IELTS Speaking: another garden description

Last week I described a famous garden. Martin, an IELTS teacher who often contributes to the comments on this site, sent me a description of his own garden. You might find it more useful than my famous garden description!

Martin's description:

Today I'd like to describe my home garden, which I think is a beautiful one and which I like very much. The garden is part of my home's backyard, and my house is located in the suburbs, about a 1-hour drive from the city of San Francisco. There is a big tree right in the middle of my garden, which is surrounded by a hot tub, a small water fountain, several bushes, a section for vegetables, and different kinds of flowers.

This garden was actually one of the reasons why my wife and I chose to buy our house because it had been beautifully maintained by the previous owner’s gardener and landscaper. It’s been only 1 year since we bought the house and now we are taking care of the garden ourselves. Even though we are not experts in gardening, we still try our best to plant things that we like, such as roses and tulips, and we even grow our own tomatoes.

Whenever family and friends come to visit us, we invite them to have a relaxing time in our hot tub, and enjoy the view. So in other words, our garden has also become a kind of resort! It definitely requires lots of hard work to properly maintain the garden, but it gives us a great sense of accomplishment to “decorate” it the way we like.

All in all, the garden is one of the best features of my home and it is a place where I can relax after a long day of work or during the weekends.

Comments

[Martin]

I hope students can also find my Part2 useful to build their own speeches!

[AppleZ]

Simon, sorry for off-topic but i really need your advice. What do you think which of these vocabulary books better for IELTS: McGraw-Hill's "400 must have words for the TOEFL" or Rawdon Wyatt's "Check your vocabulary for IELTS"? The thing which confuse is that the book for TOEFL seems much easier and more understandable than the "check your vocab.". Thanks!

[Sanjaya Acharya]

The writing is raised in a natural way and therefore it feels like the writer is speaking to us.It is clear and simple.But could it be an academic essay of IELTS?

The garden described above is really personal in tone and very descriptive. Though I accept I am not good in English hence I might myself be wrong but this piece of writing can not be considered as the academic one. From the very beginning we will find the repetition of the words such as;"like" and "garden" through out the essay.

On the other hand writer engages himself only around the physical beauty of the garden where he could have mentioned the inner warmth; a beautiful garden like his provides to anybody like us.

[Anna]

Hi sanjaya,

I am also taking ielts exam ver soon. Can we practice for speaking section
Together. If it suits you then please tell me your email or Skype address. We can practice together.

[JB]

Hi sanjaya,
Just so you know that this writing appeared as an example for Speaking test, that's why you should feel like the writer is speaking to us.
Thank you Simon and Martin, i found it simple and easy to follow!

[Donsky Prynne]

It's a Speaking part 2 transcript, Sanjaya. :)

[raja]

hi
anybody want to practice ielts speaking. plz add me on skype. my id is rajas8099

thanks

[jawairia]

Hi Simon,

Martin's description is really simple and easy to follow.Thanks both of you.I want to ask that like description of one's own garden ,can we describe our family member as a favourite personality or the person who inspired me most?

Thanks and Regards.

[RY]

Hi Simon,

IELTS SYDNEY:14/1/2012 - Writing exam: some of the employers are preferring to hire employees with more social skills in addition to good qualifications. Do you agree or disagree that this is good? (Sorry, I can't remember exact question - hence,paraphrased). Speaking exam: Describe a leader (Sports,Business or Politics).

I am posting these questions in this page, as I didn't get to sort out how to post on recent exams page. Hope you don't mind. Once again, many thx for your wonderfull blog.

[bobur]

Hi, AppleZ
I had the same problem as you have. I was struggling to learn the words from that book as well. As you may probably know, there some books which I found overly hand for me, named
1. Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS;
2. English collocations in use;
3. Advanced vocabulary in use;
I hope they will help us.

thanks for drawing attention

[Sanjaya Acharya]

Dear, Anna, JB and Donsky,

Thank you all for your concern on my writing.
I was only giving my personal view point about the article.

Anna and rest of the friends I would be really happy to join you in Skype for our IELTS speaking practice.
my Skype id is:: acharya.sanjaya

Hope to catch you there.
Have a Great day Everybody :)

[Tahir]

Hi simon ,it's Tahir again., I received post about my eor and sadly result is the same. I have to take ielts again, will try to hit hard next time. Thanks for all your support.speaking was my strength as i did score 7 n more in that module but bcoz of speaking part I couldn't succeed.thats life,never mind I have study ielts for another few weeks.

