Panning an IELTS Speaking Part 2 Answer – PPF Method

It can be challenging to plan an IELTS speaking part 2 answer. Especially if the question asks you to describe someone or something that you don’t know much about.

This post will show you how you can plan this type of answer using the PPF method. It is actually quite easy when you have a good structure.

The subject of the question that we will cover is rather hard; many of my students have recently found it extremely difficult. The question asks you to talk about someone who is fashionable.

This is challenging for 2 reasons:

• Who will you talk about?
• How can you talk about fashion?

Many of my students get stuck halfway through their talk because they are trying to think of more vocabulary that they can use to talk about fashion and fashionable.

What they really need is a way to plan their answer. This is why I suggest using this structure to make an answer when talking about any person or thing (this could also be used to talk about a place).

The method that we will use to plan this answer is as follows:

Present – Talk in the present tense

Past – Talk about the past

Future – Talk about the future

If we look at the question and my answer, it will be easy to see how this works.

The IELTS speaking part 2 question that we will answer is:

Describe a fashionable person

You should say:

• who he/she is
• what he/she does
• what kind of clothes he/she wears
• and explain why you think this person is fashionable.

Planning The Answer

If we try and talk about fashion for the whole 2 minutes, we will probably run out of things to say by the end. Remember we are talking about a person as well as fashion. Let us plan the answer using the; present, past and future method.

Present Tense

• Who is he/she? (Old friend James)
• What he/she does? (fashion model, trendy)
• What kind of clothes they wear? (The latest styles)
• Why is he/she fashionable? (Always knows the latest styles)

Past Tense

• When did we meet? (At uni)
• What did we do? (Were good friends – Thick as thieves)

Future

•  What we will do together in the future (Should catch up and hang out)

Now I have planned, let’s see it all together in the answer.

I’ve decided to talk about my friend James. He is an old friend and he’s incredibly trendy. Whatever the occasion, he is always wearing something suitable and stylish but this isn’t surprising as he works as a fashion model. This is why he knows the latest fashions and can get hold of the most up-to-date styles.

As I mentioned, James and I go way back. We were school chums originally and we ended up attending the same uni, albeit on different courses. You could say we were as thick as thieves. Even back then he was always dressed to impress and well turned out in the latest clothes. On top of that, he was a bit of a ladies man and often had a pretty girlfriend.

That reminds me, I really should get in touch with him as I haven’t seen him in ages. It will be great to catch up and see what he has been up to.

Vocabulary

An old friend (colocation) – Friend for a long time

Trendy (adj) – Wears the latest fashions

Stylish (adj) – Fashionable

Get hold of (pv) – Aquire or own

Styles (n) – Type of stylish clothing

Chums (n) – Friends

As thick as thieves (idiom) – Great friends

Dressed to impress (colocation) – Wore fashionable clothes

Ladies man (n) – A man who has a lot of female attention

Get in touch (idiom) – Contact somebody

That is my method for talking about a person or a thing (Present, Past & Future). I hope you found it useful! Make sure to try this out next time you’re practising your IELTS speaking.

Try answering this question yourself:

Describe a person you admire.
You should say:

• who the person is
• what he or she is like
• What they do well
• and why you admire him or her

I have one last question for you:

Which linking phrase is used to add more information?

(Let me know in the comments below)

Thanks for reading, good luck with the IELTS tests!

For more help with IELTS speaking click here.

Make sure you are ready for the speaking test by taking my speaking course.