Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Describe a TV programme 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 TV programme you enjoy. You should say: • what it is • what it is about • how often you watch it • 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 programme I'll talk about is a documentary series about street food across Asia — I won't pretend I remember the exact title, but it's the kind where one episode follows one vendor. It's about people who've cooked the same dish in the same spot for decades. Not restaurants, not chefs with awards — a woman who's made one noodle soup on one corner since nineteen eighty-something. I watch it irregularly, maybe an episode every couple of weeks, usually while eating, which is either appropriate or a bad idea depending on how hungry I am. Why do I enjoy it? Because it takes seriously something that's normally treated as background. I walk past four or five vendors like that every day and I've never once wondered how long they've been there. The programme makes the obvious point that these are decades-long careers requiring real skill, and somehow I'd managed not to notice that about people I see daily. There's also a technical thing I like. It doesn't add dramatic music or invent a crisis. Most food programmes now have a fake deadline — will the dish be ready in time? This one just lets the person work and talk. It trusts that the actual thing is interesting enough. I've started asking vendors near me how long they've been there. The answers are usually longer than I'd guess.

Vocabulary you can use today

I won't pretend I remember the exact title
tôi không giả vờ nhớ đúng tên — cách nói thật thà, ghi điểm
in the same spot for decades
ở cùng một chỗ suốt mấy chục năm
takes seriously something normally treated as background
coi trọng thứ người ta vẫn coi là nền
I'd managed not to notice
tôi đã không hề để ý — cách nói tự phê nhẹ
a fake deadline
một cái hạn chót dàn dựng
it trusts that the actual thing is interesting enough
nó tin rằng bản thân câu chuyện đã đủ hay

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Không nhớ tên chương trình thì nói thẳng. Cố nhớ rồi nói sai tên còn tệ hơn, và câu "I won't pretend I remember the exact title" nghe rất tự nhiên. Nhận xét về CÁCH làm chương trình (không thêm nhạc kịch tính, không dàn dựng hạn chót) là kiểu ý đưa bài lên 7.5. Nó cho thấy bạn xem có phân tích. Kết bằng một việc bạn LÀM khác đi sau khi xem. Cụ thể hơn "nó rất truyền cảm hứng" rất nhiều.

âm cuối /z/ trong decades, vendors, answers/θ/ trong things, four→/ɔː/, monthsâm cuối /t/ trong spot, exact, treated/ʃ/ trong Asia, appropriate→/p/

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