What 'life stories' covers: Life stories is part of the theme Experiences. You need vocabulary to talk about it — and to give your opinion about it.
What you need words for
- narrating personal experiences
- childhood
- memorable moments
- turning points
- what you learned
Use the list as a glossary: The words below are common English B vocabulary. Treat the list as a glossary: learn each term with its meaning and a synonym, then reuse them in the reading and writing sections.
- life story
- the account of the important events in a person's life
- an experience
- something that happens to you and that you learn from
- a memory
- something from the past that you remember
- childhood
- the time of your life when you are a child
- a stage of life
- a distinct period in your life, such as childhood or adolescence
- an unforgettable moment
- a moment so special you will always remember it
- an experience that shaped my life
- an event that strongly influenced who I became
- a turning point
- a moment when an important change begins
- to overcome a difficulty
- to deal successfully with a hard situation
- to learn a lesson
- to understand something useful from an experience
- to miss (someone / something)
- to feel sad because a person or thing is not with you
- to grow up / to mature
- to become older and more developed as a person
- to be proud of
- to feel pleased and satisfied about something you did
| Useful expression | What it means |
|---|---|
| I'll never forget that day. | That day made a lasting impression on me. |
| It was an experience that shaped me. | That event strongly influenced who I am. |
| I learned a lot from that stage. | That period of my life taught me a great deal. |
| At first it was hard, but in the end it was worth it. | The difficulty paid off later. |
| That moment changed the way I see life. | After it, I looked at things differently. |
Why this matters: This vocabulary turns up in every skill — a reading text telling someone's story, a listening interview about a memory, a Paper 1 diary or blog about an experience, or your oral. Reusing precise topic words is how you score Criterion A (Language).
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Have something to say: Examiners reward developed ideas, not just vocabulary. Around life stories, the common debates are: whether difficult experiences make us stronger, how travel and time away change us, and what childhood memories teach us. Take a position and back it up.
Opinion phrases (use these to introduce a view)
- In my opinion… / From my point of view… — to introduce what you think
- It seems to me that… / I believe that… — a slightly softer way to give a view
- The most important thing is… — to highlight your main point
- On the one hand… on the other hand… — to weigh up two sides
- I (completely) agree that… / I'm not convinced that… — to react to an idea
The hard side of an experience
- At first you miss your home and your family.
- Making mistakes in another language is embarrassing.
- Leaving your comfort zone is really hard.
What you gain
- Overcoming a difficulty makes you stronger.
- You get to know other cultures and make new friends.
- You go home far more sure of yourself.
Family history
- Interviewing parents or grandparents
- The most surprising parts of their story
- How you feel about what you learned
People who inspire
- Role models: who they are and why we need them
- A famous former student comes back to visit
- A film or book about someone you admire
Overcoming obstacles
- Following a dream against family wishes
- Building a new life after leaving home
- Working with a disability or illness
- a role model
- a person you admire and want to be like
- family roots / ancestors
- where your family comes from / the people your family comes from
- to pass down (a story)
- to tell it to the next generation
- to overcome (an obstacle)
- to succeed in dealing with a difficulty
- determined
- not willing to give up, even when it is hard
- an achievement
- something good you succeed in doing after effort
- humble beginnings
- a start in life with little money or few chances
Link your ideas: Connectors lift your answer from a list into an argument: moreover (to add), however (to contrast), therefore (to conclude), although (to concede). Use at least two or three in any written answer.
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Read like Paper 2: Here is a short blog post — the kind of text Paper 2 (Reading) gives you. Read it once just for the general idea; don't worry about every word. Then we'll work through one exam question together.
A summer that changed my life (1 of 3): When I was sixteen, I spent a summer with a host family in a small coastal town. On the first day I felt completely lost, because everyone spoke so quickly that I could barely follow a single conversation.
A summer that changed my life (2 of 3)
One afternoon I took the wrong bus and ended up in a part of town I had never seen, with no phone battery left. I was about to panic when an elderly woman noticed me. She bought me a cup of tea, listened to my broken explanation and phoned my host family from her own phone.
