Part 2 objects: describing something you find useful
You can plan a two-minute talk about an object in one minute, and describe it clearly even when a word is missing.
Describe an object looks like the easiest card in Part 2. The hard moment comes when you need the name of a part you have never had to say in English.
You get one minute to prepare, with a pencil and paper, and then you talk for up to two minutes. We'll plan a talk about one ordinary, useful thing, and practise describing what you cannot name.
Warm-up
Which would you choose?
The card asks for an object or invention you find useful. You have a few seconds to choose. Which choice gives you the most to say?
Which object is the best choice?
How it works
Now I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk, you'll have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes if you wish.
Describe an object or invention that you find useful in your daily life.
You should say:
- what it is
- how you got it
- how often you use it
and explain why you find it useful.
The examiner gives you the card, paper and a pencil, and tells you when your minute to prepare begins.
With a pencil and paper for notes.
The examiner stops you when the time is up.
Sometimes. A short answer is enough.
One minute of notes
- 1Choose in a few seconds
Pick something you use often. Knowing it well matters more than how impressive it is.
- 2A few keywords per prompt
Write keywords under each prompt: dehumidifier, white box, wheels. Full sentences take too long to write, and you end up reading them out.
- 3Add one moment
Note a time the object helped you, or let you down. A short story fills time naturally and brings in past tenses.
- 4Save the most for why
The explain line is where your reasons and opinions go. Plan two or three reasons, and talk longest about this part.
Saying what it is and what it does
It's a kind of ..., It's a machine that ..., It's a thing you use to ...
It's about the size of a ..., It's made of ..., It's got a ... on the front.
You plug it in and ..., It pulls in ..., It works by ...ing
the part at the bottom where the water collects, the button that turns it off. Describing what you cannot name is paraphrase, which the examiner listens for under Lexical Resource.
Watch me do one
I'll plan this card in one minute, out loud. I choose the dehumidifier in our flat, because I use it most nights in spring and I have a story about it.
Under what it is I write: dehumidifier, water out of air, white box, wheels. The examiner may not know the word, so I plan one sentence that explains it.
Under how you got it: 3 years ago, wet spring, clothes 3 days to dry. That is my story.
Under how often: every night, March to June, empty tank.
Under why: clothes dry indoors, no mould, sleep better. Three reasons, and I will talk longest about this part.
The notes are short enough to read at a glance. When I talk, I look down at one line, speak, and look down again for the next.
A model answer
Describe an object or invention that you find useful in your daily life.
I'd like to talk about our dehumidifier. It's a machine that takes water out of the air, and honestly, it's one of the most useful things in our flat. It's a white plastic box, about the size of a small suitcase, and it's got wheels, so I can move it from room to room. It pulls in damp air and cools it down, so the water in the air turns into drops, and the drops collect in a tank at the bottom. We bought it about three years ago, after a really wet spring. Where I live, March and April can be so humid that the floor feels wet and little black spots of mould appear on the walls. That spring my clothes took three days to dry, and they still smelled a bit damp when I put them on. Now I use it almost every night from March to June. I close the bedroom door, switch it on before I go to sleep, and by the morning the tank's full. The first time I emptied it, I couldn't believe how much water had come out of one small room. Why is it so useful? Partly the clothes, because I can dry them indoors now. But mainly because the flat feels healthier. There's no mould, the air doesn't smell, and I think I sleep better. It isn't an exciting invention, but I'd miss it more than the TV.
- VocabularyExplains the word at once, for an examiner who may not know it.
- VocabularyGives the size by comparison, which is easier to picture than numbers.
- TaskAnswers the second prompt, how you got it, and starts the story.
- GrammarA past perfect inside a natural spoken sentence.
- CoherenceThe words partly and mainly put the two reasons in order of importance.
- TaskA personal ending that still explains why the object matters.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Four questions on planning and describing, then two recordings. I'll listen to both and tell you what worked.
Notes you can use
These are three sets of notes for how you got it, made in the minute of preparation. Which set is most useful?
Which notes would help you most while you talk?
A word you don't know
You are describing your rice cooker and cannot remember the word lid. What is the best thing to do?
Choose the best way to keep going.
Find the mistake
These sentences describe an object. One of them has a grammar mistake. Choose it.
Which sentence contains the error?
Which part of the card?
Decide which part of the card this sentence answers.
It means I don't have to hang my clothes outside, which is a real help in the rainy season.
Record: what it is
Choose your own object. In about 30 seconds, say what it is, what it looks like and what it does, for an examiner who has never seen one.
Describe an object you use often: what it is, what it looks like and what it does.
Record your answer (45s maximum)
0:00 / 0:45
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Record: the whole talk
Now the full card. Take one minute to make notes, then talk for up to two minutes. Keep going until the recording stops.
Describe an object or invention that you find useful in your daily life. You should say: what it is, how you got it, how often you use it, and explain why you find it useful.
Record your answer (120s maximum)
0:00 / 2:00
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Words to keep
With a lot of water in the air. Spring here is warm and very humid.
A little wet, in a way you don't want. The clothes still felt damp in the morning.
A black or green growth that appears on walls or food in wet conditions. Mould grew on the bathroom ceiling.
Start a machine or a light. I switch it on before I go to sleep.
A way to say how big something is by comparing it. It's about the size of a small suitcase.
Gather in one place, little by little. The water collects in a tank at the bottom.
Before you go
Choose an object you use often, in the first few seconds of your minute.
Write a few keywords under each prompt, and note one short story.
Say what the object is in your first sentence, then how it looks and what it does.
When a word is missing, describe the thing by its shape, place or use, and keep talking.
Next: Writing comes next: body paragraphs for an essay on whether governments should spend more on scientific research.