# Describe a time you taught someone something: IELTS Speaking sample answers

Speaking Part 2 - Education

Describe a time when you showed or taught someone something new.

You should say:
- who you taught
- what you taught this person
- how you taught it
- and explain how you felt about the experience

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

## Band 7 sample

I'd like to talk about the time I taught my grandmother how to make video calls on her smartphone. This was about two years ago, when my cousin moved abroad to study.

My grandmother is in her late seventies and she lives with my parents. Before that, she only used her phone for normal calls, and she was a bit afraid of touching anything else on the screen, because she thought she might break it. But when my cousin left, she really missed him, so she asked me to show her how to see him on video.

At first, I tried to explain everything quickly, but I realised it was too much information for her. So I changed my method. I wrote the steps on a small card in big letters, like, one, open the green app, two, find the name, three, press the camera button. Then I let her to do it herself while I just watched, even when she made mistakes. We practised by calling my mother in the next room, which made her laugh a lot. It took about a week of practice, maybe twenty minutes every evening, before she could do it alone without the card.

I felt really happy about this experience. The first time she called my cousin by herself, she was smiling the whole time, and afterwards she said everyone in the family about it. I also learned something myself, that teaching requires a lot of patience, and that you have to explain things from the other person's point of view. Now she sometimes calls me on video when I'm busy, which is a bit funny, but I don't mind at all.

**Examiner notes.** This Band 7 answer is warm, relevant and well organised, with a clear description of the teaching method. Vocabulary is good ("changed my method", "from the other person's point of view", "requires a lot of patience"), and the speaker uses a range of tenses accurately. There are two typical errors with verb patterns: "I let her to do it" (rather than "I let her do it") and "she said everyone in the family about it" (rather than "she told everyone"). The steps are listed in a slightly awkward spoken way ("like, one, open the green app"), and feelings are described with general words such as "really happy". For Band 8, the speaker would need more precise and idiomatic vocabulary and more varied sentence structures.

The Band 8 sample is free with an account on the [topic page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/speaking/topics/describe-a-time-you-taught-someone).

## 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.