Speaking for IELTS - A helpful person you have worked or studied with

Describe a person you have worked or studied with that was very helpful.
You should say:
  • who he/she was
  • how you met him/her
  • what he/she did to help you
and say what you learned from the experience.

IELTS Speaking Test Part 2

Sample Answer

In life, we always meet many different people, but sometimes you meet someone who is always willing to help. I met someone, he was not my co-worker or a fellow student, he was my neighbour.

I had been working in a coffee company since moving home, and I had rented a comfortable space to live in, with good lighting for painting and reading.

But, unfortunately, everything suddenly changed, from one moment to another, turning from being good to everything being quite difficult.

Months before, I had met him, I won’t mention his name, but I can say that he was someone with a lot of enthusiasm and experience of life and a great passion for coffee. I met him at the house where I moved to, as he was living there.

Anyway, suddenly, I was out of work and my landlord asked me to vacate the space where I was living.

Hard times! I did not know what to do. But my neighbour helped me to solve many of those problems, not only directly, but also indirectly, through his experience and way of understanding life.

I began to work with him and received his help to stay in the same place where I was living without having to move.

He was always very attentive regarding how he could collaborate to help me; however, his collaboration was not only for me, as in general he always helped the people around him.

He was very adept at finding practical solutions to problems, his life experience had made him very capable of finding quick answers and finding instant and functional ways to achieve objectives.

He sees solutions all the time, always being proactive, and he is a very good problem solver and always shows a professional and positive attitude to finding a solution.

I believe that in some circumstances in life, we need assistance and that the support that someone can give you is important and valuable.

Sometimes it is not even the deeds, but the words, or seeing how other people deal with things, that helps most.

Finally, I learned from this experience that having support from other people makes life better and easier.

The experience of living with him these days has taught me that helping others gives meaning to life; you are better when you care about other people when you give a hand, and when you know you have other people around you.