IELTS Speaking Part 3 Sample Answer

These are high-scoring sample answers for the following IELTS Speaking Part 3 question – Describe a House or Apartment You Would Like to Live In. Read them to understand what you need to talk about and the kind of answers you need to start your IELTS speaking test well.

Sample Answers

A House or Apartment You Would Like to Live In

1/ Do people usually rent or buy a house? Why?

I don’t think it’s a matter of whether people rent or buy a house, I think it’s a matter of what they can afford. Because it’s always going to be more, well up till now anyway, it’s always going to be more financially advantageous if you buy somewhere, because usually over time house prices increase and therefore if you buy somewhere, then as you live there, then it’s also acting as an investment. If you don’t have the money, however, especially if you’re younger, you might not want to commit to buying somewhere which if you’re younger, might seem like a big commitment. So, you might just want to rent somewhere until you find an area, find a city even, or even a country that you want to settle down and buy somewhere later.

2/ What are the differences between houses and apartments?

I think there are various differences between houses and apartments. I think it’s difficult to say. There are advantages for one person and disadvantages for another. So for example, houses are usually bigger, but a house is on the ground floor. It usually has a garden, maybe a drive for the car, if not a garage, while an apartment usually isn’t on the ground floor. So in some respects apartments are more secure. It would be much easier for somebody to break into a house than it would be for somebody to break into an apartment, usually. Apartments are also usually smaller and so they’re easier to keep clean. Houses are much bigger and have much more public space, like halls and stairways and so on. And so, it usually takes some good organisation to keep a house spick and span. Another thing is apartment, it’s much easier to find an apartment in a city centre, while a house is much more common further out, maybe in the suburbs. And so it depends on what kind of area that you would like to live in or maybe even what kind of school you would like your children to go to. Which brings up another point. Children would probably enjoy living in a house much more than they would live in, like an apartment, because they would also have some kind of garden, so they could play outside.

3/ What are the differences between houses that young and old people like?

I’d say the houses that I’d say youngsters and old people. Well, what do you call youngsters and what do you call old people? If you’re talking about elderly people who are maybe my age or older, then you’re probably talking about smaller houses, somewhere where you feel self contained, somewhere it’s easier to clean. So maybe somewhere something like a bungalow. And so you have maybe one or two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, bathroom and so on, and a garden, which you can spend your time looking after your garden in the summer, if that’s what you want. Whereas younger people, I would say they would probably want a family and so they would need somewhere larger. And so rather than looking after the garden, the kids would maybe want to play in the garden and so they might be garden toys or like a swing or a chute or something like that.

4/ What kinds of apartments are the most popular?

It’s difficult to imagine what kinds of apartments are the most popular, to be honest, I would say probably two bedroom apartments, because they’re more versatile. Single people can live and work in a two bedroom apartment and a couple can live by themselves or with a child in a two bedroom apartment. So I would think, size wise, maybe two bedrooms. I think, position wise, somewhere not right in the middle of the city, in my opinion, but maybe so the centre of the city centre is an easy walk away, so you can have some, maybe a quiet area. So if you do have children, they have somewhere to play or even a school to go to. But if you want the attractions of the city centre, it’s not really a problem.

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Analysis

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

Question 1 – Good answer. Explaining what he thinks, then logically going through the reasons. Good use of stress and intonation throughout.

Question 2 – This answer is a bit too long. Apart from that, it’s a good answer with logical comparisons between houses and apartments. Good stress and intonation throughout, although with hesitation in places.

Question 3 – Good, setting the context of what I would say rather than grouping all of them together. Talking about older people then the younger ones.

Question 4 – Good, although ‘two-bedroom apartment’ is repeated a few times, there is good use of less common vocabulary throughout.

Less Common and Idiomatic Vocabulary

it’s a matter of – a thing that involves or depends on
afford – to have enough money to buy something
up till now – from the past until the present
financially advantageous – economically valuable
over time – after a period of time
investment – the action or process of investing money for profit
don’t have the money – don’t have enough money to buy something
commit – to promise or bind yourself to doing something
commitment – the promise to do something
settle down – to live quietly and calmly
ground floor – the floor of a house on the same level as the ground
a drive – a short road leading from a public road to a house
garage – a house for a car
in some respects – regarding some things
secure – protected against attack or other criminal activity
break into – to enter a house illegally by force, usually to steal something
hall – the room or space just inside the front entrance of a house or flat
stairway – a set of steps or stairs and its surrounding walls or structure
spick and span – very clean
suburbs – the outer limits of a city
self-contained – (of a thing) complete, or having all that is needed, in itself
bungalow – a house with only one storey
I would say – in my opinion
swing – a seat suspended by ropes or chains
chute – slide
to be honest – this is a fact as far as I know
versatile – able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities
size wise – regarding the size
position wise – regarding the position