Onterra TutorDescribe a foreign country you would like to visit
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 foreign country you would like to visit.
You should say:
- which country it is
- what you know about it
- what you would do there
- and explain why you want to go.
Your 2-minute structure
- Open with a direct answer (10 seconds). Name your choice immediately: one sentence that answers "describe a foreign country you would like to visit". Do not waste your first 20 seconds on "that's an interesting question".
- Which country it is (about 25 seconds). Give the fact, then add one detail and one feeling. A specific memory always beats a general statement.
- What you know about it (about 25 seconds). This is where a past-tense story earns grammar marks. Set the scene in one sentence, then say what happened.
- What you would do there (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 want to go (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.
The foreign country I most want to visit is Japan, and the wish started, embarrassingly, with food videos at two in the morning. What I know about it beyond the food is a contrast I find fascinating: a country that protects thousand-year-old temples and tea ceremonies while also running bullet trains that apologise for leaving twenty seconds early. If I went, I'd split my time deliberately: a few days in Tokyo for the energy, the electronics districts and one properly excessive sushi meal, then a quieter week in Kyoto for the temples, and ideally April, because I want to stand under the cherry blossoms at least once in this life. I also want to ride the shinkansen purely to experience infrastructure that simply works, which, given where I'm from, would honestly be an emotional experience. Beyond tourism, I admire how Japan modernised without erasing itself, and I'd love to see up close what that balance looks like in daily life.
Why this answer works
- Self-aware humour (food videos, 'emotional experience') sounds fluent and relaxed.
- The tradition-vs-technology contrast gives the answer an organising idea, not just a list.
- Concrete plans (April, Kyoto, shinkansen) prove genuine engagement with the topic.
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.