Talking About Your Home

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Part 1 Preparation

Intermediate

Learning Objectives

In this lesson you will:

Practice answering questions based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test.
Learn and practice some different ways to talk about houses, language for saying how lucky or unlucky you are, and phrases you can use when you don't understand a question.
Practice pronouncing /ð/ as in "clothing" and /z/ as in "closing".

Exercise 1

Warm-Up: Pronunciation Practice

Listen and Repeat

Listen and repeat after your tutor.

A) clothing

B) closing

A) bathe

B) bays

A) teething

B) teasing

A) then

B) zen

A) breathe

B) breeze

Quiz

Your tutor will choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Quiz Your Tutor

Choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, your tutor will say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Exercise 2

Helpful Vocabulary

Listen and repeat these words and phrases with your tutor.

Types of Homes

studio apartment
townhouse
traditional building
three-bedroom apartment
shared housing
basement apartment
modern building
university dormitory

Tell your tutor which types of homes you'd like to live in, and which you wouldn't.

For example:

"I'd like to live in a studio apartment."

"I would not like to live in a traditional building."

Adjectives to Describe Homes and Neighborhoods

Listen and repeat these words with your tutor. If you don't know a word, ask your tutor to read the definition and example sentence.

dark

Adjective

modern

Adjective

sunny

Adjective

old-fashioned

Adjective

quiet

Adjective

noisy

Adjective

vibrant

Adjective

diverse

Adjective

Tell your tutor which adjectives are positive and which are negative.

For example:

"Dark is negative."
"Quiet is positive."

Exercise 3

Speaking Test Part 1 Dialogue

Read the dialogue based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test with your tutor. You will be the examiner. At the end, you will need to answer 3 questions.

	Examiner Where do you live?
	Hyun-woo I live in Seoul, South Korea.
	Examiner How long have you lived there?
	Hyun-woo I was born here. So, quite a long time!
	Examiner What is your home like?
	Hyun-woo I have an apartment in Itaewon, which is in Seoul. My apartment is a normal size for a family, I think. It has three bedrooms, and it's on the 5th floor. We are lucky enough to have three balconies. It has heated floors, which is great in the wintertime. I like it because it's bright and light.
	Examiner What is your neighborhood like?
	Hyun-woo It's actually quite an interesting neighborhood because it's known as "Western Town." There are lots of foreigners who hang out here, so it's quite diverse. There are also lots of restaurants selling food from other countries, so my friends like to visit me in my neighborhood. It's really vibrant and busy, and there's always a lot to do. I'm lucky to live here.

Questions

Where does Hyun-woo live?

What does he like about his apartment?

What does he like about his neighborhood?

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

Read the dialogue based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test with your tutor and fill in the blanks. Your tutor will be the examiner.

	Examiner Where do you live?
	Matt I live (1) Clapham, in South London.
	Examiner What is your home like?
	Matt I live in an apartment with my three roommates. It's the basement (2) of a townhouse. Unfortunately, it's quite small and a bit dark, but we are (3) that the rent is quite cheap – for South London, anyway!
	Examiner What is your neighborhood like?
	Matt It's an awesome (4). A lot of people from lots of different countries live here. So it's really (5). I really enjoy living near Clapham Common, which is a big park that has a lake. I'm really into fishing so I'm (6) to live so close to somewhere I can catch fish!

Choose answers from the options below that fit in blanks 1 to 6

Answer Pool (Questions 1-6)

fortunate/lucky
diverse
in
apartment
neighborhood
lucky

Exercise 5

Part 1 Test Practice

Useful Language

Matt and Hyun-woo use these phrases to say how lucky or unlucky they are. Listen and repeat them with your tutor.

We are lucky enough to ...
I am lucky to ...
Unfortunately ...
We are fortunate ...

Questions

Use the phrases above to answer these questions based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test.

Where do you live?

How long have you lived there?

What is your home like?

What is your neighborhood like?

Exercise 6

Test Strategies

Sometimes you might not understand a word or a question. Here are some phrases to use to ask the IELTS examiner to repeat themselves.

Useful Language

Listen and repeat these phrases with your tutor.

Could you say that again, please?
Sorry, I didn't catch that.
Pardon?
Could you repeat the question, please?
Can you say that one more time?

Questions

Use the phrases above to ask your tutor to repeat the questions above. Then answer the questions.

How many towns or cities have you lived in?

How has your hometown changed over your lifetime? Please explain your answer.

What would you miss about your town or city if you moved away? Please explain your answer.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?