hours does it take to climb the mountain? And what is the man worried about?
Answer: (about) 4 (hours). (his) (new) boots/he hopes that his boots are comfortable. (Harry answers this question)
📻 Listening script 1:
I want to go to Littlegate this weekend. My cousin lives there and there are shops, a cinema and great restaurants. It’s easy to get there. A return ticket by train only costs £7. There’s a brilliant market too and we want to go there to buy some jeans.
📻 Listening script 2:
I want to spend the weekend there with my friends. We usually go there in winter to ski, but this time we want to climb to the top –it takes about 4 hours, but then you can look down on the sea. I just hope my new boots are comfortable!
Phase 2b:
Weekend plans – prompt questions
Q. Who do you like to go out with at the weekend? (What do you do?)
Answer 1: I like going out with my friends (specifically with Adriel and Cheng ) at the weekend. We often hang out together and hit a restaurant or a pub to enjoy our time. Some times we play “pool” (some call it snooker) at a pool club or a rooftop restaurant. Once in a while, we enjoy a movie at a theatre.
Besides, I like to take my parents to a restaurant for dinner at the weekend. On such a day, we devour Italian, Thai, Chinese or local cuisine. ‘Taratata Brasserie’ and ‘Fratini La Trattoria’ are two of our all-time favourite places for dinner.
Answer 2: I absolutely like the idea of meeting friends on weekends and have fun with them as much as possible. I have four close friends of mine, and I mostly hang out with them during weekends. We either go shopping or watch a movie or drive to a distant place to enjoy the natural beauty on such a day. Sometimes we go to a beach and let ourselves relax so that we get invigorated to work productively during the weekdays. On a recent weekend, we helped a charity organisation to collect some fund and that was an exciting experience. I am planning to do it more often in the coming days, especially on my weekends.
Q. Do you like going to new places? (Why?/Why not?)
Answer 1: New places always attract me and I love to explore different places. Every time I go to a new place or a new country, I learn something new. A few years ago I went to India on holiday and learnt how people are so energetic and friendly and can always smile despite poverty and illness. After I returned from India, many things in my life changed. I had been to Europe, Africa and many countries in Asia and my experience in these countries have moulded my attitude towards life and my view about people. I am a better me now because I have learnt so many things from these places an people from there.
Answer 2: Visiting new places is always exciting and the experience offers us to rediscover ourselves. Be it a new part of the city I live in, or a new city, or a completely new country, I can always meet new people and learn about their life and custom. This enhances my knowledge about the world and broadens my perspective on the diversity of different cultures.
I like to explore new places so much and I take the opportunity to visit a new country for at least once a year. Last year I had been to Italy, which is a beautiful country.
Q. Which places are good for children to go to?
Answer 1: Children should be taken to open spaces like a park or a playground where they can play with their parents or other children. A museum, a theme park and a library, in my opinion, are also good places for a child.
Answer 2: I believe we should take our children to places which is open, spacious and let them play and have fun. A large green park, a garden, a sea beach and a picnic spot could be some ideal places for them. I also believe we should take them to museums, science fairs, and libraries so that they become interested in science, arts and history.
Q. What do people in your country like to do in their free time?
Answer 1: Frankly speaking, I can’t speak for everyone so I’ll just say what I have observed amongst the people in Singapore I know in general. Singaporean people like shopping, karaoke, eating out, going to a movie all the time. Many of them I know really like to participate in sea sports like sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, and many prefer fishing during the weekends. Young ones like to play street soccers, and finally, they use electronic gadgets and remain connected to the online world even more on their weekends!
Answer 2: Canadians are a sport-loving nation and they love ice hockey- which is like a religion to them. Many Canadians have a cottage and they head to their cottage during weekends in Spring and Summer. They enjoy beer, BBQ’ party and playing sports on such a weekend. Having said that, some of the common weekend activities among the people in my area are watching TV, listening to music, enjoying home parties with friends and family and reading. I personally like to spend time with friends and explore new places on weekends. Sometimes I like to watch a blockbuster movie in a theatre on a Saturday night.
[That is the end of the answer section.]
This was very helpful. Thank you so much.
For the starters, a vital introduction to beginners is very splendiferous, to say the least!…
Nice.