IELTS Speaking Part 2 Sample Answer

This is a high-scoring sample answer for the following IELTS Speaking Part 2 question: Describe a story or novel you have read that you found interesting. Read them to understand what you need to talk about and the kind of answers you need to score well in your IELTS speaking test. For advice, strategies and tips on the best ways to answer (because 2 minutes is very long), this article will help.

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IELTS Speaking Part 2 Quiz: It Doesn’t Need to be Hell!

IELTS Speaking Part 2

Describe a story or novel you have read that you found interesting

You should say:
When you read it
What the story or novel was about
Who wrote it
And explain why you read it

Sample Answer

Text

I’ve read many, many books. I’m a serial reader. I never stop reading. I’ve read an amazing amount of books more than one time. Some books, like, maybe 20 times over my lifetime. But the book I’d like to tell you about today isn’t actually a book I’ve read. Well, I’ve read two of the books. It’s actually a trilogy. And the first one’s called Wolf Hall. The second one’s called Bring up the Bodies. And the third one’s called to be honest, I can’t remember the name, but I’m in the middle of it right now. They’re novels written by an English writer called Hilary Mantel. And it’s historic fiction. Usually, I like science fiction and things like that, dystopian fiction and so on. I really enjoy these kinds of stories. But, good fiction like that is really hard to come by and it’s quite disappointing if you don’t get a good story. I also enjoy thrillers and murder stories, as I think everybody does. So I decided to try a different genre, and that genre was historic fiction. I’ve read some books by Alan Furst, which are, like, about the Second World War. But these three novels, and they’re big, like, this third one is 900 pages long. They’re about Henry the Eighth and his six wives, that time around there. They don’t actually follow Henry the Eighth, they follow his closest advisor and how he rises through the ranks and becomes a titled gentleman as the story progresses. But it covers a lot of history, and being English history, we didn’t get taught that at school so much. So, it’s really very interesting in many, many ways. It.

Audio

Analysis

This is my opinion of the above answer. The answer was given as in a test, with minimal preparation time.

Should be ‘an amazing number of books’

Good introduction, setting the context that I have read many books, but this is the one (or the trilogy) I am going to tell you about.

Good description using good vocabulary (see below)

Showing why I have started to read this kind of book rather than my usual genre.

Good summary of what the books are about.

The speaker comes from Scotland, where Scottish history is taught in schools.

Less Common and Idiomatic Vocabulary

a serial reader – someone who is always reading and reads one book after another.
my lifetime – from when I was born until now
a trilogy – usually referring to long stories cut into three parts (usually books or movies)
historic fiction – an story set in a period of history
science fiction – a story set in the future
dystopian fiction – a story set in the future when something terrible is happening
really hard to come by – rare
quite disappointing – a little disappointing
thrillers – a novel, play, or film with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage.
murder stories – stories about someone who has been killed by another person
genre – a style or category of art, music, or literature
like – for example
Henry the Eighth – an English king
closest advisor – the person who gives the most advice to the king (in this case)
rises through the ranks – promotion
titled gentleman – a respected and honoured citizen
as the story progresses – the events in a story from beginning to end