Sample IELTS Speaking Topics

Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking Moduleconsists of personal questions about you, your family, your
work, your education or other familiar topics. A categorized list of such topics and questions is given
below. You can use these sample questions to rehearse for this part of the oral interview. Make sure
you can speak correctly, clearly, and with ease and confidence in response to each question.
Remember to make your answer interesting by providing more than the most basic
information. Some of these sample questions are highly likely to appear on your exam, so
review them well.
 
YOU
Describe yourself.
FAMILY
o Describe your family?
o Do you have a large or small family?
o How much time do you spend with your family?
o What do you like to do together as a family?
o Do you get along well with your family?
o Are people in your country generally close to their families?
WORK
o What do you do?
o What are your responsibilities?
o How many hours do you work each day?
o Do you enjoy your work?
o Is there some other kind of work you would rather do?
o If you could change your job or profession, what would you do?
o Describe the process of getting a job in your country.
o Describe the company or organization you work for.
o What is your position?
o What do you like about your job?
o What do you dislike about your job?
EDUCATION
o Describe your education.
o What kind of school did you go to as a child?
o Did you go to a co-educational school?
o What was your favourite subject as a child?
o Who was your favourite teacher?
o What is the education system like in your country?
o Do you think your country has an effective education system?
STUDIES
 What are you studying now?
 What is your area of specialization?
HOMETOWN
o Describe your hometown.
o What’s special about it?
o Where is your hometown located?
o Is it easy to travel around your hometown?
o What is it known for?
o What do people in your town do?
o What are the main industries in your hometown?
o What problems face your hometown?
o What languages are spoken in your hometown?
o What are the advantages of living in your hometown?
o What are some problems faced by your hometown?
o Compare your hometown with another city.
o What are some environmental problems faced by your hometown?
WEATHER
o What’s the weather like in your country?
o Does the weather affect your mood?
o How do rainy days make you feel?
o What’s your favourite season of the year?
o What do you like to do when it’s hot?
o What do you usually do in the winter?
o How many seasons does your country have?
HOME
o Describe your home.
o What kind of building do you live in?
o How long have you lived there?
WEDDING
o Have you ever been to a wedding?
o Whose wedding was it?
o Where was it held?
o What clothes do people wear?
o Describe the wedding ceremony.
o What sort if gifts do people buy for the bridal couple?
o What kind of clothes did the bride and groom wear?
TRAVEL
o Do you like to travel?
o What kind of places have you visited in your life?
o Which place would you really like to visit? Why?
o What’s the best place you’ve ever visited?
COMPUTERS
o Do you think computers help society?
o Do you think computers are bad for health?
o How do you think computers have changed the world?
INTERNET
o Do you use the Internet much during the day?
o What do you usually do on the Internet?
o What are some advantages of the Internet?
o What are some disadvantages?
o Do people in your country use the Internet a lot?
o Do you do any shopping on the Internet?
EMAIL
o Do you send and receive email regularly?
o Who do you usually communicate with?
o How often do you check your email?
o Do you think writing email has strengthened or weakened people’s writing skills?
o What are some disadvantages of email?
FRIEND
o Describe a friend.
o How long have you known each other?
o What do usually do together?
o What do you like the most about him / her?
o How often do you see each other?
PLACE
o Describe a place you like to go.
o Why is this place special to you?
o When did you first visit this place?
o Where is this place located?
o What language is spoken here? Do you speak this language?
SMOKING
 o What do you feel about smoking in public places?
o Do you think smoking should be banned in people’s homes?
MARRIAGE
o What is the attitude toward marriage in your country?
