IELTS Speaking Part 2

A Person You Know Who Is Good at Learning Languages

Most recently asked in Sep–Dec 2026In use now

The cue card

Describe a person you know who is good at learning languages.

You should say:

  • how you know this person
  • what languages this person speaks
  • how this person learned to speak these languages
  • and explain why you think this person is good at learning languages.

Sample answers: Band 6.5, 7.0 & 7.5

Three versions of the same answer, each written to sit genuinely at that band — compare them to see exactly what separates the scores.

Band 6.5

The answer relies on simple cause-and-effect statements ('he only became confident after joining our studio') and a plain personal comparison at the end, keeping the language clear but unremarkable, as expected at Band 6.5.

The person I want to talk about is my coworker Minh, who works as a project manager at the same studio as me. I've known him for about three years, since we sit quite close to each other in our open-plan office.

Minh speaks Vietnamese, of course, good English, and also Japanese, because our studio works with a few clients from Japan. He can have full work meetings in Japanese without much trouble, which honestly impresses me a lot.

How he learned is mostly through work and apps, not a real classroom. He told me he studied English at school like everyone else, but he only became confident after joining our studio and talking to foreign clients on video calls every week. For Japanese, he started with a phone app in his free time, then practised with our Japanese clients directly, asking them to correct his mistakes during calls.

Why I think he's good at learning languages is because he isn't shy about making mistakes. When he doesn't know a word, he just tries to explain it another way instead of stopping the conversation. He also listens very carefully to how native speakers talk. I studied English for many years at school too, but I still feel nervous speaking to a client directly, so I really admire how naturally he does it.

222 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

  • LR“which honestly impresses me a lot” — 'Impresses me a lot' states the reaction using the most common available verb and intensifier, rather than a more specific or idiomatic alternative a higher band might use, and 'honestly' is used here simply as a plain intensifying adverb rather than functioning as the kind of mid-sentence rhythmic device a 7.0 answer might exploit. The admiration is stated once, directly, and the sentence moves on, which keeps the vocabulary plain and clear — exactly the 6.5 lexical target of everyday words doing the communicative job without reaching for range.
  • GRA“He told me he studied English at school like everyone else, but he only became confident after joining our studio” — Reported speech ('He told me he studied...') is extended with a single 'but' contrast and then a coordinated pair of gerund phrases ('joining... and talking...') marking the cause of his confidence — accurate and reasonably long, but built entirely from coordination rather than varied subordination. A 7.0 answer describing the same shift from classroom English to workplace fluency might instead use a participial or reason clause to tighten the causal link; here the connectors stay basic and safe, fitting the 6.5 grammar target's preference for accuracy over structural ambition.
  • FC“I studied English for many years at school too, but I still feel nervous speaking to a client directly” — The closing sentence draws one direct comparison between the speaker's own years of study and continued nervousness against Minh's ease with clients, using 'but' and 'so' to chain contrast into consequence within a single sentence. This comparison is the answer's clearest piece of personal reflection, but it stops at stating the contrast and the resulting admiration rather than exploring why the gap exists, which a 7.0 answer might do by linking it back to Minh's comfort with mistakes mentioned earlier.
Band 7.0

The answer develops the 'why' section with a specific behavioural example (describing unknown words rather than stopping) and a closing reflection on her motivation, giving fuller development than 6.5 while using fewer of the varied structures and idiomatic asides that mark the 7.5 answer.

The person I'd talk about is my cousin Hiền, who works as a tour guide in Hội An, taking visitors around the old town and the nearby islands.

Hiền speaks Vietnamese and English fluently, and over the past few years she's also picked up a good level of French and enough Mandarin to guide small Chinese tour groups without an interpreter, which genuinely surprises me every time I hear her switch between them.

How she learned wasn't through any formal course, as far as I know. She studied basic English at school like the rest of us, but she really improved once she started working with tourists every day and had no choice but to communicate. For French, she told me she picked up phrases from French tourists who visited regularly, then practised by watching French films with subtitles on her days off. Her Mandarin came later, mostly from a phone app combined with real conversations with Chinese visitors, who she says correct her pronunciation without her even asking.

Why I think she's good at learning languages is that she treats every conversation as a small lesson rather than something to get through quickly. She's not afraid of sounding awkward, and if she doesn't know a word, she just describes it in a different way until the tourist understands. She also has a good ear — she can copy a French or Chinese accent almost immediately after hearing it a couple of times, which I've never been able to do myself even after years of studying English at school.

What strikes me most is that her motivation is practical rather than academic: better language skills mean better tips and happier tourists, so she keeps improving without really thinking of it as studying at all.

294 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

  • LR“she treats every conversation as a small lesson” — "Small lesson" is a natural collocation used metaphorically, an everyday conversation reframed as an informal learning opportunity, which is more specific and flexible than saying she "learns from talking to people." This is the step above plain vocabulary the 7.0 descriptor targets, staying conversational rather than becoming genuinely idiomatic. It also functions as the thesis for the whole explanatory paragraph, which goes on to illustrate exactly how she turns tourist interactions into practice.
  • GRA“if she doesn't know a word, she just describes it in a different way until the tourist understands” — This combines a conditional clause, "if she doesn't know a word," with a result clause containing its own subordination, "until the tourist understands," handling two levels of structure accurately in one natural-sounding sentence. It's the comfortable, accurate complex grammar the 7.0 descriptor describes, illustrating a specific communication strategy rather than just asserting she's a good communicator. The conditional framing also makes the claim feel like a habitual, observed pattern rather than a one-off event.
  • FC“What strikes me most is that her motivation is practical rather than academic” — This closing sentence draws a considered conclusion about why Hiền is successful, practical motivation over academic study, rather than simply restating that she's good with languages, which is the kind of reflective development the 7.0 descriptor rewards. A 6.5 answer would likely just say "she's very good at languages" without this distinction. It also retrospectively reframes all the earlier examples, tourists correcting her pronunciation, films, apps, as evidence for this specific claim about motivation.
Band 7.5

The simile 'listens like a musician' and the closing comparative sentence about teachers with degrees show the flexible, precise language and sentence variety typical of Band 7.5.

