Describe a neighbour you get on with.
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 neighbour you get on with.
You should say
- who the person is
- how long you have known them
- what you do for each other
- and explain why you get on
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 202 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.The neighbour I would describe is a woman called Mrs Pinto who lives directly below me. She is in her seventies and has been in that flat since long before the building had a lift. I have known her for about four years, and the relationship began, as these things do, with a complaint. She came up to say my washing machine was audible through her ceiling at eleven at night, which was entirely fair. What we do for each other now is small and constant. I carry things up her stairs, she takes my deliveries and, more importantly, she knows everything about the building and tells me which of it is true. Last monsoon she noticed water coming through my balcony wall while I was away and had somebody look at it before it became serious. Why we get on is partly that we want nothing from each other. There is no obligation and no schedule. She has never once asked me a personal question, and I find that restful in a way I did not expect. I have come to think that the best neighbours are the ones who are reliably there and reliably uninterested, and she is exactly that.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- directly
adverb placing her precisely
- audible
a precise adjective few candidates reach for
- ceiling
concrete noun with a long first vowel
- deliveries
four syllables, the mechanism of the friendship
- obligation
abstract noun naming what is absent
- restful
an unusual adjective used accurately
- complaint
the noun that starts the story
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the person and place them precisely.
- 2Give the unexpected origin of the relationship.
- 3Describe the exchange concretely, both ways.
- 4Explain why it works, with something counter-intuitive.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a neighbour you get on with.” 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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