IELTS Speaking Part 2: describe a person

Describe a person you admire.
You should say:

• who the person is
• what he or she is like
• and why you admire him or her.

Here are some ideas. I've underlined the best vocabulary.

• I'm going to talk about my father because he has been a major influence in my life.
• My father was always a good role model for me as I was growing up. He's hard-working, patient and understanding; he's also got a good sense of humour and seems to get on well with everybody. Hopefully I've inherited some of these traits.
• I admire my father because I think he brought me and my brothers/sisters up well; he was quite strict but always fair, and he has always been someone I can turn to for advice. I think my father set a good example by working hard and having a positive outlook on life. I remember that he used to leave for work early and come home quite late, but he always made time for me and my brothers/sisters.

Comments

[Marya]

Hi Simon,
Thank you for your today lesson
My question is :what if we go to describe the physical features of the person as an answer to the second question.For-example,we can say ,He looks like a popular movie star with an average body weight,tall stature .he has a smiley face with gray eyes.
Does it make any sense?
thank you
Marya

[Assaed Ali Butt]

hi sir ,
please give the best response for these questions.
LANGUAGE
Q.how long have you been learning English?
*where did you learn?
*what is easy/difficult?
*what opportunities do you have to speak?
*is it important?
LEISURE
Q.what you do in your spare time?hobbies and interest?
*when/how did you became interested?
*how do you spend your holidays?
*is there any place you would like to visit?why?
DAILY ROUTINE
Q.are all your days the same?
*typical day?
typical weekend?
what would you like to change?
*what is the balance of work/study? IMPACT ON YOU
Q.describe a story,book or movie that had a big impact on you?
*describe what it was about?
*what effect it had?
*why it was so powerful?

[Simon]

Hi Marya,

"What is he like?" usually refers to character or personality, but you could also mention appearance. "What does he LOOK like?" refers only to appearance.

...

Hi Assaed,

I'm afraid I can't answer so many questions here in the comments area. I'll try to cover some of your questions in future lessons on the main page of this site.

[Joshua]

Hi Simon,

Is it fine to use past tense in the second paragraph? or would it be better to use a present tense?

Joshua

[Simon]

Hi Joshua,

It depends what you want to say and whether it's relevant. I've used past simple, present simple, past continuous and present perfect - I think the examiner would be impressed!

[laveena]

hi simon

im in uk suppose if the examiner ask describe your home town what i should do? do i need to explain about uk or my native place where i come from.
thank you

[Simon]

Good question Laveena,

It doesn't matter. Just say "my home town in (name of your country) is..." OR: "I now live in (UK town) which is..."

[Mohamed]

Hi Simon,

In my last exam. I didn't hear a couple of questions well, so I asked the examiner, what? and She repeated the question for me. Do u think those could have been counted against me?

[Simon]

Hi Mohamed,

Maybe a bit. If it happened a few times, maybe the examiner thought you didn't understand. Try saying: "sorry, I didn't catch that" or "sorry, I didn't hear the question properly".

[Mohamed]

Thank u Simon, that was helpful.

[Simon]

No problem

[Nguyen]

hi Simon,

I have read in some web of IELTs and saw that pp use : influence on , not in ? you can show me how it is different? Thanks < he has been a major influence "in or on" my life.>

[Simon]

Hi Nguyen,

Good question.

"Influence" is usually followed by "on" e.g. "he was a good influence on me".

In my sentence in the lesson above, I used "in my life" to mean "he was a good influence (on me) DURING my life".

In other words, the word "in" is connected to "my life" to show WHEN he influenced me.

I hope this is clear - it's difficult to explain.

Simon

[Yusuf , from Uzbekistan]

Hi mr Simon , I have visited your site several times , also did other ielts sites . I cpmpared and came to an opinion - yours is best tutoral ielts site . because i see you approach all task in easy way which users can learn fast. I am from Uzbekistan and ielts is becoming very common nowadays , Your site is much more benificial for me and other ielts preparing friends ,
please bon't stop positive deed, I always wish you luck

[Simon]

Thanks for your positive comments Yusuf. I'm glad you've found the site and like it so much!

[pallavi]

hello, simon
i read ur ebook & speaking topic,i like it very much, i wanted 2 buy it.
u ll be able 2 give me hard copy of that,
please reply me

[Simon]

Hi Pallavi,

I replied by email.

[Zoe]

Hi Simon,

this is an awesome website.

What's the difference between personality and character~

Also, how can I read your ebook :)

Thanks.

[Simon]

Thanks Zoe.

They have very similar meanings (and dictionaries often use one to explain the other), so it's really difficult to explain any differences. It would be better to see how these words are used in different phrases and in different situations. Try 'googling' each word to see the situations in which people have used them.

The ebook is the only thing on this site that isn't free. It costs £20. If you would like it, just follow the instructions on the "Simon's ebook" page (see the menu on the left). After payment I send the ebook by email.

Regards

[Bauryzhan]

Hi, Simon
As it was mentioned earlier, your site is very very and million times very useful for all people with different arrange of language level! Actually, I've been learning English for couple of month and tomorrow i'll pass my first Ielts exam. So, i think that all your advices will help me. Thanks.
Regards

[Simon]

Thanks Bauryzhan. Good luck in your exam!

[veeru]

Hi,simon
how to use would and could give familiar examples........

[Simon]

Hi Veeru

There are hundreds of ways of using these words. Try Googling them to see lots of examples (more than I can give here).

[jiwon]

Hi, Simon

Thank you for your extremely useful website.
I have one question.
If I get a part 2 topic about person who I admire, can I speak about dead person? like Ann sullivan, who is Hellen keller's teacher.
I really respect her and I can't think anyoneelso except her.

[Simon]

Yes, that's fine.

[Thao]

Hi, Simon

Thank you for your useful lessons but I'm wondering whether I can describe a famous person I've never met in this question.

Look forward from your advice.

Thank you in advance.

[Simon]

Hi Thao,

Yes you can. Most of us have never met a famous person!

[Reena]

Hi simon

In listening test can we answer all the answer in capital letters.

Reena

[Khuong Duy]

Hi Simon ,
in IELTS speaking test, in part 2 about desribe a person who has been influential in your country, what is the advanced words that i should use?
Can you send me your book through my email,thanks a lot.
PS: i feel very happy when discover this helpful website, hope you will help not only me but also everyone who wants to improve English. i`m from Việt Nam.
Best wish to you.

Best regard

[sunil thampi]

hi simon
thank you for your information.i needa to learn of couples of ielts speaking items.pls send to my email

[Ryan Trenh]

Hi simon!
Could you please write an article about how to describe a person's external appearance? Thanks in advance :)

[Simon]

Hi Ryan,

I don't think you'll be asked to do that (I've never seen that question). If you're describing a person, you could say a few normal things about appearance (e.g. height, hair and eye colour) but that's enough. Most of the description would be about personality / character.