The person I'd talk about is Duy, a Grab driver here in Da Nang who I've ended up riding with dozens of times, because he does the early airport runs and I travel for work more than I'd like. I know him the way you know a regular driver — twenty-minute conversations, once a month, over about three years.

Duy speaks Vietnamese, obviously, plus English well enough to argue about football, Korean that Korean passengers genuinely compliment, and enough Russian to handle the tourists who come to the beach in winter. He's thirty-four and left school at sixteen.

How he learnt is the interesting part, because it wasn't a course. He told me he started with English by writing down every phrase a passenger said that he didn't understand, in a notebook he kept in the door pocket, and then asking the next English-speaking passenger what it meant. Korean came the same way, from the huge number of Korean tourists on his airport route; he'd learn one new sentence a day and test it on the next customer. He watches Korean dramas with the subtitles off now. Russian is newer and rougher, but he's doing the same thing with it.

Why I think he's genuinely good at it, rather than just persistent, is that he has no fear of being wrong. He'll try a sentence, get it wrong, laugh, and try again in the same breath, which is exactly the thing that stops most of us — I studied English for twelve years and still hesitate before speaking to a stranger. He also listens like a musician; he mimics accents without seeming to try. And he's learning for something real: every language means better tips and better conversations, so the motivation never runs out. I've had teachers with degrees who taught me less about learning than that notebook in the door pocket.

312 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

  • LR“He also listens like a musician; he mimics accents without seeming to try.” — The simile 'listens like a musician' is a single, well-chosen figurative image rather than a string of them — exactly the restrained 'one figurative or idiomatic touch if it fits the moment' the Band 7.5 descriptor calls for, as opposed to a 6.5 answer that would flatly state 'he listens carefully' or an 8.0 answer stacking several such images together. The semicolon then lets 'he mimics accents without seeming to try' land as a second, closely related observation rather than a new sentence, so the figurative claim is immediately backed up with a concrete detail about Duy's ear for sound. It reads as genuine praise growing out of watching him on rides, not a rehearsed comparison inserted for effect.
  • GRA“I've had teachers with degrees who taught me less about learning than that notebook in the door pocket.” — This is an inverted 'less...than' comparative — degreed teachers are set below an object, a notebook — with a relative clause ('who taught me less about learning') embedded inside it, a structure a 6.5 or 7.0 answer would rarely risk because of the accuracy demands of getting both the comparative and the clause to agree. At Band 7.5 the descriptor calls for 'varied complex structures... that are mostly error-free,' and this sentence pulls that off while still sounding like spontaneous speech rather than a scripted line. Comparing degreed teachers against a driver's door-pocket notebook also does real rhetorical work, driving home the essay's argument that motivation beats credentials.
  • FC“He'll try a sentence, get it wrong, laugh, and try again in the same breath, which is exactly the thing that stops most of us” — Rather than finishing the anecdote about Duy trying and failing and then adding a separate sentence like 'This shows he isn't afraid of mistakes,' the speaker folds that judgement straight into the narrative with a relative clause — 'which is exactly the thing that stops most of us.' That fusion of story and evaluation, rather than a bolt-on comment at the end, is the coherence move the Band 7.5 descriptor asks for ('one clear reflective or evaluative point, not just description'); a 6.5 answer would typically narrate the action and stop there. The self-deprecating pivot to 'most of us,' followed by the admission about hesitating after twelve years of study, also widens the point from Duy specifically to a universal truth about language learning.

How this card was asked, by exam period

  • Describe a person you know who is good at learning languages.Sep–Dec 2026
  • Describe a person you know who is good at learning languagesMay–Aug 2026

Part 3 follow-up questions

These are the discussion questions examiners asked after this cue card. Sample answers are shown where available.

  1. 1. Do lots of people in your country speak more than one language?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer opens with a flat direct opinion ('Not really') and strings together simple 'so' and 'but' connectors around one plain example each for the young and old generations.

    Not really, if we mean fluent in two languages properly. But it depends how you look at it. Most young people study English at school, so many can have a simple conversation, and that number is growing. Older people are different — my parents learned some French at school, but they never use it now. Also, inside Vietnamese itself, there are big differences. My grandmother speaks the Hue dialect, and people from Hanoi sometimes can't understand her. So it's complicated.

    Why this band

    • FC“But it depends how you look at it.” — This is a short, self-contained linking sentence using the plainest possible connector 'but' to move between ideas. A 7.0 answer would likely soften this with a spoken hedge like 'honestly' or 'to be fair', while a 7.5 answer would weave the qualification into a single flowing sentence instead of stating it separately.
    • LR“there are big differences” — 'Big differences' is a generic, everyday word pairing that does the job but shows no range. A 7.5 answer would reach for something more precise and idiomatic, such as 'diversity hiding inside', which conveys the same idea with more texture and less common phrasing.
    • GRA“so many can have a simple conversation, and that number is growing” — This is a simple compound sentence joined by 'and', which is grammatically safe but repetitive across the answer. A 7.0 or 7.5 response would more likely embed this as a subordinate clause or reduce it to a participial phrase, giving the grammar more variety and flexibility.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer adds a spoken hedge ('Honestly') and a reflective aside ('What's interesting is...') around one longer sentence built from a colon and a 'so' clause, going beyond 6.5's flatter opinion-plus-example structure.

    Honestly, it depends on what you mean by 'speak.' If we're talking about real fluency, not that many — but if we mean being able to get by, the number is rising fast, mostly because almost everyone under thirty studies English at school now. My parents are a good example of the gap: they learned French decades ago and haven't used a word of it since, so it never really became a language for them. What's interesting is that even within Vietnamese there's a kind of bilingualism, since my grandmother's Hue dialect is different enough that people from Hanoi genuinely struggle to follow her.

