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

Describe an open-air or street market which you enjoyed visiting.

You should say:

• where the market is
• what the market sells
• how big the market is

and explain why you enjoyed visiting this market.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer 1:
My country, has many, many street markets or open-air markets all over the place which are visited by hundreds of thousands of people every day in order to meet their daily needs. Today, I would like to talk about one of these open-air markets which I really enjoyed visiting about a few years ago.

The market, I am talking about, was located in a very old town and in the farthest north-western part of my country. Situated by one of the largest rivers of my country, it used to (and I am sure, it still is) be considered as a “business hub”, by thousands of people who live in that area and beyond.

Occupying an area of almost 3 square kilometres, I think that this certainly is one of the largest street markets of my country. In fact, this open-air market is so busy and popular among the people that a significant number of people (or rather “wholesalers”) actually come to this a day ahead of the scheduled “market day” with their products and merchandises so that they can find a suitable location to conduct their business activities.

However, even though, pretty much all kinds of items of our daily needs can be bought and sold in this busy street markets, this undoubtedly is aimed for mainly those farmers and businesses who want to buy and sell paddy and rice. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest that this market is the perfect meeting place for all the wealthy farmers who either want to buy or sell their main “cash crops” (i.e. rice and paddy).

Anyway, I enjoyed visiting the street market because I actually got to talk to so many different kinds of people from different backgrounds, and yet they were so friendly when doing business deals with each other. I also enjoyed visiting this place because I had never really enjoyed such a beautiful of the river where rows upon rows of boats were floating and carrying fresh produces, stacked one upon another in a beautiful manner.

Model Answer 2:

Introduction:
Thank you for this nice topic. Here, I'd like to talk about an open-air market which I visited a few months ago. This market is quite popular among locals and tourists alike, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit there.

Where the market is:
The market is located in the heart of the city, in a bustling area known for its vibrant street life. It sprawls across a large area, with rows of small stalls lining the streets and alleys.

What the market sells:
The market is a treasure trove of all kinds of things, ranging from fresh produce and handmade crafts to clothing and electronics. The market is known for its variety of unique and exotic items, including local handicrafts, antique items, and vintage clothing.

How big the market is:
The market is quite big and can be overwhelming at first glance. It spans several streets and alleys, and it can take hours to explore everything on offer. The market is usually crowded, especially on weekends and during the festive season.

And explain why you enjoyed visiting this market: 
I enjoyed visiting this market for a few reasons. Firstly, the atmosphere was very lively and energetic, with vendors calling out to customers and bargaining for prices. Secondly, the variety of products on offer was amazing, and I found many unique items that I had never seen before. Finally, the market was a great place to interact with locals and learn more about the culture and traditions of the city. I also enjoyed trying out the local street food and snacks, which were delicious and affordable. Overall, the street market gave an enjoyable and memorable experience.

Sample Answer 3:
I was a bit stumped when I saw the topic!  It’s been ages and ages since I’ve been to a ‘proper’ open-air street market.  Where I live in England the weather isn’t that great, so the fashion for completely open-air markets has passed.  We do have specialist monthly farmer’s markets that pop from time to time, but they tend to be just selling quite expensive luxury items. Speciality home-cured meats and home-made cheeses, all very delicious but too pricey for me to shop there. I could talk about one of those, but it would feel fake because I don’t really enjoy going to those, rather I just feel frustrated because I can’t afford to buy anything on sale there! Instead, I am going to tell you about my memories of a more authentic open-air market from my childhood.

I’ll tell you where the market was, what it sold, how big it was and why I enjoyed going there so much when I was little.

So the market was about a mile away from my childhood home, and was held in a place called Kingston upon the Thames.  I didn’t know it then, but in fact, Kingston is a really ancient market town. It was of particular prominence as a trading centre because of its geographic location at a river crossing point as well as the boundary of some ancient territories. Depending on who you believe, it has a history that goes back for more than a thousand years, which is impressive in anyone’s calculations surely! So about 45 years ago, I would go to the Kingston market with my mum to do our weekly shop there. We’d usually walk, or sometimes cycle, locking our bikes up carefully at the end of a bridge before crossing the river on it to get to the market. It was a thriving, noisy and busy place.

There were seemingly countless market stalls which sold predominantly food items. Lots of different fruit, vegetable and flower stalls competed to attract the attention of passers’ by to buy their goods. Because we went every week we were wise to any bad practice, and knew which stallholders could be trusted to supply quality goods and not over-charge us. I learned from an early age you should always watch the stall holder select produce from the display at the front of the stall – if they did it out of sight from the back you might end up with bruised or over-ripe produce. I also learned to haggle – which doesn’t happen so much anymore nowadays, but was acceptable even commonplace then. Also, I knew to always check the contents of the brown paper bags that were handed over to make sure the quality of fruit and veg was acceptable before paying for it in full! As well as the fruit and veg, there’d be other items. Household goods, ‘cheap and cheerful’ clothes and even impromptu ‘auctions’ of bargain scents or potions. It was a busy, heaving stimulating place. The gutters would be full of discarded fruit and veg, and sometimes I’d go and pick up these cast-offs at the end of the day as they were good food for our pet guinea pigs at home!

