Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Speaking Interview, 26th January
IELTS SPEAKING FULL INTERVIEW
IELTS SPEAKING FULL INTERVIEW
PART – 1 INTRO PART
What is your full name?
My name is Kulwinder Kaur.
How may I address you?
You may address me as Kulwinder.
May I see your ID?
Sure, here it is.
How did your parents choose your name(s)?
To be honest, I can’t say for sure what was on my parents’ mind when they decided my name. But once I heard from my mother that my parents decided to name me Helen because they thought it was a beautiful name. Who knows, they might have been influenced by the American actress Helen Hayes MacArthur as they named me Helen Hayes!
Does your name have any special meaning?
With Greek origin, the word ‘Helen’ means ‘shining light’ and ‘Hayes’ is derived from an Irish word meaning descendant of Aodh (“fire”), or of Aed, an Irish mythological god. So the name ‘Helen Hayes’ could mean something like a descendant of the fire God who shines brilliantly!
Is your name common or unusual in your country?
The first part of my name ‘Helen’ is very common in the United States and the last part ‘Hayes’ is also customary. But together they create a less common name, I guess.
If you could change your name, would you? [Why/Why not?]
No, I would never want to change my name and why should I? My parents chose this name with great love and fervour and this name means a lot to me. I have always been Helen Hayes and want to be the same for the rest of my life. This very name defines me as a person and I will never take another name.
PART – 2 CUE CARD
Describe a TV documentary you watched that was particularly interesting.
– what the documentary was about
– why you decided to watch it
– what you learnt during the documentary
– and explain why the TV documentary was particularly interesting.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Some say it “the partisan documentary” while the others call it “fair and balanced”. But, I called it very “powerful” when I first watched the documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11”, made by Michael Moore, back in 2010. I decided to watch the documentary simply because, in my opinion, no American documentary film managed to provoke as much political controversy ever before as Fahrenheit 9/11. This is, in fact, one of the best documentaries I have ever watched.
Being filmed during the US presidential campaign of 2004, the documentary probably was aimed, in my opinion, at helping the-then democratic presidential candidate even though many argued at the same time that film-maker was actually trying to turn off swing voters and thus contribute to a Republican victory with his “strident” film-making approach.
Having raised some legitimate questions over Bush administration’s motives for war in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the disputes about the Saudi flights from the United States right after the horrific events of 9/11 in 2001, the documentary has also tried to shed some lights on the “dark” sides of American politics and corporate profiteering. I heard about this documentary for the very first time from one of my university professors who highly recommended it to us.
Being a political documentary presented with an interesting “deadpan humour” approach, Fahrenheit 9/11 served a very significant and serious purpose in proving to its audience that any war, considering that it was based on lies, was bound to cause atrocities and loss of innocent lives. Having a very passionate tone in its words and images in order to create a lingering effect in the mind, the film also proved that the then president was no “take-charge” kind of leader during a time of “serious crisis”, leaving the audiences to wonder about how the greats like Eisenhower, Reagan, Truman, Bush senior, Clinton, Nixon or Kennedy would behave in such crisis situation.
Besides, the controversial film also tried to reveal a “naked truth” during its 2-hour 3-minute run time about how some people, who are in charge of making the laws of the country, do not care to read and understand the laws. Having fashioned its arguments in favour of revealing an “uncomfortable truth”, the document was surely interesting enough to have won the Palme d’Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
PART – 3 FOLLOW UPS
What are the most popular kinds of TV programmes in your country? Why is this?
TV series, live sports competitions, news programmes, talk shows, music shows, cooking shows, documentaries, reality TV shows and weather updates are some of the most popular programme types on the TV in my country.
I believe people of all ages enjoy watching different TV series, weather updates, news programmes while the youth love to enjoy sports. Cooking shows and reality TV shows hosted by women are popular among females. Students and more serious viewers mostly watch news, music, documentaries and talk shows. Due to public demands, these TV programmes are widely common in different TV channels.
Do you think there are too many game shows on TV nowadays? Why?
I do not think that game shows and similar programmes are all over the TV channels in my country, and we have any reason to be worried about it. Since the inception of the satellite TV channels, we have dedicated channels for news, sports, documentaries, music, movies and so on. So, a particular channel may focus mostly on programmes like game shows, but their number is not that high, especially not in my country. Many TV channels broadcast a single game show in a season and have numerous other programmes on their other slots.
I think TV channels are highly competitive these days and showing too many game shows would not make much profit for them. However, we have many popular games shows that attracts a large number of audience of all ages. ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ and ‘Double Dare’ are two highly popular game shows of all time in my country.