    Why this band

    • FC“Honestly, it depends on what you mean by 'speak.'” — Opening with 'Honestly' signals natural spoken reflection rather than a flat stated fact, which is typical of 7.0 fluency. A 6.5 answer would simply assert 'Not really' without this framing, while a 7.5 answer would likely compress the same idea into a tighter parallel structure.
    • LR“haven't used a word of it since” — This is a mild, natural collocation rather than the plainest possible phrasing like 'never use it'. It shows some control of idiomatic expression without reaching for genuinely uncommon vocabulary, which is what would distinguish a 7.5 answer.
    • GRA“they learned French decades ago and haven't used a word of it since, so it never really became a language for them” — This single sentence links three ideas with 'and' and 'so', showing more complexity than 6.5's separated short sentences but stopping short of the participial or fronted structures a 7.5 answer would use to compress the same content further.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer opens with a compact parallel contrast ('Strictly speaking... loosely speaking...'), uses a participial phrase ('having picked up some French') instead of a plain clause, and closes with an idiomatic evaluative flourish weighing 'hardly anyone' against 'almost everyone.'

    Strictly speaking, not that many — but loosely speaking, more than you'd think. Ask anyone under thirty and they've spent years studying English at school, which has quietly pushed conversational bilingualism up even if true fluency lags behind. My parents illustrate the opposite case nicely: having picked up some French decades ago, they've let it go completely rusty from sheer lack of use. What I find more telling, though, is the diversity hiding inside Vietnamese itself — my grandmother's Hue accent is thick enough to leave Hanoi natives genuinely lost. So depending on how strict your definition is, the honest answer swings between 'hardly anyone' and 'almost everyone.'

    Why this band

    • FC“Strictly speaking, not that many — but loosely speaking, more than you'd think.” — This parallel construction delivers a nuanced, two-sided opinion in one fluent breath. A 6.5 answer would state the two sides as separate flat sentences, and even a 7.0 answer would likely need an extra hedge word rather than this tight balanced pairing.
    • LR“conversational bilingualism” — This is a precise, slightly academic collocation that packs a whole idea into two words. A 6.5 answer would spell the same concept out plainly as 'have a simple conversation', showing far less lexical compression and range.
    • GRA“having picked up some French decades ago, they've let it go completely rusty from sheer lack of use” — The fronted participial phrase 'having picked up some French decades ago' is a flexible, compact grammatical structure. A 7.0 answer would more likely use a colon-plus-clause pattern, and a 6.5 answer would simply write two short linked sentences instead.

  2. 2. Is it necessary to speak more than one language to get a good job?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer states a direct position ('It depends on the job') then gives one plain personal example and one contrasting example, linked mainly with 'so' and 'but'.

    It depends on the job, not on everyone. In my case, I talk to clients from other countries in English every day, so I really need it for my work. But my cousin is an engineer at a construction company, and he doesn't use any other language at all. Jobs connected to tourism, technology or foreign companies usually need English. Other jobs don't need it so much. So for some jobs it's necessary, and for others it's just extra.

    Why this band

    • FC“It depends on the job, not on everyone.” — This is a blunt, direct opening position with no hedging. A 7.0 answer would likely soften it with 'Honestly, it really depends...', and a 7.5 answer would frame it with a more layered opening image, showing more developed spoken fluency.
    • LR“Jobs connected to tourism, technology or foreign companies usually need English.” — 'Connected to' and 'usually need' are plain, literal word choices. A 7.5 answer would reach for a more vivid collocation like 'treat English as close to non-negotiable', showing far greater lexical precision.
    • GRA“But my cousin is an engineer at a construction company, and he doesn't use any other language at all.” — This is a simple compound sentence joined with 'and'. A 7.0 answer would more likely use a conditional clause, and a 7.5 answer would compress the same contrast into a 'whereas' structure within a single longer sentence.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer softens the opinion with 'Honestly' and 'I'd say', and uses one conditional-style clause ('without it I'd be earning a lot less') that 6.5 avoids.

    Honestly, it really depends on the sector rather than the job market as a whole. My own work is a clear case — I speak English with overseas clients daily, and without it I'd be earning a lot less doing similar design work locally. My cousin, on the other hand, is a solid engineer who has never needed a second language for his job. I'd say the pattern is that jobs touching foreign money, like tourism, tech or trade, treat English almost as a requirement now, while the rest of the economy still treats it as a bonus rather than a necessity.

    Why this band

    • FC“I'd say the pattern is that” — This reflective hedge shows the speaker thinking through a generalisation in real time, typical of 7.0 fluency. A 6.5 answer would simply state the pattern as a bare fact, while a 7.5 answer would open it with a more assertive phrase like 'Broadly speaking'.
    • LR“jobs touching foreign money” — This is a mild, natural collocation that goes slightly beyond the plainest wording. A 6.5 answer would say something flatter like 'jobs connected to tourism, technology', while a 7.5 answer would push further into idiom, such as 'close to non-negotiable'.
    • GRA“without it I'd be earning a lot less doing similar design work locally” — This is a conditional-style structure embedded inside a larger sentence, showing more grammatical range than 6.5's simple coordinated clauses. A 7.5 answer would likely compress this further using a 'whereas' contrast within one sentence.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer uses a less common verb ('hinges'), a compressed 'whereas' contrast clause, and an idiomatic closing image ('pry open still more specific doors') instead of the plainer statements of the lower bands.

    It hinges entirely on which corner of the economy you're in. My own career is proof of the trend — I earn what I do because I can talk to overseas clients in English daily, whereas without it I'd be a competent local designer on roughly half the salary. My cousin, meanwhile, thrives as an engineer without a second language in sight. Broadly speaking, sectors that touch foreign money — tourism, tech, trade, multinational firms — now treat English as close to non-negotiable, and a third language can pry open still more specific doors. Elsewhere, it remains a nice-to-have rather than a necessity, though the well-paid slice of the job market is shrinking toward those who speak two languages.

    Why this band

    • FC“It hinges entirely on which corner of the economy you're in.” — This opens with a precise, confident image rather than a flat statement. A 6.5 answer would open with the bare 'It depends on the job', showing much less developed idiomatic fluency at the very start of the response.
    • LR“pry open still more specific doors” — This is a genuinely idiomatic, less-common phrase compared to plainer alternatives. A 6.5 answer would express the same idea with the flat wording 'usually need English', showing a clear gap in lexical range between the two bands.
    • GRA“whereas without it I'd be a competent local designer on roughly half the salary” — The 'whereas' clause compresses a contrast and a conditional into one compact structure. A 7.0 answer achieves a similar conditional idea but as a simpler standalone clause, and a 6.5 answer would split it into two separate sentences with 'and' and 'but'.

