Part 2 cue cardLeisure and relaxation

Describe a time you had to wait for something

Duration is the grammar here: "for", "until", "by the time" and the past continuous for what was going on around you. "How you felt" earns more if the feeling changes during the wait, from furious to resigned to oddly content.

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

Describe a time you had to wait for something.

You should say:

what you were waiting for
how long you waited
what you did while waiting
and explain how you felt

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

what you were waiting forferry to Mindoro from Batangas port
how long you waitedfourteen hours; storm signal, sailings suspended
what you did while waitingone socket, card game, shared pancit
and explain how you feltfurious, then resigned, then glad

Sample answers

223 words · about 1:56 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I'm going to talk about a time when I had to wait for a ferry. It was two years ago, in the rainy season. I was going from Manila to Calapan, in Mindoro, for my grandmother eightieth birthday, so I took a bus to Batangas port to catch the ferry there.

When I arrived to the port in the morning, they announced that all the ferries are cancelled, because there was a storm coming and the coast guard didn't allow any boats to leave. Nobody knew when it will be safe, so I just stayed in the terminal. In the end I waited for fourteen hours, from seven in the morning until nine at night.

At first I was just sitting and looking at my phone, but soon the battery was nearly finish. There was only one socket working, so everybody was sharing it. Then a family next to me invited me for playing cards with them, and we played pusoy dos for hours. Later we bought pancit together from a small shop and ate it on the floor.

I felt very angry and stressed in the beginning, because I thought I will miss the party. But after some hours I relaxed, and actually I enjoyed it. I still message with that family now. And I arrived just in time for the birthday.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

my grandmother eightieth birthday should be my grandmother's eightieth birthday
When I arrived to the port should be When I arrived at the port
all the ferries are cancelled should be all the ferries were cancelled
when it will be safe should be when it would be safe
the battery was nearly finish should be the battery was nearly dead
invited me for playing cards should be invited me to play cards
I thought I will miss the party should be I thought I would miss the party
I still message with that family should be I still message that family

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing and clear, with the bullets answered in order and simple time markers ("At first", "Then", "Later"). It stays at Band 6 because the wait is told as a chain of events, and the change in feeling is announced ("after some hours I relaxed") rather than explained.
Vocabulary: Adequate vocabulary for the situation ("coast guard", "socket", "terminal"), but with awkward choices: "the battery was nearly finish" uses the wrong word, and "very angry and stressed" is safe and general. Band 7 needs more precise, less common items.
Grammar: Attempts reported statements and time clauses, but the tense in them slips: "all the ferries are cancelled" and "I thought I will miss" don't move back into the past, and "invited me for playing cards" uses the wrong verb pattern. That is Band 6.

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

269 words · about 2:04 spoken at a Band 7 pace

I'd like to describe a ferry I waited for two years ago, during the typhoon season. I was travelling from Manila to Calapan, on the island of Mindoro, for my grandmother's eightieth birthday, which meant taking a bus down to Batangas and then a ferry across.

When I got to the port at about seven in the morning, the departures board was a column of red. A storm signal had been raised overnight, and the coast guard had suspended all sailings until the further notice. Nobody could tell us how long it would last, so I settled in on a plastic bench, assuming it would be a couple of hours. In the end, I was there for fourteen, and the first boat didn't leave until nine at night.

For the first hour or so I just scrolled through my phone, until the battery started dying and I realised there was exactly one working socket in the whole terminal. A queue formed around it, and that's how I got talking to a family from Batangas City. They invited me to join them for pusoy dos, a card game we play here, and we ended up playing for most of the afternoon, with breaks to share a huge tray of pancit from a stall outside.

To begin with, I was furious, mainly because I was convinced I'd miss the party. But somewhere around midday I accepted that there was nothing I could do, and after that I honestly started enjoying myself. I still keep in touch with that family, and I made it to the birthday with an hour to spare.

The slips

until the further notice should be until further notice

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length with ease and clear time-linking ("For the first hour or so", "To begin with", "somewhere around midday"). Not Band 8 because the story is told mostly in sequence, without much shaping or a reflective point beyond the outcome.
Vocabulary: Some less common, idiomatic language: "a column of red", "settled in", "got talking to", "with an hour to spare". Band 8 would sustain this precision throughout rather than mixing it with plainer phrases like "honestly started enjoying myself".
Grammar: A good range, mostly accurate: past perfects for the background ("had been raised"), "until" and "In the end" for duration, "I'd miss" in reported thought. One slip: "until the further notice", a fixed phrase that takes no article.

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

281 words · about 1:56 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The longest wait I can remember was for a ferry, two years ago, at the height of the typhoon season. I was heading from Manila to Calapan, on Mindoro, for my grandmother's eightieth birthday, which involves a bus down to Batangas and then a couple of hours on the water.

I reached the port just after seven, only to find that every departure had been cancelled. A storm signal had gone up overnight and the coast guard had grounded everything until further notice, which, as anyone in the Philippines knows, could mean an hour or could mean two days. I found a bench and resigned myself to a short delay. Fourteen hours later, at around nine in the evening, they finally called my boat.

The first stretch I spent glued to my phone, until the battery started to give out and I discovered that the entire terminal had a single functioning socket. A small, surprisingly orderly community grew up around it, and that's how I fell into conversation with a family from Batangas City. Before long they'd roped me into a marathon game of pusoy dos, and when the rain eased off we pooled our money for a vast tray of pancit from a stall by the gate.

My mood went through distinct phases. For the first couple of hours I was seething, convinced I'd miss the party and annoyed at myself for not leaving a day earlier. Then came a sort of weary acceptance, and eventually something close to contentment, because the day had turned into an adventure I hadn't planned. I'm still in touch with that family, and I made it to the party with an hour to spare.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and well organised, with the feelings bullet given its own clear shape ("My mood went through distinct phases") rather than a single adjective. Band 9 would vary the transitions slightly more than "Then came" and "eventually".
Vocabulary: Wide and idiomatic: "grounded everything until further notice", "resigned myself to", "roped me into", "seething", "weary acceptance". The gap to Band 9 is that one or two choices are a little predictable, such as "glued to my phone".
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: "only to find that" for an unwelcome surprise, past perfects for the background, an inverted clause ("Then came a sort of weary acceptance") and a past perfect in a relative clause. No errors.

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

Rounding-off questions

Are people less patient than they used to be?: In some ways, yes. We're used to instant messages and next-day delivery, so a delay feels like an insult. But people can still be remarkably patient when they have no choice, as everyone in that terminal was.
Is waiting ever a good thing?: Sometimes, definitely. It forces you to slow down and notice the people around you. My fourteen hours at the port were frustrating, but I'd never have met that family otherwise.