Describe a family holiday you remember.
A strong long turn names the subject in the first sentence, spends most of the two minutes on the last bullet — the why — and arrives at a prepared final line rather than trailing off.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Describe a family holiday you remember.
You should say
- where you went
- who went with you
- what you did
- and explain why you remember it
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 194 words at a natural pace — roughly what 120 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.When I was about eleven my parents took my sister and me to a hill station for two weeks, in a rented house that belonged to somebody my father worked with. It was the longest holiday we ever had, because usually it was four or five days somewhere and back. What we did was very little, which at eleven felt close to a punishment and which I now understand was the entire point. There was no television. There was a veranda, a great many books that belonged to strangers, and a path down to a tea stall about twenty minutes away that we walked to every afternoon. I remember it because of a specific thing, which is that my father, who worked constantly, was actually there. Not in the house doing something else, but present, for fourteen consecutive days. I did not appreciate it at the time at all. I have since worked out that he must have taken almost his entire year's leave to do it. I have never asked him about it directly, which is the kind of thing you only notice you have not done when you are describing it aloud.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- rented
past participle used as an adjective
- punishment
three syllables with the stress on the first
- veranda
a specific architectural noun, stressed in the middle
- consecutive
four syllables with the stress on the second
- appreciate
four syllables with the stress on the second
- stall
the exact noun for a small roadside shop
- leave
the workplace sense of the noun, precisely used
How a strong answer is built
- 1Give the place, the length and your age.
- 2Say what you did, and how you felt then.
- 3Name the detail you actually remember.
- 4Close with what you understood only later.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a family holiday you remember.” be?
You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak for up to two minutes without interruption. Aim to still be talking at ninety seconds: finishing at forty is the commonest way to lose marks on this part.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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