Describe a person who met difficulties but succeeded
IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card with a full sample answer, a Band 9 model of the two-minute long turn.
The cue card
Describe a person who met difficulties but succeeded
You should say:
- who this friend is
- what the achievement was
- what he or she did
- why you were proud of your friend's achievement
Sample answer
I'd like to describe a friend of mine named Farid, who battled against considerable odds and ultimately came out on top, an achievement I take genuine pride in.
Farid is a close friend from my university days, and what he pulled off was overcoming severe financial hardship to graduate top of our class and land himself a fantastic job. It might not sound like much on the face of it, but knowing everything he had to wade through makes it all the more remarkable.
To give some background, Farid grew up in a fairly hard-up family, and his parents simply weren't in a position to fund his studies. As a result, he had to juggle part-time jobs, often working late into the night, just to scrape together enough for his tuition fees and living costs while keeping on top of a gruelling course load.
Despite these setbacks, what he did was nothing short of inspiring. He managed his time with iron discipline, squeezing in study on public transport, during breaks at work, and long after his shifts had ended. He never once complained or used his circumstances as a crutch. Whenever he hit a wall, he simply knuckled down harder, and he was always willing to swallow his pride and ask for help. Through sheer grit and relentless effort, he not only kept pace but excelled, eventually graduating with flying colours and securing a prestigious job offer.
There are several reasons his story struck such a chord with me. Firstly, his perseverance in the face of such adversity was genuinely humbling and put my own struggles into perspective. Secondly, he proved beyond doubt that with enough grit and determination, even the toughest circumstances can be overcome. His success certainly wasn't handed to him on a plate; he earned every last bit of it.
Farid's story continues to spur me on to this day. Whenever I feel like throwing in the towel on something, I think back to his resilience, and it reminds me that obstacles are there to be overcome rather than to hold us back.
Reading a model answer is not the same as saying one. The sample above shows what a strong Part 2 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 I speak for in Part 2?
Between one and two minutes. The examiner stops you at two, so aim to still be talking at the ninety-second mark rather than finishing early — running out at forty seconds is the most common problem in this part.
What do I do with the one minute of preparation time?
You get one minute and a pencil and paper. Most candidates waste it writing full sentences they then read aloud, which sounds flat. Note a few keywords against each bullet instead, so you have four things to talk about rather than a script.
Do I have to cover all four bullet points?
They are prompts, not a checklist, and you are not penalised for skipping one. In practice they are the easiest way to fill two minutes, so covering them is usually the simplest way to keep going.
Does it matter if the story is not true?
No. You are assessed on your English, not on whether the events happened. Inventing detail is fine and often easier than recalling a real memory under pressure.
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.