#2 - IELTS Speaking Test in Canada - Feb. 2016

Test # 2

- What is your full name?
My full name is (name_father's name_surname)

- Can I see your ID?
Yes sure!

- Where are you from?
I am from Ahmedabad, that's in Gujarat. It is in the western part of my country, India.

- Do you work or study?
I work...as a customer service executive, at a local software firm in my city.

- Where did you live most of your life?
I have lived in Ahmedabad only for most of my life...that is for around 25 years. I had to live in Mumbai for around 8-9 months though, last year, for an internship program my company sent me to.

- What do you like about your hometown?
I like it that the lifestyle in my hometown is very relaxed and easy going. People here don't run on the clock, as I saw happening in Mumbai. People in my hometown find enough time to have a healthy social life as well, and generally, everyone here is fond of eating and lazing. So yeah, I like it that the life in my hometown is simple and trouble free.

- Is it a safe place for kids to grow up?
Yes definitely! There are very good schools in my hometown, and there are many gardens and play areas for children to enjoy. The malls in our city have pretty good gaming arcades, plus many children activity centers are run in my city by professionals so there's a lot of things children here can do and learn.

- Does your job involve a lot of writing?
Ummm...not so much, but yeah I do have to write, or rather type out emails to my clients on a regular basis. They're not very long though, just correspondences of the work that is being done for them and any other interactions related to the same. And the other writing that I have to do is make weekly reports to my boss. That's just about it.

- Do you prefer handwriting or typing? Why?
I prefer writing by hand. I just love to do any handwritten work, like writing out a greeting card to someone, or a letter or something like that. It feels more sentimental. However, I have to do a lot of typing only as apart from any personal purposes, I am not required to use handwritten material anywhere else.

- In what situations do you still use handwriting? Why?

Like I said, I write by hand when I have to write a greeting for somebody, or send a letter to someone very close, or just write some notes for myself. I write in cursive and my handwriting is very neat and pretty, and my friends always ask me to fill out any cards or forms that we're supposed to give together to someone as I can make the letters a little fancy-looking too.

Cue Card

Talk about a big festival that is celebrated in your country every year. Please say

- Describe the festival.
- What do people do?
- What do you like about it?

The biggest festival for Indians is Diwali! It comes around October-November every year, and it is usually celebrated for 4 days straight, each day having its own significance in the Hindu culture. Yes, it's basically a Hindu festival, but every caste in the country celebrates it with equal enthusiasm. I'll start with the first of the four days, known as Dhanteras, where people consider it auspicious to buy gold for their families. They believe any gold bought on this day, will multiply for the rest of the year. The next day is Kaali Chaudas, where people believe that the worshipping Goddess Kaali on this day, will remove the negativity, or the dark things from our houses and our lives. The Indian name for black is Kaali. The third day is Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, where people keep all the corners of their houses, and shops alight as they believe the goddess of wealth, Laxmi will bless all those houses that are full of light and cheer. The whole city on this day seems to be glowing! The next day, is the new year according to Hindu calender, where people visit each other and gift sweets and presents to everyone. I like all these things about this festival as for these 4 days, everyone calls everyone and greets them, even though they haven't been talking much for the whole year. There is a lot of brightness and positivity all around, and it just compels you to feel happy. 

Discussion

- Why is this festival important?
It is a popular Hindu folklore that says Lord Ram returned to his kingdom Ayodhya, with his wife Goddess Sita and brother Laxman on the day of Diwali, after 14 years of living in exile. The citizens rejoiced that day by lighting oil lamps in the whole city so that it shined like gold, and this is why people till date light lamps and lights in their houses for these few days. It is also known as the time when Goddess Laxmi visits the Earth to bless everyone, leaving her heavenly abode.

- What personal ceremonies do people celebrate in your country?
India is a very religious and festive country. There are numerous ceremonies and rituals that every culture in my country has to practice. People have specific traditions to follow when a child is born, during his naming ceremony, during a religious festival, when people buy a new house or a car, when people get married....it can go on and on. People in my country usually call priests and have a small ceremony to worship their gods and seek their blessings whenever anything happy happens in their lives. 

- Do you think they spend too much money on that sometimes?
Yes, I do think that! Apart from paying the priests generously, people also do a lot of charity, which is good. But they also hold a feast sometimes and give gifts to all the guests that came to visit, which in today's times can get quite expensive, given the amount of celebrations we Indians hold. People buy new clothes for every family member, and also distribute alms among their employees and servants.