IELTS Speaking on festivals and celebrations

Worksheet 1

Student A

IELTS Speaking Part One on festivals and celebrations

Ask your partner questions from below for two minutes, only using the follow up questions in brackets if you need to.

 What is the most important festival or celebration in your town or country?

Are there any festivals at this time of year? (How do people usually celebrate it?)

How do people usually mark the New Year? (Do you usually do those things?)

What was the last festival you went to? (Did you enjoy it? Why/ Why not?)

When did you last meet up with your extended family? (Was there any special reason for this meeting? What did you all do?)

IELTS Speaking Part Two on festivals and celebrations

Give your partner the task below to your partner and prompt them to start speaking after one minute. Ask one or two additional questions after one or two minutes of speaking.  

Give a presentation about a traditional festival in your country. You should include:–       What people do–       Who usually does it–       Why people do it –       How it has changed And any other points which you think are relevant

IELTS Speaking Part Three on festivals and celebrations

Prompt your partner to talk about more general issues on festivals and celebrations, starting with questions from below. You can also ask them for their reasons, suggest other views they should think about, etc.

• Do you think festivals and celebrations are becoming more Americanised in your country? (Can you give some examples? How do you feel about that?)
• Are any old traditions related to particular times of year in your country disappearing? (Why do you think that is? Should anything be done about it?)
• Are there any examples in your country of special days which were originally made up by the marketing departments of companies, e.g. Grandparents Day? What do you think about that?
• Do you think any other festivals or celebrations in your country are over-commercialised or have lost their original meaning?

IELTS Speaking on festivals and celebrations

Worksheet 1

Student B

IELTS Speaking Part One 

Ask your partner questions from below for two minutes, only using the follow up questions in brackets if you need to.

Are birthdays important times in your culture? (What do people usually do to celebrate?)

What’s the next festival around here? Do you know much about it?

What did you do for your last birthday? How does that compare to other birthdays you have had recently?

Are you planning to go to any festivals this year? (Tell us about that festival/ Why not?)

When will your whole family next meet up? What will you all do together?

IELTS Speaking Part Two on festivals and celebrations

Give your partner the task below to your partner and prompt them to start speaking after one minute. Ask one or two additional questions after one or two minutes of speaking.  

Give a presentation about a family celebration in your country. You should include:–       What the traditional celebration is–       Who usually does it–       Why people do it –       How it has changed And any other points which you think are relevant

IELTS Speaking Part Three on festivals and celebrations

Prompt your partner to talk about more general issues on festivals and celebrations, starting with questions from below. You can also ask them for their reasons, suggest other views they should think about, etc.

• What local festival in your area or country would be most interesting for a foreign guest, do you think?
• What do you think about people who aren’t Christian but celebrate Christmas anyway?
• Do people nowadays tend to appreciate what public holidays are meant to celebrate, or do they just treat them like any other day off?
• How can the government or festival organisers make them more relevant to and popular with young people? 

Festivals and celebrations vocabulary for IELTS Speaking

Draw a mind map with festivals, celebrations and ceremonies on it, along with related vocabulary. Possible starters: Birth/ Death/ Relationships/ Seasons/ Education/ Childhood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which of the vocabulary above is culturally specific? Talk about how could you explain these Japanese festivals, ceremonies and celebrations to someone who doesn’t know them and doesn’t speak English, or think of similar ones from your country.

• Shichigosan
• Seijinshiki
• Nyuugakushiki
• Hinamatsuri
• Hanami
• Obon
• Tanabata
• Golden week
• Oomisoka
• Setsubun
• Hatsumode
• Kodomo-no-hi
• White day

————————————————-

PDF for easy saving and printing: IELTS festivals and celebrations

Related pages

IELTS Speaking main page

Festivals and celebrations main page

300 more pages of IELTS Speaking classroom materials available at https://www.usingenglish.com/e-books/ielts-speaking/