Do you prefer travelling alone or with other people?
A strong Part 1 answer puts the actual answer in the first clause, adds one reason or one example, and stops. Two or three sentences, roughly forty seconds.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Do you prefer travelling alone or with other people?
no preparation, about 45 seconds to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 65 words at a natural pace — roughly what 45 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.With one other person, which I think is the ideal number. Alone you notice far more and you can change your mind about everything at noon, but there is nobody to say do you remember that to afterwards. A group of six turns every meal into a negotiation. Two people can be spontaneous and still have a witness, and that combination is hard to beat.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- ideal
precise adjective for the best option
- spontaneous
four syllables with the stress on the second
- negotiation
used humorously, which examiners notice
- witness
an unexpected noun that makes the point memorable
- afterwards
British form, and it sets up the closing idea
- combination
abstract noun that ties the answer together
How a strong answer is built
- 1Answer with a specific number rather than either option.
- 2Give the strength of travelling alone.
- 3Give the weakness of a large group.
- 4Explain why your choice beats both.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Do you prefer travelling alone or with other people?” be?
About 45 seconds. Long enough for the answer plus a reason or an example, short enough that the examiner can get through the rest of the set.
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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