IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a Time You Helped a Stranger

Now, I'm going to give you a topic to talk about.

Please describe a time when you helped a stranger.

You have one minute to prepare. Here's some paper.

Thank you. I know exactly which story to tell.

All right, your time is up. Please start now.

I'd like to talk about something that happened last winter.

I was rushing through the main train station in my city.

Then I noticed an elderly man standing completely still.

He looked lost, and he was holding a dead phone.

So I stopped and asked if he needed any help.

He was looking for the train to his daughter's town,

but his train had left ten minutes earlier!

He looked so disappointed, and nearly in tears.

I checked, and there was another train an hour later.

So I bought us two coffees, and we waited together.

He was going to meet his newborn granddaughter for the first time!

He showed me her photo, and his whole face lit up!

When the train arrived, I walked him to the right carriage.

He hugged me and thanked me three times.

We'd swapped addresses, so a few weeks later, a postcard arrived!

The baby was fine, and he called me his station angel.

But it taught me that small kindness really matters.

Since then, I've volunteered at a visitor help desk.

Now I'm the one people run to when they're lost!

Do you think people help strangers less than before?

In big cities, perhaps, because everyone's in a hurry.

But most people will help if you simply ask them.

Would you help a stranger again?

Absolutely! It's one of the best feelings there is.

Thank you. That's the end of Part Two.