The cue card
Describe a person who has had an important influence on your life.
You should say:
- who this person is
- how long you have known this person
- what this person has done for you
and explain why this person has been so important to you.
You have one minute to make notes, then speak for one to two minutes.
Band 8–9 sample answer
Written by Abroadway as a model of natural, high-band speaking (not an official IELTS sample).
I'd like to talk about my aunt, my father's younger sister, who is a doctor at a government hospital in Dhaka. In our family we call her Phupu, and she's probably the main reason I take my studies as seriously as I do. I've obviously known her my whole life, but we only became really close about four years ago, when I moved from Cumilla to Dhaka for my HSC and ended up living in her flat in Dhanmondi. Before that, she was just the busy relative who turned up at Eid with a box of sweets and left early because she was on call.
What she did for me was mostly quite practical. She noticed straight away that I was studying for hours without really getting anywhere, so she sat me down and helped me draw up a realistic timetable, with proper breaks and, crucially, enough sleep. When I did badly in my first test exams, I was convinced I'd let everyone down, but instead of lecturing me she went through every paper with me and showed me that most of my mistakes came from rushing rather than from not knowing the material. The other thing I'll never forget is the weekend she took me to a free medical camp she was volunteering at on a char near Sirajganj.
Seeing people who had travelled for hours by boat just to have their blood pressure checked was a real eye-opener. The reason she matters so much, I think, is that she showed me, without ever preaching, that success isn't really about status. She works incredibly long hours, yet she's never cynical about her patients. Even now, whenever I'm tempted to cut corners, I find myself wondering what she'd say, and that alone is usually enough to keep me on track.
Useful phrases from this answer
- on call
- ready to go to work at any time if needed, especially doctors
- draw up a realistic timetable
- plan a practical study schedule
- a real eye-opener
- an experience that surprises you and teaches you something new
- without ever preaching
- without giving moral lectures
- cut corners
- do something carelessly to save time or effort
- keep me on track
- help me continue doing what I should do
- carried enormous weight
- were very important and respected
- gatekeepers of knowledge
- people who control who can get information
Part 3 follow-up questions and answers
Who usually has more influence on children, their parents or their friends?
I'd say it depends largely on the child's age. When children are small, parents are by far the main influence, because they control almost everything, from what the child eats to which values are discussed at the dinner table. Once children reach their teens, though, friends tend to take over, at least on the surface, in things like clothes, music and the way they talk. Even so, I'd argue that the deeper things, such as attitudes to work, religion or money, are still mostly shaped at home. In Bangladesh, where many children grow up in extended families, grandparents and older cousins also play a bigger role than people sometimes realise.
Do teachers have as much influence on young people today as they did in the past?
Probably not, at least not in the same way. In the past, a village schoolteacher was often one of the few highly educated people a child knew, so their words carried enormous weight, both inside and outside the classroom. Today young people can get information and opinions from countless sources online, so teachers are no longer the only gatekeepers of knowledge. Having said that, I don't think their influence has disappeared; it has simply become more personal. A teacher who genuinely believes in a struggling student can still change the direction of that student's life, and that's something no video or app can really replicate.
In what ways do famous people influence the behaviour of teenagers?
Mostly through what they wear, buy and say, because teenagers are at an age when they're trying to work out who they are. If a popular cricketer or singer promotes a particular brand of trainers or a new hairstyle, you can see it spread through a school within weeks. Social media has made this far more intense, since teenagers now feel they have a direct, almost personal relationship with these celebrities. The influence isn't always negative, though. When famous people speak openly about mental health or support a good cause, they can make it socially acceptable for young people to do the same, which is arguably very valuable.
Is it better for young people to choose role models from their own families or from public life?
In my view, the ideal is a mixture of both. Role models within the family have the huge advantage of being real and visible; you see how they cope with bad days and difficult decisions, not just a polished public image. On the other hand, families can be quite limited in what they show you. If nobody in your family has ever been an engineer or an artist, a public figure might be the only proof that such a path is even possible. So I think public role models are useful for widening young people's ambitions, while family members are better at teaching everyday values like honesty and patience.
How might the people who influence young people change in the future?
I suspect online personalities will become even more influential than they are now, simply because young people spend so much of their time on platforms where these people are constantly visible. We may also see more influence from what you might call micro-celebrities, people with fairly small but very loyal followings in a particular niche, such as coding or fitness. Another possibility, which is slightly worrying, is that AI-generated characters could start to play a role, since they can be designed to be endlessly appealing. Even so, I'd like to think parents and good teachers will remain important, because trust is built through real relationships, not just through screens.
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