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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe your family.

You should say:

• how many family members you have
• what they do
• what are they like

And explain your relationship with them.

Model Answer 1:
Thank you for the opportunity you gave me to talk about my family. To begin with, my family has got 6 members including me. My father, mother, elder brother and two younger sisters are the roots of my existence and I love them very much.

To start with my mother, she is the sweetest person and the kindest hearted woman I have ever seen. She is creative, helpful and loving in nature. She used to work as a teacher in a college but left it when my elder brother came to this world. She still runs a small boutique business besides taking great care of her family.

My father is the cornerstone of our family and works hard to win the bread for our family. He is a great mentor for all of us. He works in a large private company as a Vice President and he is a super dad, our inspiration and guide. He cares and loves all of us and holds himself responsible for our family's well-being. He loves travelling and that’s why we have travelled a lot with him. He is our hero, friend and mentor.

My elder brother (John) is an exemplary young person and a son every parent would dream to have. He is very talented and works in a Bank as a System Analyst. He has a creative soul and art is his passion despite his academic background in computer engineering. He is one of the best friends I have and he is my protector.

My younger sister (Kathy) is two years junior to me and she is my soul mate. She often rivals me but more often inspires me. She is my co-worker in everything unusual or out-of-the-routine thing I do. Sibling rivalry is something I have learned from her in a positive way. She would sometimes act as if she is my mother!

The little angel and the only mischievous family member is my youngest sister Poly. She is only 9 years old and she fills our home with her angelic smile. She is sometimes annoying and argues a lot but I can’t live without her. Toys, computer games and her pot plants hold her attention for the major part of the entire day. She loves to grab attention and complains about everyone just to grab some extra attention and affection.

The famous saying ‘Blood's thicker than water’ is quite true as I feel most comfortable and blessed being with my family members. I am sure I am lucky to have such a happy family where everyone has great contributions to help me become the person I am.

Sample Answer 2: 
Living without a family is really difficult. On the other sides, if there are more family members, it is also irritating as well, at least in my opinion. Hence, people often develop the idea that having a moderate family member is the best way to live happily in a family. They are correct in some senses. The family is the most fundamental concept of the human race and we are very closely connected with our family members.

I live with my parents in Naples in Italy. I have four other family members. My dad, mum and two younger brothers and a sister. We are six altogether. This is a recent trend in Italy. But earlier, the trend of a family was completely different. People used to live in a joint family. At the same time, they had strong bonding with the other family members.  A similar thing is also found in the present days, but not frequently. My paternal and maternal uncles also share a solid bond with my family and often they visit us regardless of occasions.    

My dad has his own business of clothing. He owns a store in the local market. This is a moderate size shop and five employees work with him. On the other side, my mum is a school teacher. She is a teacher of Social Science in the school. She is one of the most popular teachers in her school and spends half of the day at the school. In fact, my mum is busier than my dad is. She is to take care of her school duties and at the same time, she is to care for the domestic chores. I am a university student and a graduating in History while my younger sister is in her secondary level and my brothers are in his ninth and seventh grade. We are a happy family but sometimes I have trouble with the youngers on some petty issues. Then my mum resolves them and has words with us all.    

My family members look like similar but they are a bit different in nature. My dad is a sincere person. He loves to take care for each of the family members. My mum is also similar to dad. She takes care of all the family members even in her busiest time of the day. I have seen that my dad does not respond to my emergencies always and remain busy with his works. While it is my mum who is always there for me whatever the emergencies are. My younger sister is careful about everything except her studies. She loves to spend time with her friends and continue chatting with them using the social media platforms. This is also the case for my brothers. But they are a bit addicted to video games. So, they mostly spend the time of the day with the Xbox. 

The overall relationship with my family members is excellent. I love my family than any other thing in the world. My dad takes care of the entire family and bears almost all the expenses. In fact, he is the key wage earner for the family. My mum also earns but the amount is insignificant comparing to dad’s income. But both of them tries to keep us happy. I am trying to support to the family income and working as a part-timer at my dad’s business. Often my youngers demand some of their stuff to me and I try to buy the things for them with my earnings. As a result, the relations have become deeper with my youngers and me. I am proud of my happy family. 

Cue Card Answer 2:

Describe your family.

You should say:

• what type of family it is
• how many family members you have got
• what they do

and explain how important your family is to you.

Answer:
Thank you a lot for this wonderful topic. I would be very much delighted to talk about my family. We have got a nuclear family and this is quite common for the people in the city areas to have the nuclear family. Rural areas still have many joint families but unfortunately, the tradition is changing rapidly.

Our family has five members including me. My father works as a production manager (PM) in a car manufacturing company and my mum teaches English literature in a girl's school in our area. Both of them are very caring and sincere and they are quite friendly to us. I am the eldest son (...say, daughter, if you are a girl...) of my parents and I have got a sister who is 19 years old and a brother who has turned to 12 recently.

My sister's name is Jill and she is a very talented and inventive individual. She is the top scorer in her class and a creative artist. She can also dance and have won many local and national prizes for her outstanding performance in dance, debate, and art competitions. I love her very much and she is very fond of me. My younger brother, Kyle, is a very good soccer player and he likes to spend time with me. He often says that I am his best buddy and this is something I am really proud of. Since my parents had always been caring and friendly to us, I also wanted to be like them to my siblings. When Kyle is not at his school, he either plays soccer or hand out with his friends. At home, he mostly watches TV programmes, which we often do together, plays computer games or read books.

I am 27 and I work in a private company for the last 3 years and a junior executive. I have now planned to continue my higher studies in a renowned foreign university.

We live in (... say the city and area name...). We have got a duplex villa and we love our house. We often have guests at our home and my mother cooks special menu whenever we have guests at our home. We eat our dinner together as a family and share our stories and events with our parents. My father often takes us outside to enjoy movies or to eat at a good restaurant. We enjoy this outing a lot and we look forward to going outside together. Usually, we do it twice in a month. I must say that I am very lucky and happy to have such a great family. I wish we live happily forever and our family tie always remains as intact as it is now.

To answer the question 'how important my family is to me'- I would say my family is the whole world to me. I love my parents and my siblings more than anything in this world. They have done (and still doing) a lot for me. My mother is the kindest person I have ever met and her sacrifices for us are unparalleled. As I have grown up now, I know how much it means to a father or a mother to have a child. As the firstborn among our siblings, I was my parent's whole world and the centre of their universe. Similarly, my family is the root of my very existence. I love them and would be ready to do anything and everything for them.

Part 3 – Two-way discussion:

Attitudes to family:

Q.  In what ways have families in your country changed in recent years?

Q.  Should husbands and wives have different roles within the family? Why / why not?

Family or friends:

Q.  Which are more important to you - your family or your friends?

Q.  What conflicts can arise between a person's family and a person's friends?

Family responsibilities:

Q.  What responsibilities do parents have towards their children?

Q.  What responsibilities do children have towards their parents?

Similar Cue Card Topics

Your ability to talk about this Cue Card would enable you to talk about the following Cue Cards as well:

1. Describe a family member.
2. Describe someone you like.
3. Describe someone you admire.
4. Describe your relationship with your family.

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