IELTS Speaking Questions: Gifts
Gifts questions in Part 1 are warm and personal: whom you give gifts to, how you choose them, what you have received and what you remember. They ask about choosing and giving, so a direct answer plus one specific example, such as a gift for a friend, is enough.
Part 3 turns the same subject abstract and cultural, asking why people exchange gifts, whether the thought matters more than the object, how online shopping has changed gift giving and how customs might change. Prepare two or three real details about gifts you have given or received, plus one clear opinion on gift giving in society, rather than a memorised answer.
Part 1 questions
Short, personal, present-tense. Answer the question directly first, then add the one detail the tip suggests — the extension is what separates a one-line answer from a Band 7 one.
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Do you like giving gifts to other people?
How to extend itSay yes or no, then explain what you enjoy about it.
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When do you usually give gifts?
How to extend itName one or two occasions, then give a recent example.
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How do you choose a gift for someone?
How to extend itDescribe your method, then add a specific example.
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Do you prefer to give practical gifts or surprising ones?
How to extend itPick one, then give a reason with a short example.
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Do you enjoy receiving gifts?
How to extend itSay yes or no, then describe how it makes you feel.
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What was the last gift you received?
How to extend itName the gift, then say who gave it and why.
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Do you keep the gifts that people give you?
How to extend itState your habit, then give one example of something kept.
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Do you wrap gifts yourself or ask a shop to do it?
How to extend itState your habit, then give one practical reason.
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Did you receive many gifts when you were a child?
How to extend itContrast childhood with now, and add one memory.
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Do you prefer to make a gift by hand or buy one?
How to extend itPick one, then explain why in a single sentence.
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Is there a gift you have never forgotten?
How to extend itDescribe it briefly, then say why it stayed with you.
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Is it easy for you to choose a gift for a friend?
How to extend itGive your honest view, then one example of a difficult choice.
Part 3 questions
The same topic, pitched at the abstract level the examiner moves to after your cue card. These want reasoning — a position, a cause, an example, a concession — not a description of your own life.
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Why do people give gifts to each other in so many cultures?
How to structure itGive one main reason, then a supporting example.
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Are gifts as important today as they were in the past?
How to structure itState a view, then compare past and present with a cause.
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Do you think the thought behind a gift matters more than the gift itself?
How to structure itTake a position, then concede one fair counterpoint to it.
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How has online shopping changed the way people choose gifts?
How to structure itName the main change, then one concrete effect.
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Should businesses and officials be allowed to accept gifts?
How to structure itTake a position, then concede one practical concern.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of exchanging gifts at festivals?
How to structure itCover both sides, then say which matters more.
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Do older and younger people think differently about gifts?
How to structure itCompare the two groups, then suggest a reason for the gap.
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Can gifts improve a relationship, or can they cause problems?
How to structure itGive both effects, then say which is more likely and why.
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Is it better to give an experience than an object as a gift?
How to structure itTake a side, then weigh one benefit against one drawback.
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How might the way people give and receive gifts change in future?
How to structure itPredict a trend, then explain what is driving it.
Say the answers out loud, then sit the whole test
Reading a question and answering it are different skills. Work through the list above aloud, then put the topic inside a full timed test where you cannot stop to think.
- Describe a gift you received that was special to you Part 2 cue card, with the one-minute prep timer
- Describe a gift you would like to buy for a friend Part 2 cue card, with the one-minute prep timer
Part 1, a cue card, then Part 3 — timed, in your browser, about 13 minutes.
One cue card a day on Telegram
A new Part 2 card every morning, a vocabulary topic on Sundays.
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