IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

Describe an interesting person you know

: You should say

what sort of person s/he is
how you first met him/her
what s/he does for the living
and explain why you think this person is interesting

: Sample Answer

Wow, this topic is tough! Not because I don’t know anyone interesting enough, quite the opposite. I think everyone is interesting if you take the time to get to know them. It is so easy to make assumptions about people, and then when you come to talk to them you find out all sorts of unexpected and extraordinary things. When I first joined my running club I thought all the other runners had always been amazing athletes and found running easy – not like me, I was lumbering round sweating as they sprung ahead gazelle like! Then once I got talking to them I found many had their own stories, turning their lives around after a setback such as illness, or obesity, everyone ran for a reason. To spend time with friends, to get time to reflect, to enjoy the outdoors; to improve their physical or mental health. Every one of us is unique and interesting. That’s just from my running club, if I think my wider social circle, the possibilities are endless

So, who shall I choose? I like people who can surprise you, who are curious about the world, don’t judge and are confident enough in themselves to pursue their own dreams in their own quiet way, wherever that may take them. OK, so I know who is all of those things! I’ll tell you what sort of person they are, how we first met, what they do for a living and I think from all of that it will be very obvious why they are so interesting to me

So, this person is one of the kindest, nicest people I’ve ever met. I can tell you exactly when we first came across one another. I had just relocated to Sheffield and didn’t know a soul. One day I went for a walk from my house to the open countryside of the Peak District, and snow started to fall. I ended up at a coffee shop on an alpaca farm, quite high up. The snow was over a foot deep and still falling. I went into the coffee shop and this man and his wife were there. He was farm manager, and she ran the coffee shop. There was a roaring fire in the corner and they both made me welcome, we chatted and I dried out with a steaming hot chocolate before heading back home through the snow. I’d been worried about relocating on my own to a strange city, but these people were so friendly, I felt at home, this move was going to be OK

Some months later, I started volunteering at the farm, and I got to know Fred, the farm manager really well. I found out that he’d done loads of different things in his life. He’d travelled the world fixing x-ray machines at airports; he’d worked as an engineer; his wife and he had had various businesses including trading in second-hand goods and antiques. Now they’d taken on this rural coffee shop and he was managing a farm. It seems there was nothing he couldn’t do! He and his wife were incredibly friendly and social, both could instantly put anyone at their ease. You know how some people can just talk to anyone? Well, Fred is like that. Animals and children instantly adore him. Whatever he turns his hand to, he seems to do with natural ease. He was just as happy dressing up as Father Christmas or supervising a ‘spit-off’ between alpacas. That’s what you call it when you put a male and female together to see if the female is pregnant. If she is, she will reject the male forcefully – hence ‘spit off’! We spent hours and hours together on the farm, working in all weathers and doing extraordinary things. Lugging water down to far fields when pipes were frozen; herding animals together to move them from one field to another, or simply playing with the goats, dogs or other animals that could be great fun to interact with. He patiently taught me practical skills like driving the tractor, and how to inject the alpacas or trim their feet. We laughed all the time. I think from the outside we were probably unexpected friends, but we got on brilliantly from the start and even today can talk each other into the ground when we do meet up now and again for a coffee and catch up in town

Fred is retired now, but still as busy as ever, he helps manage a pre-nursery school doing their books and administration, but also going in to help play with the kids when he can. He also has a couple of energetic dogs to keep him up and about every day. What makes him so interesting I think is his breadth of life experience. He has seen and done so many things, yet he is unassuming and generous. In all the years I’ve known him he’s never had a bad word to say about anyone – despite been given cause to do so. He is generous with his time, always sees the best in other people and adoring of his wife. They have been together for a very long time indeed, but still always hold hands together when I see them together walking down the street. He isn’t just an interesting character, he is an inspirational one too. He has quietly ploughed his own path as the saying goes, and he is a loyal and wise friend too. In an age when many people feel compelled to constantly remind you how impressive and interesting they are through Facebook, celebrity or even what they wear – he is a breath of fresh air. He genuinely has compelling stories to tell and interesting insights to share, but only with those who bother to take the time to stop and ask. Every street, every bus stop, every café probably has someone like him. It is always worth a cautious smile and a shy ‘hello’ in a new place, you might encounter someone more interesting than you could possibly imagine if you just keep an open mind and take the time to ask questions and listen as well as talk