Do you have any plants at home?
Yes, a handful. We live in a flat, so there's no garden, but my mother keeps about a dozen pots on the balcony, including aloe vera, a couple of money plants and a chilli plant that actually produces chillies. I've got a small snake plant on my desk as well, mainly because it's almost impossible to kill.
Do you know much about looking after plants?
Only the basics, honestly. I know that most plants need decent sunlight and that overwatering is just as harmful as forgetting them. My mother is the real expert; she can tell from a single yellowing leaf exactly what's wrong. During the monsoon, for instance, she moves certain pots indoors so their roots don't rot.
What is your favourite flower?
I'm very fond of the shapla, the water lily, partly because it's our national flower and partly because it looks so delicate floating on a pond. But if we're talking about scent, nothing beats beli, a kind of jasmine. Street sellers make little garlands from it, and the fragrance is lovely in the evening.
Do people in your country often give flowers as presents?
More than they used to, especially among young people. On Valentine's Day or Pohela Falgun, the first day of spring, the flower stalls in Shahbag are packed and people buy roses or marigold crowns for each other. Older generations, though, still tend to see flowers as a nice extra rather than a proper gift.
Are there many parks or green spaces near your home?
Unfortunately not. I live in a fairly crowded part of Dhaka, and most of the open land has been built on over the years. There's one small park about fifteen minutes' walk away, but in the evenings it's so full of people that it hardly feels peaceful. For proper greenery, I have to go to Ramna Park or the Botanical Garden.
Would you like to have a garden one day?
I'd love one, even if it's only a small rooftop garden. I picture myself growing tomatoes, coriander and a few flowering plants, then sitting up there in the evening with a cup of tea. Realistically, land in Dhaka is far too expensive for a proper garden, but rooftop gardening is catching on here, so it feels achievable.
Sample answers written by Abroadway as models of natural, high-band speaking (not official IELTS samples).
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