EWS IELTS foundations: learn, practise and improve

What do you enjoy about your hometown? If your whole answer is “It is nice,” the listener has very little information. You do not need a memorised speech. You need to develop one real idea.

Imagine that Nila lives near a small park. First, she answers the question directly: “I enjoy the quiet park near my home.” Now the listener knows exactly what she likes. She adds a reason: “It gives me somewhere peaceful to walk after work.” That reason connects the park to her own life.

Next, she adds one relevant detail: “Yesterday, I walked there with my sister and we talked about our day.” The detail makes the answer specific. It does not introduce a completely different subject.

Put the answer together: “I enjoy the quiet park near my home because it gives me somewhere peaceful to walk after work. Yesterday, I went there with my sister and we talked about our day.”

This is a practice structure, not a script to use for every question. If someone asks when you moved, begin with the time, not a description of the park. Always answer the question you actually hear.

Now choose one thing you enjoy about your own town. Give your answer, one connected reason and one useful detail. Say it again with your own information.

What did you do last weekend? Before choosing your words, notice the time in the question. Last weekend is finished. Your answer needs to tell the listener about a finished experience. You do not need an exciting adventure. An ordinary event can give you enough information to develop.

Imagine Maya visited her aunt on Sunday. Her first attempt is, “Last Sunday, I to my aunt house.” We understand part of the message, but the sentence needs a verb. A clearer start is, “Last Sunday, I went to my aunt’s house.” Went tells us about the visit in the past. My aunt’s house tells us whose house it was.

Now Maya adds a reason: “I went there because she needed help in her garden.” This explains the same visit. A sentence about an unrelated film would take the listener away from her answer. Put the two ideas together: “Last Sunday, I went to my aunt’s house because she needed help in her garden.” The answer has a clear event and a reason.

Add one detail the listener can picture. Maya says, “We planted some vegetables and watered the young plants.” Planted and watered describe completed actions. Listen to the whole answer: “Last Sunday, I went to my aunt’s house because she needed help in her garden. We planted some vegetables and watered the young plants. I felt tired afterwards, but I enjoyed spending time with her.” Her feeling belongs to the event and gives it a natural ending.

Here is your first task. Which answer fits a question about last weekend: “I usually play cricket,” or “I played cricket with my cousins on Saturday”? Pause the video and choose. The second answer fits because it describes a finished event. The first answer describes a routine. It could answer a different question, such as what you usually do at weekends.

Now make your own answer about one real event. Write four notes: when, what happened, one reason, and one detail or feeling. Use the notes to speak, rather than reading a memorised paragraph. Pause here to practise. Then check: did you answer the actual question, include the verbs you needed, and keep your details connected? Correct one problem and try again with a different event. A clear answer you can adapt is more useful than a polished paragraph you can only repeat.