Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Describe a place where you go to relax

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 place where you go to relax. You should say: • where it is • when you go there • what you do there • and explain why it helps you relax

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 place I go to relax is the rooftop of my apartment building. It's nothing special architecturally — just concrete, some water tanks, and a lot of laundry drying — but it's the only place in my area where you can see the sky properly. It's on the ninth floor of a building in Thu Duc, about a two-minute walk up from my flat. I go up there most evenings, usually around seven, sometimes later if I've been working. What do I do there? Honestly, very little, and that's the point. I take a coffee up, I lean on the wall, and I watch the traffic on the bridge in the distance. Sometimes I call my sister. I deliberately leave my laptop downstairs, because if I bring it up I'll start working and the whole thing stops working, if that makes sense. The reason it relaxes me is the noise, oddly enough. Down at street level the traffic is right next to you and it's stressful. From nine floors up you still hear it, but it's turned into a kind of background hum. Same sound, completely different effect. It reminds me that most of what feels urgent during the day isn't actually about me at all. I've been going up there for about three years now, and it's become the clearest signal to my brain that the working day is over.

Vocabulary you can use today

nothing special architecturally
về mặt kiến trúc thì không có gì đặc biệt
see the sky properly
thấy được trời một cách đúng nghĩa — tự nhiên hơn 'see the sky clearly'
that's the point
đó mới đúng là điều mình muốn
a background hum
tiếng ồn nền đều đều
oddly enough
lạ là — cụm chuyển ý rất tự nhiên
the clearest signal that...
dấu hiệu rõ nhất rằng...

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Chỗ thư giãn không cần đẹp. Chọn nơi bạn ĐI THẬT, vì bạn mới có chi tiết — mùi, tiếng, giờ hay đi. Chọn một bãi biển ở Maldives bạn chưa từng đến là tự bắt mình nói chung chung. Ý "vì sao thư giãn" nên có một quan sát nhỏ mà lạ. Ví dụ trong bài: cùng tiếng ồn đó, ở tầng chín thì thành tiếng nền. Quan sát kiểu đó là thứ giám khảo nhớ. Dùng thì hiện tại đơn cho thói quen (I go up there most evenings) và hiện tại hoàn thành cho khoảng thời gian (I've been going for three years). Hai thì này lẫn nhau là lỗi rất phổ biến ở đề tả nơi.

âm cuối /f/ trong roof, rooftop/θ/ trong ninth, threeâm cuối /z/ trong tanks→/s/, evenings→/z//ɪ/ ngắn trong building, ninth — không kéo thành /iː/

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