5.2. Describing People, Places, and Objects
Pick the one you can picture, name it exactly, and give each bullet one detail a listener could see.
Now I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk, you'll have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes if you wish.
Describe a person who helped you when you were new somewhere.
You should say:
- who the person was
- where you were
- what they did to help
and explain how you felt about their help.
The short version
Name the thing exactly: the caretaker at my first hostel, not a kind man.
Take the bullets in order and give each one one detail a listener could see.
A named detail fills twenty seconds. An adjective fills two.
Very nice and very kind stop the talk instead of building it.
What you have to do
The card asks you to describe a person, a place or an object. You get one minute to note a word or two per bullet. Then you talk alone for one to two minutes, until the examiner stops you. Describing means naming things a listener could see or hear. For example, a repaired strap, a corner table, a woman who rings rather than texts. The talk is marked on fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, not on how impressive the person or place is.
What a named detail is
A named detail is something a listener could picture or check. For example, a bunch of keys on a shoelace round his neck, not a helpful man. Empty adjectives such as nice, kind, beautiful and useful sound like a verdict and leave nothing to say next. A named detail leads to the next sentence on its own. The keys open the laundry room, and the laundry room is where he showed you the machines.
Step by step
- 1Read the card and pick the one thing you can picture
Read the topic line twice and decide, inside the minute, which person, place or object you can see most clearly. Not the most impressive one: the one whose details come to you without effort. On the helper card, that might be the caretaker at your first hostel rather than a teacher you barely remember. Write their name or job beside the topic line.
- 2Name it exactly, then one feature a listener could see
Your first sentence names the thing. The person I want to describe is Marek, the caretaker at the hostel I moved into in Kraków. Your second sentence gives one feature a listener could see or hear. For example, the bunch of keys on a shoelace round his neck. Those two sentences are your opening. Write two words for each at the top of your notes.
- 3Take the bullets in order, one named detail each
Let each bullet start a section: Where I was, was..., What he did was.... Give each about 20 seconds, which is two or three sentences. Put one named detail in each: the street, the week, the thing they carried. The and explain line is your close. Say it as a reason: I felt looked after because he did it before I asked.
- 4Cut the empty adjectives
Cut very nice, very kind, very beautiful and really useful. They sound like a verdict and leave nothing to say next. Replace each with the thing it stands for. Not he was very kind, but he walked me to the tram stop the first morning and waited until I got on. A habit describes a person better than a compliment.
- 5If stuck, add the reason it stayed with you, or switch to a habit
If a bullet runs dry, say why that detail stayed with you. I remember the keys because I heard them before I saw him every morning. If the person or place will not come, switch to a habit connected to it. For example, what you do there on Sundays, or what they always said at the door. Keep talking until the examiner stops you.
Describe a person who helped you when you were new somewhere. You should say: what they did to help
The first morning he knocked at about seven, before I had worked out where the tram stop was, and walked me down there himself. He stood on the platform until the number 8 came, pointed at the stop I needed on the map inside the door, and then went back to sweep the yard as if it was nothing.
One person, one morning, one tram. Nothing here is kind or helpful, and the twenty seconds fills itself with things a listener can see.
Quiz time5 questions
Each drill gives you one line from a describing card and works on one step. Practise the judgement, not the whole talk.
Name the thing first
Three candidates begin their talk on this card. Choose the opening that names the place.
Read thisDescribe a place you go to when you want to be alone.
Which opening names the place?
Spot the empty adjective
Three sentences from a talk on this bullet. One is an empty adjective sentence that says nothing a listener can picture. Which?
Read thisDescribe an older person you admire. You should say: what this person is like
Which sentence contains the error?
Turn a note into a spoken sentence
These are one candidate's notes for the bullet. Say them as one or two spoken sentences that name the object and give a detail a listener could see.
Read thisDescribe something you own that is old. You should say: what it looks like
green enamel teapot / chip on the spout / grandmother's kitchen
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Keep going when the bullet runs dry
The candidate has reached the last line of the card and has said the place is quiet. Choose what they should say next.
Read thisand explain why this place is special to you.
Which sentence keeps the talk going?
One bullet, out loud
Speak for about 20 seconds on this one bullet, using a shop of your own. Name the shop, then give two things a listener could see inside it.
Read thisDescribe a shop you go to often. You should say: what it looks like inside
Describe a shop you go to often. Say what it looks like inside.
Record your answer (30s maximum)
0:00 / 0:30
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
The full talk
Below is one bullet on a person card answered in full, then an empty and a named place answer. Read them once for the shape: a habit a listener can picture, then why you still rely on it or still go.
Describe a person who changed your plans.
She is the friend who rings rather than texts when something goes wrong. At ten the night before our coast trip she called to say her youngest had a fever, and she had already looked up the refund page for me. I still book day trips with her, because she is the one person who will cancel in time rather than let me wait at the coach stop.
No very kind. What describes her is a habit a listener can picture: she rings, she cancels in time. Then a reason you still rely on it. That fills the time a compliment cannot.
The same place
I like a canal near my house. It is very beautiful and very peaceful. I go there because it is nice.
I go to a canal towpath about ten minutes from the station. At the lock you stop hearing the ring road. I go on Sunday mornings because that is the hour I walk without my phone.
Your turn to speak2 questions
Replace the empty adjective
Keep the topic (an object you use most days). Cut very nice and very useful, and put in one feature a listener could picture plus a reason you still use it.
I have a bag that I take everywhere. It is very nice and very useful, and I like it a lot.
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Describe a place with one feature
Sixty to ninety seconds. Name the place, give one feature a listener could picture, and say why you go. Use a place of your own, not the towpath above.
Describe a place near your home that you go to often. Say where it is, what it is like, and why you go there.
Record your answer (90s maximum)
0:00 / 1:30
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Tips
- Choose the one you can see
The best person to describe is the one whose kitchen you can picture, not the most admirable one. Detail comes from seeing, and detail fills time.
- A habit beats a compliment
What someone always does, on which day, at which door, tells the examiner more than any adjective. It also hands you the next sentence.
- One detail per bullet is enough
You do not need five features. One named detail and the reason it stayed with you takes each bullet past twenty seconds.
Recap
Pick the person, place or object you can picture, and name it exactly in the first sentence.
Take the bullets in order, with one detail a listener could see in each.
Cut the empty adjectives, and when a bullet runs dry, add the reason it stayed with you or a habit.
Next: cards that ask for a story rather than a description.