Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 4/5

Describe a future goal you have

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 future goal you have. You should say: • what the goal is • when you set it • what you are doing to reach it • and explain why it matters to you

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 goal I'll talk about is being able to work in English at the same level I work in Vietnamese — not just speaking, but arguing a position in a meeting. I set it properly about a year ago, although it had been vaguely in my head for years before that. What made it definite was a specific meeting where I understood everything being said and still couldn't get into the conversation, because by the time I'd assembled my sentence the topic had moved on. What am I doing about it? Three things. I record myself answering questions and listen back, which is unpleasant but the only way I catch my own patterns. I've started deliberately speaking in meetings before I'm ready, which is uncomfortable and works better than preparing. And I read out loud for ten minutes a day, which sounds unrelated to speaking but has done more for my fluency than anything else. Why does it matter to me? Not for a promotion, although that's probably a side effect. It's that I know I'm currently a less interesting person in English than in Vietnamese, and that's frustrating. My opinions are the same. My ability to deliver them isn't. I'd give it another two years, honestly. The gap has narrowed but it hasn't closed, and I'd rather be realistic about that than set a date I'll miss.

Vocabulary you can use today

arguing a position
bảo vệ một quan điểm
by the time I'd assembled my sentence
tới lúc tôi ghép xong câu
catch my own patterns
bắt được lỗi lặp của chính mình
speaking before I'm ready
nói khi chưa kịp chuẩn bị
a less interesting person in English than in Vietnamese
một người kém thú vị hơn khi nói tiếng Anh
the gap has narrowed but it hasn't closed
khoảng cách đã hẹp lại nhưng chưa hết

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Mục tiêu càng cụ thể càng dễ nói. "Cải thiện tiếng Anh" quá rộng. "Tranh luận được một quan điểm trong họp" thì có ngay ba việc đang làm để kể. Câu "quan điểm của tôi vẫn thế, khả năng diễn đạt thì không" là câu mạnh nhất bài — nó nói đúng cảm giác thật của người học và không cần từ khó nào. Cho một mốc thời gian THẬT THÀ ("chắc phải hai năm nữa"). Nói "sáu tháng nữa tôi sẽ thành thạo" nghe không đáng tin, và giám khảo nghe câu đó cả ngày.

âm cuối /d/ trong recorded, assembled, narrowed/θ/ trong three, things, monthâm cuối /s/ và /z/ trong patterns/z/, meetings/z/, opinions/z//v/ trong Vietnamese, vaguely — đừng thành /f/

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