Can you tell me about your family?
The easy answer is a headcount: father, mother, two brothers. The better answer gives the examiner a feel for your family: how big, how close, who's who, and maybe one funny or warm detail.
Keep it to the main people. You don't need to name every cousin, and you never have to share anything personal you're not comfortable with.
Sample answers at 3 bands
Same question, three answers. Read them out loud and notice what changes: not longer words, but more detail, better linking and a bit of you in it.
There are five people in my family: my father, my mother, my two sisters and me. My father is engineer and my mother is teacher. My sisters are students.
Why it scores Band 5.5: A list of facts, with articles missing ("an engineer", "a teacher"). It doesn't say anything about the family as people.
It's a fairly big family. I've got two older sisters, and we all still live together with my parents in Ho Chi Minh City. We're quite close, maybe too close sometimes, because three daughters in one bathroom in the morning is not a peaceful situation.
Why it scores Band 7: Facts plus personality: a comment on how close they are and a humorous, specific detail. Natural and well organised.
I come from a fairly noisy household. There are my parents, my two older sisters and, unofficially, my grandmother, who lives next door but somehow spends all day in our kitchen. My sisters are both very ambitious, so as the youngest I've always been the one keeping the peace at dinner.
Why it scores Band 8: "Household", "unofficially" and "keeping the peace" are precise and natural. It creates a picture of the family's dynamic, not just its members.
Bands are our estimate against the public IELTS Speaking band descriptors. In the real test your band comes from all three parts, not one answer.
The follow-up questions
Part 1 stays on one topic for three or four questions. These are the ones that usually come next.
- Who are you closest to in your family?
- My middle sister. We're only two years apart and we shared a room until she went to university, so we've had every possible argument and come out the other side.
- Do you spend much time with your family?
- Every day, since we live together, though not always quality time. We make a real effort on Sundays, when we all have lunch together and nobody is allowed to look at their phone.
- Are families in your country usually big or small?
- They used to be big, especially in the countryside. In the cities they're getting smaller, mostly because of the cost of living. A lot of young couples now have one or two children.
- Would you like to have a big family in the future?
- Maybe a medium-sized one. I love the chaos of a big family, but I've also seen how hard my parents worked to support us, so I'd like to be a bit more realistic.
Words that lift this answer
- a close-knit family
- A family whose members are very close.
- an extended family
- Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
- take after
- Be similar to a parent: "I take after my dad."
- get on (well) with
- Have a good relationship with someone.
- household
- All the people who live in one home.
- quality time
- Time spent together giving each other full attention.
Mistakes that cost marks here
- Listing every family member's job and age. Pick what makes your family yours.
- Missing articles: "My father is engineer". Say "an engineer".
- "We are four people". The natural form is "There are four of us".
Reading answers won't move your band. Saying them will.
Take a full Cambridge Speaking test: the examiner's questions are played out loud, you answer, and you get a band for fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. 10 free corrections a day.