  3. 3. How important is it for people to know other languages when they travel?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer gives a direct position ('not really necessary, but it makes travel much better') followed by one plain anecdote told in short 'and'-joined sentences.

    It's not really necessary, but it makes travel much better. Once in Bangkok, I knew only about ten words of Thai, and I used them in a small restaurant. The owner was so happy that she gave me her own dinner instead of the normal tourist menu. You can travel almost anywhere now with English and a translation app, so you don't need the language to survive. But if you know a little, people treat you differently, and you understand more of what's really happening around you.

    Why this band

    • FC“It's not really necessary, but it makes travel much better.” — This is a direct two-part opinion using the plain connector 'but' with no further hedging. A 7.0 answer would soften the same idea with 'To be fair, it isn't essential anymore', showing a more natural spoken qualifying tone.
    • LR“so happy that she gave me her own dinner” — This uses modest, everyday vocabulary to describe the moment. A 7.5 answer would choose a more vivid verb, such as 'abandon the tourist menu entirely', giving the same anecdote sharper, more idiomatic detail.
    • GRA“Once in Bangkok, I knew only about ten words of Thai, and I used them in a small restaurant.” — This is a simple chronological sentence joined with 'and'. A 7.5 answer would restructure the same information as a fronted participial phrase like 'Armed with maybe ten words of Thai...', producing more compact, flexible grammar.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer qualifies its opinion with 'To be fair' and 'honestly', and adds a reflective 'even if' clause at the end that 6.5's flatter ending lacks.

    To be fair, it isn't essential anymore — you can get by almost anywhere with English and a translation app. But honestly, it changes the whole experience. I once had maybe ten words of Thai in a tiny restaurant in Bangkok, and just making the effort got me the owner's own dinner instead of the usual tourist menu. It's less about survival now and more about being treated as a person rather than a walking wallet, which is something no app quite manages. So I'd say it matters a lot for the quality of a trip, even if it's not required to take one.

    Why this band

    • FC“But honestly, it changes the whole experience.” — This natural spoken connector signals a shift into reflection after conceding the opposite point. A 6.5 answer would use the plainer 'but it makes travel much better' without this extra layer of concession-then-reflection.
    • LR“rather than a walking wallet” — This is a mild idiomatic collocation that adds colour beyond literal wording. A 6.5 answer would express the same idea more plainly as 'people treat you differently', lacking this kind of figurative phrase.
    • GRA“even if it's not required to take one” — This is a subordinate concessive clause added onto the main point. A 6.5 answer would instead rely on simple coordinated sentences joined by 'but' and 'so', without this kind of embedded concession.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer opens with a fronted participial phrase ('Armed with maybe ten words of Thai...') and uses the less common word 'curated' along with a compact dash-linked closing point, going beyond 7.0's plainer sentence structures.

    Not essential, exactly, but it transforms the trip rather than merely accompanying it. Armed with maybe ten words of Thai in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Bangkok, I watched the owner abandon the tourist menu entirely and serve me her own dinner instead — fluency wasn't the point, effort was. These days you can navigate almost anywhere on English and a translation app, so survival was never really the issue. What a little language buys you is subtler: being treated as a person instead of a walking wallet, and glimpsing what's actually going on around you rather than the version curated for outsiders. So it's less about whether you can travel and more about what kind of trip you end up having.

    Why this band

    • FC“fluency wasn't the point, effort was” — This compact parallel construction delivers a punchy contrast in very few words. A 6.5 answer would need a full separate sentence to make the same point, such as 'so happy that she gave me her own dinner', showing far less fluent compression.
    • LR“the version curated for outsiders” — 'Curated' is a genuinely less-common word choice applied in a fresh way. A 6.5 answer would use the plain phrase 'the normal tourist menu', showing much more limited lexical range.
    • GRA“Armed with maybe ten words of Thai in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Bangkok, I watched the owner abandon the tourist menu entirely” — This fronted participial phrase opens the sentence before the main clause, a flexible structure that a 6.5 answer would not attempt, instead writing the plain chronological 'Once in Bangkok, I knew...'

  4. 4. What are the best ways for adults to learn a new language?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer states its main claim directly ('The best way is to actually use the language') and supports it with two short parallel 'I' sentences joined by 'but', typical of the band's plain connector style.

    The best way is to actually use the language for something real, not just study it. I took a Japanese evening class for a year, and now I remember almost nothing. But I worked with a Japanese client for three months, and I still remember every word we used. So having a real purpose helps a lot more than a classroom. Speaking from the start matters too, even if you make mistakes. And doing a little every day works better than studying for hours once a week.

    Why this band

    • FC“The best way is to actually use the language for something real, not just study it.” — This is a direct, topic-first opening with no hedging device. A 7.0 answer would likely begin with 'Honestly, the biggest thing is...', giving the same claim a more natural spoken frame.
    • LR“having a real purpose helps a lot more than a classroom” — This uses plain, everyday vocabulary to state the point. A 7.5 answer would phrase the same idea more precisely as 'purpose supplies the repetition that lessons never quite manage', showing much richer lexical control.
    • GRA“I took a Japanese evening class for a year, and now I remember almost nothing.” — This is a simple sentence joined with 'and'. A 7.0 answer would combine the class-versus-client comparison into one longer sentence using 'yet', showing more developed sentence-level complexity.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer links the class-versus-client comparison into one sentence with 'yet', and adds the reflective aside 'I'd say that's because...' that goes beyond 6.5's separate short sentences.

    Honestly, the biggest thing is having a real reason to use it, not just studying it in a classroom. I took a Japanese evening class for a whole year and barely remember anything now, yet three months working with a Japanese client left me still knowing every phrase we actually needed. I'd say that's because purpose creates repetition in a way classes rarely manage. It also helps to start speaking immediately rather than waiting until you feel ready, since adults tend to be far too worried about sounding silly. To be fair, consistency beats intensity too — fifteen minutes a day adds up more than one long class a week.

