Topic from the IELTS Question Bank

An Event
IELTS Speaking

Part 2
 Part 2 Cue Card

Describe a happy event you organised

You should say:

– What it was
– When it happened
– How you organised it

and explain how you felt about organising the event

 1.
Ideas
You could talk about…

A party - such as for work, new baby, birthday,

anniversary, retirement, wedding, stag do or hen night

Picnic or barbecue

Sports event (e.g. a football match with friends)

Remember to focus more on the event, and your role

 2.
Useful
Vocabulary
 Events

Indoor event
Outdoor event
To set up (an event) =
to organise
To be responsible
for…
It was up to me to…
To take into
consideration
 Preparation

To take care of / to look

after

To have a lot on your plate

I had a lot on my plate

To over-prepare

To play it by ear = not to

plan

I decided to play it by ear

 3.
Model
Answer
 4.
Language
Analysis
 So, the event I’d like to describe was a birthday party I
helped organise for my daughter and her friends.

She had just turned 6, if I remember correctly, and we had

invited a bunch of friends from school.

Grammar:
Time before the event (past perfect)

Things that happened before the event - we can

use simple past

She turned 6, we invited some friends, and

then we had the party.

or past perfect (when we reference the event)

She had just turned 6 (before the event)

We had invited a bunch of friends (before the
event)

To turn 6 = to become 6 years old

A bunch of = a group of (friends/people)

 So my wife and I split up the responsibilities.

It was up to me to organise the games and the fun actives

and my wife took care of the invitations and she looked
after liaising with the other parents.

Collocations

To split up the responsibilities

= to divide the responsibilities

To take care of / look after

= to be responsible for

Advanced Vocabulary

To liaise with someone

= to contact and cooperate with someone
 I remember, I had to really rack my brains to think of games
and activities that they would enjoy, but where things
wouldn’t get out of hand either. I mean you probably know
how boisterous and unpredictable young children can be.

Idioms

To rack your brains

= to think hard to get an answer

To get out of hand

= to get out of control

Advanced Vocabulary

Boisterous (adj.) = noisy and energetic

Unpredictable (adj.) = changeable,
surprising
 So, in the end, I set up some fun games, like ‘pass the parcel’ where
they have to pass the gift round and unwrap it as they go.

On top of that, we had a pizza-making session, a time to give

presents, and of course, the must-have birthday cake moment where
my daughter had to blow out the candles on the cake.

Linkers

So, in the end…

On top of that….

Vocabulary

must-have (adj.)
= essential, highly desirable

To blow out (candles)

= to put out, extinguish ( a fire)
 I do remember also I had to take into consideration the safety of
all the children, with the noise, the oven for cooking the pizza and
things like that.

Useful Vocabulary
to take into consideration
= to consider, think about

Things like that = similar things

 All said and done, it went very well. In fact, it went without a hitch.
I can proudly say nobody was injured at the party and there were no
tears. The kids seemed to have a whale of a time, and my
daughter was thrilled to bits with the whole party.

Advanced Vocabulary

All said and done = in the end, at the end

of the day, after considering everything

To go without a hitch
= to go smoothly, without problems

There were no tears = no-one cried

To have a whale of a time

= to have a great time

To be thrilled to bits = to be very excited

and happy
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