Talking About Family

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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 family, language for clarifying questions, and phrases you can use to paraphrase.
Practice pronouncing /ɜː/ as in "bird" and /ɪə/ as in "beard".

Exercise 1

Warm-Up: Pronunciation Practice

Listen and Repeat

Listen and repeat after your tutor.

A) bird

B) beard

A) her

B) here

A) fur

B) fear

A) purr

B) pier

A) word

B) weird

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

People with Relationships to You

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.

grandmother

Noun

partner

Noun

cousin

Noun

mother-in-law

Noun

stepfather

Noun

fiance

Noun

nephew

Noun

aunt

Noun

Tell your tutor the names of your different family members.

For example:

"Yoshi is my cousin."

"My stepfather's name is Bill."

Adjectives

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.

hard-working

Adjective

confident

Adjective

lovely

Adjective

lazy

Adjective

quiet

Adjective

shy

Adjective

sociable

Adjective

kind

Adjective

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

For example:

"Lazy is negative."
"Lovely 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 Do you come from a large family?
	Nathan Well, yes. My family is pretty big. I've got three older sisters and one younger brother. My older sisters are all studying at university, and my younger brother is still in high school. I live with my mom and dad.
	Examiner Who in your family do you look up to most? Why?
	Nathan That's an interesting question! Well, it kind of depends on the situation, but I'd have to say my mom. She's really hard-working. She has five children and works full time as a doctor. She's very kind and she always has time for everyone. She also has a lovely smile and she's really sociable.
	Examiner Who in your family are you most similar to?
	Nathan That depends on what you mean. Everyone says I look like my brother, but I think I act most like my dad.
	Examiner Do you think you're similar at all to your brother?
	Nathan Um, yes and no. We do sort of look similar, but he's much more hard-working than I am, and a lot more confident! I'm quite lazy actually, and quiet. I guess I'm a bit shy.

Questions

Which family member does Nathan look up to most?

Why does he look up to this person?

Is Nathan similar to his brother?

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 Who in your family do you look up to most? Why?
	Chloe Well, it kind of (1) on the situation, but I'd have to say my (2)-mother. She's a lovely person. She doesn't talk much as she's rather (3), and she's really hard-(4). And she has always been very kind to me.
	Examiner Do you think you're similar to her?
	Chloe That (5) on what you (6) by "similar." We don't look the same, but I like to think that we have similar personalities. I'm also rather (7), and (8)-working!

Choose answers from the options below that fit in blanks 1 to 8

Answer Pool (Questions 1-8)

working
mean
step
hard
shy
depends
depends
shy

Exercise 5

Part 1 Test Practice

Useful Language

Nathan and Chloe use these phrases to clarify the questions they are asked. Listen and repeat them with your tutor.

Well, it kind of depends on the situation, but ...
That depends on what you mean.
That depends on what you mean by ...
Um, yes and no.

Questions

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

Do you come from a large or small family?

Who in your family do you look up to most? Why?

Who in your family are you most similar to? Why?

Exercise 6

Test Strategies

Sometimes in the IELTS test, you might not be able to remember a certain word or phrase. Instead, you might need to paraphrase your answer. Here are some useful phrases to help you do this.

Useful Language

Listen and repeat these phrases with your tutor.

I can't remember the word in English, but it's like a(n) ...
It's made of ...
It's used for ...
It's not a ...
It looks like a(n) ...
It's similar to ...

Choose one of these pictures and use at least three expressions from above to describe it. Your tutor will try to guess which picture you're talking about.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5