Describe a skill you learnt that took a long time
You should say:
- what the skill is
- when and how you learnt it
- what difficulties you faced
- and explain how you feel about this skill now
Part 3 discussion questions
After your talk, the examiner asks more abstract questions on learning and skills. Practise giving a direct answer, a reason and an example.
- 1Which skills are most useful for young people to learn today?
- 2Is it easier to learn new skills from a teacher or by yourself?
- 3Why do some people give up when learning something new?
- 4Should adults be encouraged to keep learning throughout their lives?
- 5How will the skills people need for work change in the future?
How to plan your answer in one minute
- Note one or two words for each bullet point; you can glance at them while you speak.
- Open with the main idea, then take the bullets in order so the examiner can follow you.
- Keep the last bullet (the "explain" part) for detail: this is where you show range.
- Keep talking until the examiner stops you; two full minutes shows fluency.
Notes for your minute of preparation
- What: swimming.
- When and how: at sixteen, beginners’ classes at the local pool, twice a week before school, about a year.
- Difficulties: fear of deep water, the breathing, being slower than eight-year-olds; a patient coach and tiny steps.
- How I feel now: proud; swim every week; it is never too late to learn.
Model talk
247 words · about 2 minutes spoken
The skill I’d like to talk about is swimming, which I only learnt properly when I was sixteen.
As a child I never had the chance to learn, and over the years I became quite frightened of deep water. When I was sixteen, my friends started going to the swimming pool at weekends, and I was embarrassed to sit at the side, so I decided to join beginners’ classes at our local pool. I went twice a week, early in the morning before school, and it took me about a year before I could swim confidently.
At first, the difficulties were mostly in my head. For the first few weeks I wouldn’t even let go of the side of the pool. Then there was the breathing, which I found incredibly hard; I kept swallowing water and panicking. To make things worse, most of the other learners were about eight years old, and they were much faster than me, which was a bit humiliating. My coach was very patient, though. She broke everything down into tiny steps, like just floating for ten seconds, and slowly I started to trust the water.
Now I feel really proud of it. I swim at least once a week, and it’s become one of my favourite ways to relax. I think the most valuable thing I learnt wasn’t swimming itself, but that it’s never too late to learn something, as long as you’re willing to feel a bit silly at the beginning.
Written by Acedmi to show what a high-band talk sounds like. It is not an official IELTS sample, and your own ideas can be different.
Useful vocabulary
- learn properly
- Learn to do something well, not only a little.
- “I only learnt to swim properly at sixteen.”
- be frightened of
- Be afraid of.
- “I was frightened of deep water.”
- let go of
- Stop holding something.
- “I wouldn’t let go of the side of the pool.”
- panic
- Suddenly feel very afraid and unable to think clearly.
- “I kept swallowing water and panicking.”
- humiliating
- Making you feel embarrassed and foolish.
- “Being slower than children was humiliating.”
- break down into
- Divide into smaller parts.
- “She broke it down into tiny steps.”
- confidently
- Without fear or doubt.
- “Now I can swim confidently.”
- it’s never too late
- You can still do something, even later in life.
- “It’s never too late to learn a new skill.”
Common mistakes
- Describing the skill but not the learning. The card asks how you learnt it and what was difficult.
- Skipping the difficulties point. It is the easiest place to tell a story and use emotional language.
- Tense errors such as "I have learnt it when I was sixteen". With a finished time, use "I learnt".