Describe a place you would like to live one day.
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 place you would like to live one day.
You should say
- where the place is
- what you know about it
- what you would do there
- and explain why you would like to live there
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 193 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.I would like, at some point, to live somewhere on the coast in the south, in one of the smaller towns rather than a city. I have spent about five holidays in that part of the country and I am aware that a holiday tells you almost nothing about living somewhere, so I hold the idea fairly loosely. What I know about it is that it is slower, it is considerably wetter than where I live now, and the economy is largely fishing and tourism, neither of which I could work in. So the honest version of this plan requires me to keep a job I can do remotely. What I would do there is not dramatic. Walk, cook, swim in water that is not a swimming pool, and have the kind of week where two things happen instead of nine. The reason is that I have noticed I am a much better version of myself with less stimulation, and I would rather find that out properly than keep visiting it. I give it about a sixty per cent chance of happening, which is considerably higher than most things I say at dinner.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- coast
concrete geography in one short word
- loosely
adverb that qualifies the plan honestly
- economy
four syllables with the stress on the second
- tourism
the right abstract noun for the industry
- remotely
the modern sense of working at a distance
- dramatic
three syllables with the stress on the second
- stimulation
four syllables with the stress on the third
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the kind of place before the specific one.
- 2Say what you actually know, and admit the limits.
- 3Describe the daily life, concretely and modestly.
- 4Give the real reason, about yourself.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a place you would like to live one day.” 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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