IELTS Energy 1495: How to Write About Places in Task 1 and 2
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1495, How to Write About Places in Task 1 and Task 2.

Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with former IELTS examiner Jessica Beck and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com

forward slash my score. Sure, you've practiced speaking about places for IELTS, but you have to be prepared to write descriptively about them as well. Listen today for some sample task one and task two questions, as well as some very impressive ideas and vocabulary.

On this podcast, we've talked about how important your preparation for IELTS is. We want you to succeed. That's why we created our free IELTS quiz so you can find out what you'd likely score on the IELTS exam if you took it today. We'll give you free IELTS materials for your level to help you improve. Go to allearsenglish.com slash myscore for the free IELTS quiz. That's allearsenglish.com slash myscore.

Hey, Aubrey, what is one of the most beautiful places you've ever been to? Oh, on top of a volcano in Maui in Hawaii. We drove up to the top of this volcano to see sunset because you have to get a permit months in advance to see sunrise up there. And then you're above the cloud line and you watch the sun sink below and it lights up all these vivid colors in the sky. It was gorgeous.

You know what's crazy? My mom and I did that, but it was a long time ago. I think I, gosh, how old was I?

I don't know. I was a teenager. And my mom and I went there. And no permits needed. And you can't do this anymore, by the way. But we had a van take us to the top of the volcano. I'm sure it was the same one. And we got to ride bicycles all the way down. And you got to go through the cloud cover. Like, it was so cool. That's amazing.

I love that you did that back in the day when you didn't have to have a permit. Now, if anyone out there listening is going to go to Maui, there are a couple of things for the Black Sand State Beach and to go to the top of the volcano at sunrise, you have to have a permit months in advance. I didn't know. I don't plan in advance like that.

So listen to how we are describing these places. Listen to our intonation as we experience the intense emotions that we experienced when we were there, right? You can hear it in our voice how incredible these places were. So the reason why we had that little chat is because today we are actually talking about how to write about places.

Yeah, you very likely will get a question on IELTS speaking and you have probably practiced that, but you might also get a task one or a task two question where you also need to have high scoring vocabulary to describe a place in writing.

Yes, exactly. So if you missed the last episode, guys, scroll up IELTS Energy 1494, how to write about people on IELTS. There we read the beginning of a student question. And today we're going to answer the rest of that student question. So the

student who wrote to us said, how do I write about people? And so we answered that last time. And today we're going to answer his question. How do I write a descriptive paragraph about places?

Yes, exactly. And you could very easily get a task one about this, maybe academic maps that compare a village and how it's changed from 2000 to 2023, for example. And then you would need to describe the differences between the places on these maps. Yeah, you have to have the location specific vocabulary, right, to describe what you see in the picture. But

It sometimes can be difficult to reach 150 words and to have enough language there to be graded when you're describing maps. So it really helps to have this descriptive vocabulary that we're going to teach you in the last half of today's show. You could also, like in a general task one letter, maybe a formal letter, describe a vacation you want to take to a tour guide or no. Who's the people that book vacations? Oh, travel agent. Yeah.

I literally just blanked out on that because that's what I'm here for. Yes. Thank you, Aubrey. Because like, honestly, who uses travel agents anymore? Like, I usually don't, but I've actually been in contact with one side note because I have a friend that's doing a destination wedding on like an island in Mexico. And you have to go through this travel agent so that they get this like package deal for the wedding. They have to have a certain amount of guests.

go through this travel agent and I hate it. I want to do it on my own. Yeah. So there are some formal letters about that. You're writing to a travel agent you don't know. Describe a vacation you want to take. It could be an informal letter to a friend talking about the amazing vacation you had together, thanking them for the photographs they sent you, blah, blah, blah. So there's a lot of opportunity for this in general training task one as well as academic.

Yes, and task two, there have been questions about this and will be in the future. We'll share a couple here. One was, although some people value their public parks, this space could be better used for other purposes, such as residential areas for the growing population or to develop the economy of a city. To what extent do you agree or disagree? You would definitely need today's vocabulary, hard disagree. We need parks in cities.

We need parks so city dwellers have some twinge of mental health. Right, exactly. And if that's the opinion you want to defend, you're going to need to describe these parks and what about them are so beneficial to residents. Exactly. There's going to be some super useful vocab in just a minute, guys.

that you could use to answer that task two question, actually. Here's another possible task two question where this vocab, these ideas would come in handy. Many cities are now turning parks and farmland into new housing developments. Is this a positive or negative development?

So you can see that this has similarities to that first task two question, right? But it's just another form of asking you to describe the benefits, the consequences, maybe causes, maybe whatever attached to public spaces, farmland versus like developments.

Exactly. And for so many task two questions like this, you could write one sentence and be like, I think parks are necessary. Unfortunately, that doesn't work for IELTS writing, right? So you need a lot of this vocabulary ideas to really flesh out a high scoring essay.

