#26 - IELTS Speaking test in Poland – May 2016

Test # 26

- What is your full name?

My name is Asfiya Shaikh.

- Can I see your ID?

Sure!

- Where are you from?

I’m from Navsari, in Gujarat, in the western part of India.

- Do you work or study?

I’m studying in the final year of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering course.

- Describe your apartment.

My apartment has three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and two bathrooms. I also have a separate dining area. I live on the fifth floor of a seven storeyed apartment with my parents and my elder brother. We have decorated the interiors in a simple elegant manner, keeping in mind my father’s traditional tastes.

- What would you change in your apartment?

I’d change my bedroom. I like my brother’s room more as it overlooks the main road. Mine has a view of the backyard of our building and a small alleyway behind which is not very interesting to watch, and I love to gaze out the windows and balconies.

- Which room do you like the most? Why?

(answer same as above with a few changes according to your liking)

- What do you usually do in the evenings?

I watch TV in the evenings from 6 to 7.30. My favourite show gets telecast at that time. Apart from this time I don’t watch TV all day.

- What did you do in the evenings when you were younger?

I remember I used to go play outside with my friends. I had an afternoon school and I came home at 4.30 pm, and after freshening up and eating something, I and my friends usually went down to play or ride our bicycles around the building compound.

- Do you often meet with your friends?

Yes I meet them every weekend. Three of my close friends also stay nearby, so it’s very convenient for us to meet each other even after 10 pm.

- What do you do together?

We chat, gossip about other friends, go out to eat street food, since it’s summers we usually go have ice creams…we just hang out and talk silly stuff and laugh and enjoy each other’s company.

- Describe your hometown.

My hometown Navsari is one of the oldest cities of Gujarat, and has an inspiring history of over 2000 years. Although many legends are associated with its name, my favourite one is that it is named after a big cobra that inhabited the city many many years ago near a pond called the ‘Nag pond’. Navsari is home to many such natural lakes and ponds which add to the beauty of this small town. Life in Navsari is steady and relaxed, and people are very friendly and harmonious.

- What do you like or dislike about it?

I like the fact that my hometown is very peaceful…but it hasn’t improved in terms of modern infrastructure. It also doesn’t have an airport which is something I think it’s high time my town should get.

- Why is that?

It is because the people here are very well off, and travel abroad frequently for work, but always have to take a plane till Mumbai or Ahmedabad and take a train till Navsari from there. I think it is a waste of time and the government should really think about this development.

Cue Card

Talk about your goal for the future. Please say

- What is it?

- How will you achieve it?

- When and why did you decide to set it?

My short term goal for the future is to move to Canada and settle there for a few years for my further studies and work opportunities. I will finish my graduation in Mechanical Engineering in the next 4 months, and then I will start my procedure of moving to Canada. I plan to pursue my Masters in this field and for that I’ll have to study for 2 more years, after that I plan to start working in a reputed multi-national company there. I think it will really give me the enhanced exposure and experience that I wouldn’t have gotten in my country. This will broaden my horizons for my future. After working for a few years I plan to return to my country to my parents and use my knowledge to my benefit over there. I worked all this out in the last year when I realized the career prospects Canada holds for individuals from my field of study.

Discussion

- Why do you think people have ambitions?

People have ambitions to have a direction in life. Having a target or an ambition makes you work for it and when you achieve it, you fell happy and successful.

- Are ambitious people born that way?

No I don’t think so. It may be true for some people, but I think most people realize their ambitions when they’re teenagers or are in college.

- Is it good or bad to be ambitious?

It is good to be ambitious but not over ambitious. I feel over ambitious people belittle everyone else which is wrong, and they also put a lot of pressure on themselves for succeeding and fulfilling their surreal ambitions.

- Why do you think so?
As I said, I feel sometimes people don’t know where to draw the line and they keep aiming higher than their previous target in order to succeed in life. For example, a lawyer working day and night to win all the cases he gets makes him work hard on that compromising his social life. He may also get very arrogant about his success and aim high again, whereas I feel it is necessary to taste failure sometimes too to get a reality check on your goals and abilities to achieve the same.