Part 2 cue cardCulture and tradition

Describe a museum you have visited

"What you saw" tempts candidates to list exhibits. Pick two things and describe one properly. "What you thought of it" should be a real opinion, which can include a criticism, rather than "it was very interesting".

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

Describe a museum you have visited.

You should say:

where it is
when you went there
what you saw
and explain what you thought of 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

where it isAnthropology Museum, Chapultepec, Mexico City
when you went therelast December, with my cousins
what you sawumbrella fountain, Sun Stone, Maya tomb
and explain what you thought of ithumbling; far too big for one day

Sample answers

218 words · about 1:54 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I want to talk about the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It is in Chapultepec Park and it is very big and famous. In the middle there is a courtyard with a big roof like an umbrella, and the water is falling down from it, it is very beautiful.

I went there in last December with my cousins. I am from Guadalajara, and I heard about this museum many times, but I never visited it before, so I was very exciting.

The museum has so many rooms, so we could not see everything. First we went to see the Sun Stone, it is a big round stone from the Aztecs with a lot of carvings. It was more bigger than I thought. Then we saw the Maya room, there is a copy of the tomb of a king and his mask made from jade. The room was dark and a little bit scary.

In my opinion the museum was amazing. I learned that the old cultures in Mexico were very advanced, and I think at school we didn't study enough about them. But the museum is too big for one day. After three hours I was very tired and I could not concentrate anymore. Next time I will choose only some rooms and see them carefully.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

the water is falling down from it should be water pours down from it
in last December should be last December
I heard about this museum many times should be I'd heard about this museum many times
I never visited it before should be I'd never visited it before
I was very exciting should be I was very excited
more bigger should be bigger
the old cultures should be the ancient cultures

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to speak at length and covers every bullet in order ("First", "Then", "In my opinion"). Not Band 7 because the description of the exhibits is brief and the opinion is a list of short statements rather than a developed view.
Vocabulary: Enough to describe the visit ("courtyard", "carvings", "tomb", "jade"), but some choices are inaccurate: "I was very exciting" confuses the -ing and -ed forms, and "the old cultures" is a weak choice where a more precise adjective is needed. Band 7 needs less common words used accurately.
Grammar: A mix of simple and complex sentences, but tenses go wrong in the harder spots: "I heard about this museum many times" and "I never visited it before" need perfect forms, "in last December" adds a preposition, and "more bigger" doubles the comparative. That is Band 6 accuracy.

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

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

I'd like to talk about the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, which is one of the most famous museums in the Latin America. It's in Chapultepec Park, and the building is really impressive, particularly the courtyard in the middle, which has a giant umbrella-shaped roof with a fountain pouring water from it.

I visited it last December during the holidays. I was staying with my cousins in Mexico City, and even though I'm from Guadalajara and I'd heard about the museum for years, I'd never actually been there before.

The museum is enormous, so we decided to focus on just a few sections. First we went to the Aztec hall to see the Sun Stone, which is a huge round stone covered in carvings. I knew it from pictures, but in real life it's much bigger than I expected. After that we visited the Maya hall, where they've recreated the tomb of an ancient king, including his jade mask. It was quite dark and quiet in there, so it felt a bit mysterious.

Overall, I thought it was fantastic. It made me realise how advanced these ancient cultures were, and to be honest, I felt we hadn't learned nearly enough about them at school. If I had to criticise something, it would be the size. After about three hours I was exhausted, and I couldn't really concentrate on what I was looking at any more. Next time I'll definitely plan my visit more carefully and only choose two or three rooms.

The slips

in the Latin America should be in Latin America

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length without effort and organises the visit clearly ("First", "After that", "Overall"), with a balanced opinion at the end. Not Band 8 because the description of the exhibits is accurate but rather flat, so the visit never quite comes alive.
Vocabulary: Some less common and natural items ("umbrella-shaped roof", "covered in carvings", "recreated the tomb", "exhausted"). Band 8 would use more vivid and idiomatic language to convey what it felt like to stand in those rooms.
Grammar: A good range of complex structures used accurately: past perfect ("I'd never actually been there"), a hypothetical ("If I had to criticise something, it would be"), relative clauses. One slip, "in the Latin America", where the region takes no article.

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

278 words · about 1:55 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The museum that's made the biggest impression on me is the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It's in Chapultepec Park, a huge green space in the middle of the city, and the building itself is worth the trip, especially the central courtyard, where an enormous concrete canopy balanced on a single pillar has water pouring down from its edges like rain.

I went last December, when I was staying with my cousins in the capital over the holidays. I'd grown up in Guadalajara and heard about it all my life, but somehow I'd never been.

There's far more than anyone could see in a day, so we were fairly ruthless. We headed straight for the Mexica hall to see the Sun Stone, the great carved calendar disc, which is far bigger than I'd imagined; you have to step back to take it in. Then we went to the Maya rooms, where there's a reconstruction of a king's tomb from Palenque, with the jade mask he was buried in. Standing in that dim room was genuinely a little eerie.

What did I think of it? Honestly, it was humbling. At school we covered these civilisations in a couple of chapters, and walking through room after room of astronomy, sculpture and engineering made me realise how much I'd been taught to overlook. My one criticism is that it's almost overwhelming. By the third hour the rooms had started to blur into rows of pots behind glass, and my feet were aching. So if I went again, and I fully intend to, I'd pick just two halls and do them properly, rather than trying to see everything at once.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and fully coherent, with a clear route through the visit and an opinion that weighs praise against criticism ("My one criticism is"). Short of Band 9 only because the rhetorical "What did I think of it?" is a slightly obvious device.
Vocabulary: Wide, precise and idiomatic: "fairly ruthless", "take it in", "genuinely a little eerie", "blur into rows of pots behind glass". Band 9 would sustain that precision in the plainer opening sentences.
Grammar: A wide range used accurately: past perfect ("I'd grown up", "I'd been taught to overlook"), a participle phrase ("balanced on a single pillar"), a second conditional ("if I went again"). No errors; the gap to Band 9 is the occasional safe structure.

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

Rounding-off questions

Why do people visit museums?: Some go to learn, some because it's what you do as a tourist, and some just to be somewhere calm. For me, the best reason is seeing the real object, which a photo can never quite replace.
Should museums be free to enter?: National museums should be free, or at least very cheap, because they hold everyone's history. Charging foreign tourists a fee and letting local schoolchildren in for nothing seems like a fair compromise.