o Do most young people plan on getting married in your country?
o What are some of the advantages of marriage?
o What are some of the disadvantages?
o Is the divorce rate high in your country?
o Do you think people should be allowed to get divorced?
HOBBIES
o Do you have any hobbies?
o What are some of your hobbies?
o When did you first develop this hobby?
o What are some of the advantages of having a hobby?
o How much time do you spend on your hobby?
FILMS
o Do you enjoy watching movies?
o What’s your favourite film?
o Who are your favourite actors?
o How often do you watch films?
SHOPPING
o Do you enjoy shopping?
o How do you feel about shopping?
o Do you like shopping on the Internet?
o Do you have any favourite stores?
o What don’t you like about shopping?
o Which is the most popular place to shop in your hometown?
SPORTS
o Do you like sports?
o Do you enjoy watching sports?
o Do you enjoy participating in any sports?
o Which sports are most popular in your country?
o What’s your favourite sport/
o When did you first become interested in sports?
o How often do you participate in sports?
o What equipment do you need for your favourite sport?
FOOD
o What are some of your favourite foods?
o What foods are popular in your country?
o What are some of the famous dishes of your country?
o Do you enjoy cooking?
FESTIVAL
o What’s the most important festival in your country?
o How do people celebrate this festival?
o What special food is associated with this festival?
o What special activities are associated with this festival?
o What do you enjoy most about this festival?
o Do you think festivals are important for a society?
TELEVISION
o Do you watch television a lot?
o What do you usually watch on television?
o How many hours of television do you usually watch?
o What are the most popular shows in your country?
o What kind of shows do you like to watch?
o What are some advantages of television?
 o What are someof the disadvantages of television?
o What did you last watch on television?
o Why do you think certain TV shows are so popular?
TOURISM
o Which places would you recommend to a visitor to your country?
o Do a lot of tourists visit your country?
o What do they usually do there?
o How has tourism changed your country?
o Is your country expensive for most tourists?
o What are some famous landmarks in your country?
DAILY ROUTINE
o Describe your daily routine.
o What do you usually do?
o What do you do on the weekend?
o What is you typical weekday like?
o Does your life change much from week to week?
o Do you have any free time during the week?
YOUR COUNTRY
o Which country are you from?
o Where is this country located?
o Which part of the country do most people live in?
o What are the main industries in your country?
o Is it easy to travel around your country?
CLOTHES
o What type of clothes do you like to wear?
o What kind of clothes do people in your country usually wear?
o How important is fashion to you?
o What kind of clothes do you dislike?
o Do you think people behave differently in different kinds of clothes?
o What kind of clothes do people wear to work in your country?
o Are clothes expensive in your country?
GOING OUT
o Do you like going out or staying at home?
o What do you like to do when you go out?
o How often do you go out?
o Do people in your country go out a lot?
o How and where do people in your country usually socialize?
o What kind of entertainment is popular in your country?
GAMES
o Do you enjoy playing any games?
o What kind of games do you play?
o Do you think adults should play games?
o What do children learn from games?
o What kind of games did you play when you were a child?
o What games are popular in your country today?
o What kind of games were popular when you were young?
o Do you think mental games like chess are good for you?
 COLOURS
o Do you have a favourite colour?
o What are your country’s colours?
o Do you think colours affect our moods?
o Can you learn anything about a person from the colours he / she likes?
o Do you like the same colours now as you did when you were a child?
MUSIC
o Do you like music?
 o What kind of music do you like?
o When do you usually listen to music?
o What kind of music did you like when you were younger?
o What kind of music is popular in your country?
o Do you play any musical instruments?
o Do you wish you could play any musical instruments?
o Which is your favourite instrument?

