# Describe a park or garden in your city: IELTS Speaking sample answers

Speaking Part 2 - Places

Describe a park or garden in your city.

You should say:
- where it is
- what it looks like
- what people do there
- and explain how you feel about this place

Source: Sample answers and examiner notes are written by Testmigo.

## Band 7 sample

The park I'd like to describe is a big public park right in the centre of my city, about ten minutes' walk from the main bus station. Most people just call it the lake park, because there's a large lake in the middle of it.

It's quite old, I think it was created more than a hundred years ago, and it's surrounded by busy roads, so when you go inside it feels like a different world. There's a wide path that goes all the way around the lake, and it's lined with tall trees which give a lot of shade in summer. On one side there's a children's playground and a small café, and on the other side there are flower beds and a rose garden that looks amazing in the spring.

People do all kinds of things there. Early in the morning you see a lot of joggers and older people doing exercises together. During the day, office workers come to eat their lunch on the grass, and families bring their kids to feed the ducks or hire small boats on the lake. At weekends there are sometimes free concerts or food markets, so it gets really crowded.

Personally, I really love this place. When I was a student, I was used to go there to study under the trees, because my room was very small and noisy. Now I go there mostly to relax after work. It's one of the few places in the city where I can breathe fresh air and forget about the traffic, and I think the city will be a much more stressful place without it.

**Examiner notes.** This Band 7 answer describes the park clearly and covers all four points with relevant detail. Vocabulary is good ("lined with tall trees", "flower beds", "a different world", "joggers"), but "really" and "a lot of" are repeated, and the descriptions are fairly general. Grammar is mostly accurate, but there are typical errors: "I was used to go there" (rather than "I used to go there") and "the city will be a much more stressful place without it", where the hypothetical needs "would". Band 8 would add more precise, vivid language, idiomatic phrasing and a more flexible range of sentence structures.

The Band 8 sample is free with an account on the [topic page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/speaking/topics/describe-a-park-or-garden-in-your-city).

## Common questions

### How long should an IELTS Speaking Part 2 answer be?

You get one minute to prepare and then speak for up to two minutes; the examiner stops you at two. Aim to keep talking for the full time, which is usually 220 to 300 words.

### Can I use these sample answers in my test?

No. Examiners are trained to spot memorised answers, and a learned script is marked down. Use the samples to see what each band does, then answer in your own words.