IELTS Speaking part 1 | Hobbies

Hobbies have changed a great deal in the last few decades, particularly for teenagers. Most people have something we enjoy doing in our spare time.

Look at the following –

1. What hobbies do you enjoy doing?
2. Do you have more than one hobby?

Examples

• One of my hobbies is to cook. I really enjoy cooking good food and will have a look at new recipes and try different dishes out. I find cooking very relaxing and obviously it is great to be able to taste the end results. Recently I have been watching a Youtube channel with Chinese recipes which is one of my favourite cuisines.
• I would say hiking is probably my favourite hobby and I am lucky that I have easy access to many walks and mountains not too far away. I really like to be in nature and find it refreshing to get out of the city after a busy week at work. Although it can be tiring spending a couple of hours walking to the top of a mountain it is really rewarding and it helps to keep me fit.

Recipe – (Noun) (c) – UK /ˈres.ɪ.pi/ US /ˈres.ə.pi/ – a set of instructions that tells you how to prepare food, including a list of ingredients needed

Cuisine – (Noun) (c) – UK /kwɪˈziːn/ US /kwɪˈziːn/ – a style of cooking i.e Greek cuisine

Rewarding – (Adj) – UK /rɪˈwɔː.dɪŋ/ US /rɪˈwɔːr.dɪŋ/ – giving reward, especially by making you satisfied that you have dome something important or useful, or done something well.

Depending on what your hobbies are you may need some equipment.

Think about the following –

1. What do you need to do your hobby?
2. Is the equipment expensive?

Examples

• Well, there are some pieces of equipment that you need but it depends on what you are cooking really. I friend of mine recently gave me a jiaozi making kit, jiaozi are Chinese dumplings. Instead of wrapping the dumplings by hand you put the dumpling skin in the middle of it, add the filling and close the mould tightly. It works great and is much quicker than making them by hand as it can be quite time consuming.
• Yes, you need quite a bit of equipment and it can be quite expensive as well. Most important is a good pair of comfortable walking boots. You need a fleece, a set of waterproofs and a good rucksack. Good socks are also important so that you don’t get blisters.

Mould – (Noun) (c) – UK /məʊld/ US /moʊld/ – a container of a certain shape into which soft or liquid substances are placed so as to make the shape.

Time consuming – (Adj) – UK /ˈtaɪm.kənˌsjuː.mɪŋ/ US /ˈtaɪm.kənˌsuː.mɪŋ/ – a task that takes a long time to do.

Fleece – UK /fliːs/ US /fliːs/ – material for clothing made to resemble to the wool on a sheep.

Rucksack – (Noun) (c) – UK  /ˈrʌk.sæk/ US /ˈrʌk.sæk/ – a large bag designed to carry things on your back, used especially by people who go camping or walking.

The most common answer to this question would be computer/video games as this seems to be a worldwide phenomenon these days.

Examples

• I think hobbies have changed dramatically over the last few decades. I would say that most young people nowadays play video games as they are really popular especially shoot ‘em ups. I also used to play a lot of those kind of games but now I am at university I don’t have time.
• I think most young people are a lot less active now and play a lot of computer games. There are still some popular activities such as football but in general I would say most young people spend a lot of their free time looking at a screen. I guess to some extent those games can take you to another world and people get captivated by them.

Shoot ‘em ups – (Noun) (c) – UK /ˈʃuːt.əmˌʌp/ US /ˈʃuːt̬.əmˌʌp/ – a type pf computer in which the aim is for a single character to kill as many of the enemy as possible.

Captivate – (Verb) – UK  /ˈkæp.tɪ.veɪt/ US /ˈkæp.tə.veɪt/ – to hold the attention of someone by being extremely interesting, exciting, pleasant or attractive.

Think about these questions –

1. What hobby would you like to try in the future?
2. Why do you want to try this activity?

Actually, I have tried archery a few times and really enjoyed it. It is good for hand eye coordination and improves your strength as the bow tension can be quite high. It is also good for concentration as you have to focus hard before you release the arrow. It’s a good way to socialise as well as the club I went to before had a lot of members.

As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy hiking, but I have always wanted to try rock climbing. I have had a couple of goes at indoor climbing walls and my leisure centre has a bouldering wall, but I have never tried on a real rock face. I want to do it to conquer my fear of heights and when the weather gets better a friend of mine said he would take me to a few places he knows that are good for beginners.

Archery – (Noun) (u) – UK /ˈɑː.tʃər.i/ US /ˈɑːr.tʃɚ.i/ – the art or sport of shooting arrows.

Bouldering wall (Noun) (u) –  UK  /ˈɑː.tʃər.i/ US /ˈɑːr.tʃɚ.i/ – a wall of low height made to resemble rocks that are climbed with no ropes.