A summer that changed my life (3 of 3)
That small act of kindness changed everything. That summer I learned that a mistake can turn into your best memory, and I went home far more confident and deeply grateful.
- host family
- a family you live with for a while, often in another country
- lost
- not knowing where you are or what to do
- to take the wrong bus
- to get on a bus going somewhere you did not want
- an act of kindness
- a kind, helpful thing someone does for you
- grateful
- feeling thankful for something good someone did
IB-style task — one Paper 2 question
One question, step by step
- The question — "According to the text, what did the elderly woman do to help the writer?"
- Find it in the text. Look for "an elderly woman": "She bought me a cup of tea, listened to my broken explanation and phoned my host family from her own phone."
- The answer — She bought the writer a cup of tea and phoned the host family from her own phone. The words are right there in the text, so no outside knowledge is needed.
Reading technique: For an "according to the text" question, find the exact line that proves your answer — don't rely on memory or general knowledge.
The task: Your school magazine is collecting stories about life-changing experiences. Write a diary entry about a day that shaped your life and reflect on what you learned from it.
Write 250–400 words.
Diary entry structure — 4 steps
1
Date and Dear diary
Start with the day and Dear diary. "Saturday 14 July. Dear diary,"
2
The event, in the past
Tell what happened today. "This afternoon I took the wrong bus…"
3
Your feelings
Say how you felt, honestly. "I felt lost and homesick…"
4
Reflection
Say what you learned or what comes next. "Tonight I feel different."
Date + Dear diary → Event → Feelings → Reflection
Model: the 4 steps in ~100 words
The diary entry, step by step
- Saturday 14 July. Dear diary,
- Today was the hardest day of my exchange so far. This afternoon I took the wrong bus and ended up in a town I didn't know. My phone was dead, and I could barely follow a conversation.
- I felt lost and homesick, and I almost cried. Then a kind old woman walked me to the right stop and even bought me a coffee.
- Tonight I feel different. The hard moments are the ones that make us grow, and I'm proud of how I coped. Tomorrow I'll take the bus again — the right one! Carmen
Why it works: A strong diary entry does this for each of the three Paper 1 criteria:
A — Language /12
- Range of tenses: past "I took", "I felt", present "I feel", future "I'll take"
- Connectors: "then", "and even"
- Topic vocabulary: homesick, exchange, coped
B — Message /12
- Task fully done: tells the day AND reflects on what she learned
- Feelings described honestly
C — Conceptual /6
- Diary conventions: the date and "Dear diary"
- Past tenses for the events, present for how she feels now
- A personal, reflective tone
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How listening is tested: Paper 2 also tests listening: you hear short clips, each played twice, and you never see the words.
Answering a listening question
1
Read the questions first
Do this before the clip plays.
2
Listen for the key idea
Not every word, just the part the question points to.
3
Answer
Write what the speaker said.
Questions → key idea → answer
Practise on the page: Here we'll use a transcript so you can practise the technique on the page. Read the questions, then find the answer in the speaker's words.
Transcript — Hugo's grandfather (1 of 2): Hi, I'm Hugo, and I want to tell you about my grandfather. He left school at fourteen because his family needed money, and he started working in a garage, washing cars. He watched the mechanics every day and, at twenty-five, he opened his own workshop.
Transcript — Hugo's grandfather (2 of 2)
He always regretted not finishing school, so at sixty he went back to evening classes and finally passed his exams. For me, his story proves that it is never too late to learn.
IB-style task — two listening questions
Two questions, step by step
- Q1 — Why did Hugo's grandfather leave school at fourteen? Listen just after "He left school at fourteen because": "his family needed money." That is your answer.
- Q2 — What did he do at sixty? Hugo says it near the end: "at sixty he went back to evening classes and finally passed his exams." Answer: he went back to evening classes and passed his exams.
Listening technique: Read the questions before the clip plays. Each question usually points to one short part of the recording — listen for the words around it, not the whole thing.