    Why this band

    • FC“I'd say that's because purpose creates repetition in a way classes rarely manage.” — This reflective hedge shows the speaker reasoning out loud about why something works, typical of 7.0 fluency. A 6.5 answer would simply state the conclusion flatly as 'having a real purpose helps a lot more than a classroom' with no such reasoning marker.
    • LR“far too worried about sounding silly” — This is a natural spoken collocation with mild colour. A 7.5 answer would push further into more vivid phrasing, such as 'swallowing the embarrassment', showing a clearer step up in lexical precision.
    • GRA“I took a Japanese evening class for a whole year and barely remember anything now, yet three months working with a Japanese client left me still knowing every phrase we actually needed” — This single long sentence links both experiences with 'yet', showing more grammatical range than 6.5's two separate short sentences. A 7.5 answer would compress this further using a dash and a fronted evaluative phrase.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer opens with a fronted gerund phrase ('Using it for something real...') as its topic sentence and closes with an idiomatic evaluative touch ('finding a single patient native speaker willing to put up with you'), more compact than 7.0's plainer phrasing.

    Using it for something real, as early and as badly as possible, beats almost any classroom method. A full year of evening Japanese classes left me remembering next to nothing, whereas three months of working alongside a Japanese client somehow lodged every phrase we needed permanently in my head — purpose, it turns out, supplies the repetition that lessons never quite manage. Speaking from day one matters more than grammar tables ever will, and so does swallowing the embarrassment adults are notoriously bad at tolerating. Consistency also beats intensity hands down: fifteen minutes daily will outlast a weekend crash course every time. If I had to pick one shortcut, though, it would be finding a single patient native speaker willing to put up with you.

    Why this band

    • FC“If I had to pick one shortcut, though, it would be finding a single patient native speaker willing to put up with you.” — This closing sentence adds a fluent evaluative touch, summarising the whole answer with a single memorable recommendation. A 6.5 answer ends flatly instead, with a bare fact like 'doing a little every day works better than studying for hours once a week', showing no such rounding-off.
    • LR“lodged every phrase we needed permanently in my head” — 'Lodged' is a vivid, genuinely less-common verb choice for describing memory. A 6.5 answer would use the plain phrase 'still remember every word we used', showing a much narrower vocabulary range for the same idea.
    • GRA“Using it for something real, as early and as badly as possible, beats almost any classroom method.” — This sentence is fronted by a gerund phrase functioning as the subject, a flexible structure a 6.5 answer would not use, instead opening plainly with 'The best way is to actually use the language...'

  5. 5. Why do children often find learning languages easier than adults?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer splits its reasoning into two plain parts ('Partly it's the brain, and partly it's their life') and supports each with a short factual sentence joined by 'and' or 'but'.

    Partly it's the brain, and partly it's their life. My nephew is five, and he can copy the accent of a Korean cartoon character perfectly, but I can't even hear the sounds he's copying. Young children's ears and mouths are just more flexible. But I think the bigger reason is that children aren't embarrassed and aren't busy. They say wrong sentences again and again without worrying, and they hear the language all day. Adults have jobs and families and only a little free time, and they're scared of sounding silly.

    Why this band

    • FC“Partly it's the brain, and partly it's their life.” — This plain, direct two-part opening states the structure of the whole answer immediately. A 7.0 answer would soften the same framing with 'I'd say it's partly biological and partly about how differently children live', adding a reflective hedge.
    • LR“children aren't embarrassed and aren't busy” — This uses modest, everyday vocabulary. A 7.5 answer would choose the more precise phrase 'neither self-conscious nor busy', showing a step up in formality and word choice for the same idea.
    • GRA“Adults have jobs and families and only a little free time, and they're scared of sounding silly.” — This sentence simply stacks items with repeated 'and'. A 7.5 answer would compress the same list into a tighter participial clause, such as 'juggling full lives, an hour a week if that, and a genuine horror of sounding stupid'.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer hedges with 'I'd say' and 'to be fair', and uses one conditional sentence ('Give an adult a child's conditions, and I suspect...') that 6.5 doesn't attempt.

    I'd say it's partly biological and partly about how differently children live. My five-year-old nephew can nail the accent of a Korean cartoon character, and honestly I can't even hear the sounds he's imitating — that window for picking up sounds perfectly does seem to close with age. But to be fair, the bigger factor might just be that children aren't embarrassed and aren't busy: they'll repeat a wrong sentence a hundred times without caring, while adults have full lives, maybe an hour a week, and a real fear of sounding stupid. Give an adult a child's conditions, and I suspect they'd actually learn faster in most ways except accent.

    Why this band

    • FC“But to be fair, the bigger factor might just be that” — This spoken qualifier weighs two possible explanations against each other in real time. A 6.5 answer states the same idea more flatly as 'But I think the bigger reason is that', without this extra layer of natural hesitation and weighing.
    • LR“nail the accent of a Korean cartoon character” — 'Nail the accent' is a mild, natural collocation beyond the plainest wording. A 6.5 answer would say 'copy the accent... perfectly' instead, which is correct but shows less idiomatic range.
    • GRA“Give an adult a child's conditions, and I suspect they'd actually learn faster in most ways except accent.” — This imperative-plus-clause conditional structure is more complex than a simple declarative sentence. A 6.5 answer would not attempt this pattern, sticking instead to straightforward statements joined by 'and' or 'but'.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer opens with the precise word pair 'neurological and... circumstantial' and uses a fronted gerund clause ('Watching my five-year-old nephew...') as its sentence subject, more compact than 7.0's plainer structure.

    It's partly neurological and partly circumstantial. Watching my five-year-old nephew nail the accent of a Korean cartoon character while I can't even hear the sounds he's copying is a pretty stark reminder that young ears and mouths stay flexible in a way that simply closes off later. The bigger factor, though, is probably that children are neither self-conscious nor busy — happily mangling the same sentence a hundred times, marinating in the language all day, with nobody expecting fluency yet. Adults, by contrast, are juggling full lives, an hour a week if that, and a genuine horror of sounding stupid. Hand an adult a child's conditions, and in most respects except accent, they'd likely outlearn the child.