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All right. So to help you guys get some new vocab and ideas for describing places, we have split it into two groups. First, we're going to talk about ideas for describing the inside of a place, like the inside of a building or a home. And then we'll talk about outside. So Aubrey, what are some ideas for describing the inside of a place?

Yeah. So you can imagine someone taking a tour and starting like at the front door and say, you know, the layout from the front door to the back door. So this, especially if you're describing maps for task one and it's the inside of a store or a home, this is a great way to describe the layout.

I remember a task one that was describing to, it was comparing to office layouts. There aren't a lot of map questions that are inside places, but that, I mean, it's happened guys. So you have to be ready. How do you organize that? Describe it from the front door to the back of the place, right? It has to still be organized, even if you're describing an office. So you could also like in general training task one, right?

If you have to add more descriptions, describe the decor. What do you see on the walls? Wallpaper? Paint colors? Is there art? What do you see on the tables around? Are there Tiffany lamps, for example? What furniture do you see?

Exactly. And you can also talk about the view from the windows, right? Is it a cityscape? Is there a park out the window? And then also, you know, what people do in these places, the sounds you might hear, the smells you might hear. If it's a restaurant or a cafe, that would be described very differently from the inside of a home. I think you just said the smells you might hear. That's funny. What, you don't hear smells?

If I'm having a stroke, then maybe that's what happened.

We have fun. No, but guys, it is important to think outside of the box. Like you're not, you're not limited to describing just, you know, like, oh, there is a coffee table. Like you could describe what you see people doing in these places. What, what it smells like when the person is cooking in the kitchen or like in a cafe or restaurant, right? There's so much rich description and detail in sort of thinking outside the box.

Yes. And then when it comes to outside, if you're describing a park, you can describe the landscaping here in Arizona. You might be talking about desert landscaping with rocks and cacti. Parks elsewhere, you're probably talking about the different trees and plants and how green it is. You know, my favorite parks in the world are in Taiwan. They're, man,

these parks are amazing. There's usually like a reflexology footpath and it's just this narrow strip of rocks. Then you take off your shoes and you walk on the rocks and it's this whole, you know, therapeutic aspect to the park. I just, I love it. Yeah.

So the landscaping, right? This could be like outside a museum, outside your home, outside where you work. Are there gardens? What do they look like? And here are a couple good words for like bushes, right? Shrubbery.

It always makes me think of Monty Python when I say that. Shrubbery and foliage is another great word for trees and plants that you see. Nice.

Nice. And garden is a word that is a really tricky, is a bit tricky from US to UK English. Yeah. Because in the United States, a garden is either a vegetable garden or a flower garden, right? It's meant for that. You wouldn't walk in it. Whereas in the UK, they use it for like a yard, the grass, like the front yard by your porch. So both would work, whichever you use. The examiner is going to be familiar with both. Yeah.

That's a very good point because if you're asked about gardens on the IELTS speaking test, you could interpret it either way and you'd be correct because the examiners know both meanings are correct.

What if you're describing trees, right? Think about the trees where you live. Learn the English names for them. Are they weeping willows? Are they oak trees, right? Learn those names in English. - Yes, and then if on the test day you're like, I cannot remember the names of these trees, you can describe them, the color of the leaves.

If the leaves fall, right? So there's a lot that you can describe when it comes to something like a tree. And then you can describe the temperature. Is it cool, breezy, tropical, humid? Depending on where it is and what season, the temperature will be very different.

Totally. Another thing you can say about public parks and hopefully many places you describe, tranquil. Tranquil is just a great vocabulary word for calm. The opposite of tranquil, of course, would be chaotic. And that's busy, but like too busy. Exactly.

Exactly. Right. And tranquil, if you're imagining a park full of children screaming, that's not tranquil. But if you're talking about a quiet park with a bench, people are reading, then yes, that's nice and tranquil. And then, of course, you can describe that sort of what I was just talking about. What people do in these places. Are there children playing? Are people sitting on benches or walking dogs?

Yeah. What do you hear? Do you hear children yelling or do you hear birds? Learn the name of the birds that you hear. Do you hear other people talking? I know I've traveled by myself a lot and I absolutely love some of the conversations I overhear in places, in public places.

So what other sounds do you hear, right? Are there like waterfalls, traffic? Do you smell anything? Are there hot dog carts or churro stands? Again, so much rich detail and vocabulary if you think outside the box besides just what you see.

Exactly. And if you have to defend in a task to essay, why cities should have parks, you want some of these details. Convince the examiner that parks are vital by really sharing a lot of this descriptive vocabulary and detail about how magical they can be. Totally. And you know, you need examples, right? So you have all the tools you need for describing specific examples for places you've been now to support these ideas.

Awesome. Definitely hit follow, you guys, because next episode we're going to share some sample speaking answers for these very common questions. You likely will have to describe places on your speaking exam. Yes. So most people think about describing places as a speaking part too. So I love that we thought outside the box today and talked about it regarding writing, but we do realize that speaking might be more likely, so we're going to do that next time.

Awesome. I'll see you there, Jess. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.

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