One of the topics you are most likely to be asked about in part 1 speaking is your hometown. This lesson gives you some vocabulary and ideas to help you along.
Talking about quality of life
These ideas should help you discuss what you enjoy/dislike about your home town. Remember to try and give examples/reasons to extend your answers.
| Living | Example sentences |
| cost of living | The cost of living is fairly reasonable. |
| pace of life | There is a fairly slow pace of life where I come from. |
| the rat race | I moved out to avoid the rat race. |
| atmosphere | It’s got a really relaxed atmosphere. |
| pollution | The air quality is terrible because of the pollution. |
| overcrowding | Like most places it suffers from overcrowding. |
| poverty | You can see poverty everywhere. |
| amenities | One of the best points is that is has excellent amenities. |
| sense of community | What I enjoy most is the sense of community there. |
notes: “the rat race” is a nice idiom for the fast pace of modern city life where no one has the time to sit back and enjoy life.
Areas of a city
If you are asked where you live, you should try and be precise.
| Areas | Example sentences |
| residential area | We live in a residential area on the outskirts of the city. |
| housing estate | There is a shortage of accommodation so they are building some new housing estates. |
| industrial zone | Fortunately the industrial zone are outside the city limits so the pollution is not too bad. |
| suburbs | Most people choose to live in the suburbs as it is much quieter there. |
| outskirts | Most of the superstores are some way from the city centre on the outskirts of the city. |
| inner city | It is quite a safe place but some of the inner-city areas can be dangerous late at night. |
| heart of the city | I suppose the heart of the city is the main square in the city centre. |
| neighbourhood | The neighbourhood I live in is quite affluent. |
notes: “the inner city” is normally (in English) associated with poverty – although this will obviously vary from city to city; “the outskirts” are the outer parts of a city/town.
Means of transport
| Transport | Example sentences |
| congestion | Where I come from the congestion is terrible. |
| traffic jams | Like most places we get traffic jams in the rush hour. |
| rush hour | There is not really a rush hour – it is too quiet for that. |
| bus route | Fortunately I live near a convenient bus route. |
| underground system/subway | There are lots of means of transport – even a subway system. |
| commute | Some people choose to live in the country and commute in to work. |
Adjectives
You will of course need some adjectives too. You should note how I use “fairly” “really” and “quite” to qualify these adjectives.
| Adjectives | Example sentences |
| quiet/peaceful | It is a fairly quiet place. |
| lively/bustling/vibrant | The centre of town is really lively at night. |
| industrial | Of course it is quite industrial like most modern cities. |
| provincial | It is one of the largest provincial cities in the country. |
| cosmopolitan | There is a really cosmopolitan atmosphere. |
| green | While some parts of it are industrial it is still a green city. |
| historic | It is a fascinating historic old town. |
| sleepy/relaxed/dull | Some people might call it sleepy while I find it rather dull. |
Comments (6)
Please send me writing tasks of year 2013&2012 on my gmail account .my account is rai21amandeep@gmail.com
Sorry, I don’t know about what topics are belong to year of 2013 and 2012, actually I just got around to my own IELTS test in the late 2014, so I cannot send you the materials.
Please send me some writing and speaking topic with answers which will be helpful for me to get 7 bands in academic ielts . My Gmail I’d is tejindersingh040@gmail.com
good
Plz send me important topic of speaking nd writing task 2 also
Would you please send me some topics and discussion questions related to those topics for a conversation session for English language learners? Thanks.