Part 2medium

Describe a friend who is very different from you.

IELTS Speaking Practice — AI-Powered Feedback

Quick answer

Describe a friend who is very different from you: say who this friend is, how you met and in what ways you are different, then explain why your friendship works despite these differences.

You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak alone for 1–2 minutes. Spend about 15 seconds naming your choice, a minute on the bullet points, and the last 30–45 seconds on the explanation, where the marks are.

The trap: listing adjectives about the person. Give one concrete story that shows what they are like instead of describing them abstractly.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 guide More people cue cards Newest cue cards

Cue card

Describe a friend who is very different from you.

You should say:

who this friend is
how you met
in what ways you are different

and explain why your friendship works despite these differences.

Preparation

You have 1:00 to prepare. Make notes below, then start speaking.

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Model answer (Band 8-9)

Part 2

Original model answer written by our team for practice — not an official IELTS answer.

I’d like to talk about my friend Daniel, who’s almost my complete opposite in many ways but still one of the closest people in my life. He’s a software engineer in his late twenties, and we’ve known each other for around ten years now.

We first met at university during a group project. To be honest, at the beginning I found him quite hard to work with. I was the chatty one trying to break the ice, while he was very reserved, buried in his laptop, barely saying a word. Over the course of that semester, though, we spent so many late nights in the library that we kind of grew on each other and decided to stay in touch even after the project finished.

In terms of differences, we’re like chalk and cheese. I’m very outgoing and spontaneous – I enjoy meeting new people, trying random cafés, and changing plans at the last minute. Daniel, on the other hand, is introverted and methodical; he loves routines, carefully plans everything, and would rather stay at home reading or coding than go to a noisy party. Our interests are also worlds apart: I’m into languages and the arts, while he’s fascinated by algorithms, maths and anything technical.

Despite all that, our friendship works surprisingly well. I think it’s because our differences complement each other instead of clashing. He grounds me when I’m being impulsive, and I gently push him out of his comfort zone so he doesn’t become too isolated. More importantly, we genuinely respect each other’s personalities; we don’t try to change one another. That mutual respect and the fact that we can laugh at our differences are what really holds our friendship together.