    Why this band

    • FC“The bigger factor, though, is probably that” — This qualifier is folded smoothly into the sentence flow rather than standing as its own clause. A 6.5 answer separates the same idea into its own plain sentence, 'But I think the bigger reason is that', showing less integrated fluency.
    • LR“marinating in the language all day” — 'Marinating' is a vivid, genuinely less-common verb applied metaphorically. A 6.5 answer would use the plain literal phrase 'they hear the language all day', showing a much smaller vocabulary range for the same idea.
    • GRA“Watching my five-year-old nephew nail the accent of a Korean cartoon character while I can't even hear the sounds he's copying is a pretty stark reminder” — This fronted gerund phrase functions as the subject of the whole sentence, a compact and flexible structure. A 6.5 answer would instead write the simple 'My nephew is five, and he can copy...' with the subject stated plainly at the start.

  6. 6. Is knowing the vocabulary of another language more useful than knowing the grammar?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer states its position directly ('vocabulary is much more useful') and supports it with one plain example, using simple 'but' and 'so' connectors throughout.

    For getting things done, vocabulary is much more useful. My friend Duy speaks Korean using mostly nouns and simple phrases, almost no grammar, but it works fine — his passengers always understand him. You can point at a word and be understood, but you can't do that with only grammar and no words. Grammar becomes important later, when you want to say something more precise or polite. So at the start, vocabulary matters most, and grammar matters more once you already understand the basics.

    Why this band

    • FC“For getting things done, vocabulary is much more useful.” — This direct plain opening states the position with no hedge word. A 7.0 answer would frame the same claim with 'Honestly, for basic communication, vocabulary wins pretty easily', adding a natural spoken hedge.
    • LR“it works fine” — This is modest, generic vocabulary that just states the outcome. A 7.5 answer would use the more developed phrase 'it serves him and his passengers just fine', showing slightly richer, more deliberate wording.
    • GRA“You can point at a word and be understood, but you can't do that with only grammar and no words.” — This is a simple contrastive sentence joined by 'but'. A 7.5 answer would compress the same contrast using 'whereas' or fold it into a longer sentence with a dash, showing more flexible sentence-level grammar.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer hedges its claim with 'Honestly' and 'I'd say', and adds a 'though to be fair' qualifying remark about most learners that 6.5's flatter conclusion lacks.

    Honestly, for basic communication, vocabulary wins pretty easily. Duy's Korean is mostly nouns and memorised phrases with almost no grammar, and it works perfectly well for him and his passengers — you can point at a word and be understood, whereas a perfect grammar rule with no vocabulary gets you nowhere. I'd say grammar only becomes important later, once being understood isn't enough and you actually want to sound precise or polite. So vocabulary matters first and grammar matters eventually, though to be fair, most learners get that order backwards because grammar is simply easier to teach in a classroom.

    Why this band

    • FC“though to be fair, most learners get that order backwards” — This spoken qualifying remark adds a self-correcting reflection at the end of the answer. A 6.5 answer ends flatly with its conclusion and no such additional qualifying thought, showing less developed coherence-building.
    • LR“memorised phrases with almost no grammar” — This is a slightly more precise phrasing than 6.5's plainer 'simple phrases, almost no grammar', showing marginally more careful word choice while still staying within common vocabulary.
    • GRA“you can point at a word and be understood, whereas a perfect grammar rule with no vocabulary gets you nowhere” — The 'whereas' subordinate clause creates a more sophisticated contrast than 6.5's plain 'but' coordination. This shows a wider range of linking devices typical of the higher band.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer opens with the idiomatic 'wins hands down', uses a relative clause fronted with 'whose Korean is little more than...', and closes with the precise phrase 'grammar earns its keep', more compact and vivid than 7.0's plainer wording.

    For sheer functionality, vocabulary wins hands down. Take Duy, whose Korean is little more than nouns and a handful of memorised phrases with barely any grammar attached, and yet it serves him and his passengers just fine — you can point at a word and be understood, but a flawless grammar rule with zero vocabulary gets you nowhere at all. Grammar only earns its keep later, once being understood stops being enough and you want to sound precise, polite, or genuinely adult. So vocabulary is more useful first and grammar more useful eventually, and most learners, chasing textbook logic, get that order backwards precisely because grammar is easier to teach than words are to memorise.

    Why this band

    • FC“For sheer functionality, vocabulary wins hands down.” — This fluent idiomatic opening delivers the position with confidence and colour in one breath. A 6.5 answer states the same idea far more plainly as 'vocabulary is much more useful', with no idiomatic flourish.
    • LR“Grammar only earns its keep later” — 'Earns its keep' is a genuinely less-common collocation used precisely. A 6.5 answer expresses the same idea with the plain phrase 'Grammar becomes important later', showing a clear gap in lexical sophistication.
    • GRA“Take Duy, whose Korean is little more than nouns and a handful of memorised phrases with barely any grammar attached, and yet it serves him and his passengers just fine” — This relative clause is embedded mid-sentence with a 'yet' contrast, producing a longer, more flexible structure. A 6.5 answer would instead use separate simple sentences to convey the same content, one after another.

  7. 7. Is it impossible to understand another culture without understanding its language?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer gives a direct two-part position ('not impossible, but you miss a lot') and supports it with one plain grammatical example, using simple 'but' and 'so' connectors.

    It's not impossible, but you miss a lot. In Vietnamese, you can't say 'you' without choosing a word that shows the other person's age and your relationship with them. This one thing explains a lot about how we treat family and older people. You can learn about a culture's food and history without the language, and many foreigners understand Vietnam quite well already. But jokes, politeness, and things people don't say directly — you only get those through the language. So you can understand a culture partly, but not completely, without it.

    Why this band

    • FC“It's not impossible, but you miss a lot.” — This direct, plain two-clause opinion sets up the whole answer immediately. A 7.0 answer would give the same opinion a more reflective frame with 'Not impossible, I'd say, but there's definitely a layer you never quite reach without it.'
    • LR“This one thing explains a lot about how we treat family and older people.” — This is plain, generic vocabulary describing the significance of the example. A 7.5 answer would phrase the same point more precisely as 'a single grammatical quirk that reveals more... than any book ever could', showing richer word choice.
    • GRA“You can learn about a culture's food and history without the language, and many foreigners understand Vietnam quite well already.” — This is a simple sentence joined with 'and'. A 7.5 answer would embed the same idea into a participial phrase attached to a longer sentence, giving the grammar more compact flexibility.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer hedges with 'I'd say' and 'To be fair', and uses one relative clause ('which honestly explains more about... than any book could') that 6.5's simpler sentences avoid.

