What do you do in your free time? It sounds like a simple question, but in the IELTS Speaking test you need to answer it with good vocabulary and plenty of detail. Hobbies and leisure activities are among the most common topics in IELTS Speaking Part 2, and they often appear in Part 1 too.
Below you will find eight hobby and leisure cue cards with band 7+ sample answers, useful vocabulary, and typical Part 1 and Part 3 questions with answers. Use them as ideas, then practise talking about your own hobbies.
You get a cue card and 1 minute to make notes. Then you speak for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover every point on the card, add a short example or story, and finish with the “explain” part.
Hobby and leisure cue cards with sample answers
Describe a hobby that you enjoy doing.
You should say:
- what the hobby is
- how you got interested in it
- what you do when you engage in this hobby
and explain why you enjoy doing this hobby and how it benefits you.
Sample Answer:
One hobby I really enjoy is playing the guitar. I got into it when I was about fifteen, after a friend showed me a few basic chords at a summer camp. I was hooked straight away, and I saved up my pocket money to buy my first second-hand guitar.
These days I usually play for half an hour or so in the evening. I mostly play along to my favourite songs, but I also like learning new techniques from online tutorials, and recently I have started writing a few simple songs of my own.
I enjoy it because it is the perfect way to unwind after a stressful day. When I am playing, I forget about everything else. It is also a creative outlet: I can express feelings through music that I could never put into words. And, of course, it is great fun to play with friends at parties.
Describe a leisure activity that is popular in your country.
You should say:
- what the activity is
- how people do it
- why it is popular
and explain whether you think it is a good way to spend free time.
Sample Answer:
In my country, one of the most popular leisure activities is going to the countryside at the weekend, especially to hike or pick berries and mushrooms in the forest.
It is very simple: people drive out of the city early on Saturday morning, walk along forest trails or nature paths and often have a picnic or a barbecue. In late summer and autumn, whole families spend hours in the woods filling baskets with mushrooms.
I think it is popular because most of the country is covered with forests, so nature is never far away, and it costs almost nothing. In my opinion it is an excellent way to spend free time. It keeps you active, gets you away from screens and gives you time to talk to your family or friends.
Describe an interesting hobby that someone you know has.
You should say:
- who the person is
- what the hobby is
- how they started it
and explain why you think it is interesting.
Sample Answer:
I would like to talk about my uncle, who has a rather unusual hobby: he restores old motorbikes. He is in his sixties now, and he has been doing it for as long as I can remember.
He started when he found a rusty motorbike from the 1970s in a neighbour’s barn. He bought it for almost nothing, took it apart piece by piece and spent two years bringing it back to life. Since then he has restored around a dozen bikes, and he takes them to vintage vehicle shows in the summer.
I find it fascinating because it combines so many skills: mechanics, patience and even a bit of history, since he researches every model. It is also very satisfying to see something that was about to be thrown away become beautiful again.
Describe an expensive activity that you enjoy doing occasionally.
You should say:
- what the activity is
- when you do it
- who you do it with
and explain why you enjoy it even though it is expensive.
Sample Answer:
An expensive activity I enjoy every now and then is skiing. I usually go once a year, in February, when I take a week off work and travel to the Alps with a group of friends.
Skiing is definitely not cheap. You have to pay for the lift pass, accommodation in the mountains, equipment hire and, of course, the meals in the ski resort, which are always overpriced. That is why I save up for it during the year.
I still think it is worth every penny. There is nothing like the feeling of gliding down a slope on a sunny day with the mountains all around you. It is also a great way to stay active in winter, and the evenings with my friends, chatting by the fire after a long day on the slopes, are just as enjoyable as the skiing itself.
Describe an activity you enjoyed in your free time when you were young.
You should say:
- what the activity was
- where you did it
- who you did it with
and explain why you enjoyed it.
Sample Answer:
When I was a child, my favourite free-time activity was building dens in the woods behind our house with the other kids from my street.
We would collect fallen branches, old blankets and anything else we could find, and spend hours building a little hut. Each summer we tried to make it bigger and better, and some years we even had a “secret” entrance and a flag on the roof.
I loved it because it gave us a feeling of freedom and adventure. There were no adults telling us what to do, and we had to work together and solve problems on our own. Looking back, I think it taught me a lot about teamwork and creativity, and it is one of my happiest childhood memories.
Describe a new hobby you would like to take up.
You should say:
- what it is
- how you would learn it
- what equipment you would need
and explain why you would like to take it up.
Sample Answer:
A hobby I would really like to take up is pottery, making bowls and cups by hand on a potter’s wheel. A friend of mine started a course last year, and every time I visit her, she has made something new.
