One possible part-one topic in your IELTS Speaking test is flowers. If your examiner asks about flowers, then they will probably ask, “Do you like flowers?”
Let’s take a look at how to answer this question for a good band-seven score. In this post, you’ll also see 20 example answers (go straight to the answers here).
What You Can Say About Flowers
First of all, say ‘yes, I do’ or ‘no, I don’t’ and then explain your answer with one or two more sentences.
You could talk about:
- Why you like flowers
- What type of flowers you like (it’s good to know the name of a few flowers: roses, lilies, daffodils, tulips…)
- How flowers make you feel
- How flowers smell
- A time when you saw some beautiful flowers
- Where you like flowers (in your home, on your balcony, at church…)
- When you like flowers (special occasions, weddings, on a date, Valentine’s Day, all the time…)
- What flowers symbolize (what meaning they have)
- What color of flower you like, and why
- Anything else you think of
What If You Don’t Like Flowers?
No problem, you can talk about:
- Why you don’t like flowers
- If you’re allergic to flowers (if you have hay fever)
- A person you know who likes flowers
- If you liked flowers in the past
- What you prefer to have or see instead of flowers
- Anything else you can think of
Keep It Short and Sweet
For your part-one answers, don’t ramble (talk too much). It’s better to keep your answers short and sweet.
Just give a simple answer using simple English. Focus on fluency: answer as quickly as you can, without hesitation.
Remember, part one is only a warm-up. You can start showing off your more advanced vocabulary and complex grammar in parts two and three.
Use the three-step YES Method for all your part-one answers. Just say:
- Your answer (say ‘yes, I do’ or ‘no, I don’t’)
- Explain your answer, or add more details
- Stop talking (let the examiner know you’re ready for the next question)
Your part-one answers should just be 20 or 30 seconds, not longer.
Now, here are 20 good band-seven answers to this question about flowers.
‘Yes, I Do’ Answers
1. Yes, I really like flowers. I especially like walking through parks or gardens which have large colorful flower gardens. It’s so pretty and pleasant.
2. Yes, I do. I love the fragrance of different flowers like lilies and lavender. I often have a small bunch of fresh lavender in my kitchen, to make the air smell fresh and sweet.
3. Yes, to be honest, I love getting flowers as a gift. I think its very romantic when a man gives me a bouquet of red roses on a date, or on Valentines Day.
4. Yes, I’ve always liked having flowery bushes in my garden, or on my balcony. I like to water, prune, and care for flowers. It’s so beautiful when they begin to bloom in spring.
5. Yes, I guess I do. In particular, I like wildflowers. It’s so wonderful when you’re walking in the forest and you come across a whole meadow full of yellow or pink wildflowers.
6. Yes, I like flowers. In my culture flowers are very important on special occasions like weddings or funerals. Flowers have a lot of symbolism and meaning.
7. Yes, I’ve always adored flowers since I was young and I would go to the park with my sister to find daisies and buttercups. Yellow flowers are my favorite because they remind me of those happy times.
8. I’d say I’m really into flowers, yes. I often stop at the flower shop to buy a few flowers to arrange on the coffee table in my living room. I find some colorful, sweet-scented flowers really liven a room up.
9. Yes, I do. I like how symbolic flowers are. They have a lot of special meaning. For example, in my home country of Japan we have the pink cherry blossom flowers, which bloom in spring. The cherry blossom symbolizes hope and new beginnings.
10. Yes, I do like flowers. Just last month I was visiting a friend and she had such beautiful orange and violet flowers on her balcony. It inspired me to get some too, for my apartment.
‘Kind Of’ Answers
11. Well, to be honest, I’m not much of a flower person. But my wife likes flowers a lot, and she’s always happy when I buy some carnations or orchids for her.
12. I suppose I do like flowers, somewhat. They’re pretty and they smell nice and it’s good to see colorful flowers when I go into out nature.
13. I’m not crazy about flowers. I know some people who love to fill their homes with flowers, but I’d rather just have nice pictures and posters as decoration in my own rooms.
14. Yes, I think I do like flowers. But I rarely buy flowers or think about them. My daughter sometimes brings flowers home after school and it’s nice when she does that.
15. I kind of like flowers, I guess. I like the smell of fresh roses and tulips. My country Netherlands is famous for growing tulips. There are huge, colorful fields of tulips, which look very pretty. But I never buy them for myself.
16. To be frank, I don’t like flowers, except perhaps on special occasions, like when your friend is sick and you send them flowers with a get-well card. That’s always a nice gesture.
‘No, I Don’t’ Answers
17. Not really, no. I never really think about flowers. If a man buys me flowers, I think it’s a bit cliche and boring. I’d rather have a different kind of gift, a more thoughtful gift, which I can keep for longer.
18. No, I don’t like flowers because they’re a hassle to look after and keep alive. You have to water them every day, and then they always die in the end.
19. I’m afraid I don’t like flowers because I have hay fever. That means I’m allergic to the pollen which flowers produce. It makes me sneeze, and feel terrible.
20. I’m not a fan of flowers because I’m not interested in nature and going outside. To be honest, I think flowers and plants and trees are rather boring.
Your Turn to Try
You’ve read many examples. So now it’s your turn to answer the question.
Set up the recorder on your phone and ask yourself aloud, “Do you like flowers?”
Try to answer quickly, without hesitation. Focus on fluency, not clever vocabulary.
Use the three-step YES Method to give the right length of answer.
When you’re done, listen to the recording and write down what you said. This will help you identify mistakes.
Then answer the question again. Try to improve a little each time.
By repeating this process, you’ll prepare yourself well for a band-seven score in this part-one question of the IELTS Speaking test.