Describe a time that you were shopping in a street market
You should say:
When it was.
Where it was.
What you bought.
How you felt about the shopping experience.
Band 6,5 Answer by IELTS Candidate:
I still remember the time when I was shopping in a street market in England. It was a December and Christmas was approaching, my friends and I decided to go out and shop in a street marker near the campus. The street market was located in downtown and not far from campus. It was such an crowded and unforgettable scene with the special Christmas atmosphere that I believe I would always remember it even after I came back to my country. The kids were happy looking around with their parents and the things on sale were various and not commonly seen at non-festival time. I bought some handmade soap and a few old postcards as I am a super fan of time honored postcards. I felt excited that I got the chance to buy those old postcards with stories behind them. In terms of my feelings about the shopping experience, I would say it would remain as one of the most amazing experiences, shopping for old postcards in a street market at a special time. Also, I would always remember the friends who were at my side at time because we shared that excellent experience. From that time on, I believe I fall in love with the street markets.
IELTS Speaking Part 3
1) Where do you like to go shopping?
For me, I would prefer to shop online as I think it is more efficient and convenient to shop online. There are many apps for online shopping and the choices are various. When I shop offline, I always go to the market to try on some clothes and then I will see if there are the same types online. I enjoy online shopping because it can help me save much money and usually the choices are more. And the ratio of the price and the performance is higher. Another reason why I like to shop online is that I actually do not like walking too much because of my laziness and shopping online includes the service of delivering, so I think it meets my needs perfectly.
2) Why do some people prefer street markets over shopping malls?
There are various reasons I think. Firstly, the goods in street market are cheaper and the ratio of the price and the performance is higher. No one would like to spend a large amount of money just to buy few products, plus that most people are not that rich as imagined. Also, in the street market, you can bargain with the seller while in shopping mall there is usually no room for bargaining. Another important reason, I think, is that in street market, the things are fresher and sometimes there indeed exist good stuff that cannot be found in shopping malls. For example, I once bought some old postcards from street market, which cannot be bought from shopping malls.
3) Do you think the goods sold at discount stores do not have good values/qualities?
I think it depends. And I do not agree with the opinion that the goods sold at discount stores are all of poor quality. From my personal experience, I have bought some good stuff from discount stores and the ratio of the price and the performance is higher. One of the reasons why 10 the goods in discount shops are there is that new products are on and people think some of the old versions are outdated, so they transfer those goods to the discount shops. However, the concept of being outdated or old-fashioned is different from person to person. Therefore, for some people, the goods are still of great value. Also, when those goods are produced, the same standard is applied, so I do not that the goods a : discount shops are of poor value or qualities.
4) Do you like shopping in big malls?
To be honest, I am not that into shopping in big malls. There are various reasons why I do not like shopping in big malls Firstly, it is always very crowded in big malls and I do not like the feeling of being surrounded by a lot of people. The second reason is that I do not like walking too long just for shopping. In big malls, I need to walk for a long distance to buy the things I want. I would think that shopping online is more convenient. Another reason is that the price in big mall mostly are beyond my budget and I am not used to spending a large sum of money to buy a handbag or a piece of clothes as I know the price of the goods in big malls contains much additional pays such as the higher tax and service fee.
5) What do some people like to buy expensive goods?
There are various reasons why people like to buy expensive goods. Firstly, it is deeply rooted in people’s mind that the price and the quality are directly proportional. Therefore, people think that they can buy the goods of higher quality through spending more money. The second reason is concerned with vanity. As we all know, some luxurious brands carl help people show off their social status and richness. For some rich people, they just want to flaunt the affluence through buying very expensive things and they believe it makes them seem more advanced. I think the two reasons mentioned above basically explain why people prefer expensive things.