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

Describe a school you have studied in.

You should say:

• where it is
• how long you have studied there
• what it looks like

and explain what was the most attractive/enjoyable aspect of this school.

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

Sample Answer 1:

Initially, I wasn’t very happy when my whole family moved to Hanoi City about a decade ago from Ho Chi Min City even though they told me the capital of Vietnam was a better city than the city of Ho Chi Min in every aspect. But, I had to agree with them at least when I started to study at one of the high schools in Hanoi.

The high school, I attended, was a state-of-the-art institution and a "purpose-built" school which featured first-class facilities in order to support each and every one of its students. The school had specialist teaching facilities for science, art, drama, music and ICT on its huge 10-acre campus. The campus is consisted of 4 large, 3-storey buildings, adjacent to each other, with a huge empty space around them. The campus hosted an extensive library, auditorium, a theatre, an indoor 25-meter swimming pool, a fully equipped indoor sports hall and additional outdoor playing surfaces for the students. The campus buildings were modern in its every sense with lovely champagne colour paintings both on its inside as well as the outside. I was lucky to have studied for three years at my favourite high school until I started my higher education.

I liked pretty much each and everything about my high school in Hanoi, but the best aspect, which really set it apart from other schools, was that it probably had around 100 trees of different kinds of flowers inside its campus. Another thing, which I really liked about my school, was its huge swimming pool in which I used to swim at the end of my classes almost every day during the hot summer. Finally, the campus and its buildings were designed in such a unique way that one could actually view the campus and its beautiful flower trees even from a mile away as if the buildings were really close to its distant viewers.

Model Answer 2:

Saint Partick High School is one of the largest institutions in the Kingsly area and this is perhaps the best school in the entire town. I spent almost six years there and have had some wonderful memories. I would like to thank you for this excellent cue card topic.

Located at the South-east corner of the city map, Saint Patrick High School offers young students quality education and one of the best views in town from its premises. It was established almost one hundred years ago in an area which is more than 30 acres. The then-mayor, Mr Abel, finished establishing the metro rail system a few years earlier and that had made the communication to and from the school very convenient. This school always make endeavours to excel at all courses that are offered to students. It is one of the prominent and autonomous schools in our state with excellent academic results.

I got admitted to this school when I was around twelve years old. I studied there until I finished my high school diploma and will never forget my time there. I must admit I enjoyed my high school days thoroughly and thanks to the great masters who worked really hard for us.

The school is really big and the buildings are mostly two-storied and large enough. During my time, we had around three thousand students. The spectacular gardens and immaculately maintained yards, traditionally structured red and white buildings and large open space make it look more like a museum than a school.

I loved so many things in my school. I relished the rich collection of books the school library had, the large and green playground where I used to play every evening, the scenic beauty of it and so on. But the most attractive aspect of the school was the excellent teachers who used to teach us. The institution could not have been the best one without the dedication and hard work they have put in. I still remember how our teachers had been our mentor, leader and coach on the one hand, and yet friendly on the other hand. During my six years of studentship in that alma mater, I have learned a lot and the credit goes to the teachers who had been so inspiring for us.

Tips:

Talking about "where the school is", "how long you have studied there" and "what the school looks like" should be fairly easy if you can visualise a school where you have studied. However, explaining "what was the most attractive or enjoyable aspect of this school" can be tricky to some extent. Here are some ideas for the last question of this cue card topic:

1. Individualized Instruction and Approaches to Students:  Students’ abilities and needs are different in a high school. To effectively teach all students, the school staff must reflect the needs of each, with the understanding of each as an individual. Our school teachers did exactly that and this made our school stand out in a crowd.

2. Feel Like Home:  A good school has such a welcoming and engaging environment that pupils would love to be there. This was precisely what we felt about our school. I missed my school even if I was absent due to sickness and I believe that was the most interesting and attractive aspect of our school.

3. Excellent Teachers and Staff:  A good school has an involved staff working together, pushing themselves and their students to be the best. In the end, the performance of students in exams, beyond school boundaries and in the professional arena defines how good a school is. Our school was one of the best schools in the country in terms of students' performance.

4. Amiable and Friendly Teachers: Our teachers were so amiable and friendly that we were never afraid to ask questions. In my opinion, this was the most enjoyable part of the school where I studied for more than 5 years. 

5. The School Playground: Our school had a huge playground where we could enjoy our time with other classmates and friends. Personally, I loved to be there as it gave me some of the most enjoyable times in my school days. 

6. Our School Library: For apparent reasons, I was attracted to using a computer, and back then, the only place where I could use one was our school library. So naturally, the most attractive part of my school was the library where I could use a computer hours after hours. 

Your ability to talk about the cue card topic "Describe a school you have studied in" would enable you to talk about the following topics as well:

1. Describe a school or college you have been to.
2. Describe a famous school you know about.
3. Describe an educational institute in your town/ village.
4. Describe a place you remember well in your hometown. 

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

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