Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Describe a park or garden you enjoy

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 park or garden you enjoy. You should say: • where it is • how often you go • what you do there • and explain why you enjoy it

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 park I want to describe is Tao Dan Park in District 1, which is probably the busiest park in the city at six in the morning. It's right behind the Independence Palace, so it's about twenty minutes from where I live. I go maybe three times a week, always early — by nine it's too hot to be there and the atmosphere changes completely. What I do there is run, but that's honestly the smaller part of why I go. The bigger part is watching what else is happening. There's a group of maybe forty older people doing tai chi near the north gate. There are men playing Chinese chess on stone tables who I'm fairly sure are the same men every single day. There's a bird-keeping club — people bring their birds in cages and hang them in the trees so they can hear each other. Why do I enjoy it? Because it's the one public space near me where different generations are doing completely different things at the same time and nobody minds. Cafés sort people by age and income. The park doesn't. And the trees make a real difference — the temperature inside is noticeably lower than on the street outside, maybe three or four degrees. On a hot morning you feel it the moment you walk through the gate.

Vocabulary you can use today

the atmosphere changes completely
không khí đổi hẳn
that's the smaller part of why I go
đó chỉ là phần nhỏ trong lý do tôi tới
I'm fairly sure
tôi khá chắc
nobody minds
không ai thấy vướng mắt
sort people by age and income
phân loại người theo tuổi và thu nhập
you feel it the moment you walk through the gate
vừa qua cổng là cảm nhận được ngay

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Đề tả công viên dễ nói dở vì ai cũng kể "trees, benches, fresh air". Cách ăn điểm là kể NGƯỜI trong công viên, không kể vật — nhóm tai chi, mấy ông chơi cờ, câu lạc bộ chim. Ý "vì sao thích" nên có một ý so sánh: công viên khác quán cà phê ở chỗ nào. So sánh buộc bạn dùng cấu trúc phức mà không cần từ khó. Nêu một con số cảm nhận được (mát hơn ba bốn độ). Chi tiết kiểu đó làm bài nghe như quan sát thật.

/θ/ trong three, north, thingsâm cuối /z/ trong trees, cages, tables/tʃ/ trong Chinese chess, watchingâm cuối /t/ trong gate, sort, moment

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