Describe a neighbour who is always willing to help others.
A card about the person on your street or in your building whom everyone turns to. Small, practical favours are the evidence, so collect two or three before you start speaking.
The task card
Describe a neighbour who is always willing to help others.
You should say:
- who this neighbour is
- how long you have known them
- what kinds of help they offer
and explain what effect they have on the people around them.
Now say it yourself
Record your own two minutes on this card and have it transcribed and marked against the Speaking criteria. Practising is free; the band estimate is part of Pro.
Record my answerHow long you have
- 1 minute
Preparation
The examiner hands you the card, paper and a pencil. Make notes — a few words per cue point, never sentences.
- 1–2 minutes
Your long turn
Speak until the examiner stops you at two minutes. Finishing early is the most common self-inflicted problem in Part 2.
- 1–2 questions
Rounding off
The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions, then moves straight into the Part 3 discussion on the same theme.
Part 2 takes three to four minutes in total. The whole Speaking test runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts, and Part 3 that follows lasts four to five minutes.
How to approach this card
Open with who the neighbour is and one detail that places them: the woman in the flat opposite who works from home, the retired couple whose door is always open. Say roughly how long you have known them, because it explains how you have seen enough to judge.
For 'what kinds of help', give a range rather than a single favour — taking in parcels, lending tools, checking on an elderly resident, knowing which plumber to call. Then slow down for one specific episode, ideally one that involved you, so the help is shown rather than listed.
The final bullet asks about effect, so move beyond the neighbour to the street or the building: people talk more, newcomers settle faster, small problems get solved before they become complaints. The common mistake is ending with 'she is very kind', which describes the person but not the effect.
Model answer
Speak your own answer first. Examiners are trained to spot memorised speeches and mark them down — use this to study structure, pacing and naturalness, never to recite.
Show the model answer
The neighbour I'd like to describe is Nasreen, who lives on the ground floor of my building and runs a small clothes-alteration business from her front room — so she's home most of the day, sewing machine going, door usually propped open. I've known her for about five years, ever since I moved in, and I think she was the first person in the building to learn my name. Actually, she learned it from my post, because within a week she'd already taken in two parcels for me. The help she offers is always practical. She keeps spare keys for maybe half the flats. She knows which plumber won't overcharge, which day the recycling goes out, and which of the older residents hasn't been seen for a couple of days. She once spent a whole afternoon helping a new family upstairs with their children's school admission forms, simply because she'd overheard them sounding confused on the stairs. The time it really hit home for me was my first winter there. I had a nasty bout of flu and didn't leave the flat for four days. On the third day there was a knock — Nasreen, with a flask of lentil soup and a box of paracetamol — because she'd noticed my post piling up in the mailbox. I hadn't told a soul. What effect does she have? I'd say she's the reason our building feels like a building rather than forty separate flats. Because she helps without keeping score, other people have started doing the same — there's a little shelf by the mailboxes now where people leave things they don't need. She set the standard without ever announcing it, and the rest of us are slowly catching up.
Why this works: The answer shows help through a range of small, practical favours and then slows down for one episode the speaker lived through — the flu, the soup, the unopened post. The final bullet is answered at the level of the whole building, with the shelf by the mailboxes as concrete evidence that her example has spread, rather than ending on a description of her kindness.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- to keep an eye on
To watch over someone or something; ideal for neighbours checking on each other.
- to take in a parcel
Precise everyday phrase for accepting a delivery for someone else.
- the go-to person
The person everyone asks first; natural and informal.
- to lend a hand
To help, especially with a practical task.
- she never keeps score
Means she helps without expecting anything back; slightly informal and very natural.
- to set an example
To behave in a way that others copy; useful for the effect bullet.
- a close-knit community
A group where people know and support each other.
Part 3 discussion
After your long turn the examiner moves into a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, working from two related discussion topics with about three questions each. The first stays close to your own experience; the second widens out. Answer with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
- 1Why do people in cities often know so little about their neighbours?
- 2Should neighbours take some responsibility for vulnerable people living nearby?
- 3How can the design of housing encourage people to get to know each other?
- 4Do online neighbourhood groups bring people closer or create more conflict?
- 5Are people generally more helpful in small towns than in big cities?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: People and relationships. Model answers for Part 3: Part 3 questions and answers.