Learn IELTS vocabulary with speaking model answers: a goal or ambition for the future
Questions about your plans, hopes and ambitions appear in all three parts of the IELTS Speaking test. The examiner wants to hear you talk about the future with confidence, so on this page you'll find useful words and phrases, IELTS-style questions, and model answers to help you do exactly that. There's an interactive quiz at the end to check what you've learnt.
📚 Essential vocabulary
Here are twelve key words and phrases to help you talk about goals and ambitions in the IELTS test:
- Ambition – A strong wish to achieve something important in your life.
- Aspire to – To want very much to become or achieve something.
- Long-term goal – Something you plan to achieve over several years, not weeks or months.
- Set (yourself) a target – To decide on a specific result you want to reach.
- Milestone – An important stage or event on the way to a bigger goal.
- Determined – Having made a firm decision to do something and refusing to give up.
- Realistic – Sensible and possible to achieve, rather than based on wishful thinking.
- Setback – A problem or delay that stops you making progress for a while.
- Motivation – The reason or energy that makes you want to keep working at something.
- Fulfil – To achieve or complete something you hoped for, such as a dream or your potential.
- Step out of your comfort zone – To try something new or difficult that makes you feel a little nervous.
- Work towards – To make steady effort over time in order to reach a goal.
🗣️ Part 1 questions: goals and plans
In Part 1, the examiner asks short, everyday questions. Keep your answers natural and around two or three sentences long.
Question 1: Do you think it's important to have goals in life?
"Yes, I'd say so. Having a clear ambition gives you a sense of direction, and to be honest it makes the small daily decisions easier too. Without something to work towards, I think I'd just drift from one week to the next."
Question 2: Did you have any ambitions when you were a child?
"Oh, plenty. I aspired to be a vet for years, mainly because we had a lot of animals at home. It wasn't exactly a realistic plan, because I was terrible at science, but I think it taught me early on that it's fine to dream big."
Question 3: Do you prefer to plan things in advance or take life as it comes?
"A bit of both, really. I like to set myself a target for the year, something I can actually measure, but I try not to plan every detail. I mean, life throws up surprises, so being too rigid usually leads to disappointment."
🎯 Part 2 task: describe a goal or ambition
In Part 2, you'll be given a cue card and one minute to prepare. You then speak for up to two minutes.
Describe a goal or ambition you would like to achieve in the future.
You should say:
- what the goal is
- how long you have had this ambition
- what you need to do to achieve it
and explain why this goal is important to you.
Sample answer
"The goal I'd like to talk about is becoming fluent in Spanish, fluent enough to spend a year living and working in South America. It's a long-term goal rather than something I expect to manage next summer, and I've had it in the back of my mind for about four years now, ever since a trip to Mexico where I could barely order a coffee.
In terms of what I need to do, well, there are a few stages. The first milestone is passing the B2 exam, which I'm hoping to do next spring. After that, I want to find a language exchange partner and speak every week, because grammar exercises alone won't get me there. And finally, I'll need to save enough money and, you know, actually apply for jobs abroad, which is the scary part.
I won't pretend it's been smooth so far. I had a real setback last year when work got busy and I stopped studying for nearly six months. I lost a lot of what I'd learnt, and my motivation really dipped. But I've started again, and this time I'm more determined, partly because I've told everyone about the plan, so there's no quiet way to give up!
As for why it matters, I suppose it's about proving something to myself. I've always been a bit cautious, and this would mean I'd genuinely stepped out of my comfort zone. It's also about the people. I've got friends in Argentina I can only half talk to at the moment, and I'd love to fulfil that wish to have a proper conversation with them in their own language. So yes, that's the ambition, and I'm quietly confident I'll get there."
💡 Part 3 questions: ambition in society
In Part 3, the examiner asks broader questions. Give your opinion, explain it, and consider more than one point of view.
Question 1: Do you think young people today are more ambitious than previous generations?
"In some ways, yes. Young people now see success everywhere on social media, so they often aspire to things earlier and on a bigger scale, like starting a company at twenty. However, I'm not sure that's the same as being more determined. Their grandparents may have had quieter goals, buying a house or getting a secure job, but they stuck at them for decades. So it's a different kind of ambition rather than more of it."
Question 2: Is it better to have one big goal or lots of small ones?
"I'd argue you need both. A big long-term goal gives you direction, but on its own it can feel overwhelming, and that's when people lose motivation. Smaller goals act as milestones along the way, and each one you reach gives you a bit of confidence. For example, someone who wants to run a marathon should probably start by setting a target of five kilometres. The danger is only having small goals and never asking where they're leading."
Question 3: Should schools help students set goals for the future?
"Yes, but carefully. Schools are well placed to teach the skill of goal-setting, things like breaking a plan into steps or coping with a setback without giving up entirely. What they shouldn't do is push every sixteen-year-old to choose a career. Most people's ambitions change several times, and a goal that isn't realistic for that particular student can do more harm than good. So teach the process, not a fixed destination."
✏️ Practice activity
Think of one goal you genuinely want to achieve in the next five years. Speak for two minutes about it, using at least five words or phrases from the vocabulary list. Try to include:
- one milestone on the way to the goal
- one possible setback and how you'd deal with it
- a sentence explaining where your motivation comes from
Record yourself, listen back, and check whether the words sound natural or forced. Then try again without notes.
📝 Vocabulary quiz: goals and ambitions
Test yourself with these 15 questions. Choose one answer for each question and you'll see feedback straight away. Aim to finish in about 10 minutes.
Section A: gap-fill (choose the word that completes each sentence)
1. "Without something to ________, I think I'd just drift from one week to the next." Easy
2. "The first ________ is passing the B2 exam, which I'm hoping to do next spring." Easy
3. "I had a real ________ last year when work got busy and I stopped studying for nearly six months." Medium
4. "I like to ________ myself a target for the year, something I can actually measure." Medium
5. "This would mean I'd genuinely ________ my comfort zone." Hard
Section B: multiple choice (choose the best word or phrase)
6. My sister has always ________ be a doctor, even when she was very young. Easy
7. Becoming a manager within ten years is a ________ for me, so I'm not in a hurry. Easy
8. Which sentence uses fulfil correctly? Medium
9. Learning ten new languages by next year isn't very ________. Why not start with one? Medium
10. Even after failing the test twice, he was ________ to pass, so he booked a third attempt. Hard
Section C: true or false (decide whether each statement about the vocabulary is correct)
11. "Motivation" describes a problem that stops you making progress. Easy
12. You can say "Her ambition is to run her own restaurant." Easy
13. "Stepping out of your comfort zone" means choosing the easiest, safest option. Medium
14. In the Part 3 answers, the speaker suggests that small goals can act as milestones towards a bigger one. Medium
15. "Work towards" and "work out" mean the same thing when talking about goals. Hard
Your score
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