Onterra TutorDescribe a photograph you like
An IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card, with the structure examiners reward. You get 1 minute to prepare and up to 2 minutes to speak.
The cue card
Describe a photograph you like.
You should say:
- what the photo shows
- when it was taken
- who took it
- and explain why you like it.
Your 2-minute structure
- Open with a direct answer (10 seconds). Name your choice immediately: one sentence that answers "describe a photograph you like". Do not waste your first 20 seconds on "that's an interesting question".
- What the photo shows (about 25 seconds). Give the fact, then add one detail and one feeling. A specific memory always beats a general statement.
- When it was taken (about 25 seconds). This is where a past-tense story earns grammar marks. Set the scene in one sentence, then say what happened.
- Who took it (about 25 seconds). Slow down and be concrete: a name, a place, a number. Details are what make an answer sound fluent rather than memorised.
- And explain why you like it (about 25 seconds). Link back to your opening sentence with a connector like 'which is exactly why' so the whole answer feels planned.
- Close with why it matters (15 seconds). End on how it affected you or what it taught you. A natural closing line signals confidence to the examiner.
Sample band 8+ answer
About 90 seconds when spoken at a natural pace. Notice how specific the details are; that specificity is what you should copy, not the story itself.
My favourite photograph sits framed on my desk: my grandmother laughing in front of her old house, head thrown back, wrapper slightly askew, mid-clap. It was taken about six years ago at a family reunion, by my cousin, and completely by accident; he was actually photographing the goats that had invaded the compound, and my grandmother happened to be reacting to a joke at the edge of the frame. That accident is exactly why I love it. Every posed photo of her shows a stern, dignified woman, because her generation treated cameras like courtrooms. This one shows the person we actually knew: mischievous, loud, quick to laugh. She passed away two years after it was taken, and this is the image my memory reaches for first, not the formal portraits from the funeral programme. I like that the best picture of her wasn't planned by anyone. It reminds me that the truest moments usually happen just outside the frame we're arranging.
Why this answer works
- The accidental origin gives the story a turn; flat description becomes narrative.
- 'Treated cameras like courtrooms' is exactly the kind of image that separates band 7 from 8.
- The closing reflection is short, earned and answers 'why you like it' at a deeper level.
What the examiner listens for
Fluency (can you keep going for 2 minutes without long pauses), vocabulary range (topic words, not just "good" and "nice"), and grammar variety (past tenses and linking words like "which is why" and "even though"). Hesitation is normal; stopping is what costs bands. If you lose your thread, say "what I mean is..." and keep moving.