Tech Notes

1. Topic & Why It Matters

Person cue cards are one of the most common Part 2 tasks. The examiner is not just checking whether you can list someone's appearance or job; they want to hear a clear mini-story with description, evidence, and personal feeling.

Where marks are commonly dropped:

Fluency & Coherence — jumping from one fact to another without a storyline.
Lexical Resource — repeating basic adjectives like nice, kind, good, and friendly.
Grammar — avoiding relative clauses, so every sentence starts with He is... or She is....
Pronunciation — flat intonation when expressing admiration, which makes the answer sound memorised.

2. Knowledge Points

The Part 2 person-answer arc

Stage	Purpose	Example move
Introduce	Say who the person is and how you know them	The person I'd like to talk about is my former maths teacher.
Describe	Give role, personality, and one visible trait	She's a calm, thoughtful person who never raises her voice.
Story	Tell one specific memory that proves the trait	I remember once staying after class because I was completely lost.
Impact	Explain what changed because of this person	She helped me become less afraid of asking basic questions.
Reflection	End with why this person matters now	Even now, I try to treat people with the same patience.

Character adjectives need evidence

A band-7+ answer does not just say "She is patient." It adds proof: "She's incredibly patient, especially with students who need something explained two or three times." Pair every adjective with a behaviour, memory, or result.

Relative clauses create smooth description

Defining: He's the kind of person who stays calm under pressure.
Non-defining: My aunt, who runs a small bakery, taught me a lot about discipline.
Object relative: The person I admire most is my older cousin.

3. Vocabulary & Phrase Bank

#	Expression	Meaning / use
01	look up to someone	admire and respect someone
02	a down-to-earth person	practical, modest, easy to talk to
03	have a calm presence	make others feel relaxed
04	be incredibly thoughtful	notice and care about other people's needs
05	have a sharp sense of humour	be quick and clever with jokes
06	be quietly confident	confident without showing off
07	lead by example	show others what to do through actions
08	go out of one's way to help	make extra effort for someone
09	be easy to open up to	make people comfortable sharing feelings
10	have a strong work ethic	work hard and consistently
11	bring out the best in people	help others perform or behave better
12	be a good listener	listen carefully and respond thoughtfully
13	be resilient	recover from difficulty
14	be generous with one's time	spend time helping others
15	have a big influence on me	strongly affect my thinking or behaviour
16	be the backbone of the family	the person who supports everyone
17	keep a level head	stay calm in stressful situations
18	make a lasting impression	be remembered for a long time
19	be wise beyond one's years	be mature for one's age
20	set high standards	expect strong performance or behaviour

4. Grammar Patterns

Relative clause for compact description

"My cousin, who works as a nurse, is probably the most resilient person I know."

Adds identity and character detail without creating two short sentences.

Past simple + specific memory

"When I was preparing for my final exams, she stayed up late and helped me plan my revision."

Part 2 answers need a concrete moment, not only general description.

Used to + contrast with now

"I used to be quite shy, but after spending time with him, I became much more willing to speak up."

Shows personal change and gives your answer a reflective ending.

Cleft sentence for emphasis

"What I admire most about her is the way she stays kind even when she's under pressure."

A natural band-7+ structure for highlighting the main quality.

Although + concession

"Although he can be quite strict, he never makes people feel small."

Adds nuance, so the person sounds real rather than perfect.

5. Pronunciation Focus

Expressive stress for admiration

Person answers need warm, varied intonation. Put stronger stress on the quality you admire, then soften the explanation. This helps the answer sound personal rather than recited from memory.

Phrase	Stress target	Delivery tip
She's incredibly thoughtful.	in-CRED-i-bly THOUGHT-ful	Rise slightly on 'incredibly', fall on 'thoughtful'.
He keeps a level head.	LEV-el HEAD	Make 'level head' steady and calm.
I really look up to her.	REAL-ly LOOK UP	Link 'look_up' smoothly.
She made a lasting impression on me.	LAST-ing im-PRESS-ion	Do not rush the middle syllables.

Linking sound: consonant + vowel

Link phrases like look up, made a, and kind of. They should sound like loo-kup, may-da, and kin-dov, not three separate words.

6. Common Pitfalls

✗ She is very nice and very good.

✓ She's incredibly thoughtful, especially when someone is going through a difficult time.

Replace vague adjectives with precise character words plus evidence.

✗ He is my friend. He is funny. He is smart. He helps me.

✓ He's a close friend who has a sharp sense of humour and always knows how to cheer me up.

Use relative clauses to avoid repetitive sentence openings.

✗ I will talk about my mother. She is 48 years old.

✓ The person I'd like to talk about is my mother, who has probably influenced me more than anyone else.

Start with significance, not biography details unless they matter.

✗ I admire him because he is perfect.

✓ Although he can be demanding, I admire him because he always leads by example.

Real people have nuance. A small concession makes the description more believable.

✗ She helped me many times.

✓ I remember one evening before an exam when she sat with me for almost two hours.

A single vivid memory is stronger than a general claim.

7. Practice Question

Part 2 — Cue Card

Describe a person you admire.

who this person is
how you know this person
what this person is like
and explain why you admire this person

Target length: 1.5–2 minutes · Preparation time: 1 minute · Aim for one clear memory

8. Model Answer (Band 7.5+)

"Well, the person I'd like to talk about is my aunt, who runs a small bakery in my hometown. I've known her all my life, obviously, but I only really started to appreciate her when I was in high school and spent one summer helping out in her shop. She's very down-to-earth, and she has this calm presence that makes people feel, I don't know, instantly comfortable.

What I admire most about her is the way she leads by example. She gets up before five most mornings, prepares everything by hand, and still somehow remembers small details about every regular customer. I remember one rainy morning when an elderly customer forgot his wallet, and instead of making it awkward, she just smiled and said, "Pay me next time." It was such a small thing, but it made a lasting impression on me because she treated him with real dignity.

Although she isn't the kind of person who gives long speeches about life, she's taught me a lot about patience and generosity. To be honest, I used to think success meant doing something big and impressive, but watching her has made me realise that being consistent and kind every day is just as meaningful. So yeah, I really look up to her, not because she's famous or anything, but because she brings out the best in people around her."

9. Annotated Commentary

Complex grammar

"my aunt, who runs a small bakery in my hometown" and "Although she isn't the kind of person..." — relative clause plus concession structure.

Idiom used naturally

"look up to her", "leads by example", and "made a lasting impression" fit the admiration topic without sounding forced.

Personal anecdote element

The rainy-morning wallet story gives evidence for generosity and makes the answer memorable.

Natural fillers

"Well", "obviously", "I don't know", "To be honest", and "So yeah" create a spoken rhythm while keeping the answer controlled.

Pronunciation notes

Stress the emotional keywords: 'CALM presence', 'LASTing impression', 'REAL dignity'. Link 'look_up_to_her' smoothly.

10. Self-Drill

Shadow-reading line — say this 5 times aloud