#16 - IELTS Speaking test in Singapore – April 2016

Test # 16

- What is your full name?

My name is Urmi Shah.

- Can I see your ID?

Yes sure!

- Where are you from?

I’m from Ahmedabad, in Gujarat.

- Do you work or study?

I have just completed the last semester of my bachelor degree in commerce. I'm not working anywhere.

- What do you do?

I am enjoying my vacations as of now. After my exams, I went to stay at my maternal aunt’s place in Vadodara for a week. I and my cousin sister had a great time together. I am also searching for and gathering information on colleges and universities in Canada, where I want to go to study further.

- Where do you live now?

I live in Naranpura. It is one of the oldest areas of the ever growing Western part of Ahmedabad.

- Do you like your home? Why?

I love my home because I'm very much attached to it living here since my childhood. I have so many memories in my house that I even wish to not get it renovated according to the latest trends like my father wants, but keep it as it is.

- Would you change something in your place?

Well…if I had to, I’d probably get the outer walls painted in a classy coffee cream colour. They were painted in light blue before, which has now faded and makes the walls look very filthy.

- Let’s talk about research.

Sure!

- Have you done any research?

Yes I did research for a project in the 5^th semester of my studies. We had to find out about the causes for the immense employment opportunities in the food and catering industry. I spoke to a bunch of restaurant owners and also 'googled' many experts’ reports on this.

- Did you work with a group or by yourself?

We had a group of four members, decided by the consecutive roll numbers that we had in class.

- What problems can you encounter in group studying?

Ummm…the main issue is not so much studying can be done as talking or chatting. I say this because whenever I have met my friends at their place for a group study session, we always ended up gossiping about someone or the other and we would hardly studies for 30 minutes straight.

- How can they be resolved?

Sincerity and discipline need to be foremost qualities to not let such problems get the better of us. But more than that I feel an adult’s supervision is required to keep the students in check. 

Cue Card

Talk about a recent event that made you happy. Please say

- What and where was it?

- Who was there with you?

- Why did it make you happy?

I was recently very happy when I met my cousin after a long time. She’s married and has moved to Singapore, so we hadn’t met for a year. We were quite inseparable in our childhood so you can imagine the attachment we share. Anyways she came to India after a year and was here till a month. I made plans to go stay with her for a few days. In the time we were together, we talked about the many things that had happened in our lives in the last year, every single detail that we might not have told each other was discussed....we just wanted to keep on talking and our conversations too seemed endless! We gossiped about a lot many people and I personally was feeling so very happy and light to be able to talk and chat with her just like olden days.

Discussion

- Let’s talk about happiness.

All right.

- Do you usually feel happy?

Yes. I’m a sunny natured person so I don’t feel sad or low very often. For example, I’m also a little slow at picking up sarcasms to be honest, so if someone is sarcastic with me I usually don’t get it, so I don’t have to brood upon it.

- What makes you happy?

Food and books make me happy! My favourite food along with a good book will make me elated to no bounds!!

- Is happiness an environmentally or genetically acquired feeling?

It is both. Some people are just not raised that way to garner negativity, they are positive even in the darkest of times. Also, there are some who might be naturally happy, but if they meet and talk with a very dejected person, after a while they might start feeling the same themselves.

- What makes old and young people happy?

I guess old people feel happy when they are surrounded by family members, I say this because my maternal grandfather did not like to be alone and always felt glad when there was someone around who he could talk to. About youngsters, I feel it’s the opposite. As they’re in adolescence, they’re undergoing a lot of mood swings and most of the time they want be with their friends only, not even with parents.

- What is the difference between them?

The difference I think is maturity and experience. Old people have gone through all the ups and downs of life so they want to feel at ease with family members now. Young people are just growing, trying to identify their new selves, so I guess their preferences are very different.