Describe a goal you are currently working towards.
An honest card — an exam, a savings target, a fitness milestone, a language level. Examiners hear 'IELTS band 7' constantly; if that is your goal, make the details unmistakably yours.
Describe a goal you are currently working towards.
You should say:
- what the goal is
- why you chose it
- what you are doing to achieve it
- explain how you will feel if you achieve it
You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make notes if you wish.
How to approach this card
If your goal is the IELTS itself, be disarmingly specific about the machinery: which module is the wall, what your last mock scored, what changed in your routine. Specificity rescues a common answer.
The 'what you are doing' point should sound like a system, not a wish: the days, the minutes, the one thing you track. One believable number does more than three adjectives.
For the final point, resist 'I will be very happy'. Say what changes: the visa application goes in, the shirt fits, you phone your father first.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- a realistic but stretching target
The collocation examiners hope to hear instead of 'big dream'.
- I have broken it into stages
Shows method; invites detail.
- progress has been uneven
Honest, and sets up a stronger finish.
- it would open the door to
Links achievement to consequence.
Part 3 discussion questions
In the test, the examiner follows your long turn with a discussion on the same theme. Practise answering these with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
- 1Why do people abandon goals in the first weeks?
- 2Is it better to share goals publicly or keep them private?
- 3How do long-term goals differ from daily habits?
- 4Should schools teach goal-setting explicitly?
- 5Do societies put too much pressure on individual achievement?