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This IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card asks you to talk about an older person you admire, covering who this person is; how you know them; what they are like; and explain why you respect them.. Below is a band 9 sample answer with tips on structuring a two-minute talk.
Describe an old person you know and respect.
You should say:
You have one minute to prepare and may make notes. Then speak for one to two minutes; the examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions.
The person I respect most is my maternal grandfather, who is in his late seventies and still one of the most energetic people I know. He was a schoolteacher for nearly forty years, and although he retired long ago, half our town still greets him as "sir" in the street, which tells you the impression he left. I know him, of course, as family, but I really came to admire him during my school holidays, which I often spent at his house. He has a fixed routine that has not changed in decades: he wakes before sunrise, tends his small vegetable garden, reads two newspapers thoroughly, and tutors neighbourhood children in the evenings completely free of charge. What makes him remarkable is his combination of discipline and gentleness. I have never heard him raise his voice, yet everyone naturally listens to him. He also refuses to stop learning — two years ago he asked me to teach him video calling, and he now runs a small online reading group for his former students. I respect him because he treats old age as a stage of contribution rather than withdrawal. He often says that a person rusts faster than he wears out, and his life is the proof of that philosophy.
After your talk, the examiner moves to more abstract questions linked to this cue card.
In my culture, elders are traditionally treated with marked respect — seeking their blessings before big decisions, and living in joint families that keep them central. Urbanisation is loosening this, as children migrate for work, but the underlying expectation of care and deference remains strong.
Perspective, mainly. Older people have watched fashions, crises and technologies come and go, so they distinguish the urgent from the important better than we do. They also model patience and frugality — skills my generation, raised on instant everything, badly needs. Their mistakes are free lessons for us.
Ideally, whichever preserves both dignity and connection. Living with family suits our culture and prevents loneliness, but it can cost elders their independence. I like the middle path becoming common: living nearby rather than together, with daily contact. The worst option is not either arrangement, but isolation.
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