Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 4/5

Describe a happy memory from your childhood

IELTS Speaking questions reported by recent test-takers, compiled each quarter. Cambridge does not publish the active list, so this is a compilation of reports, not official material.

Questions

Question 160s to prepare · 120s to speak

Describe a happy memory from your childhood. You should say: • what the memory is • where it happened • who was involved • and explain why it makes you happy

Model answer

Written by 8020 teachers. Do not memorise it — take the structure and the way ideas are developed, then speak about your own life.

The happy memory I'll talk about is going to my grandparents' house in the countryside every summer, and specifically the afternoons there. It was in Ben Tre, about two hours from where we lived. My parents would drop us off in June and collect us in August, which as an adult I now realise was partly childcare. Who was involved was me, my sister, and about six cousins of roughly the same age. That number matters — with eight children nobody organised anything, so we just went outside after lunch and came back when we were hungry. Why does it make me happy? Not the big things. What I remember is very specific and quite small: the sound of the ceiling fan in the afternoon, the smell of the mat we slept on, and the fact that nobody knew exactly where we were for hours at a time and nobody worried about it. That last part is what I think I actually miss. It wasn't that we were doing anything remarkable — mostly we were in the canal, or arguing. It's that there was no schedule and no way to reach us. My nephew is eight now and I can't think of a single hour in his week that isn't accounted for. So the memory is happy, but I'll admit it's also a bit sad, because I don't think it's available anymore.

Vocabulary you can use today

drop us off / collect us
chở tới rồi đón về
that number matters
con số đó có ý nghĩa — cách dẫn ý rất tự nhiên
came back when we were hungry
về khi nào đói
nobody worried about it
không ai lo lắng gì
not a single hour that isn't accounted for
không một giờ nào không được lên lịch
I don't think it's available anymore
tôi nghĩ giờ không còn có được điều đó nữa

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Ký ức tuổi thơ hay bị kể chung chung: "we played together and it was fun". Cách chữa là chọn ba chi tiết CẢM GIÁC — tiếng quạt, mùi chiếu, cảm giác không ai biết mình ở đâu. Chi tiết cảm giác không học thuộc được. Cho phép cảm xúc lẫn lộn. "Ký ức này vui nhưng cũng hơi buồn" là câu mở ra Part 3 rất tốt, và cho thấy bạn dùng được cấu trúc nhượng bộ. Dùng "would" cho thói quen quá khứ (my parents would drop us off) thay vì "used to" suốt cả bài. Đổi qua lại hai cấu trúc là điểm ngữ pháp dễ lấy.

âm cuối /z/ trong grandparents/s/, cousins/z/, hours/z//θ/ trong things, think, monthsâm cuối /t/ trong slept, went, thought/f/ trong fan, afternoon — đừng thành /p/

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