Describe an interesting old person
You should say
- Who the person was
- How you met that person
- Where you met him or her
- And explain why you find them interesting.
SAMPLE
The old person that I find interesting that I would like to tell you about is my grandma. Actually, she died a few years ago but she was a very inspiring person. My earliest memories of her are probably from when I was about 5 or 6 years old, because before that I didn’t live with my grandparents so I didn’t see them very often.
There are many reasons why I think she was very interesting. Firstly, she grew up in Australia during a time when men and women did not have equal rights, especially in terms of salary, and she used to work in a leather factory and she knew that she was good at her job, better than a lot of the men in the factory. So one day, she demanded that her boss pay her the same wage as her male colleagues because she was better than a lot of them. This was a brave thing to do and her boss gave her a raise. I think this is a good example of her personality actually. She was an honest and fair person, she worked hard and she expected to be paid fairly.
She always really loved to live in old houses in the countryside and filled them with all sorts of antiques and lots of interesting gadgets, so it was quite fascinating for me and my brothers to visit her house when we were young. Secondly, my grandmother was a real individual. She loved to play video games even when she was 60 years old, and she used to ride a big motorcycle and she had some tattoos on her arms, which was very uncommon for a woman her age. But my brothers and I thought she was really cool. She was also a very talented artist as well. She painted many beautiful paintings, and learnt to play the piano when she was about 65. And because of these things, my grandmother is someone I really admired.
IELTS Speaking Part 3
1. Can old and young people share the same interests?
Yes of course. There are many interests that young and old people share. For example, many young and old people like to play the same sports, such as badminton, or the same games, like chess. It really just depends on each person’s personalities.
2. What can old people teach the youth?
Well, I suppose there are plenty of things the older generations can teach the youth. For example, older people usually have a lot of life experience and have learnt a lot of important life lessons which they can teach younger people about. In Vietnam, most older people experienced a lot of hardships in their lives when they were young, because the country was involved in a lot of wars, and many people didn’t have jobs or money or even food, so they had to learn to survive and overcome those difficult times. Most kids these days don’t have to deal with anything like that, so there are many things they could learn from their elders.
3. What can young people teach the old?
Well, I guess the first thing that springs to mind is about how to use technology. Many older people tend to be living behind the times so they tend to have a hard time learning how to use modern computers and other devices, like smartphones and so on, so that’s one thing they can learn from the youth. Also, I guess many older people still hold on to some traditional beliefs and customs, some of which are a bit
out-dated, while the youth are usually in the know when it comes to modern ways of living and more modern views and opinions about certain aspects of life. So I guess both generations have something to learn from each other.
