Part 2 · Band 8

Describe a person who encouraged you to achieve a goal.

Illustrative target band for this model answer · 242 words

AI-completed learning example

Sports have always been a significant part of my life, and I have a rich background in athletics. I was a gold medalist in my school, and during that time, everyone was inspired by my athletic abilities. I had a coach who was instrumental in motivating and encouraging me to push my achievements further. One of the clearest examples of their support came when I was preparing for an important school competition. My goal was to perform consistently and do better than I had before, but I sometimes doubted whether I could reach that level. Instead of putting pressure on me, they helped me break the goal into smaller steps. They focused on improving one part of my performance at a time and gave me honest feedback after practice. When I made mistakes, they explained what I could learn from them rather than letting me feel discouraged. What I remember most is that they believed in me before I fully believed in myself. Their encouragement was practical as well as kind: they reminded me to stay disciplined, keep practising and measure progress against my own previous efforts. That made me more confident, and I eventually achieved the result I had been working towards. I am grateful because their support helped me see that talent matters, but persistence and a positive attitude matter too. Even now, whenever I face a challenging goal, I try to follow the patient, focused approach they taught me.

Answer analysis

Fluency & Coherence

The ideas develop in a clear sequence: you introduce your athletic background, explain the coach’s encouragement, give an example of how they supported you, and finish with the lasting effect. The shift from the general introduction to “One of the clearest examples” helps organise the story. For practice, give a two-minute spoken version, then repeat it in 90 seconds while keeping the example and reflection.

Lexical Resource

Phrases such as “instrumental in motivating and encouraging me” and “break the goal into smaller steps” communicate the coach’s influence clearly, and “measure progress against my own previous efforts” adds specificity. Some wording is repetitive or broad, particularly “motivating and encouraging” and “athletic abilities.” Next, replace one repeated encouragement word with a precise action, such as setting targets or giving feedback, as your later example does.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

You use a good range of sentence patterns, including the relative clause in “a coach who was instrumental” and the contrast in “When I made mistakes, they explained what I could learn.” Most sentences are controlled and easy to follow. The phrase “a gold medalist in my school” is understandable but uses an unnatural preposition. In future answers, check prepositions in descriptions of achievements and settings; “at my school” is more idiomatic here.

Pronunciation

This is a practice guide, not an assessment of a recording; pronunciation cannot be judged from text alone. Practise the word stress in “significant part,” “athletic abilities” and “smaller steps.” Say the answer in thought groups, for example, “When I made mistakes / they explained what I could learn from them.” Record one attempt, then check that each phrase is clear and complete without rushing the final reflection.

A transcript shows language and organisation. Fluency, delivery and pronunciation require an audio recording; the synthetic voice demonstrates the text, not the original speaker.

  • Make the goal explicit early in the story—for example, state that you wanted to perform more consistently in the school competition.
  • Replace one of the paired words in “motivating and encouraging” with a concrete action from the coach, such as setting manageable targets or giving feedback.
  • End by briefly linking the coach’s support to a present-day habit, as you do with following their patient, focused approach.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Name one specific goal and explain why it mattered to you.
  • Describe two concrete ways the person supported you, such as setting small targets and giving feedback.
  • Explain what changed after the encouragement and what you learned from the experience.

Suggested structure

  1. Briefly introduce the person and your relationship.
  2. State the goal and why you found it challenging.
  3. Give specific examples of how the person encouraged you.
  4. Describe the result and reflect on why the support mattered.
Useful vocabulary & examples
set manageable targets
choose small, realistic steps towards a larger goal

My mother helped me set manageable targets for practising my speaking.

offer gentle feedback
give suggestions in a supportive, non-critical way

After each practice, she offered gentle feedback on one thing I could improve.

grow in confidence
become more self-assured over time

I began to grow in confidence as I spoke more often in class.

break a goal into steps
divide a larger aim into smaller actions

It became easier to make progress once I broke my goal into steps.

Practise your answer →

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