Describe a Person You Admire: IELTS Speaking Part 2-Style Practice with the Story of Dashrath Manjhi, the "Mountain Man"
For "describe a person you admire", choose someone whose actions you can describe. Dashrath Manjhi, a poor labourer from Gehlaur in Bihar, India, lost his wife in 1959 when the nearest doctor was 70 km away. He then cut a path through a rocky ridge with a hammer and chisel for 22 years.
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Who should you choose for "describe a person you admire"?
Someone whose actions you can list. Adjectives ("kind", "hardworking") fill ten seconds; a sequence of deeds fills two minutes. The strongest choices are people with one visible, checkable achievement and a difficulty that makes it mean something. Here is the practice card, our own wording:
Describe a person you admire for their determination.
You should say:
- who this person is
- what they did
- what difficulties they faced
and explain why you admire them.
The person is Dashrath Manjhi, the Mountain Man. Read his story first — it maps onto every bullet of the card — and keep the facts straight.
Facts you’ll need — each one is checked, with its source, on the story page:
- Labourer from Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India
- In 1959 his wife Falguni Devi died; the nearest doctor was 70 km away
- Some reports say she was hurt crossing the ridge bringing him food or water
- He worked with only a hammer and a chisel, 1960–1982 — 22 years
- Villagers called him a lunatic at first; some later gave food and helped buy tools
- The path: about 110 m long, 9.1 m wide, 7.7 m deep in places; Atri–Wazirganj fell from 55 km to 15 km
- Died in 2007; state funeral; story in Bihar school textbooks; 2016 India Post stamp
Can you talk about someone you have never met?
Yes. Unless the card says "someone you know personally", the examiner is testing your speaking, not your address book. What you must add is the bridge point: how you learned about them. One sentence — "I read his story a few years ago and it stayed with me" — covers it, and it sets up the final "explain" point as your honest reaction.
How do you tell Dashrath Manjhi's story in two minutes?
Cause, action, result, judgement. Note one word per point in the preparation minute:
- Opener (~35 words)Dashrath Manjhi, a labourer from Gehlaur village near Gaya in Bihar, remembered as the Mountain Man. Your part: how you came across the story.
- Cause (~60 words)In 1959 his wife Falguni Devi was injured and died, and the nearest town with a doctor was 70 km away. Some reports say she was hurt crossing the ridge while bringing him food or water. He resolved to cut a road so no one else would suffer the same fate.
- Action and difficulty (~90 words)With only a hammer and a chisel he worked for 22 years, from 1960 to 1982. People called him a lunatic, which only steeled his resolve. Villagers taunted him at first, but some later gave him food and helped buy tools. He was an impoverished labourer from one of India's lowest castes.
- Result (~55 words)The path is about 110 metres long and 9.1 metres wide, 7.7 metres deep in places, and it cut the Atri–Wazirganj distance from 55 km to 15 km. Official roads came only after his death in 2007, when he was given a state funeral. His story is now in Bihar school textbooks and on a 2016 India Post stamp.
- Explain (~50 words)What you admire: persistence with almost no resources, for the sake of strangers. Your part: how it changes how you see your own goals. If you use the anecdote about walking the railway tracks to Delhi, keep "according to one account".
What stays with me is the tools. Twenty-two years, and it was a hammer and a chisel against a ridge of rock. When the path was done it was about 110 metres long — and a journey that had taken 55 kilometres around the mountain now took 15.One sample paragraph only — the rest stays an outline on purpose. A memorised script collapses when the card differs by one word; facts survive nerves.
About 274 words in total — 1:50 to 2:12 spoken at 125–150 words per minute.
| Card point | Your note |
|---|---|
| who this person is | Manjhi |
| what they did | wife, doctor far |
| what difficulties they faced | hammer, 22 years |
| and explain why you admire them | persistence |
One word per point, written in the preparation minute — never a sentence you could recite by accident.
His is the most retold story in the library — the practice page uses it as its worked example, and the beginner version is 171 words, comfortably inside the two-minute budget.
Which words show admiration without repeating "admire"?
Determination, perseverance, resolve, mocked, remote village — and three paraphrases that keep the final point fresh: look up to, have great respect for, what impresses me most. Back each with a deed ("what impresses me most is that he kept going after the village called him a lunatic"), because the paraphrase is only evidence when it points at something.
