Part 2 cue cardTravel and tourism

Describe a country or place you would like to visit

This card is a grammar test in disguise: bullets three and four are hypothetical, so the answer has to hold "would" and "I'd love to" for a full minute without sliding into "I will" or the present. Keep the reasons personal, not a tourist brochure.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a country or place you would like to visit.

You should say:

which place it is
how you know about it
what you would do there
and explain why you want to visit it

Rehearse the long turn

1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

A 60-second plan

which place it isLofoten Islands, Arctic Norway
how you know about itdocumentary at 14; cousin in Oslo
what you would do thereReinebringen hike, fishing villages, midnight sun
and explain why you want to visit itCairo heat; want the opposite

Sample answers

230 words · about 2:00 spoken at a Band 6 pace

The place I really want to visit is the Lofoten Islands. They are in the north of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle, and they are famous for mountains which come straight out of the sea.

I first knew about them when I was fourteen. I was watching a documentary about fishermen in winter, and I remember that I couldn't believe a place can look like this. After that, my cousin moved to Oslo for working, and he sometimes send me photos when he goes there, so my interest became bigger and bigger.

If I go there, I would like to go in June, because at that time the sun doesn't go down at all. I will hike up a mountain called Reinebringen, which is very steep, but people say the view from the top is amazing. I'd also like to visit the small fishing villages, where the houses are painted red and the fish is dried on wooden racks outside.

The main reason I want to visit is that it's completely different from my home. I live in Cairo, which is very hot and crowded, and I almost never see green mountains or the cold sea. I think it would be a very big experience for me to stand somewhere so quiet and empty. Also I am interesting in photography, so it would be a dream place for taking pictures.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

I first knew about them should be I first heard about them
a place can look like this should be a place could look like this
for working should be for work
he sometimes send me photos should be he sometimes sends me photos
If I go there, I would like should be If I went there, I'd like
I will hike up a mountain should be I'd hike up a mountain
a very big experience should be an unforgettable experience
I am interesting in photography should be I'm interested in photography

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to talk at length and answers the bullets in order, with clear signals ("After that", "The main reason"). Ideas are added with "Also" rather than linked, and "bigger and bigger" fills time instead of developing the cousin's part of the story, which keeps it at Band 6.
Vocabulary: Enough vocabulary for the topic ("Arctic Circle", "fishing villages", "wooden racks"), but choices like "a very big experience" and "for working" are awkward. Band 7 would use some less common items, especially for the feelings in the last bullet.
Grammar: The card needs the hypothetical, and that is where control slips: "If I go there, I would like" mixes two conditionals and "I will hike" drops into the future. Third-person endings go too ("he sometimes send me photos"). Frequent but non-blocking errors in complex structures are Band 6.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

254 words · about 1:57 spoken at a Band 7 pace

I've wanted to go to the Lofoten Islands for years. They're a chain of islands off the north-west coast of Norway, well inside the Arctic Circle, and what makes them so striking is that the mountains rise almost vertically out of the sea.

I came across them by chance when I was about fourteen. There was a documentary on TV about cod fishermen working through the winter darkness, and I remember thinking it couldn't possibly be a real place. Then, a few years ago, my cousin got a job in Oslo, and every summer he sends me photos from his trips up north, which hasn't exactly helped my obsession.

If I ever manage to go, I'd want to be there in the late June, when the sun doesn't set at all. I'd hike up Reinebringen, which is apparently a brutal climb, but the view from the top over the village of Reine is supposed to be incredible. I'd also spend a few days just wandering around the fishing villages, with their red wooden cabins and the cod hanging on racks to dry, and I'd love to try some of that fish too, although I'm told it's an acquired taste.

The main reason, I think, is the contrast. I grew up in Cairo, where summer means forty degrees, dust and constant noise, so a place that's cold, green and nearly empty feels almost like another planet. I've also got really into landscape photography recently, and I can't imagine anywhere that would be a better challenge.

The slips

in the late June should be in late June

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length without effort and handles the shift into the hypothetical smoothly ("If I ever manage to go"). The "I'd" sentences in the third bullet come one after another, which makes that stretch a little list-like; Band 8 would vary how the plans are introduced.
Vocabulary: Good range with some less common items: "striking", "a brutal climb", "an acquired taste", "hasn't exactly helped my obsession". The language for the reasons is plainer ("almost like another planet"), which is where Band 8 would be more precise.
Grammar: The conditional is held consistently, alongside relative clauses and reported thought ("I remember thinking it couldn't possibly be"). One article slip, "in the late June". Frequent error-free complex sentences with a single slip is Band 7.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

274 words · about 1:53 spoken at a Band 8 pace

If I could go anywhere, it would be the Lofoten Islands, a ragged chain of mountains sticking out of the Norwegian Sea, well north of the Arctic Circle. The peaks rise straight out of the water, and the photos I've seen look almost too dramatic to be real.

I first stumbled on the place at fourteen, through a documentary about cod fishermen working in near-total winter darkness. I can still picture the opening shot of a tiny boat dwarfed by a wall of rock. Since then, my cousin has moved to Oslo and taken to spending his summers up there, and the photos he keeps sending me have turned a vague curiosity into something closer to an obsession.

Ideally, I'd go in late June, when the sun never actually sets. I'd tackle Reinebringen, a steep, punishing climb above the village of Reine that's supposed to repay the effort with one of the best views in Scandinavia. After that, I'd take things slowly: drift between the fishing villages with their red cabins on stilts, watch the cod drying on wooden racks, and probably work up the courage to taste some, though I gather it's very much an acquired taste.

As for why it appeals to me so much, I think it's the sheer contrast with home. I'm from Cairo, where summer is a relentless forty degrees and you're never more than a few metres from another person. The idea of standing somewhere cold, silent and practically empty is oddly irresistible. And since I've taken up landscape photography, I'm aware it would test me in a way the desert never has, which is half the appeal.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Coherent and effortless, with the hypothetical sustained naturally and varied ("Ideally, I'd go", "After that, I'd take things slowly"). The reasons build to a personal point. Short of Band 9 only because one or two links are conventional, like "As for why it appeals to me".
Vocabulary: Wide and precise: "a ragged chain of mountains", "dwarfed by a wall of rock", "repay the effort", "oddly irresistible". The register stays natural rather than literary. Band 9 would sustain this in every sentence.
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: a second conditional ("If I could go anywhere"), present perfect for a change over time ("have turned a vague curiosity"), a reduced relative clause ("dwarfed by a wall of rock"). No errors; the gap to Band 9 is the occasional familiar structure.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

Rounding-off questions

Does travel really help people understand other cultures?: It can, but only if you actually talk to people. Plenty of tourists fly halfway round the world and spend a week in a hotel bubble. Staying with a family or using local transport teaches you far more.
Do you prefer travelling near or far?: Near, realistically, because it's cheaper and I can go more often, and there are parts of Egypt I've never seen. But for one big trip in my life, I'd choose somewhere as far from home as possible.