Sample IELTS Speaking Part 2, 3: Describe your family

The topic 'Describe your family' or 'Talk about your family' not only appears frequently in the IELTS Speaking exam but is also commonly asked in everyday conversations. Especially to achieve a high Speaking band score, for the 'Describe your family' question in the real exam, you need to provide a coherent, logical response, with well-connected sentences, and use high-scoring vocabulary consistently.

Therefore, below are the outline, ideas, sample responses, and valuable vocabulary to develop for the 'Describe your family' task. Review this article right away to effectively prepare for this topic at home!

I. Sample IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe your family

1. Cue card: Describe your family

"Describe your family", "Talk about your family", "Tell me about your family" or similar questions about your family. PREP suggests the following topics for you to explore around these types of questions:

• How many family members your family has

• What they do

• How close you are

• Explain why your family is important to you

2. Outline Part 2

3. Sample Speaking Part 2: Describe your family

Below is a sample IELTS Speaking Part 2 response on the topic "Describe your family". Take a look to effectively prepare for the IELTS exam!

Let's listen to the Podcast of the IELTS Speaking Part 2 sample - "Describe your family":

My family has always been an integral part of my life. There are four people in our home, which are my mom, my dad, my little sister and myself. We also own a pet cat in our household and my sister loves him so much that she sometimes calls him our family’s fifth. 

My Mom is a clerk at the bank while my Dad works as a police officer. It can be extremely busy working for the law at times, so he isn’t always present at meal time with us. My sister just finished high school a month ago, which is why she’s trying to get into the university of her dreams. I’m also a university student in junior year, but my school is totally different from my sister’s choice.

My family is very close-knitted. I don’t know what it’s like for other families, but for me, it really feels that way. We have this family tradition where my mom cooks a special meal for everyone on the weekend. Because dad is less likely to be away at the job at that time, our household can bond around the dinner table and savor something that we don’t get to enjoy every day. The fact that my mom’s signature dishes are delectable helps too.

I think the importance of having a family can’t be stressed enough. I struggle to imagine what my life would be like without my loved ones.

Some high-scoring vocabulary used in the IELTS Speaking Part 2 sample response for the topic "Describe your family": 

• Integral (n.): profoundly important

• Clerk (n.): secretary

• Junior year (n.): the year before graduating

• Close-knitted (adj.): tightly bonded

• Family tradition (n.): family tradition

• Bond (v.): to bond

• Savor (v.): to enjoy

• Delectable (adj.): delicious

II. Sample IELTS Speaking Part 3: Family

Let's listen to the Podcast of the IELTS Speaking Part 2 sample - Topic: Family

1. Is family important in your country?

Oh yes, it is doubtlessly an important thing and I know this because in my country, young people are encouraged to settle down and make their own family as soon as possible. The deference and respect that children are expected from their parents are also proof that family is valued very highly here. 

• Settle down (v.): to establish a stable life

• Deference (n.): respect

• Proof (n.): evidence

2. How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in your country?

In recent decades, there has been a shift in family structure, from an extended family inside one household to a nuclear family. As a result, the size of a typical family in my country has shrunk to about 3 or 4 people in one home. In the past, there were more people than that because children were living with not only their parents but also their grandparents. 

• Shift (n.): a change or transition

• Extended family (n.): a family that includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives

• Nuclear family (n.): a family unit consisting of parents and their children

• Shrink (v.): to become smaller or more compact

3. What role do grandparents play in the family in your country?

Grandparents here, I believe, have a very important role at home. They can act as caregivers for their grandkids, because in a lot of households, both parents have to be away at work to put food on the table. So, the grandparents would naturally step up to look after the young. They actually look forward to this too, because it gives them a chance to bond with their grandkids. 

• Caregiver (n.): a person who provides care for someone

• Put food on the table (v.): to provide financially for one's family

• Step up to V (v.): to take on an important responsibility

• Bond (verb): to form a close connection

4. Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly, the family or the government?

In my opinion, it has to be the family. Each family is responsible for looking after their own elderly because that’s what being in a family is all about. If families stop caring for their elders then you might as well throw all of society’s rules out of the window. Besides, there are other things that deserve the government’s attention more. 

• Throw sth out of the window (v.): to discard or abandon something

• Deserve (v.): to be worthy of something

This article has provided the most detailed IELTS Speaking Part 2 + 3 sample response on the topic "Describe your family". Carefully review it to practice for the IELTS Speaking test at home effectively. Additionally, don't miss the IELTS course at PREP if you want to quickly improve your overall IELTS band score!