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IELTS · Guide 18 · 13 min read

IELTS Speaking Part 2 sample answers: describe a skill you learned

An IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card on a skill you learned, with Part 3 follow-ups, transcripts at bands 8, 6.5 and 5 and commentary.

How to use this worked session

This page takes one Part 2 cue card and its Part 3 follow-up questions and shows three candidates answering them at different levels, as transcripts. Before you read on, try it yourself: take one minute to make notes, then speak for two minutes and record yourself. Answer the Part 3 questions too. Then compare your recording with the transcripts and commentary.

The task

Part 2 cue card

Describe a skill you learned outside school or work.

You should say:

You have one minute to prepare. Speak for one to two minutes.

Part 3 discussion questions

  1. Which skills do you think every young person should learn?
  2. Is it better to learn a practical skill from a person or from online videos?
  3. Do you think older people find it harder to learn new skills?

What the examiner is listening for

Strong response (around band 8)

Examiner: I'd like you to talk about a skill you learned outside school or work. You have one minute to prepare. Candidate: I'd like to talk about learning to swim properly, which I actually only did in my late twenties. I could sort of keep myself afloat as a child, but I'd never had lessons, so I couldn't swim more than a length without panicking. What changed things was a friend of mine who's a lifeguard. She noticed me splashing about at the local pool one weekend and offered to give me a few pointers, and that turned into a regular Sunday morning session. She was a brilliant teacher, very patient, and she broke everything down into tiny steps. The first thing she made me do was simply put my face in the water and breathe out slowly, which sounds trivial, but it turned out to be the root of my whole problem. I'd been holding my breath the entire time, so of course I was exhausted after twenty metres. All in all, it took about four months before I could swim front crawl for half an hour without stopping. There were weeks when I felt I was going backwards, to be honest, but she kept reminding me that progress isn't a straight line. The reason I'm so glad I stuck with it is that it's opened up a lot for me. I go swimming twice a week now before work, and it's done wonders for my back, which used to give me a lot of trouble from sitting at a desk. And last summer I went snorkelling for the first time, on holiday, which I simply wouldn't have dared to do before. So it's one of those skills that's given me far more than I expected. Examiner: Which skills do you think every young person should learn? Candidate: I'd put basic money management near the top of the list. A lot of young people leave home without really understanding how interest on a loan works, or how quickly small subscriptions add up, and that can get them into difficulties that take years to sort out. Cooking is another one, frankly. If you can make a few simple, healthy meals, you're less dependent on takeaways, which is better for your health and your bank balance. Examiner: Is it better to learn a practical skill from a person or from online videos? Candidate: It depends on the stage you're at, I think. Videos are great for getting a general idea, and you can pause and rewind as often as you like. But a video can't see what you're doing wrong. With swimming, for example, I'd watched dozens of clips, and none of them told me I was holding my breath. A person can spot that kind of thing in seconds. So ideally I'd say a combination: videos for the theory, and a real teacher for feedback. Examiner: Do you think older people find it harder to learn new skills? Candidate: In some ways, yes. Certain things, like picking up the accent of a new language, do seem to come more easily when you're young. But I'd argue that older learners have advantages that often get overlooked. They tend to be more patient, and they usually know exactly why they want to learn something, which keeps them motivated. I suspect the bigger obstacle is confidence rather than ability. Many older people assume they'll be bad at something and give up before they've really tried.

Commentary

Pass-level response (around band 6.5)

