Model IELTS Speaking Answers: Your Neighbourhood – Examples

Neighbourhoods and neighbours

can be one of the very first set of questions you receive. Since these topics can also appear in Part 2 and Part 3, it is definitely a vocabulary area you should prepare for.

The following model answers cover each part of the test and a glossary of some of the higher-level vocabulary is included at the end of the page. If there are any new words for you — record them on paper or on an app so that you can review them later.

Before you read the conversation, you might like to download this free PDF quiz and have a go at completing the blanks.

Part 1-style questions

Examiner: What is your neighbourhood like?

Candidate: My neighbourhood is magnificent! All my neighbours are really friendly and outgoing, especially my next-door neighbour. He’s my age, so we often gossip about school and other things, and generally get along.

Examiner: How well do you know the people who live next door to you?

Candidate: We both attend the same school, so I know him and his family fairly well. We don’t really hang out much though, but it’s reassuring knowing I can chat to someone outside my main clique of friends.

Examiner: Do you think you are a good neighbour?

Candidate: I would like to think I am! I definitely aspire to be one, and last summer I helped my neighbours in erecting a new fence, even though I didn’t have to. I also always return their ball when it materializes in our garden. Then again, I do play the drums, which I guess could be irritating for my neighbours.

Part 2

Describe a change that could improve your local neighbourhood.

You should say:

– what the change would be

– what problems this change addresses

– how the change can be implemented

and explain how this change would improve your local area.

Candidate:

Our local neighbourhood desperately needs a desirable park. Currently, there is only a large field at the end of the street, and it is overgrown with bushes and weeds. There is an innumerable amount of children of varying ages on my street, and the nearest playpark is a significant walk away.

By revamping the field into a legitimate play area, the whole neighbourhood would be more active, and feel more like a community. Parents are always eager to make sure that their kids exercise enough, and with a real football pitch and climbing frame nearby for convenience, everyone would get out more!

The best way to do this would be to clean up the park first: right now there are loads of weeds and bushes obstructing people. Depressingly, the park is also plagued by litter, so this would need to be removed. After we’ve done that, we should construct a climbing frame and other fun equipment for younger children, such as slides and swings. 

Part 3-style questions

Examiner: Is it important for children to grow up in a good neighbourhood? [Evaluate]

Candidate: The answer is unequivocally yes. A child’s experiences growing up influences who they become as an adult. 

Along with a compassionate home environment, being in a good neighbourhood where a child can feel comfortable strolling down the street is vital for giving them a healthy childhood. A bad neighbourhood will likely either petrify a child, or cause them to fall in with the wrong crowd.

Examiner: Do you think the types of neighbourhoods people live in will change much in the future?  [Predict]

Candidate: Our world is always transforming, and so I envisage that our neighbourhoods and ways of life will change drastically in the future. People will probably go out less, as shopping centres and the retail industry moves more online.

I hope, however, that local parks, cafes, and community centres remain important, as they are the lifeblood of any neighbourhood.

Examiner: Is community becoming less important in the digital age? [Analyse]

Candidate: Community is still a crucial part of people’s lives, however many people are finding their own communities online. Although online communities are important, I fear that this is leading to the disintegration of the local community, which is a serious problem.

Finding friends online is useful, but nothing can substitute the importance of a close-knit local community. Because of this, I prefer smaller towns to bustling urban areas, as they often nurture a sense of local community as well as having the benefits of digital technology.

Definitions for IELTS Achievement Vocabulary

Part 1

magnificent — amazing / great

Outgoing — sociable

Gossip — talk / casual conversation

Get Along — be friends

Attend — to go to something

Hang Out — spend time with someone

Reassuring — removing doubt, comforting someone

clique — a group of people

Aspire — To want to be

erecting — to put up / construct

Return — To go back to something

materializes — To become visible, to arrive somewhere

Irritating — annoying, frustrating

Part 2

Desperately — To really need something

desirable — wanted

Currently — At the current time, right now

Overgrown — Covered in plants/ grown too large

innumerable — uncountable, lots of

Varying — Differing in some way

Significant — important / large

revamping — upgrading / redeveloping

Legitimate — certified / real / proper

eager — keen, interested 

Convenience— ease

Obstructing — blocking

Depressingly — sadly / upsettingly

Plagued — caused continual trouble and distress

Construct — build / create

Slides — a surface someone can slide down for fun – usually for children

Swings — A seat that swings off a bar above it – common in playgrounds

Part 3

unequivocally — definitely, undeniably

Influences — things that affect someone or something

Compassionate — supporting / showing sympathy and concern

Comfortable — something that is relaxing / physical or mental ease

Strolling — walking confidently

Vital — important

petrify — to scare

Fall in with the wrong crowd — join/become a part of a bad or problematic group

Transforming — Changing / shifting

Envisage — foresee or predict

drastically — significant, sudden

Retail Industry — the business of general sales

Lifeblood — necessary to something

Crucial — something of great important

Disintegration — Fragmentation / destruction

Serious — important with negative connotations

substitute — change something for something else

Close-knit — strong, close relationships between people within a group

Bustling — lively, packed

nurture — develop / grow

Practice Your IELTS Achievement/Goal Vocabulary 

Record yourself answering this question and send it to us for professional feedback.

Our feedback is based on the official IELTS Speaking Descriptors and will give you precise information on how to improve.

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