IELTS Speaking · Part 2 Cue Card
A complete preparation guide: the cue card itself, a 60-second prep framework, a band 7.5 sample answer, topic vocabulary, and likely Part 3 follow-up questions.
Cue card
Describe a foreign country you would like to visit.
You should say:
Specific to this cue card — not generic advice.
Read it once for shape, then aloud for rhythm. Don't memorise it — examiners can tell.
The country I'd most like to visit is Japan, and specifically the more rural parts rather than just Tokyo. My interest started with a documentary I watched maybe eight years ago about elderly farmers in the prefecture of Shikoku, and the way the filmmaker showed the relationship between the land and the people stuck with me. Since then I've read a couple of novels by Haruki Murakami and a non-fiction book about onsen culture, so my picture of the country has slowly become a bit richer. If I went, I wouldn't try to do everything. I'd probably fly into Osaka rather than Tokyo, take a train down to Naoshima to spend a couple of days in the contemporary art islands, and then travel up the east coast, stopping in small fishing towns. I'd want to stay in traditional inns called ryokans, eat at family-run restaurants, and use the public baths even though the etiquette intimidates me. The reason I want to visit isn't the obvious cultural-difference angle. It's that Japan seems to take very ordinary things — making tea, cleaning, putting things in order — and treat them as serious crafts. I'd like to see whether that's still true on the ground or just a foreign romanticism.
Phrases used in the sample answer that lift fluency naturally.
stuck with me
stayed in my memory
on the ground
in actual everyday life
take very ordinary things
focus on simple daily activities
treat them as serious crafts
view them as real skilled work
etiquette intimidates me
the rules of behaviour scare me
rural parts
non-city, countryside areas
The examiner will move from your story (Part 2) to broader, abstract questions (Part 3). Prepare answers for these.