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

Describe a time when you visited a friend or family member at their workplace.

You should say:

• who you visited
• where this person worked
• why you visited this person’s workplace

and explain how you felt about visiting this person’s workplace.

[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:
Visiting someone's workplace can be an insightful experience. I remember visiting my cousin, who works as a graphic designer in a marketing agency in the city. For this nice topic, I would share my experience with you here.

My cousin's workplace is located in a modern building in the downtown area, with a vibrant and lively atmosphere. The office had a spacious, open-plan layout with lots of natural light and modern furniture. As soon as I entered the office, I was greeted by a friendly receptionist who directed me to my cousin's desk.

I visited my cousin's workplace because I wanted to understand more about his work and see how he spends his day. During my visit, my cousin introduced me to his colleagues, and they showed me some of the projects they were working on. They explained how they work collaboratively on projects and use various software tools to create innovative designs for their clients.

I felt impressed by the creativity and dedication of the team in my cousin's workplace. It was fascinating to see how each member contributed to the project, and how they brainstormed ideas and shared feedback. Additionally, it was an excellent opportunity for me to learn more about the graphic design industry and understand the technical skills involved.

I can say that, my visit to my cousin's workplace was an enjoyable and insightful experience. It allowed me to see the inner workings of a graphic design agency, learn more about the industry, and appreciate the hard work and talent involved in creating innovative designs.

Model Answer 2:
I don’t normally like to visit any friends or family members at their workplaces because I think that such practice distracts them from their work. Besides, I don’t exactly think that the bosses at workplaces would like that. In fact, my boss thinks that it should be a standard norm not to visit anybody at his or her workplace unless there is a very – I mean, very – valid reason to do so. But, I broke that norm once and decided to meet one of my good friends at his workplace.

Actually, I haven’t met Patrick Lee, since the time we graduated from the university about 5 years ago, because right after finishing our university life, we had to go on our separate ways due to professional reasons. In fact, we both moved to two different cities with more than 250 kilometres of distance between us.

Of course, I knew exactly where he used to work, and we even used to have phone conversations with each other once in a while in order to keep in touch with each other. So, when an opportunity arrived one day in the form of an official tour into the city where Patrick lived, I just didn’t want to let the opportunity to meet my good old friend get wasted. Of course, Patrick asked me to visit him the next day at his home, but I told him that I would remain too busy to meet him then. So, in the end, it was decided that I would meet him at his workplace for a few minutes just for old-time’s sake.

But, even though, it was supposed to be only a brief meeting for a few minutes, it went on for about a good 30 minutes, as we both tried to catch up with each other on what we had missed over the years while enjoying some great coffee. In fact, I felt like we went back to our old university days again as we laughed and made jokes with each other as long as I was there at my friend's office.

Sample Answer 3:
I met my father at his office for an important reason a few months ago. It was an amazing experience, and this was the first time I went to his new office where he joined approximately two years before that visit. My father was surprised to see me there too. This topic is an excellent one, and I would love to talk about it.

My father works in a multinational company in Nepal while the headquarters of the office is in Malaysia. The company had its wings in some other Asian countries too. It mostly deals with the export and import of a variety of goods including cosmetics and toiletries products. The office was located at a corner of Dharan covering a large space. It accommodated about 80 employees altogether, and I found everyone was busy with their respective tasks. At that time, my dad was a senior manager in this office.

On that very day, I needed my father's signature on my academic progress card. I brought the card home a week earlier but totally forgot to ask my father to sign it. Since it was the last date to submit the progress card to my class teacher and I had noticed it once my father had already left for his office, I had no other way but to visit my dad at his office to ask for his signature in it. 

Visiting my father at his office was a memorable experience, and I enjoyed spending time there. It was the first time when I got to see the office where my father works. When I asked my father for the signature, he did not even look at the marks that I obtained on each subject, and that was a bit surprising for me. I guess he saved it for a later encounter! Anyway, my father treated me as if I was some kind of foreign delegate visiting his office! He offered me a tour of his office and introduced me to at least 5 colleagues of his. I also ate some delicious food while I was there. It was such a pleasant visit to my father's office.

Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Discussion topics: Different kinds of workplaces

Q. What things make an office comfortable to work in?
Q.  Why do some people prefer to work outdoors?
Q. Do you agree that the building people work in is more important than the colleagues they work with?

Discussion topics: The importance of work

Q. What would life be like if people didn’t have to work?
Q. Are all jobs of equal importance?
Q. Why do some people become workaholics?

The answer to those part 3 questions: Speaking Sample 71 - Part 3 - Details Discussion/ Two-way Discussion

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

Topic: Describe a time when you visited a friend or family member at their workplace.

1. Samuel is an engineer and works for a multinational company here in Newcastle in England. I did not have any prior plan to visit him; rather, I was passing by his office. So, I decided to visit him and surprise him. It was a pleasant visit. We spent approximately 40 minutes together and we also had some coffee and snacks.

2. My elder brother works at a computer software development company based here in Atlanta. He is the station chief at his office. I recently went to visit him. In fact, it was an emergency. I liked the office environment as the office was nicely decorated and everything was in order.

3. Robert is a technician for a car manufacturing company in Germany. I met him a couple of years ago. He has been working in Germany as an overseas employee for the last three years. I went to meet him to get some information as I was unable to get him on the phone. The workplace was nice and I got to meet him and get the information I required at that time.

4. My mom works as a senior teacher at a school in Melbourne. I had to meet her at school last month for some important reasons. In fact, my mom forgot to take some documents to her school and I went there to deliver them after she asked me over the phone. The school premise was nice and attractively decorated.

5. Nicholas is my cousin and he runs a traditional Spanish food shop in Granada. He owns the restaurant and sells various types of traditional foods. I went there to invite him to my younger sister’s marriage ceremony. It was a stunning restaurant. He adorned the place with beautiful materials and I loved the ambience so much.

6. My brother is a businessman and he owns some plant nurseries. He sells various types of flower and fruit plants at a corner in Mumbai. I went there with one of my friends to get some plants for her. I felt great after visiting the nursery. It appeared that I entered into a small piece of heaven. The entire nursery was dazzling with greeneries. I fell in love with the place.

Describe a time when you visited a friend or family member at their workplace.

1. Describe an office you or someone you know works in.
2. Describe a good workplace you know about.
3. Describe a time when you met someone without a prior schedule.
4. Describe a building or house you have recently gone to.

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

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