IELTS Speaking Part 1 – Place of Work / Study

IELTS Speaking Part 1 – Place of Work / Study

• Do you prefer to work alone or in a group?
• Do you prefer to work at home or in the workplace?
• What part of your school do you like the most?
• What is your favourite place to study?
• Do you prefer to study at home or in a library?

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Do you prefer to work alone or in a group?

From personal experience, I prefer to work alone about 85% of the time. I only like working in a group when it’s something that needs more creativity. But when it comes to technical work, I prefer working alone. I tend to take my time to process information, and I like to figure things out on my own first. In groups, everyone wants to contribute, which can make technical tasks more complicated. I’ve had experiences where we were supposed to work on something technical, but it ended up mediocre because everyone was trying to give their input. With technical stuff, it’s either you get it right or you don’t.

Do you prefer to work at home or in the workplace?

Sometimes, especially during summer, I prefer working at the workplace because my home office gets too hot. But next year, I plan to buy a new air conditioner and improve the HVAC system, so that should help. In the workplace, it’s nice to see other people, even if you don’t always like them. It kind of puts you in the mood to work. In the past, my home office was set up so I was always seeing my bed, which made it hard to stay focused. I’d often feel like going back to sleep instead of working.

What part of your school did you like the most?

It depends. In elementary school, there was this Vietnamese store with a beautiful bird. We used to make fun of the bird, and it would say random words, which was amazing to us. In high school, I went to two different schools. In the first one, there was this expensive, high-class internet cafe. We couldn’t afford to go, but just smelling the computers and watching people there felt therapeutic. In my senior year, my favorite place was a hot dog stand where my friends and I would hang out. In college, there was a building next to our school where we did a lot of activities. I think the same person owned it, so it still felt like part of the school. I also worked at the school, and my favorite part was always the cafeteria. We’d spend two hours there, talking before we had to get back to work. It was a place where we discussed a lot of things and just relaxed.

What is your favorite place to study?

My favorite place to study is still my room. I really like the desk my dad bought me when I was 14. I feel comfortable studying there, and while I might redesign the desk at some point, I still prefer my setup. I’m not comfortable studying in other places because I get distracted by unfamiliar environments. Instead of focusing, I find myself checking my surroundings, which is counterproductive. So, I usually study at my desk around 3:00 AM, and that’s when I can really focus.

Do you prefer to study at home or in a library?

I’ve tried studying in the library before, but it didn’t really work out. There were too many distractions. I’d find myself looking at other books or getting distracted by students I wanted to talk to and make friends with. Back then, dictionaries were huge, and since my mom was a teacher, we had one at home. Growing up, I didn’t really need to go to the library because we had our own set of books, including a giant Oxford dictionary, which was the biggest book in our house.

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