I would learn it by joining an evening course at a local art studio. They run eight-week courses for beginners, with one three-hour class a week. I would not need to buy much at first, because the studio provides the clay, the wheels and the kiln, so I would only need old clothes and an apron.
I would like to take it up because my job is entirely on a computer, and I miss making something real with my hands. My friend says it is also very relaxing, because you have to concentrate so hard on the clay that you cannot think about anything else. And it would be nice to drink my morning coffee from a cup I made myself.
Describe an outdoor activity you did for the first time.
You should say:
- what the activity was
- where you did it
- who you did it with
and explain how you felt about it.
Sample Answer:
The outdoor activity I would like to describe is kayaking, which I tried for the first time last summer on a lake about an hour from my home. I went with three colleagues as part of a team-building day.
We started with a short lesson on the shore, where the instructor showed us how to hold the paddle and how to get back into the kayak if we fell out. Then we paddled across the lake to a small island, had lunch there and came back in the afternoon. It was about ten kilometres in total.
At the beginning I felt quite clumsy, because my kayak kept turning in circles while everyone else was going straight. But after half an hour I found the rhythm, and it felt wonderful to glide across the water so quietly. By the end I was exhausted but really proud of myself, and I have been kayaking twice more since then.
Describe a skill that took you a long time to learn.
You should say:
- what the skill is
- when you started learning it
- how you learned it
and explain why it took you so long.
Sample Answer:
A skill that took me a very long time to learn is swimming properly. I could keep myself above water as a child, but I only learned to swim front crawl correctly when I was about twenty-five.
I decided to learn after a beach holiday where all my friends swam out to a small rock and I had to stay behind. When I got home, I signed up for adult swimming lessons at my local pool, two evenings a week, and I practised on my own at weekends.
It took me almost a year, mainly because I had to unlearn bad habits. I had always kept my head out of the water, and breathing to the side felt completely unnatural. I also felt embarrassed at first, being the oldest person in the class. But it was worth it: now I swim twice a week, and last summer I finally swam out to a rock with my friends.
Useful hobby and free time vocabulary for IELTS
Instead of repeating “I like” and “it is fun”, use some of these words and phrases:
| Topic | Words and phrases |
|---|---|
| Talking about hobbies | to take up a hobby, to get into something, to be hooked on, a keen photographer, a passion for |
| Free time | leisure time, spare time, to unwind, to recharge your batteries, a hectic schedule, downtime |
| Benefits | a creative outlet, to relieve stress, to keep fit, to broaden your skills, a sense of achievement |
| Frequency | every now and then, once in a blue moon, on and off, whenever I get the chance |
| Activities | outdoor pursuits, a team sport, a board game night, DIY, gardening, volunteering |
IELTS Speaking Part 1: hobby and free time questions
Part 1 questions are short and personal. Give a direct answer and add a reason or an example.
1Do you have any hobbies?
Yes, a few. My main hobby is playing the guitar, but I also enjoy hiking at weekends when the weather is good.
2What do you usually do in your free time?
During the week I don’t have much spare time, so I usually just read or watch a series in the evening. At weekends I try to do something active, like going for a long walk or meeting friends for a game of football.
3Did you have a hobby when you were a child?
Yes, I was really into collecting football stickers. My friends and I used to swap them at school, and I still have a couple of the albums at my parents’ house.
4Is there a hobby you would like to take up in the future?
I would love to learn photography. I travel quite a lot, and I would like to take better pictures than the ones I take on my phone.
IELTS Speaking Part 3: leisure discussion questions
New to Part 3? See how to give band 7+ answers in Speaking Part 3, with simple and stronger answers compared.
In Part 3 you discuss hobbies and leisure in general. Give longer answers, compare and explain reasons.
1What free time activities are popular in your country?
It depends on the age group. Older people tend to enjoy gardening and walking in nature, while young people spend a lot of their free time online, gaming or using social media. Sports such as basketball and running are also popular, and running events have become very fashionable in recent years.
2Why do people need hobbies?
I think hobbies are essential for a balanced life. Work and studies can be very stressful, and a hobby gives people a chance to relax and do something purely for pleasure. Hobbies can also help people make new friends and learn skills they would never learn at work.
3Do people have less free time today than in the past?
In some ways, yes. Many people work longer hours and are always reachable by phone, so it is harder to switch off. On the other hand, modern technology saves us time on household chores, so it is often more about how we use our free time than how much of it we have.
Practise on your own
Choose one of the cue cards above, set a timer for 1 minute to make notes, and then record yourself speaking for 2 minutes. Listen back and check whether you covered every point and used some of the vocabulary from this page. For more topics, see IELTS Speaking Part 2 topics and cue cards with answers.