#29 - IELTS Speaking test in Iran - May 2016

Test # 29

- What is your full name?

My name is Parthvi Gajjar.

- Can I see your ID?

Sure!

- Where are you from?

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

- Do you work or study?

I work. I’m the merchandizer for a multi designer boutique in my city.

- Which part of your work do you like the most?

I like the part where I have to communicate with different fashion designers. My job involves talking to designers and asking them for outfits that suit the tastes of my city’s people, so we can get them displayed in our boutique.

- Why is it so?

This gives me great exposure on how the current trends are influencing people and what kind of preferences are prevailing in what part of the country. Also, I can make good contacts in this industry this way.

- Do you prefer to work in the morning or afternoon? Why?

I can never work in the afternoon. I always feel sleepy after lunch. But unfortunately my job timings are from 10 am to 6 pm, so I have to work in afternoons.

- Describe your hometown.
Sure! My hometown is a metropolitan city, which has been declared as a megacity by my country’s government because of the rapid technological and infrastructural development. In terms of safety too, my city is one of the best in my country with the crime rate being very less. The job opportunities are increasing too and hence the lifestyle of the people is also developing for the better.

- Do you like to travel by bus or taxi?

I like to travel by taxi. I don’t like buses because they’re crowded most of the time. I take buses only when they’re empty, like early mornings or at night after 8 pm.

- Is it easy for you to use such transportation method?

It is easy, but easier it to travel by my own two-wheeler.

- Have you ever been on a long bus journey?

Yes I have…just in March I had to attend a wedding in Jodhpur and my train tickets didn’t get confirmed, so we had to take a bus at the last minute and it turned out to be the worst journey. It took us 13 hours to reach Jodhpur and the journey was an extremely uncomfortable one.

Cue Card

Talk about a photo that influenced you very much. Please say

- Who was the photographer?
- When and where was it taken?
- How did it affect you?

I’d like to talk about a photo that I saw displayed at an exhibition in my city. It was an exhibition of photographs from all over the globe of disaster or war-stricken places. I was intrigued with this theme and was all prepared to see some very disheartening photographs. This one photograph that captured me was of a small African-American child, standing barefoot amidst some rubble in the background, with a crooked bowl, looking at the camera with hungry eyes asking for some food. I was so moved by this photo that my eyes got wet just seconds after I looked at it. Some other people around me too were stirred too and were discussing the photograph. This photo affected me in a way that I found myself being newly aware of the problems of the world even though I know about such things already. The photo made me wonder that e as humans have become so indifferent, like machines that we are totally oblivious of such terrible plights of the people, and we just care about our work and earnings and our social life and such.  

Discussion

- Do you like taking photographs?

Yes I like taking photographs a lot. I have a very good camera in my phone so I capture everything I like.

- Do you think taking photos these days is easier compared to the past?

Yes it is! As I said I have a camera phone…a lot of people nowadays too have that…so it’s very easy to click anything whenever you want without having to carry different equipment for it.

- Do you like other people taking photos of you?

I don’t mind! To be honest, I look better in selfies when others are clicking…so yeah I’d like it if people clicked my photographs.

- People like to take photos of their events, celebrations and so on. Why do you think it is so?

To create and preserve memories! Photos are an excellent form of capturing the happy moments and make memories of them. That’s why people like to take photographs of happy events like birthdays or weddings. People also upload photos on social media nowadays so people take many photos for this reason as well.

- Why do people like to save their photos?

For the same thing I said…to keep memories…if people have saved their photographs they can look at them in the future sometime and reminisce about that moment that was worthy enough to become a photograph!

- Some people don’t like to take photos of themselves. Why?
Ummmm maybe they’re too conscious…or they feel they aren’t photogenic…My maternal aunt too shies away a lot from getting clicked…she even got angry once when her kids pestered her for a photograph…she says she doesn’t look good in photos and doesn’t like it if anyone would see and comment something…