Updated Jan. 27, 2016
IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions
Page 129
641.
A Person Who Dresses Well
642.
The Most Enjoyable Stage
in Your Life
643.
A Park or Garden
644.
A Picture or Photo in Your Home
FQ = frequent question = a question that has frequently been reported = a question that is probably in the examiner's question book
* = my guess at a question
***********************************************************************
515,
Make sure you know the difference between, "fashion" (a noun) and "fashionable" (an adjective). English speakers do not say, "fashion clothes" – that should be, "fashionable clothes". Also note that "being interested in fashion" is not always the same as "being in fashion" / "being fashionable".
Fashion
What kind of clothing is fashionable / in fashion with young people at the moment? *
Who decides what is "fashionable"? *
What does "fashionable" actually mean?
Can you suggest why what is "in fashion" changes so often?
Do you think a person's views on fashion change as they grow older?
Why do you think some people are interested in fashion while others are not?
Do you think it's important to dress well?
Shopping in General
What
are the pros and cons of online shopping, as compared with shopping in the usual shops
and department stores?
Shopping for Clothes
Do you like to buy brightly-colored clothes?
Why do many people like shopping for clothes?
Who do
you think likes shopping for clothes more, young people or elderly people?
Where do you like to go to buy fashionable clothes?
Do you have much experience buying clothes online?
What
are the differences between shopping for clothes in shops and shopping for
clothes online?
Do you
think online shopping for clothes might one day replace buying clothes in
shops and department stores?
What are the advantages and the disadvantages from buying clothes online?
Are there other ways (other places) where people can buy clothes, shoes, accessories etc.?
Where do old people prefer to buy their clothes?
Do you prefer to go shopping on your own, or with friends?
The Cost of Clothes
Do people today spend more money on clothes than they did several decades ago?
Who has the money to buy expensive, name-brand clothes?
Clothes for Work
What kinds of clothes are suitable for work?
Would you like to wear a uniform at work?
Notes
This might be Topic 168 or Topic 75 returning to the test. Even if the wording of the Part 2 is slightly different, it is basically the same topic as those and many of the Part 3 questions seem to be repetitions of those previous Part 3 questions.
If the words, "stage of life" are used, then to say, "when I was twelve years old" is not very suitable because that is an age, not a stage. But it is possible that the word used on the card is, in fact, "age", not "stage".
Stages of life are not strictly defined but there are some periods that people commonly refer to as "a stage of life". These are periods of one's life which many, or even all people go through. But if you are about 20 years old now, you have only gone through a few of the stages of life that people go through during their whole lives. Examples are: "When I was in primary school", "When I first started primary school", "When I was in my last year of primary school", "When I was in junior high school", "My first year of junior high school", "When I was in Senior high school", "When I was preparing for my college entrance exams", "When I first started university", "My university years", etc. People generally don't remember much about their lives before the age of about 5 so talking about a stage before that age is not very suitable for this topic, even if you know that you were happiest between the ages of say, 3 and 5.
Other stages that many people go through are "When I dreamed of being famous", "When I first fell in love" etc. Those are stages in the teenage years that many people pass through.
See also the Part 3 of
Stages of Life
Quite often, people want to stay at one stage of their lives. Can you suggest why this happens?
Why do you think some people are afraid of changing?
What do
you think is the best age (or, stage), of (most) people's lives?
What are some typical things that children do that people who are not children usually do not do?
Do you think that most people are happier in childhood than they are in adulthood?
Is it possible for an adult to be just as happy as when they were a child?
What do you think is the most difficult stage of life for most people?
In your
culture, what celebrations do you have for when people reach certain
important age milestones in life?
Adulthood / Maturity
All these questions refer to your country / your culture.
In your country, at what age are people considered to
have become adults?
In your opinion, what are the differences between children and adults?
What are some examples of things that people cannot legally do before they reach that age?
Do you think that age is a suitable age for (legally) considering
someone to be an adult, or should it be changed?
What responsibilities do people have after they reach the legal age of adulthood?
Do people in your culture have any responsibilities even before they reach the legal age of adulthood?
At what age do people in your culture start make their own decisions, (independent of their parents)?
In your country, at what age can people begin
driving a car?
What do you think is the most suitable age for (most) people to get married?
In your country, do people hold special celebrations
when someone reaches the age of adulthood?
Age Restrictions (especially about old or "older" people) See Note 4
How do
people in your country (your culture) view old people?
Do you think that old people still contribute to society?
