IELTS Speaking Part 1: Travelling
4 common Part 1 questions on travelling, each with a sample answer at the length Part 1 actually wants.
Do you like traveling?
Yes, I really enjoy it. There's something exciting about visiting a new place and experiencing a different culture, even if it's somewhere close by. It's one of the things I look forward to most whenever I have free time.
Do you like travelling long distances?
I don't mind it, although it can be tiring, especially on a long flight or a multi-hour drive. I usually bring a book or download some shows beforehand to make the time pass more easily. The destination is always worth the discomfort, in my opinion.
Would you like to travel long distances more often in the future?
Definitely. There are so many places I still haven't seen, particularly further afield, and I'd love to have the time and money to explore them properly. Once my schedule is a bit more flexible, I'm planning to travel much more than I do now.
Do you often travel by plane?
Not that often, mainly because it's expensive and I don't always have a good reason to fly somewhere. I tend to save flying for longer trips, like an overseas holiday once or twice a year. For anything closer, I usually just drive or take the train.
Reading a model answer is not the same as saying one. The sample above shows what a strong Part 1 answer sounds like. What it cannot tell you is how yours sounds — whether you hesitate, repeat the question back, or run out of things to say at forty seconds.
You can record an answer to this exact question and get it marked on fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and pronunciation — the same four criteria the examiner uses.
Common questions
How long should Part 1 answers be?
Two or three sentences. Part 1 is a warm-up and one-word answers stall the conversation, but a ninety-second speech on your home town is the wrong length too — the examiner has a list of questions to get through.
How long does Part 1 last?
Four to five minutes, covering three familiar topics. Your identity is checked first, then the questions start.
Can I ask the examiner to repeat a question?
Yes, and it costs you nothing. Asking for a repeat is normal conversational English; guessing at a question you misheard and answering the wrong one is far more damaging.
Model answers written and reviewed by The English All-in-One IELTS team. They are teaching models showing what each band looks like, not real candidate scripts.