Keeping in touch: questions and Band 8 answers
The examiner asks three to five short questions on two or three everyday topics in the first four to five minutes. These are the 4 questions about keeping in touch in the BandLadder test bank, with sample answers for the most frequent ones. Aim for two or three sentences each: answer, reason, one detail.
Sample answers
In your country, did people in the past keep in contact in the same ways as they do today?
Not at all, as the landscape of communication has shifted dramatically. Decades ago, people relied almost exclusively on handwritten letters or landline telephones, whereas today, instant messaging and video calls have become the norm, allowing us to bridge long distances almost instantaneously.
Do you prefer to contact different people in different ways?
I certainly do, as the medium often depends on the nature of the relationship. For instance, I prefer formal emails for professional correspondence, while I stick to casual messaging apps like WhatsApp for my close friends to keep the conversation light and informal.
Do you find it easy to keep in contact with friends and family?
Well, it is remarkably effortless nowadays due to the ubiquity of smartphones. Regardless of where my relatives are located globally, I can reach them with just a few taps on my screen, which helps me feel connected even when we are physically miles apart.
How do you usually contact your friends?
My primary method is through voice notes rather than typing out long messages. I find that hearing someone’s tone of voice adds a personal touch that text often lacks, making it feel much more like we are having a genuine face-to-face conversation.
Details are invented. Use the shape, not the sentences: examiners mark memorised answers down.
Useful vocabulary
- landscape of communication
- the overall situation or structure of how people interact
- bridge long distances
- to overcome the physical space between people
- professional correspondence
- the exchange of letters or emails for work purposes
- ubiquity
- the state of being everywhere or very common
- effortless
- requiring very little physical or mental exertion
- genuine
- truly what something is said to be; authentic
- Use varied vocabulary to describe modern technology instead of just repeating the word internet.
- Personalise your answers by mentioning specific apps or habits to sound more natural and authentic.
Answer out loud and get a band
The AI examiner asks Part 1 questions like these, listens, and scores fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, with the words that cost you.
Practise Part 1 with the AI examinerOn your phone? Get the BandLadder app.