If your IELTS examiner starts talking about flowers in part one of your Speaking test, they might ask you, “Do you like to have flowers in your home?”
Let’s look at the best way to answer this question. Below, you will see 10 good example answers (go straight to the answers here).
How You Can Answer
First, say if you like flowers in your home, or not. Then add one or two more simple sentences. You can say:
- Why you like or dislike flowers in your home (or why you don’t care either way)
- If you have any flowers in your home
- How you look after them (how often you water them, give them sunlight…)
- How flowers make you feel
- What type of flowers you like and why
- What color of flowers you like and why
- Other kinds of plants you might prefer instead of flowers
- Flowers you had in your home in the past
- Flowers you would like to get for your home in future
- A friend who has flowers in their home
- Anything else that comes to your mind
Keep It Super Simple
In part one, you don’t need to give an amazing answer with fantastic vocabulary and grammar.
Just keep it super simple.
For all your part-one answers, just focus on fluency. Speak smoothly and quite quickly, without hesitation.
To do this, it’s easiest to keep your English very simple. You can use more complex vocabulary in part two, when you have more time to prepare.
Use The Three-Step YES Method
You don’t want to say too much in your part-one answers.
This is because, the more you talk, the more likely you are to make a mistake.
Also, the examiner has lots of questions (10-12) to ask you in a short amount of time (four to five minutes).
They don’t want you to say very much. You can talk more in parts two and three of the test.
In part one, use the YES Method to give just the right length of answer. Just say:
- Your answer (‘yes, I do’ or ‘no, I don’t’)
- Explain your answer (explain why you do or don’t like flowers) or add more details
- Stop talking (let the examiner know you’re ready for the next question)
Let’s take a look at 10 example answers.
‘Yes, I Do’ Answers
1. Yes, I do. I think flowers make a home much more colorful and lively, and they smell really nice. I often buy flowers and keep them in a vase of water.
2. Yes, I love having flowers in my home because it makes me feel relaxed to have something natural and colorful around my apartment.
3. Yes, I like flowers in the house. I still live with my parents and my mother often buys a little bouquet of daffodils to put on the kitchen table. They’re really pretty.
4. Yes, I feel so good when I have flowers around me. I love to bring simple flowers in from the garden, like begonias and also these purple flowers, I can’t remember what they’re called. They’re very pretty.
5. Yes, I do enjoy having flowers on my balcony, where they can get lots of sunshine. It’s quite common in Spain, where I live. I go out onto the balcony to water them every day.
6. I’ve never had flowers in my home before, but now that I think about it, it would be nice to have some pretty flowers in my room. Maybe I’ll buy some one day.
‘No, I Don’t’ Answers
7. To be honest, I wouldn’t really like having flowers at home because I’d have to water them every day. I think I’d forget and the flowers would probably die. That would be depressing.
8. No, I’m not a big fan of flowers. There’s no reason why, I just don’t think about them. I’d rather have beautiful pictures on my walls for decoration, and other things like that. But not flowers.
9. No, not really. But when I was a child, I remember we had lots of flowers around the house. It was quite nice, I suppose.
10. I’ve got nothing against flowers, but I’m afraid I have an allergy to pollen, so if I have them in my home, I’ll start sneezing and get watery eyes.
Now You Have a Try
You can see that the answers are not very long, and they’re quite simple. This is fine for part one.
So, now you give this question a go!
Set up a recorder and ask yourself out loud, “Do you like to have flowers in your home?”
Try to answer smoothly, without hesitating. Use the YES Method.
After you’ve finished, listen to your recording, and try to think of one or two ways you can improve your answer.
Then… do it again!
This is how to prepare for a great band-seven score in part one of your IELTS Speaking test.