    Not impossible, I'd say, but there's definitely a layer you never quite reach without it. In Vietnamese, for instance, you can't even say 'you' without picking a word that states the other person's age and your relationship to them, which honestly explains more about how we treat family and seniority than any book could. To be fair, plenty of foreigners here understand Vietnam's food, history and habits perfectly well from outside the language. But the jokes, the politeness, and what people mean when they deliberately don't say something — those live only in the language itself. So culture is understandable in part without it, but the language is the last, and biggest, door.

    Why this band

    • FC“To be fair, plenty of foreigners here understand Vietnam's food, history and habits perfectly well from outside the language.” — This natural conceding remark shows the speaker weighing the opposite view before continuing. A 6.5 answer states the same fact more flatly as 'You can learn about a culture's food and history without the language', without this concessive framing.
    • LR“the last, and biggest, door” — This is mild figurative phrasing that extends a simple metaphor. A 6.5 answer would state the conclusion plainly as 'you can understand a culture partly, but not completely', with no figurative language at all.
    • GRA“which honestly explains more about how we treat family and seniority than any book could” — This relative clause contains an embedded comparative structure, showing more grammatical complexity than 6.5's separate simple sentence 'This one thing explains a lot about how we treat family and older people.'
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer personifies the language ('Vietnamese won't even let you say...') and uses a semicolon to compress two closing clauses into one sentence, more idiomatic and compact than 7.0's separated sentences.

    Not impossible, but there's a whole layer you'll never quite reach without it. Vietnamese won't even let you say 'you' without committing to a word that flags the other person's age and your relationship to them — a single grammatical quirk that reveals more about how we handle family and seniority than any book ever could. Plenty of foreigners here get Vietnam's food, history and habits perfectly well from the outside, translation losing surprisingly little along the way. What it can't carry across, though, are the jokes, the politeness, and everything people mean precisely by not saying it — those live nowhere but in the language itself. So a culture stays partly understandable without the words; the language is simply the last door, and it happens to be a big one.

    Why this band

    • FC“What it can't carry across, though, are the jokes, the politeness, and everything people mean precisely by not saying it” — This fronted construction throws emphasis onto what is lost, a more fluent rhetorical move than plain listing. A 6.5 answer would simply list the same items as 'But jokes, politeness, and things people don't say directly', without this emphatic fronting.
    • LR“a single grammatical quirk that reveals more about how we handle family and seniority” — 'Quirk' is a precise, less-common word choice used with confidence. A 6.5 answer describes the same idea plainly as 'This one thing explains a lot', showing a much narrower vocabulary for the concept.
    • GRA“So a culture stays partly understandable without the words; the language is simply the last door, and it happens to be a big one.” — This semicolon-linked compound sentence joins two related closing ideas into one flowing unit. A 6.5 answer would instead write a separate, shorter 'So' sentence on its own, without this kind of compact linkage.

  8. 8. How might the number of languages a person speaks affect their sense of identity?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer gives a direct claim ('It can split your identity') and lists two plain contrasting effects for migrants and others, joined by simple 'so' and 'but'-style connectors.

    It can split your identity in an interesting way. I'm more direct in English than in Vietnamese — blunter and quicker to disagree — and I've wondered which one is really me. Each language comes with its own manners and memories, so people who speak more than one language can feel like slightly different people in each. For migrants, this can feel confusing, like not fully belonging anywhere. For others, it feels like having more space inside themselves. Either way, language and identity are closely connected.

    Why this band

    • FC“Either way, language and identity are closely connected.” — This plain, flat closing summary simply restates the topic. A 7.0 answer would close with a more reflective image, such as 'extra rooms in the same house', giving the ending more developed coherence.
    • LR“like having more space inside themselves” — This is modest, plain phrasing for the idea of expansion. A 7.5 answer would develop the same image more vividly as 'like having extra rooms added onto the same house', showing richer figurative language.
    • GRA“Each language comes with its own manners and memories, so people who speak more than one language can feel like slightly different people in each.” — This is a simple sentence linked with 'so'. A 7.5 answer would use more compressed grammar, such as a dash or semicolon linking two closely related clauses, instead of this single straightforward causal link.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer hedges with 'Honestly' and 'I'd say', and adds the reflective closing image of 'extra rooms in the same house' that goes beyond 6.5's plainer ending.

    Honestly, it can split identity in interesting ways. I'm noticeably more direct in English than in Vietnamese — blunter, quicker to disagree — and I've genuinely wondered which version is the real one. I'd say each language carries its own manners and memories, so people who speak several can end up feeling like slightly different versions of themselves depending on which one they're in. For migrants and their children especially, that can be a source of real tension, a sense of not fully belonging to either side. For others, though, it feels more like an expansion, almost like having extra rooms in the same house.

    Why this band

    • FC“I'd say each language carries its own manners and memories” — This reflective spoken hedge frames the claim as a considered opinion rather than a bare fact. A 6.5 answer states the same idea flatly as 'Each language comes with its own manners and memories', with no such framing device.
    • LR“a sense of not fully belonging to either side” — This is mildly more precise phrasing than 6.5's plain 'like not fully belonging anywhere', adding the more specific idea of two sides rather than a vague 'anywhere'.
    • GRA“depending on which one they're in” — This subordinate clause is added onto the end of the main sentence for extra precision. A 6.5 answer would end the equivalent sentence more simply at 'in each', without this additional dependent clause.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer uses the less-common verb 'splinter' and 'curdle' instead of plain words, and closes with a conditional evaluative sentence ('If there's a constant, it's that...') that is more compact and reflective than 6.5's flat closing line.

    It can splinter identity in ways that are genuinely disorienting. I come across noticeably blunter and quicker to disagree in English than in Vietnamese, which has left me wondering more than once which version is actually me. Each language seems to carry its own set of manners and memories baked in, so people who speak several often end up feeling like slightly different versions of themselves depending on which one they're inhabiting. For migrants and their children in particular, that can curdle into real tension — never quite belonging fully to either side. For others it reads more as expansion, like having extra rooms added onto the same house. If there's a constant, it's that losing a language, as many minority communities are, seems to feel like losing part of a self.