(Different to above)
Do you think very old people should be allowed to drive?
Notes
This might be a repetition of Topic 246, although Part 3 seems a little different.
For Parks: See also Part 3 of
For Outdoor Activities: See also Part 3 of Topic 57, Topic 292, Topic 367, Topic 374 and Topic 501.
Parks and Greenery in Cities
Do you
think it's important (for cities) to have parks and other green areas?
What
are the benefits of having trees and green plants in a city?
What role do you think parks play in cities?
What do (or, can) people do in parks? FQ
Would you say parks and public gardens are more important for old people, or for young people?
Would you say there are enough parks and public gardens in your country?
In
addition to going to a park, what other
outdoor (leisure time) activities are popular in your country?
What are the differences between indoor and outdoor leisure activities?
What outdoor activities do children especially enjoy doing (or, do)?
Cities
Do you
think that there are benefits from eliminating some small towns and villages
and forming new cities. What do you think?
When cities expand, they often engulf nearby small villages that previously were not part of the city. Do you think this has a negative effect on those villages?
Some people think that allowing existing cities to expand too much creates problems that could be solved by allowing some future growth to take place in smaller centres that are away from the big cities. What do you think? See Note 2
(Similar to above) Which do you think is better, one big city or several smaller cities?
How does urban living influence people's life-styles, their activities and their ways of thinking? * See Note 5
The Environment
See Note 3
Note
It might say, "in your family" instead of "in your home". "In your family" gives you a wider choice. For example, you could then choose to talk about a photo that your grandparents have but they live in a separate home to you. But for most cases, "home" and "family" would have the same function for this topic.
I have chosen to only emphasize the word "photo" or photograph" in the first line,
even though some people have reported that wording is more like, "
Note that English speakers often say, "picture" to mean "photograph", as in, "take a picture".
See also any similar questions in the Part 3 questions for
Topic 33,
Topic 110,
Topic 161,
Topic 219 and
Topic 393,
Make sure you know how to pronounce "photograph", "photography", "photographer" and "photographic". The word stress (i.e., which syllable is stressed more) is different in some of these words.
Photography
On what occasions do you take photos?
What are the major differences between traditional cameras and digital cameras?
(Close to the question above)
Do you think mobile phones are
good for taking photos (= "taking pictures")?
(Not
the same as above)
Do young people in your country like to take photos?
Why do young people like to use the mobile phone camera (so much)?
When you are taking a "selfie", how does the self-timer setting work?
Visual Art / Art Classes
Would you say that art such as painting and drawing is important?
Do you
think people can learn to paint and draw or is it an inborn talent?
(Similar) Would you like to take an art class?
Do you think people can learn to draw when they are adults?
In your
opinion, what benefits could an adult derive from attending art classes (or,
from studying art)?
Do you think it's necessary for a person to be good at art (e.g., drawing or painting) in order to benefit from doing it?
Where can people in your country go to attend an art class?
Do you
think schools should include art in their syllabuses?
What do
school children learn in art classes at school?
Do you think learning to draw or paint can improve a person's (or, a child's) intelligence?
How do young people (and/or children) benefit from an art class (or, from learning to paint)?
Would you say adults could also benefit from learning how to draw and paint?
How do you think elderly people would benefit from engaging in painting and drawing?
When would you say that photography becomes a form of art?
Professional Photographers
Do you
think being a photographer would be (or, is) a good career?
(Similar to above) Would
you like to be a professional photographer?
What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of working as a professional photographer?
Do you think it would be easy to make a living that way, for example, to earn enough to support a family?
Do you think working as a photo-journalist is safe? See Note 6
Notes
The first line is still a bit unclear. It might be, "
I think a good example to use would be another student who did well in one of your English classes. But probably the best (and easiest) example for most candidates would be to describe an English teacher you once had, or have now! But it should not be a native English speaker.
Someone has reported that this as about a "second language" but most people are reporting "foreign language". The term "second language" usually refers to migrants to a country learning the language of that country, such as migrants to Australia learning English. But in countries like China that have many different languages (in the spoken form, in the case of China), then it would be suitable to apply the term "second language" to someone learning another language from their own country.
See also Part 3 for Topic 49, Topic 115, Topic 171, Topic 280 and Topic 476.
Language and Culture
What languages do you think are most important in the world today?
What language(s) in the world do you think is (are) the most difficult to learn?
Do you think that people who speak the same language
necessarily have the same culture?
