IELTS Speaking Task : Rivers/Lakes
Part 2
Describe an important lake/river in your country
- You should say:
- Where it is located
- How long/big it is
- What it looks like
- And explain why it is important
India is actually a very big country, and it is like a continent.
Each state in it is as big as a medium-sized country in Europe.
Therefore, there are hundreds of rivers and lakes that are there in my country. Each one is important to the population living in the neighboring regions of that lake or river.
Today I want to talk about a very beautiful lake named Kankaria that is situated just in the center of my city Ahmedabad.
Although it is in the middle of the city, it is not just a small lake.
It’s circumference is roughly around 6-7 km.
In fact, it is the biggest lake in my state.
And the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has developed it as a tourist place by enclosing the lake area with a surround wall.
This way the lakefront is like a big amusement park with its Bal Vatika Zoo, aquarium, garden hills and a kids’ zone.
And this amusement park has many restaurants and food corners dotted across its entire area.
There are mainly two things that make this lake a very important place.
The first is its attraction as a tourist place for international travelers.
In the middle of the lake, there is an island garden called Nagina Waadi.
It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahaan in 18th century.
Every year , thousands of tourists flock to Nagina Waadi to have a look at its 18th century architectural monuments, especially its fountains that never cease to amuse foreigners.
The second most beautiful thing about Kankaria lake is the morning-walk track around it.
Every morning, people come to Kankaria, mainly the residents living in the neighboring areas, to take a walk around the lake. It’s not possible for them to walk the entire length of the track, but they still enjoy their short walks at Kankaria.
This is a place that offers a calm atmosphere in a city like Ahmedabad.
So people have this beautiful place to do recreational activities.
This way, the lake is a tourist destination and a place to take a stroll in the morning. What more we can expect from a public place!
Part 3
How can river/lakes benefit local people?
Lakes can benefit local people in many ways.
They are the reservoirs of rain-water for the local population.
Lakes can also be used to develop fisheries.
And lakes enhance the beauty of an area and offer a spot for recreational activities.
Do you think river/lakes attract tourists?
Yes, they do. Lakes are very beautiful places where tourists go for activities like fishing, bird-watching, boating, and sight-seeing.
If the local government makes some good facilities such as accommodation and transportation available to tourist, then lakes can become favorite tourist destinations.
How do rivers/lakes affect local tourism?
Lakes provide a good opportunity for local tourism to develop.
Here people can do recreational activities and sight-seeing that is the ideal feature of a tourist place.
One telling example is the Kankaria Lake and the carnival that is celebrated there each year during the month of December.
Kankaria Lake has now become the ideal tourist place for tourists who are visiting Ahmedabad in the month of December. They come here just to celebrate the Kankaria carnival.
Are rivers/lakes good for transport?
Yes, it’s a very cost-effective route for transport.
Especially when we have to reach the areas that are inaccessible by roads, lakes or rivers can be a better option.
Speaking Task : An Activity after work
Part 2
Describe an activity that you do after work?
You should say
- what it is
- when and where you do it
- who you do it with
- how you feel about it
I am working at Saraswat Bank. ( You can write here your company’s name).
If you pardon my expression, I am the breadwinner of my family. But, a man does not live by bread alone. We need art, poetry, music , and other joyful things too.
To fend off the work pressure, we all need to do some recreational activities.
I usually come home at 6:30 p.m. After having my evening tea, I prefer listening to music on my Sony headphones.
My son (or my wife/ my brother/my father) gave them to me on my last birthday.
I am a huge Sonu Nigam fan ( or Justin Bieber fan/ Britney Spears fan). I like Bollywood movie songs sung by Sonu Nigam. And when it is the combination of Sonu’s voice and A.R. Rahman’s music, then there is nothing else that can match that joy.
In my opinion, listening to music is a soulful experience.
It’s a solitary activity. But, sometimes I do it with my son, when he plays his favorite songs on our Phillips music system. He is a connoisseur of old movie songs. And he often plays old romantic songs of Dev Anand.
As I said, it’s not just music only that makes our life beautiful. There is a special kind of joy that we derive from good literature. I am a huge fan of spiritual books.
Of course, I am not a voracious reader. But, I like reading books in my free time.
I go to my son’s study room (or my study room / my father’s room) and read books like Bhagwad Geeta.
After a long and tiring day, we need some words of motivation. And for this, we have this beautiful message from Bhagwad Geeta that we should do our duty without expecting rewards.
And I should also mention here that this book was also a gift from my father. There can be no better gift than this divine book that is full of spiritual as well as worldly wisdom in it.
Why do some people enjoy extreme sports?
In my opinion, people who do adventurous things and take part in intensive sports have their own reasons to do so.
But when we look closely at these people, we realize that it all boils down to the inherent nature of humankind to explore new avenues and have some thrilling experience from it.
Our ancestors did that, and perhaps that is the reason that we evolve as a dominant species on the planet earth
Are men more likely to do adventure sports than women?
It’s a false notion that male sex is more adventures than the opposite sex.
They both belong to the same species, and they inherit the same genes.
Perhaps this may sound like as if a feminist is speaking, but, as far as I am concerned, females have very few opportunities and means to be adventurous and take part in sports that are generally known as ‘extreme sports’.
What are some popular outdoor activities in India?
For this I only need to look back on my childhood, and I tell you that playing cricket is the most popular outdoor activity, especially for boys. Girls play badminton and other sports.
Today we also see the rising number of people who go to public pools for swimming.
What do young people do in groups?
Young people these days simply like to hang out with each other on weekends.
They gather at tea-shops or cafes or plan dinners in the evening. In India, we can’t exclude cinema going on Sunday evenings. This activity has resumed after the long period of lockdown when everyone was forced to confined to his or her house.