What do examiners listen for?
The four criteria are the ones in the public band descriptors. What the app can measure is narrower, and it never produces a score or band for any of them:
- Fluency and coherence
- Cause, then action, then result, then your judgement — keep the four moves in that order and the answer organises itself.SoulfulStories measures: your pace, your pauses and your filler words — how long you keep the floor and how your answer is organised.
- Lexical resource
- Determination, perseverance, resolve, mocked, remote village — and paraphrase "admire": look up to, have great respect for, what impresses me most.SoulfulStories measures: the CEFR level of the words you used, and where you rephrased around a missing word.
- Grammatical range and accuracy
- Two showcase forms: a past perfect contrast (a trip that had taken 55 km now took 15) and a third conditional (if a doctor had been closer, she might have survived).SoulfulStories measures: nothing — grammar is not measured, because a transcript-based check would be guesswork; the examiner on test day judges it.
- Pronunciation
- Put sentence stress on the contrasts — twenty-two years, by hand — and let the pause before the result do work.SoulfulStories measures: nothing automatic today — pitch and volume variation are measured, but clear pronunciation is yours to hear in the playback.
How can the same story answer "a person who inspired you to do something interesting"?
Only the last point changes. "Inspired" wants a consequence in your life, so your closing move becomes something concrete you did differently — even small. The same switch works on other cards:
- Describe a person who inspired you to do something interestingSame answer, new ending: your part becomes a thing you did differently after the story.
- Describe a person who helps othersManjhi built for strangers; Braille's invention helps millions — pick the person whose help is easiest to evidence.
The full method for changing angle without changing topic is on the Part 2 practice page.
How do you practise this answer out loud?
Read Manjhi's story at your level, close it, write your four words, and record two minutes. The report shows your pace next to the learner band, your fillers, your pauses, and which of his facts came through — no scores invented, just measurements, as the methodology explains. Tell it again the next day; the second take is where admiration stops sounding memorised.
Tell the Mountain Man's story in two minutes.
Feedback on your pace, filler words, pauses, which key facts you covered, and the CEFR level of your vocabulary. Free to try, no card — and no score or band.
Questions and answers
Can I describe a famous person I have never met?
Yes, unless the card asks for someone you know personally. Explain how you learned about them and cover each point on the card.
Who was Dashrath Manjhi?
A labourer from Gehlaur in Bihar, India. After his wife died in 1959 far from a doctor, he cut a path through a rocky ridge with a hammer and chisel from 1960 to 1982, shortening a 55 km journey to 15 km.
How do I avoid repeating the word 'admire'?
Use paraphrases such as 'look up to', 'have great respect for' or 'what impresses me most', and give a concrete action as evidence.
Will SoulfulStories tell me my IELTS band?
No. It is independent practice, not affiliated with IELTS. Feedback covers pace, fillers, pauses, which key facts you included, and CEFR vocabulary.
Sources
Every outside fact on this page comes from the story’s cited sources, listed with their accessed dates on the story page.
- Dashrath Manjhi — Wikipedia · accessed 25 October 2026
- India's 'Mountain Man' inspires Bollywood biopic — The National · accessed 25 October 2026
- Bihar CM Nitish Kumar recalls 'Mountain Man' Dashrath Manjhi's effort — The Indian Express · accessed 25 October 2026
- IELTS Academic: Speaking test format — ielts.org · accessed 1 November 2026
Keep going
- IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue cardsPart 2-style practice cue cards backed by true, sourced stories, with a one-minute note grid and a model outline.
- IELTS Speaking Part 2 Practice: The Long Turn AloneA free, repeatable loop for the long turn: one minute of notes, two recorded minutes, one listen, one fix — with a worked cue card taken three ways.
- How to Retell a Story Out Loud: 5 Steps + a True StoryA five-step retelling method worked on one true story shown at its three reading levels — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
- The Man Who Cut the MountainAfter his wife died because the doctor was over the hill, a labourer cut a road through the rock with hammer and chisel. It took 22 years.
IELTS is a registered trademark of its owners. SoulfulStories is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge. We don't give band scores.