The market extended throughout the whole of the town centre, with different stalls selling the same types of things grouped close together. All the fruit was in a part of the town known as ‘The Apple Market’ for example. The area of streets it used to occupy is still called that now, but the open-air stalls with the colourful-striped canvas tops have long since gone, replaced with gentrified boutique shops selling rather more upmarket goods. Other areas had clothes stalls grouped together, you could pick up pairs of socks and pants for practically nothing. They weren’t good quality, but good enough for the price. Nowadays the market in Kingston does still take place, but is very much reduced in size, it is more likely to sell ‘posh’ food like expensive artisan bread; imported luxury olives and exclusive handbags. In my youth, it was a functional place to shop. You could pick up good value, fresh produce in season, and trudge home laden with bags of potatoes, plastic coat-hangers and other commonplace items.

Because the produce on sale was always what was currently in season, what was available varied week by week. Ripe strawberries in the summer were a particular treat!  However, one outing was a great tradition for us all as a family at Christmas. Once a year about a fortnight before Christmas Day, me, my brother and my sister would go with my Dad to choose a Christmas tree from one of the many stalls selling them in time for the festivities. We would carefully select one that was just the right height and amount of bushiness, and then all four of us would hold on to a bit of the tree to carry it the mile home together in a little crocodile line together. We probably looked quite sweet and festive all wrapped up in our bobble hats with thick scarves and gloves!

So I enjoyed visiting the market because it was such an assault on the senses. The crowds, smells and sights had a great atmosphere. The piles of fresh fruit and vegetable looked amazing, and there were many colourful characters calling out to sell their wares. You could also pick up some extraordinary bargains at the end of the day if you were smart, and could risk waiting to make a last-minute purchase. Stallholders needed to shift items before they went off, and/or didn’t really want to pack them all up again at the end of the day, sometimes it was easier for a market trader to just to sell things ‘for a song’. Occasionally I’d get a huge bunch of flowers for some trifling sum and feel a real sense of achievement carrying them home knowing I’d got myself a bargain!

Open-air markets are very different now, well it is in Kingston-upon-Thames at least. I’m glad I have my memories of the original one, though perhaps I romanticise it a bit. I daresay stallholders wouldn’t get away with cheating their customers by choosing stock from the back anymore, and the choice of products from all over the world is tempting, those have to changes for the better. Even so, I still think we have maybe lost something with the sanitising of the open-air market. It is undoubtedly better for health and hygiene, but I used to love darting round the back of the stalls to scoop up discarded cabbage leaves and manky carrots to take home to my pets! I suppose the progress is good, but it’s fun to remember past times too! I enjoyed those visits, and stored up some memories of what a ‘proper’ open-air market should be like, with a character and surprise around every corner. I like to think there are still places in the world still were such anarchic and crowded markets still take place week in week out and canny traders and shoppers sport with one another to secure the best deals!

[ Written by - Lucy Marris (2016):  Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]

Model Answer 4:
Visiting any Indian street market is like visiting India itself as the diversity and colours of the country is captured in its local markets so well. So, when I, as a frequent visitor of open-air markets in my country, visited Commercial Street in Bangaluru last time, I knew that I was going to have a really good time!

Being well-known as one of the best, busiest and oldest (running for more than 400 years) markets in Bangaluru, the market is about 460 meters in length, with its one end starting from Kamaraj road and ending at the Juma Masjid (mosque). As one of the most popular tourist destinations for the international visitors as well as college students (because of its proximity to many colleges), the commercial street is like a “one-stop” shop for everybody who is on the lookout to buy all kinds of stuff, specially if you are interested to buy apparel, footwear, jewellery, electronics, books, accessories, antiques, foods and beverages at a very affordable price. However, if you are not really into the mood for buying something, or if you get really tired of shopping, you can always eat mouth-watering Indian delicacies such as “Sweet Corn”, “Bhel Puri”, “Shawarmas” and “Dosas” from a very wide range of food places!

I enjoyed visiting this shopaholics’ paradise primarily because not only everything is really affordable there (of course, only after hefty bargaining), but also many international brand products were on display! Another reason, for which I really enjoyed visiting this grand old street market is that I was actually able to park my car very close to the marketplace which doesn’t really happen that often when visiting an Indian open-air market. Finally, I will never forget about visiting this great place because I was actually able to talk to two of my favourite actors, who visited (in fact, I later had come to know that they visited that place pretty much regularly) the famous flea market on that day!

Sample Answer 5:
Shopping is fun when it is done in a street market. I am happy that I had the chance to shop some special stuff from Temple Street in Hong Kong, China last year.

