Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Describe a hobby you enjoy

IELTS Speaking questions reported by recent test-takers, compiled each quarter. Cambridge does not publish the active list, so this is a compilation of reports, not official material.

Questions

Question 160s to prepare · 120s to speak

Describe a hobby you enjoy. You should say: • what it is • when you started • how often you do it • and explain why you enjoy it

Model answer

Written by 8020 teachers. Do not memorise it — take the structure and the way ideas are developed, then speak about your own life.

The hobby I'll describe is growing chillies on my balcony, which started as one plant and is now about eleven. I started roughly three years ago, fairly accidentally. Someone gave me a seedling and I assumed it would die, because everything I'd grown before had. It didn't, and once one thing survives you get curious. I do something with them most days, but it's small — five or ten minutes, usually in the morning. Watering, checking under leaves for aphids, occasionally repotting. In the growing season it's more. Why do I enjoy it? Two reasons. The first is that the timescale is completely different from work. Nothing I do to a plant shows a result today. You water it, and three weeks later there's a difference, and the connection between those two things is real but invisible. That's the opposite of my job, where everything is measured weekly, and I find the contrast genuinely restful. The second reason is more practical — I now eat chillies I grew, which changes how you feel about a meal more than I'd have expected. I'll admit it's not an impressive hobby. Nobody's interested when I mention it. But it's the only thing I've kept up for three years without needing to force myself, and at this point I trust that more than enthusiasm.

Vocabulary you can use today

fairly accidentally
khá tình cờ
once one thing survives you get curious
khi một cây sống được thì bạn bắt đầu tò mò
the timescale is completely different
nhịp thời gian khác hoàn toàn
real but invisible
thật nhưng không thấy được
I find the contrast genuinely restful
tôi thấy sự tương phản đó thật sự dễ chịu
kept up for three years
duy trì được ba năm

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Sở thích càng nhỏ càng dễ nói hay, vì bạn có chi tiết thật. "Chơi thể thao" hay "đọc sách" quá rộng nên buộc phải nói chung chung. Ý mạnh nhất: nhịp thời gian của cây khác nhịp công việc. Đó là một ý trừu tượng rút từ chi tiết cụ thể — đúng thứ đưa bài từ 6.5 lên 7.5. Câu "tôi thừa nhận đây không phải sở thích oai" là cách hạ giọng hiệu quả. Nó cho bạn nói câu cuối mạnh hơn mà không nghe khoe.

âm cuối /z/ trong chillies, leaves, weeks→/s//θ/ trong three, things, monthsâm cuối /d/ trong started, watered, grown/tʃ/ trong chillies, checking, changes

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