Describe a shopping area where you like to spend time.
A card about a mall, a high street, an old bazaar or an arcade of small shops. The phrase 'spend time' matters: the card is about the place as somewhere to be, not just somewhere to buy.
The task card
Describe a shopping area where you like to spend time.
You should say:
- where it is
- what kinds of shops and places it has
- when you go there and who with
and explain why you enjoy spending time there.
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
Name the place and its type in one phrase — 'the narrow book bazaar behind the clock tower', 'a covered arcade of phone-repair stalls next to the bus stand'. Then describe the mix of shops in groups rather than one by one: food, clothes, small repair stalls.
'When you go and who with' is a natural place for a routine: weekend evenings with cousins, a lunchtime walk alone, a monthly trip with your parents. Habits let you use present simple and frequency expressions without sounding forced.
Because the card is about spending time rather than shopping, describe what you actually do there: walk, people-watch, eat, browse without buying. Honest answers — 'I mostly go for the street food at the far end' — sound natural and are often more interesting.
For the final bullet, explain what the place offers beyond shops: somewhere free to meet friends, a safe place to walk, the atmosphere. The common mistake is listing brands until the answer sounds like an advertisement.
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 shopping area I like most is a large mall on the edge of my city, about twenty minutes from my house by auto-rickshaw — although, to be fair, I hardly ever buy anything there. It's a fairly standard modern mall: four floors arranged around a big open centre with glass lifts, clothing brands on the lower levels, electronics and a bookshop higher up, and a food court and a cinema right at the top. There's also a small supermarket in the basement where I sometimes pick up groceries, so I'm not completely innocent. I go mostly in summer, in the evenings, and usually with my cousins. In May and June the temperature where I live can reach forty-five degrees, so the mall turns into a sort of public living room: it's cool, it's free to walk in, and it feels safe. What surprised me is that it's like that in the mornings too. Before the shops open, a group of retired people walk laps of the ground floor — the security guards let them in early — and once I even joined my grandfather for it. The air conditioning is a big part of the appeal, I won't pretend otherwise. What keeps me going back, though, is that there aren't many places in my city where you can walk for an hour, meet friends, sit down without paying and watch the whole city go past — teenagers on awkward first dates, big families sharing one pizza, people practising their selfies by the fountain. It's a bit artificial, I know, and I do feel sorry for the small shops in the old market, which have lost a lot of customers to places like this.
Why this works: Opening with 'I hardly ever buy anything there' engages immediately with what the card is really asking, and the summer heat explains the mall's role without exaggeration. The retired walkers are an unexpected but believable detail, and the speaker balances enjoyment with fair criticism — 'a bit artificial', sympathy for the small shops — ending on that plain admission rather than a rehearsed punchline.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- to window-shop
To look at things in shops without intending to buy.
- to people-watch
To watch people passing by for enjoyment.
- a food court
The area of a mall with many different places to eat.
- to hang out
Informal phrasal verb for spending relaxed time with friends.
- a bustling atmosphere
Busy and full of energy; a natural alternative to 'crowded'.
- a change of scene
A different environment that refreshes you.
- I'm not completely innocent
Light, self-aware way to admit you do sometimes buy things.
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 shopping malls attract people who are not planning to buy anything?
- 2How has online shopping affected traditional shopping streets?
- 3Should town centres be closed to cars to make shopping streets more pleasant?
- 4Do large malls take customers away from small independent shops?
- 5Is shopping a leisure activity or simply a necessity?
- 6What will shopping areas look like in twenty years' time?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: Places. Model answers for Part 3: Part 3 questions and answers.