Part 1 — IntroductionQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Taking photos

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 145s to speak

Do you like taking photos?

Question 245s to speak

What do you usually take photos of?

Question 345s to speak

Do you prefer taking photos of people or places?

Question 445s to speak

Do you keep your photos on your phone or print them?

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.

Do you like taking photos? I do, though I take a lot and look at almost none. There are probably twelve thousand on my phone and I've properly organised none of them. What do you usually take photos of? Food, embarrassingly. And documents — I photograph receipts and forms constantly, which is probably half my camera roll and not really photography. Do you prefer taking photos of people or places? Places, because people make me nervous — I feel like I'm interrupting. Which is a shame, because the photos I actually care about years later are all of people. Do you keep your photos on your phone or print them? Phone, entirely. I printed about twenty last year as a gift and it made me realise how differently you look at a printed photo. You can't scroll past it.

Vocabulary you can use today

I take a lot and look at almost none
tôi chụp nhiều mà gần như không xem lại
embarrassingly
nói ra thì hơi ngại
half my camera roll
một nửa thư viện ảnh của tôi
I feel like I'm interrupting
tôi thấy như mình đang làm phiền
which is a shame, because...
đáng tiếc là, vì...
you can't scroll past it
bạn không thể lướt qua nó

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Con số lớn và cụ thể (mười hai nghìn ảnh) làm câu trả lời sống ngay, và nó cho bạn ý thứ hai miễn phí: chụp nhiều mà không xem lại. Câu "đáng tiếc là ảnh tôi quan tâm nhiều năm sau lại toàn ảnh người" là một mâu thuẫn nhỏ trong chính mình. Mâu thuẫn kiểu đó là nội dung tốt nhất cho Part 1. Câu cuối "bạn không thể lướt qua nó" — một câu ngắn, ý rõ. Kết Part 1 bằng câu ngắn tốt hơn kết bằng câu dài lê thê.

âm cuối /z/ trong photos, forms, places/f/ trong photo, forms, halfâm cuối /d/ trong printed, organised→/z/, cared/θ/ trong thousand, things, twelve→/v/

Try this topic and see your band

Record 90 seconds. You get four criteria, the exact words that slipped, and your own sentence rewritten two levels up.

Related topics