#48 - IELTS Speaking test in India and Kenya – June 2016 (Academic Module)

Test # 48

Personal Questions

– Do you prefer to study individually or in a group?

I prefer to study individually because I feel studying in a group distracts you a lot and you end up doing half the work that you could’ve done when you study alone. This particularly happens to me when I study in a group; I tend to engage in gossips and other random talks with my friends so I prefer to study on my own only.

– How do people usually show their happiness?

People show their happiness by talking in loud voices, talking excitedly and very fast, hugging people or grabbing their hands.

Cue Card 1

Describe a skill that you learnt in your childhood. Please say

– What is it?
– How did you learn it?
– Do you still use it?

I would like to talk about cycling. I learned how to ride a bike when I was 5 years old. My father brought me my first cycle when I was 4, but of course it was with training wheels. I trained on that for around 8 months and then my father took the training wheels off and started to teach me how to balance myself on it. I’ll admit, I fell a lot of times and even cried for my father to attach the training wheels back. But my father did not give up on me and came to the park with me every morning to teach me. Finally I learned how to balance myself and I have loved cycling then on. I gradually changed my bike as my age and height increased and because of that skill that I learned I am able to drive a two-wheeled scooter today too.

Cue Card 2

Describe a favorite toy that you had in your childhood. Please say
– What was it?
– Who gave it to you and when?
– Do you still have it?

In my childhood I used to love to play with Barbie dolls! They used to come in a variety of characters, and back then it was my dream to have all of them! They were expensive so of course my parents sensibly didn't fulfil this lavish demand of mine, but I still had quite a collection of these dolls. All of them were brought for me by my mother only, and the most special one was brought when I was 6 years old....it was a fairy princess Barbie, with transparent green wings attached to her shoulders and she had a small emerald coloured tiara on her head! I thought this was the most beautiful of my dolls and I kept it as my prized possession! I never took it out when any of my friends came to play...that's how jealously I guarded it! I used to make up all sorts of stories in my head while playing with it, pretending to be a queen of some castle, and this fairy princess being my best friend and such crazy stuff! I also cajoled my mother into stitching a tiny pink coloured dress for her as pink and green were my favourite colours. I played with my dolls till I was 13 years old, and I recently gave all my dolls away, this one too, to my niece who has now turned 4 and is as fond of dolls as I was.

Discussion

– What is the difference between toys 20 years ago and now?

I think toys before 20 years weren’t as advanced as we get nowadays. I mean toys now for children are 'games' on the mobiles or tablets. I have not seen many children playing with dolls or action figures or those Hot Wheels cars that were there before. There were video games before 20 years but the graphics and concepts were very different than the ones that come now.

– What toys do children prefer these days?

As I said children prefer to play games like Temple Run and Subway surfer and other such games on their parents’ phones or their parents buy them tablets to play the same. Children would initially play with toys like a doll or a stuffed animal but I’ve seen them get bored very easily with non-interactive toys.