Example IELTS Speaking Questions & Topics

Hometown

I’d just like to ask you some questions about your hometown or city.

1. What type of place is it?

2. What was it like growing up there?
3. Has it changed much since you were a child?
Studies

I’d just like to ask you some questions about your studies.

1. What are you studying?

2. Why did you choose that particular course?
3. What job would you like when you have completed all your studies?
Work

I’d just like to ask you some questions about your work.

1. What work do you do?

2. What do you enjoy most about your work?
3. What are your main duties?
4. Is there any other work you would like to do in the future?
Free Time

I’d like to move on and ask you some questions about your free time

1. What type of activities do you like to do in your free time?

2. How long have you been interested in these activities?
3. Do you like to do theses activities alone or with other people? (Why)?
4. Do you think people have enough free time? (Why/why not)?
Family

I’d like to move on and ask you some questions about your family.

1. How many people are there in your family?

2. Do you all live in the same house? (Why/why not)?
3. What things do you like doing together?
4. Who is your favourite family member?
Timing

Let’s move on and talk about being on time for appointments.

1. Is being late acceptable in your culture? (Why/why not)?

2. Are you ever late for appointments? (Why/why not)?
3. What type of excuses do you think are alright for lateness?
4. How do you feel when someone is late for an appointment with you?
Neighbours

Let’s change the topic and talk about your neighbours

1. Do you know the people who live next door to you?

2. How often do you see each other?
3. What kind of relationship do you have?
4. How can neighbours be helpful?
5. What kind of problems can people have with their neighbours in a big city?
Food

Moving to a new topic, I’d like to discuss cooking and meals with you.

1. Do you enjoy cooking? (Why/why not)?

2. What type of things can you cook? (Why)?
3. What kinds of food are popular in your country?
4. Is it an important part of your culture to have dinner parties? (Why)?
5. Do you prefer to eat with other people or on your own? (Why)?
Dreams

I’d now like to discuss your night time dreams with you.

1. Do you dream much at night?

2. Do you often remember your dreams?
3. Do you think we can learn anything from dreams? (Why)?
4. Do people in your country talk about their dreams? (Why)?
5. Do you think that dreams can come true?
Magazines and Newspapers

Okay, let’s move to a different topic and discuss magazines and newspapers.

1. Which do you prefer reading, newspapers or magazines? (Why)?

2. What type of stories do you like to read about? (Why)?
3. Do you think reading a magazine or a newspaper can help you learn a language?
(Why)?
4. Why do you think some people prefer magazines to newspapers?
Humour

Let’s change the topic and talk about comedy and humour.

1. What type of programmes do you find funny on TV?

2. Which types of programmes are most popular in your country? (Why)?
3. What kind of things make you laugh? (Why)?
4. Do you like to make people laugh? (How)?
5. Do you think it is important to have a sense of humour? (Why)?

Related: Plans, Dreams, Future

 What is your biggest goal in life?

 How do you plan to achieve that goal?
 What are your "short term" goals?
 What are your "long term" goals?
 Should parents help their children set goals?
 What are your educational goals?
 What are your career goals?
 What are your financial goals?
 Why are goals important?
 Is having a goal in life effective in becoming successful?
 Is having a goal helpful in motivating a person?
 Do you think people have fewer goals as they get older?
 Do you have any goals that you feel are unrealistic?
 How do people's goals change from country to country?
 What are your goals in your current job?
 What are the main differences between male and female goals?
 Which of your goals have you already achieved?
 How would you feel if you failed to achieve any of your goals?
 Do you think it's a good idea to write your goals down and tick them off as you
achieve them?
 How important are goals to you?
 What do you hope to have achieved by the time you're sixty?
 What is a goal?
 Can goals help to change your life? How?
 What goals do you have in your life?
 Is it important to set goals?
 Do you have a five year plan for your life?
 If you can't make your goal, how do you feel?
 What are your families goals?
 Are goals necessary to achieve success?
 How are plans and goals related?
 Are you ambitious enough to achieve the goals you set?
 Do you have spiritual/religious goals?
 Is one of your goals to be able to talk to your children's English teacher?
 Do you think people have less goals as they get older?
 How will you feel,if you fail to achieve any of your goals?
 What is something you never learned to do but wish you had?
 Who is successful in your family? Why?
 Tell me about a goal that you achieved for yourself.
 What success have you had in this English class? What can you do to be more
successful?
 Do you believe that people must work hard to become successful? Why or why not?
 Can you think of a successful person from your own county? What do they do? How
do you think they did it?
 What kind of success do you want in the future in your life?
 What can you do now to be successful in the future?
 Do you think that money and fame means success?