    Why this band

    • FC“If there's a constant, it's that losing a language, as many minority communities are, seems to feel like losing part of a self.” — This closing sentence rounds off the whole answer with a fluent, considered generalisation. A 6.5 answer ends with the bare, flat statement 'Either way, language and identity are closely connected', showing far less developed coherence at the close.
    • LR“that can curdle into real tension” — 'Curdle' is a genuinely less-common, vivid verb used metaphorically. A 6.5 answer describes the same idea plainly as 'this can feel confusing', showing a much smaller vocabulary range for the same concept.
    • GRA“which has left me wondering more than once which version is actually me” — This relative clause is embedded mid-sentence, adding detail without starting a new sentence. A 6.5 answer would instead use a separate coordinated clause joined by 'and', such as 'and I've wondered which one is really me'.

  9. 9. Would it be desirable for technology to replace the need for people to learn other languages?

    Sep–Dec 2026
    Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
    Band 6.5

    The 6.5 answer gives a direct position ('convenient, but... not fully desirable') and supports it with one plain anecdote, using simple 'but' and 'so' connectors throughout.

    It would be convenient, but I don't think it's fully desirable. I once tried a translation earpiece at a technology fair, and it got every word right but every joke wrong. That shows the real problem. Technology can make basic communication easy, which is great for travel or emergencies. But learning a language also trains your brain and helps you understand a culture's jokes and meaning, which translation can't do. So I'd want technology to remove the difficulty, not remove the reason to learn.

    Why this band

    • FC“That shows the real problem.” — This short, plain linking sentence stands alone to connect the anecdote to the argument. A 7.0 answer would fold the same idea into a relative clause, such as 'which sums up the problem pretty well', integrating it more fluently into the previous sentence.
    • LR“Technology can make basic communication easy” — This is plain, generic vocabulary stating the benefit directly. A 7.5 answer would phrase the same idea more precisely as 'Technology rendering basic communication effortless is undeniably a gain', showing richer, more formal word choice.
    • GRA“it got every word right but every joke wrong” — This is a simple parallel clause joined with 'but'. A 7.5 answer would attach a relative clause to the same idea instead, such as 'which is about as neat a summary of the problem as you could ask for', producing more compact, flexible grammar.
    Band 7.0

    The 7.0 answer hedges with 'I'm honestly not so sure' and 'To be fair', and folds the anecdote's point into a relative clause ('which sums up the problem pretty well') rather than 6.5's separate short sentence.

    Convenient, definitely — desirable, I'm honestly not so sure. I tried a translation earpiece once at a technology fair, and it got every word right and every joke wrong, which sums up the problem pretty well. To be fair, technology making basic communication effortless is a real gain for travel, trade or emergencies, where nobody should suffer just because two people don't share a language. But learning a language does things translation simply can't — it trains the brain and opens up the parts of a culture that never survive translation. I'd want technology to remove the barrier, not the reason to bother learning in the first place.

    Why this band

    • FC“Convenient, definitely — desirable, I'm honestly not so sure.” — This natural spoken hedged opening balances two ideas in one breath with a dash. A 6.5 answer states the same contrast more flatly as 'It would be convenient, but I don't think it's fully desirable', with less natural spoken rhythm.
    • LR“opens up the parts of a culture that never survive translation” — This is mildly more vivid phrasing than the plain equivalent. A 6.5 answer expresses the same idea as 'helps you understand a culture's jokes and meaning', which is correct but noticeably plainer.
    • GRA“it got every word right and every joke wrong, which sums up the problem pretty well” — The relative clause 'which sums up the problem pretty well' is attached directly onto the main clause. A 6.5 answer instead writes this as a separate sentence, 'That shows the real problem', showing less integrated sentence structure.
    Band 7.5

    The 7.5 answer opens with a semicolon-linked contrast ('Convenient, certainly; desirable is another matter entirely'), uses the less-common phrase 'earns its keep', and closes with a compact dash-linked evaluative touch about a world that would be 'smoother, and smaller.'

    Convenient, certainly; desirable is another matter entirely. A translation earpiece I tried at a technology fair got every word right and every joke wrong, which is about as neat a summary of the problem as you could ask for. Technology rendering basic communication effortless is undeniably a gain in contexts like travel, trade or medical emergencies, where nobody should come to harm simply because two people don't share a language. But learning a language earns its keep in ways no earpiece can replicate — it rewires the brain, builds a kind of mutual respect that only effort produces, and unlocks the untranslatable parts of a culture. I'd want technology to dissolve the barrier, not the reason for learning in the first place — a world where nobody bothers anymore would end up smoother, and smaller.

    Why this band

    • FC“Convenient, certainly; desirable is another matter entirely.” — This fluent, compact semicolon-linked opening balances the two-sided opinion in a single tight structure. A 6.5 answer opens more plainly with 'It would be convenient, but I don't think it's fully desirable', using a simple 'but' instead of this compressed contrast.
    • LR“learning a language earns its keep in ways no earpiece can replicate” — 'Earns its keep' is a genuinely less-common collocation applied precisely. A 6.5 answer states the same idea plainly as 'learning a language also trains your brain', showing far less lexical sophistication.
    • GRA“a world where nobody bothers anymore would end up smoother, and smaller” — This closing clause uses a compact fronted noun-clause construction as an evaluative touch. A 6.5 answer ends instead with the simple, plain final sentence 'So I'd want technology to remove the difficulty, not remove the reason to learn', without this kind of compressed, reflective closing image.

Frequently asked questions

How long should my answer to this Part 2 cue card be?
Speak for 1 to 2 minutes. The examiner will stop you at 2 minutes, so aim for roughly 220-300 words that cover every bullet on the card and end with how you feel about it.
What Part 3 questions follow this cue card?
After "A Person You Know Who Is Good at Learning Languages", examiners have asked 9 follow-up discussion questions, listed above. They move from your personal story to general opinions on the same theme.
Is this cue card still being used?
Yes — it's part of the current exam period (Sep–Dec 2026).
IELTS Speaking Part 2: A Person You Know Who Is Good at Learning Languages — Cue Card, Sample Answer & Part 3 | Ieltsa