People and relationships
Person cards are the most common single family in Part 2, and the easiest to answer badly. The trap is that describing someone invites a list of adjectives — kind, hardworking, funny — which uses almost no range and runs out after forty seconds. Strong answers treat the person as a story: one relationship, one or two scenes, and a reason the person matters that you actually believe.
What the examiner is listening for
Whether you can characterise a person through behaviour rather than adjectives, and whether you can sustain a description without collapsing into a list. Person cards are also where relative clauses, habitual past forms, and evaluative language come out most naturally.
How to spend the preparation minute
You get exactly sixty seconds with a pencil and a sheet of paper. This is how to divide them on a card of this shape.
- 0:00–0:15
Pick and name
Choose one real person and write their name or role. Do not spend the minute deciding who is most impressive — the most talkable person always beats the most impressive one.
- 0:15–0:30
Two scenes
Write two short scene notes: a specific moment you can picture. 'Kitchen, 6am, teaching me to make roti' is worth more than 'she is a good cook'.
- 0:30–0:45
One quality, evidenced
Write one quality word plus the behaviour that proves it: 'patient — never once raised her voice at the till'. This is the sentence pattern that lifts the answer.
- 0:45–1:00
The 'why' ending
Note how the person changed something for you. The final bullet on person cards is almost always an explain point, so plan the ending, not the opening.
Language that transfers across every card here
- we go back a long way
Idiomatic way to establish a long relationship in four words.
- he has a knack for…
Natural collocation for a talent someone makes look easy.
- she is the kind of person who…
Sets up a relative clause and invites behaviour rather than an adjective.
- what strikes me about her is…
A cleft structure that sounds considered and buys you thinking time.
- he took me under his wing
Idiom for someone who guided or protected you early on.
- I look up to him
Everyday phrasal verb for admiration; better than 'I respect him' repeated.
- she never makes a fuss about it
Understatement, which raters hear as natural rather than rehearsed.
Grammar this family pulls out of you
Grammatical range is a quarter of your Speaking band. These structures arise naturally on these cards, so you do not have to force them in.
- Non-defining relative clauses
- “My aunt, who has run the same shop for thirty years, still knows every customer's order.”
- 'Used to' and 'would' for habitual past
- “He would sit with me every evening until the homework was finished.”
- Present perfect for a continuing relationship
- “We have known each other since primary school.”
What costs people marks on these cards
- Listing adjectives with no evidence. Three adjectives take ten seconds and prove nothing; one adjective plus a thirty-second scene proves everything.
- Choosing a famous person you have only read about. You lose the personal detail that makes the answer fluent, and the vocabulary turns into biography.
- Forgetting the relationship. The examiner cannot picture the person unless they know how you know them and how often you see them.
Cue cards in this family
14 cards- PeopleDescribe an older person you enjoy talking to.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a time when you helped someone learn something new.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a person you know who is very good at their job.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- FamilyDescribe a tradition your family keeps.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a teacher who expected more from you than you expected from yourself.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a neighbour who is always willing to help others.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a child you know who is very curious about the world.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a person who is well known in your local area.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- FamilyDescribe a member of your family you would like to be more like.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a stranger who helped you when you needed it.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe someone who keeps a group of people together.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a friendship that has survived a big change in your lives.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- FamilyDescribe a relative you have become closer to as an adult.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
- PeopleDescribe a friend you know you can rely on.Ideas, model answer & Part 3
Where Part 3 usually goes after these cards
The examiner follows your long turn with a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, worked from two related discussion topics. On this family the discussion tends to travel in these directions.
- Whether qualities like patience or leadership can be taught or are innate
- How the people young adults admire have changed across generations
- The role of the family versus school in shaping character
- Whether social media has changed who becomes a role model
- How workplaces should recognise people who are good at their jobs
The timing you are rehearsing against
- 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.