IELTS Speaking Practice
- Why do people need to travel every day?
- Some people say that daily journeys like these will not be so common in the future. Do you agree or disagree?
- What problems can people have when they are on their daily journey to work or school?
- What do you think people can learn from travelling to other countries?
- Can travel make a positive difference to the economy of a country?
Cambridge 9 Speaking Test 3 Discussion Questions
Reasons for daily travelWhy do people need to travel every day?
Well, I suppose the main reasons are to go to work, school or university so they can attend their jobs, classes or whatever they need to do.
They may need to simply tavel to their office and then stay there all day, or maybe they need to travel as part of their work, visiting customers or clients or fly to another city for an important meeting.
What problems can people have when they are on their daily journey to work or school for example? Why is this?
I suppose one of the most common ones would be traffic jams, which can sometimes be very bad at peak hours when everybody is trying to travel at the same time.
Or maybe they miss the bus or train because they were a little late - and then have to wait for the next bus or train but arrive late at work or wherever they needed to go.
Then, of course, they could be involved in a traffic accident,especially if they're driving, and that can cause a lot of problems for them.
Some people say that daily journeys like these will not be so common in the future. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
That's probably true, I mean more and more people are working from home now or even working on projects in different countries using technology and so they don't need to physically travel to an office to do their work.
It would certainly make traffic less of a problem in big cities if more people could do that. Another factor which could reduce the necessity for these daily trips is the fact that many universities are now offering their courses online. So students don't have to travel to the campus every day.
And it's highly probable that more work will be done remotely in the future without the need for employees to be sitting in a company office.
IELTS Speaking Test Part 3 Discussion Questions
Benefits of international travelWhat do you think people can learn from travelling to other countries? Why?
The best thing is the experience of dealing with everything, from the planning, the actual travel and then dealiing with other people in a different country.
It's life experience and appreciating how people do things in other parts of the world is very important, especially in today's global marketplace.
The more varied your experience is the better it is for you as an individual. That's why language skills can be so important too. Traveling to other countries teaches you to plan, prepare, adapt and think on your feet as well as solve problems on your own sometimes.
It makes you more independent and resourceful. But most importantly it gives you a better understanding of the world you live in.
Can travel make a positive difference to the economy of a country? How?
Absolutely, there are many countries which rely on travel for tourism or business. In fact, in some countries tourism is the main industry so without international travel their economies would probably be in big problems.
It's not just the travel, it's the whole range of services and jobs which support the travel such as transport, accommodation, restaurants and so on.
Do you think a society can benefit if its members have experience of travelling to other countries? In what ways?
Yes, because when people travel they see other things which maybe aren't normal in their own country and they maybe like them or don't like them.
So they can either appreciate their own country more or perhaps try to improve it by introducing new ideas or ways of doing things which they have seen in other places.
All it takes is for someone to see something they like and then copy the idea in their own country, it might be as simple as a style of cafe or bar, or as complex as a transport system, but without having travelled and seen something different it probably would never have happened.