The examiner asks you some questions about yourself and about familiar, everyday topics. Answer each question aloud and record yourself if you can; the model answers unlock after you submit.
Topic 1 — Your hometown
"I'm from Cumilla, a city in the east of Bangladesh, about a hundred kilometres south-east of Dhaka. It's best known for its rasmalai, a milky sweet that people always ask you to bring back when you visit."
"Mainly the pace of life. Compared with Dhaka, it's far calmer, and in the evenings you can walk around Dharmasagar, a huge old pond right in the town centre, and actually hear yourself think."
"More than there used to be. There are a few new cafés and a shopping centre now, although most people still prefer to meet friends outdoors or sit by the water with a cup of tea."
"Definitely. Apart from the food, visitors could explore the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery at Mainamati, just outside the city, which is fascinating even if you're not especially interested in history."
Topic 2 — Weather
"I love those cool, dry winter days we get in December and January. The sky is clear, the air feels fresh, and you can actually spend time outdoors without breaking into a sweat."
"It does, yes. After several grey, rainy days in a row I tend to feel a bit flat, but as soon as the sun comes out, I've got far more energy."
"Mostly during the monsoon, because getting caught in a sudden downpour on the way to class is no fun at all. The rest of the year, a quick look out of the window usually tells me all I need to know."
Topic 3 — Keys
"Only three — one for the front door of our flat, one for the main gate of the building, and a small one for my bicycle lock. I keep them all on a ring with a little wooden fish my sister gave me."
"Once, a couple of years ago. I must have dropped them in a rickshaw, and I ended up having to call a locksmith, which was both embarrassing and surprisingly expensive."
"Yes, my aunt, who lives nearby, keeps a spare key to our flat. It's really reassuring, because if anyone gets locked out, she's only ten minutes away."
"Probably a code, because there's nothing to lose. My university uses ID cards to open the library doors, which is convenient, although if you forget your card, you're completely stuck."
Read the card, then use the 1-minute preparation timer to make quick notes. When it ends, start the 2-minute timer and speak until it stops, covering all four points.
"I'm going to talk about the time I waited for my first passport, which was about two years ago, when I'd been selected for a two-week student exchange programme in Malaysia. I was thrilled, of course, but there was one small problem: I didn't actually have a passport yet.
So I applied straight away, and normally it should take three or four weeks. Unfortunately, two things went wrong. First, the passport office was dealing with a huge backlog, because a technical problem had held up thousands of applications that month. And then, to make matters worse, it turned out that my date of birth had been typed incorrectly on the form, so the application was sent back and I had to repeat part of the process. In the end, the whole thing took almost four months.
As for what I did while I was waiting, well, at first I just kept checking the status online several times a day, which was completely pointless. After a while, though, I decided to use the time more sensibly. I started learning some basic Malay phrases, read up on the university I'd be visiting, and even got a part-time tutoring job to save up some spending money.
When the passport finally arrived, it was only nine days before my flight, so the relief was enormous. I remember literally holding it in both hands and laughing, because by then I'd half convinced myself I wouldn't be going at all. Looking back, I think the wait actually did me some good. For one thing, it taught me to double-check every form I fill in! But more importantly, it showed me that when something's out of your hands, it's far better to do something useful than to sit there worrying about it."
The examiner asks you some more general questions connected with the topic in Part 2. Answer each question aloud; the model answers unlock after you submit.
Theme 1 — Patience in everyday life
"Less patient, on the whole. My grandparents would write a letter and wait weeks for a reply, and nobody thought that was strange. Today, if a message isn't answered within an hour, people start to worry or feel ignored. I don't think human nature has changed, though; it's more that convenience has gradually raised our expectations, so any delay now feels like something has gone wrong rather than a normal part of life. In that sense, our patience hasn't disappeared; it's just been tested less often."
"Mostly, yes, but not always. Patience is essential when you're learning something difficult or looking after children or elderly relatives. However, there are situations where being too patient is actually harmful — for example, if someone puts up with poor treatment at work, or waits years for a problem to fix itself when they should really take action. So I'd say the real skill is knowing when to wait and when to push, and that usually comes with experience."
"Personality obviously plays a part — some people are simply calmer by temperament. But I think circumstances matter just as much. If you're waiting for medical results, for instance, the uncertainty is far more stressful than waiting for a bus. And people with a lot of responsibilities tend to feel that every minute lost is a minute they can't afford, so for them even a short delay can be genuinely frustrating. So I'd be careful about judging someone as impatient without knowing their situation."
"There's a real risk of that, given how much instant entertainment they have now. If every video lasts only fifteen seconds, it's hardly surprising that children struggle to concentrate on a book. Having said that, I'm not entirely pessimistic. Parents and schools are becoming more aware of the problem, and things like music lessons or long-term projects can teach children that some rewards are worth waiting for. In the end, it will probably depend on how much effort adults are willing to make."
Theme 2 — Waiting for services
"Generally, private services are much quicker, because people are paying directly and the companies are competing for customers. In a government hospital, for example, you might wait several hours to see a doctor, whereas a private clinic could see you the same afternoon. The problem, of course, is that not everyone can afford the private option, so the people with the least money often end up waiting the longest, which I think is one of the biggest inequalities in the system."
"For things like theme parks or airport lounges, I don't see a problem — it's a luxury, and people can choose. But when it comes to essential services like healthcare, I think it's much harder to justify. If wealthier patients can simply jump the queue, those who can't pay are pushed further back, and that seems fundamentally unfair. Access to treatment should depend on need, not on the size of someone's wallet. Otherwise, the gap between rich and poor simply becomes a gap in health."
"It's already reduced them in many areas — you can renew documents, book appointments and pay bills online without standing in line anywhere. So I expect physical queues will become much rarer. But I doubt waiting itself will disappear. Many services, especially healthcare, depend on the number of trained people available, and no app can create more doctors. In a sense, the queue will simply move from the corridor onto our phones. We'll still wait, just more comfortably."