[Emma]

Hi Simon and Martin,
I have been browsing all your sample speeches, they are certainly very nature. But the problem is, how much infomation do we need to include in a part 2 speaking test? Since we only have 2 minutes, we cant really talk much, can we? Also, does the examiner allow pauses?
Thank you

[Simon]

Hi AppleZ,

I'm afraid I haven't used the TOEFL book, so I can't compare them. I'd recommend using anything that you find helpful. Of course, my ebook is also a great place to find topic vocabulary :)

...

Hi Sanjaya,

This description was written for the speaking test, not the writing test. The style is perfect for speaking part 2, and it's impossible not to repeat key words like 'garden'. Of course, we would write it differently as an academic essay, but the topic "describe a garden" is itself not very academic.

...

Hi Jawairia,

Yes, a family member would be fine for that question.

...

Thanks for sharing RY!

...

Thanks Bobur. I agree that those books can be useful.

...

Hi Tahir,

Sorry to hear that you didn't get the score you need. Keep working hard, and you'll get there in the end!

...

Hi Emma,

Pauses are fine (unless they are too long and too frequent). It's difficult to say how much you need to say in the 2 minutes. My advice is to practise timing yourself and see what you can manage in the time. Recording yourself is also a good idea because it allows you to analyse your speech in terms of content, vocabulary, grammar mistakes etc.

[kaladze]

Hi Mr. Simon,

I've gone through your speaking part 1 answers and others, I rarely encountered linking phrases like "I suppose I should begin by highlighting the fact that..." or "the point I'd like to begin with is that..." thoughout the whole answers. As a just idle curiosity, what do you think such phrases are not a sign of high score for example 9 band?

Thanks for answer in advance

[Emma]

Thank you Simon.

[siya]

hi simon i had gave the same exam which RY gave in sydney but i am confused about writing task 2.can you tell me what it mean of social skills becoz i want to make sure what i write about this topic is right or wrong.plzzzz

[Amir]

Hello

Primarily, thanks to dear Simon,because of his nice and great website .
I got band 7.5 for speaking, and unfortunately I had not sufficient idea for the third part (discussion) and I was able to get 8 ...
everyone who needs help for speaking can add my skype ID :
amirmoghaddasi

[Simon]

Hi Kaladze,

Good question. No, I don't use those phrases because examiners are not impressed by them. Even a beginner can learn linking phrases, and if it were that easy, everyone would get band 9.

The sign of a high score is 'real content', not memorised phrases.

...

Hi Siya,

Social skills are things like the ability to get on well with other people, work in a team, behave appropriately in a variety of situations, communicate well etc.

...

Well done Amir! 7.5 is a great score.

[Hassib Tusher]

HI
I am Hassib...I sat for the IELTS xm at 2008 and got 6. Now again I am gonna do it...so can anybody be my speaking partner at skype. My skype details
skype name: hashib.rahman
ID: [email protected]

[Christina]

Hi Simon,
Do you have to speak with a perfect structure in Part 2? (intro, body,conclusion, like a presentation) I find it's better for me to look at the cue card and answer the bullet points first in a couple of sentences, and then look up to speak to the examiner in a natural way describing garden in a general sense. as i've already mentioned the points, i dont have to worry about the task response, so i can chat to the examiner in a natural way

That speaking sample looks like a presentaion! and im not good at that. i prefer just a general chat but of course it covers all the points on the card.

[Hassib Tusher]

I need a speaker having American accent. cause I have been practicing american accent.British accent is also welcome. is anybody can help me......

[Simon]

Hi Christina,

No, you don't need a perfect structure. Just cover the points. Your way looks fine to me.

[Hassib Tusher]

HI simon
its really very a cool website. Recently I've been recognized with it. Taking so many materials we online friends are practicing.
God bless you........
now I really need a competent speaking partner with high accent.
skype name: hashib.rahman
ID: [email protected]

[Simon]

No problem Hassib. I hope you find a speaking partner!

[nimin]

good discription but they ask for a famous garden right , is this anser is apt for that question

[Martin]

Hi Nimin,

Not sure if you've checked the original post from Simon, but the task asked to describe a beautiful garden we like. Here it is:

Describe a beautiful garden that you like. You should say
- where it is
- what you can see there
- what people do there
and explain why you like it.

Cheers,
Martin

[Antony]

Hi Simon
If an examiner ask me to describe my ideal house, could I describe my present apartment with a backyard garden? An apartment is the same as house?

[Simon]

Yes, that's fine Antony.

[Antony]

Hi Simon
Could I say there were so many people in the carriage like normal? or as usual?
Which one is better?

[Jahanzeb]

Hy I am Jahnazeb.
I am doing IELTS and want a Ielts Speaking partner. Please add me on skype.
My SKYPE ID is: zaibi_gondal

[harry]

i need your help sir . my
I am doing IELTS and want a Ielts Speaking partner. Please add me on skype.
my Skype id is .. harry.walia54