I am an Italian businessman and love to travel. Annually I take a tour in different parts of the world. Last year, I went to China and travelled different parts of the country. Hong Kong appeared as one of the most prominent cities of the country with a special sort of appeal. The nightlife and the street markets are the keys to the appeal, I think. The market is near to the Jordan Subway station and easily accessible from any parts of the city. This is an enjoyable place to browse a large number of goods and have them after a beautiful haggling with the sellers.    

Temple Street is a large street in Hong Kong and minly famous for street shops. The entire location is covered with crowds – mostly sellers and buyers. The market allows people to pass their time by checking the right goods for them. It sells a large number of goods and products and at lower prices. If you want to buy the products from a shopping mall, you are to pay more than the usual price. So, the locals and tourists from home and abroad come here to get their shopping done. The market is filled with plenty of clothes, foods, toys, dresses for men, women and children, crockeries, wristwatches, CDs, footwear, cookware, handicrafts, tea sets, glasses, antiques, electronic goods, pieces of jewelry, jackets and much more. Besides, the food stalls also sell traditional Chinese foods to fill the hunger of tired shoppers.     

This was a moderately large market covering around 600 meters. In fact, this was a night market that began in the evening. The shops are settled in rows and there are ample spaces before the shops to move and walk. There were large lights hung in almost every shops to exhibit the products. Almost all the sellers want to trick with foreign customers. They claim more price than the usual whenever any foreign tourist visits their shops. Besides, the car parking of the market is also filled with some other people playing music around the hours. The food stalls are located in a corner and some of the food vendors had set their stalls wherever they have got an empty space. Despite being a large market, it always crowded as a good number of people come to visit the stalls.  

I have never experienced such a street market. As an Italian, it was kind of new experience for me. But I had the idea that I need to bargain, and finally, I was right about the assumption that the sellers are trying to cheat with the customers about the price of the goods and services. So, if the buyers are not serious in bargaining, they are to incur a huge loss. Even sometimes, the sellers try to sell some fake products logoed with renowned brands. This issue also needs consideration of the buyers. I bought some clothes and ornaments at a reasonable price after lots of arguments with the sellers. But I really enjoyed the snacks and traditional foods of the market. It was a pleasant experience for me indeed.

More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card topic:

Topic: Describe an open-air or street market which you enjoyed visiting.

1. I frequently visit the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market for various reasons. The market is famous for selling products like books, antiques and electronic items. The market is not so big and contains not more than 50 shops altogether. I enjoy visiting the market because I can get things at a cheaper rate. Prices are negotiable and you do not need to bargain sternly with the merchants. Hence, I am a regular visitor to the market.

2. I consider myself lucky to be born in China and by the side of the Wangfujing Snack Street. In fact, this is the market that sells different types of local snacks and many other types of food. This is a moderate market and roughly 40 shops sell various types of food and beverages. I love to visit the market because it comes with a wide variety of food and at a reasonable price. This is the single marketplace that sells almost all types of local snacks and food items. The food is tasty indeed.

3. The China Town market in Singapore sells almost all types of products. It mostly sells clothing, antiques, Chinese herbs, jewellery, handicrafts and more. This is a large market covering a huge area. I enjoyed visiting the market mostly for the variety of the products. And the product qualities are up to the mark. Even, a small showpiece is still in decoration at my home which I bought from there a couple of years ago.

4. I was looking for a pair of shoes in New Delhi last week during my official visit. Someone from the team suggested to visit the Dilli Haat and it was a great experience. The market sells various types of products and services. The food items were very special to me. The market is not so big and contains around 100 small stores altogether. I enjoyed visiting the market because of its appearance. The products were piled in front of the stores and the clients just had to pick up the right one and pay.

5. The Oedo Antique Market is one of the largest open-air street markets in Japan. It is available on certain days only. And it sells a wide number of antiques. In fact, if someone needs an antique piece, the market is the perfect place to get the right product. I enjoyed visiting the market as I bought a large antique clock from the market. I also bought some potteries from the market a couple of years ago and they are still in operation. But as a consumer, you will need to bargain about the price.         

6. Finding no other way, I visited the Austin Renaissance Market on 23rd Street. It was a nice place for getting different types of products. The market sells various items including jewellery, clothing, footwear and many more items. This is a moderately large market and covers a remarkable area. I enjoyed visiting the market because it sold almost all types of necessary items which are not available in other parts of the state.

Part 3 – Two-way discussion:

Discussion Topic: Shopping at markets:

Q. Do people in your country enjoy going to open-air markets that sell things like food or clothes or old objects? Which type of market is more popular? Why?
Q. Do you think markets are more suitable places for selling certain types of things? Which ones? Why do you think this is?
Q. Do you think young people feel the same about shopping at markets as older people? Why is that?

Discussion Topic: Shopping in general:

Q. What do you think are the advantages of buying things from shops rather than markets?
Q. How does advertising influence what people choose to buy? Is this true for everyone?
Q. Do you think that any recent changes in the way people live have affected general shopping trends? Why is this?

Those Part 3 Answers could be found at - Speaking Sample 54- Part 3

• IELTS Cue Card
• Candidate Task Card
• Speaking Part 2

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