Tool or game
Lesson
Speaking Part 2: Describe a person who has helped you
Your first full cue card. Plan with key words, talk about a real person, and keep going for up to two minutes with simple linking phrases.
A simple four-step plan
The four prompts on the card are your plan. Talk about them in order.
- Who the person is: name, relationship, a little description
- How you know them: when and where you met
- What they did: the help, with one clear example
- Why it mattered: your feelings, then and now
Phrases that keep you talking
- To start: I'd like to talk about…
- To add detail: What I remember most is… / For example,…
- To move on: As for how I know her,… / The reason I chose him is…
- To finish: So that's why… / Even today,…
Real people work best
Choose someone you really know: a teacher, a neighbour, an older cousin. Real memories give you real details, and details are what fill two minutes.
Practise freely
Questions 1–3
Choose the best answer, A, B or C.
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Which person is the easiest to talk about for two minutes?
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Which notes are best for the one-minute preparation?
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Which sentence best explains why the help was important?
Questions 4–7
Complete the talk with a phrase from the box.
I'd like to talk aboutWhat I remember most isAs for how I know herEven today
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my aunt Rina, who helped me with maths.
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, she's my mother's younger sister, and she lived with us for a few years.
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the way she never got angry, even when I made the same mistake ten times.
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, I think of her whenever I solve a difficult problem.
Your turn: the cue card
Describe a person who has helped you.
You should say:
- who this person is
- how you know them
- what they did to help you
and explain why their help was important to you.
Preparation
1:00
Your recording stays on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
Check your answer
Model answer
I'd like to talk about my aunt Rina, who helped me a lot with maths when I was in Class 8.
As for how I know her, she's my mother's younger sister, and for a few years she lived with us while she was studying at college. She was very patient and quite funny, and all the children in the family loved her.
At that time, I was really struggling with maths. I failed two tests in a row, and I started to believe I was just "bad at numbers". So every evening after dinner, Aunt Rina sat with me for about half an hour and went through my homework. What I remember most is that she never got angry, even when I made the same mistake again and again. She used to draw little pictures to explain things, like cutting a cake to show fractions.
By the end of the year, I passed my exam with a good mark, and maths actually became one of my favourite subjects.
Her help was important because it changed how I saw myself. Without her, I think I would have given up. Even today, when I solve a difficult problem, I think of her drawing cakes on the back of my notebook.