Examiner: I'd like you to talk about a skill you learned outside school or work. You have one minute to prepare. Candidate: OK, I'm going to talk about cooking, which I learned from my mother when I was a teenager. Actually, I didn't learn it at school, because in my school we didn't have cooking classes. So, my mother is a very good cook, and when I was about fifteen she said that I need to learn how to cook because one day I will live alone. At first I didn't want to, because I preferred to play football with my friends, but she made me help her in the kitchen every weekend. She showed me how to cut vegetables, how to make rice properly, and some traditional dishes from our country. I think it took me maybe one or two years to become good at it. In the beginning I made a lot of mistakes, for example I put too much salt or I burned the food, and my brother always complained. But, you know, step by step I got better, and now I can cook maybe ten or fifteen different dishes without a recipe. Why I'm glad I learned it ... well, when I moved to another city for university, I lived alone, and many of my friends just ate fast food every day. But I could cook for myself, so I saved a lot of money and I was more healthy than them. Also, sometimes I cooked for my friends and they really liked it, so it was a good way to make friends. So yes, I think it's a very useful skill and I'm happy my mother forced me to learn it. Examiner: Which skills do you think every young person should learn? Candidate: I think young people should learn how to manage money, because many of them spend all their salary and they don't save anything. Also they should learn cooking, like me, because it's healthier than eating outside all the time. Examiner: Is it better to learn a practical skill from a person or from online videos? Candidate: Hmm, I think both have advantages. Online videos are free and you can watch them any time, which is very convenient. But if you learn from a person, they can correct you immediately when you make a mistake. So for difficult skills, like driving, I think a person is better, but for simple things the videos are enough. Examiner: Do you think older people find it harder to learn new skills? Candidate: Yes, I think so, because when people get older their memory become weaker and they are not so flexible. For example, my father tried to learn how to use a smartphone and it took him a long time. But I think if they are interested and they practice a lot, they can still learn.

Commentary

What would lift it: extend Part 3 answers with a second reason or a wider example, and replace general words with more precise ones ("independent", "budget", "nutritious").

Weaker response (around band 5)

Examiner: I'd like you to talk about a skill you learned outside school or work. You have one minute to prepare. Candidate: Er ... I want to talk about ... riding bicycle. I learn it when I was ... maybe eight years old? Nine. My father teach me. He, er, he take me to the park near my house, and he hold the bicycle from back, and I ride. Many times I fall down. It was ... it was very difficult for me. I was crying sometimes. Er ... and my father say, don't worry, try again, try again. How long ... I think one month? Maybe one month. Every day after school we go to park. And then one day I ride alone and my father is not holding, but I don't know this. It was very ... very nice feeling. Er ... why I am happy ... because bicycle is very good. It is good for health. And now I go to ... to my university with bicycle sometimes, so I don't pay for bus. Er ... it's good. Also, er, bicycle is good for environment, because no ... no pollution. So I am happy I learn it. Er ... that's all. Examiner: Which skills do you think every young person should learn? Candidate: Er ... young people should learn ... computer. Because computer is very important now. Every job need computer. Examiner: Is it better to learn a practical skill from a person or from online videos? Candidate: From person is better. Because ... er ... the person can help you. Video is ... video is not help you. Yes. Examiner: Do you think older people find it harder to learn new skills? Candidate: Yes. Old people is difficult. Because they are old and they ... er ... they forget. My grandmother cannot use phone.

Commentary

What would lift it: use your one minute of notes to plan three or four things to say for each prompt, practice past tense forms of common verbs until they come automatically, and answer each Part 3 question with "because" plus an example.

The three answers side by side

FeatureBand 8Band 6.5Band 5
Length of long turnFull time, well developedFull time, some fillersStops early
Part 3 answersView, reason and exampleRelevant, sometimes shortVery short, little development
VocabularyIdiomatic and preciseAdequate, a few odd choicesVery limited
GrammarWide range, accurateGood mix, noticeable errorsPresent for past, many errors

Self-check checklist

Listen to your recording and ask:

  1. Did I keep talking until the two minutes were up?
  2. Did I cover every prompt on the card, in an order that made sense?
  3. Did I tell a story with at least one specific detail or moment?
  4. Did I use past tenses correctly when describing what happened?
  5. Did my Part 3 answers give a view, a reason and an example?
  6. Did I use at least two or three precise phrases rather than "good", "nice" and "very"?
  7. Were my pauses for thinking about ideas, or for searching for words?
  8. Can I hear clear word endings and stress on the important words?

About the band levels

The band levels on this page are our own estimates for practice purposes. They are not official scores and are not produced or endorsed by any IELTS partner. Only a certified examiner assessing a real test can give you an official band.