Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Describe a historical place you have been to

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 historical place you have been to. You should say: • where it is • what you know about its history • what you saw • and explain how you felt being there

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 historical place I've been to is the Cu Chi tunnel system, about forty kilometres north-west of Ho Chi Minh City. I went there on a school trip when I was maybe fourteen, and again as an adult about two years ago, which is the visit I actually remember properly. What I know about its history is that it was a network of tunnels used during the war — hundreds of kilometres of them, dug by hand, with kitchens and hospitals and sleeping areas underground. Some sections were three levels deep. What I saw was mostly a preserved section you can walk through, and this is the part that stayed with me: they've widened it for tourists. The original tunnels were much narrower. I'm not a large person and I still had to bend almost double for about thirty metres, and I came out sweating and slightly panicked. That was the widened version. In daylight. Knowing I could leave. How did I feel being there? Honestly, uncomfortable — and I think that's the correct response. Before going I had a fairly abstract idea of what living underground meant. Thirty metres of a widened tunnel replaced that abstraction with something physical. I'd recommend it, but not as a nice day out. It's more that it corrects something. You can't read your way to that particular understanding.

Vocabulary you can use today

a network of tunnels
một hệ thống đường hầm
dug by hand
đào bằng tay
the part that stayed with me
chi tiết còn đọng lại trong tôi
bend almost double
phải gập người gần như gấp đôi
a fairly abstract idea
một hình dung khá trừu tượng
you can't read your way to that understanding
có những điều đọc sách không hiểu được

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Với đề nơi lịch sử, đừng biến bài thành bài sử. Kể lịch sử trong hai ba câu là đủ — phần được điểm là ý "cảm thấy thế nào khi ở đó". Chi tiết mạnh nhất trong bài mẫu là một quan sát ngược: hầm đã được nới rộng cho khách du lịch, mà vẫn ngộp. Cách nói đó chứng minh bạn tự nghĩ, không phải nhắc lại tờ rơi. Câu cuối nên nói bạn RÚT RA gì, không phải bạn thích hay không thích. "Có những điều đọc sách không hiểu được" là kiểu kết band 7.5+.

âm cuối /z/ trong tunnels, kitchens, metres/θ/ trong three, thirty, northâm cuối /d/ trong widened, panicked→/t/, recommended/h/ trong hospitals, hand, Ho — người Việt hay mất /h/ đầu

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