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Describe a skill that was difficult for you to learn.

This test has appeared in 3 seasons · 1 reported by test takers

  • Sep–Dec/2022
  • May–Aug/2022
  • Jan–Apr/2022

Reported by test takers Forecast only

Take this test with the AI examiner

Part 1

The examiner asks about you and two familiar topics. About 4–5 minutes.

Your home town

  1. Where is your home town? (Tell me more about that.)
  2. What do you like most about it? (Tell me more about that.)
  3. Has it changed much since you were a child? (Why is that?)
  4. Would you like to live there in the future? (Why is that?)

Colours

  1. What is your favourite colour? (Tell me more about that.)
  2. What colours do you usually wear? (Tell me more about that.)
  3. Did you have a different favourite colour when you were a child? (Why is that?)
  4. Do you think colours can affect how people feel? (Why is that?)

Social media

  1. How much time do you spend on social media each day? (Tell me more about that.)
  2. Which social media apps do you use most? (Tell me more about that.)
  3. When did you first start using social media? (Tell me more about that.)
  4. Do you think people share too much on social media? (Why is that?)

Part 2

One minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes.

Describe a skill that was difficult for you to learn.

You should say:

  • what the skill was
  • when you learned it
  • how you learned it

and explain why it was difficult for you.

Follow-up question after your talk: Are you good at it now? / How long did it take you to learn it?

Part 3

A broader, more abstract discussion of the Part 2 topic. About 4–5 minutes.

learning new skills as an adult

  1. Can you explain why adults often find new skills harder to learn than children do?
  2. In general, what kinds of skills do adults in your country want to learn?
  3. What could be done about the loss of motivation when a skill turns out to be difficult?

teaching and training

  1. Can you explain why a good teacher makes such a difference to a difficult subject?
  2. How would you compare learning a skill from a teacher with learning it from videos online?
  3. Can you speculate on how people will learn practical skills in the future?

Test titles follow test-taker reports and each season's forecasts — IELTS does not publish its papers. "Reported" means someone reported meeting this topic in a dated test. The questions are written by us in the format of the real test.