Learning (studying) a Foreign Language
Which do you think is easier, speaking
(Similar to above)
(Similar to above)
Which do you think is easier to learn (or, do well), listen to (and understand) another language or write it?
Do you think it's easy to learn a language?
Can you suggest how learning English easier could be made easier?
Do you think it's easy for people who speak your language to learn English?
Who do you think is better at learning foreign languages, the people from your country, or people from other countries?
How did you (or do you) study English?
(Similar to above) How did you learn English?
Do you think people who have studied a foreign language in university tend to forget it after they graduate if they never use it?
Do you think a person needs to be perfect in English
before looking for work that involves English?
In your company, is there any training to help the employees improve their English?
What are the best ways to learn a language?
How are foreign languages taught in schools (and universities) in your country?
How does one start to learn a new language?
How do you think a person could gain perfect mastery over a foreign language?
In addition to English, are there any other languages
that you would like to learn?
How would you do it?
Do you think the way people learn a language today is different to the way it was done in the past?
Do you think there are any advantages from learning a language while living abroad?
Do you think it's necessary to speak the language when living abroad?
How would (or, could) a person learn another language if they don't live in an environment in which this language is used?
Do you think the internet plays a role (or, can play a role) is helping someone learn a language?
Do you think someone who is studying English should use English to search online?
Do you think it's beneficial for children to learn languages (or, a foreign language)?
Who do you think learns a language faster (or, easier), children or adults? FQx2
What do you think is the best age for someone to start
learning another language?
Do you think 4 or 5-year olds learn languages more easily than adults?
Do you think children are very interested in learning a foreign language?
If a child has a parent (or parents) who speak more than one language and if the child learns a second language in the home, how do you think this would benefit the child?
How can a person (or, how can children) become interested in learning a foreign language?
What are the benefits, (and the disadvantages), of
studying a foreign language
(Similar to above) Do you think knowing English (or,
knowing a foreign language) gives people an advantage
when they are looking for a job?
Do you think that a person can learn to speak a foreign language as well as the native speakers of that language?
Do you think learning foreign languages will become more important in the future than it is now, or less important?
Do you think the English level of people in your country will be higher in the next decade?
Do you think English will be the world's major language
in the future?
What do you think is the most difficult part of learning your language?
In what ways are foreigners speaking your language different to native speakers speaking it?
Endangered Languages
See Note 7
Several languages become extinct every year. Can you suggest why that is happening?
Do you think we should (attempt to) save endangered languages from extinction? See Note 8
How could that be done?
Do you think it's possible to revive a language after it has become extinct? *
This is called "urbanization".
This is called "decentralization".
So far, it seems that only one person has reported these questions, so they might just be questions that were made by one examiner. In other words, these questions might not be in the question book.
Usually, when a native English speaker says, "old person", he or she means "older than 60 or 65" or "older than the usual retirement age". So it is unusual to talk about "old people" working. However, "older people" do have problems in finding a job in many places in the world. These are people who are between 50 and 65 (or 60), or even between 40 and 65 (or 60).
I have not seen this particular question reported - it is my guess at a possible question. If you can answer at least some parts of that question, then you should be able to answer other questions related to urban living.
This is mainly referring to taking photos of natural disasters and, especially, war zones or instances of social unrest such as revolutions.
You should do a little reading on the internet about endangered languages. These are almost always languages of a minority community in a country, especially a minority community that is not very large. (For example, New Guinea has several hundred languages, each spoken by just one tribal group, and many of these languages are endangered.) An endangered language is not yet an extinct language but usually the only people who speak this language fluently, or use it as their main language, are a small number of old people. Of course, the extinction of a language is closely related to the loss of major parts of the traditional culture of the group who spoke this language in the past. Very often, the history of this group has been preserved in spoken stories, or songs, so the loss of this knowledge is important because anthropologists consider this knowledge especially important for understanding such historical phenomena as ancient migration patterns. The loss of these traditional cultures also means the loss of knowledge that this group has gathered over hundreds or thousands of years about such things as the medicinal qualities of plants in their environment. Most importantly, whenever a group loses its culture, this group often then suffers major social problems, such as alcoholism if the group cannot successfully integrate into the majority culture that surrounds them.
An endangered language can be recorded in written form, in audio recordings and in videos. In this way, it will never be completely lost and people in the future, especially scholars, will be able to study it and even learn to speak it well. But if it is not used as either a first or second language by a significant number of people, such a language would still be described as "extinct".