The cue card
Describe a hobby you would like to take up in the future.
You should say:
- what the hobby is
- how you would learn it
- what equipment or help you would need
and explain why you would like to take it up.
You have one minute to make notes, then speak for one to two minutes.
Band 8–9 sample answer
Written by Abroadway as a model of natural, high-band speaking (not an official IELTS sample).
One hobby I've been meaning to take up for ages is birdwatching, and I'm fairly sure that within the next year or so I'll finally get round to it. It might sound like something only retired people do, but I've become increasingly fascinated by it.
As for how I'd learn, I wouldn't try to teach myself entirely from books. There's a small group of enthusiasts in Dhaka who organise early-morning walks in parks and gardens around the city, and I'd join them first, mainly to watch how experienced birders actually work: how they move quietly, and how they identify a bird from a split-second glimpse or just from its call. After that, I'd love to go on one of their winter trips to the haor wetlands in Sunamganj, where huge flocks of migratory ducks arrive every year.
In terms of equipment, the essential item is a decent pair of binoculars. I've been told that a mid-range pair is perfectly adequate for a beginner, so I'm saving up for one rather than splashing out on anything fancy. I'd also need a field guide to the birds of South Asia and a notebook to record what I see. Eventually I might buy a camera with a long zoom lens, but that's a long way off, given how expensive they are.
The reason I want to take it up is partly personal. When I was small, my uncle used to take me out on his boat near our village home and point out kingfishers and herons, and I've never forgotten how patient and absorbed he was. These days I spend most of my waking hours staring at a screen, and I think birdwatching would force me to slow down and pay attention to the world around me. It's also oddly humbling to think that some of those birds have flown across half a continent to get here.
Useful phrases from this answer
- been meaning to
- have intended to do something for a long time but not done it yet
- get round to it
- finally find the time to do something you have been delaying
- splashing out on
- spending a lot of money on something, often unnecessarily
- a long way off
- far away in the future
- for its own sake
- because you enjoy it, not for any other benefit
- cut across age and background
- include people of all ages and from different backgrounds
- drain the joy out of
- make something no longer enjoyable
Part 3 follow-up questions and answers
Why do people need hobbies?
I'd say hobbies give people something that work and study usually can't: the chance to do something purely for its own sake. Most of our lives are measured by results, whether that's grades, salaries or targets, so having an activity where nobody is judging you can be a real release from pressure. Hobbies also tend to bring people together; a local cricket team or a gardening club creates friendships that cut across age and background. And on a more practical level, I think they protect mental health. Someone who paints or plays the tabla in the evening has a way to switch off, whereas someone with no outlet may find that stress simply builds up.
Is it better to have a hobby related to your job or one that is completely different?
On balance, I'd argue it's healthier to have a hobby that's completely different from your job, although it depends on the person. If an accountant spends the weekend doing spreadsheets for fun, they never really get a break, and the hobby can start to feel like unpaid overtime. A contrasting activity, such as an office worker doing woodwork or gardening, uses different parts of the brain and body, which is far more refreshing. That said, some people are so passionate about their field that the boundary hardly matters. A programmer who builds little apps at home may be developing skills that later boost their career. So there's no single right answer.
Do hobbies cost more nowadays than they did in the past?
To some extent, yes, mainly because many hobbies have become more commercialised. In the past, children in Bangladesh played football with a ball made of rags or flew kites they'd built themselves, and it cost almost nothing. Now there's pressure to buy branded equipment, proper kit and sometimes paid coaching, and social media makes people feel they need the latest gear to be taken seriously. On the other hand, technology has made some hobbies far cheaper. Anyone with a phone can learn guitar chords or drawing techniques from free videos, which once would have required expensive lessons. So I'd say the cost depends largely on how much people buy into the image of the hobby.
Can a hobby turn into a successful career?
It certainly can, and probably more easily now than a generation ago. The internet allows someone who bakes beautiful cakes or makes short films to reach customers or an audience directly, without needing a shop or a studio behind them. Plenty of home cooks, for example, started by posting photos of their food online and now run small catering businesses. However, I think people sometimes underestimate how much an activity changes once money is involved. Deadlines, difficult clients and the need for a steady income can drain the joy out of something that used to be relaxing. So it's certainly possible, but it requires a business mindset as well as passion.
Why do some people give up their hobbies as they get older?
I think the main reason is simply time and responsibility. Once people start working full-time, get married and have children, their free hours shrink dramatically, and hobbies tend to be the first thing to be sacrificed because they seem less urgent than everything else. There's also a social element: many hobbies are tied to school or university friends, and when that group drifts apart, the activity fades with it. Some people also become more self-conscious with age and feel they're too old to be a beginner. Having said that, many people return to old hobbies after retirement, which suggests the interest never really disappears; it just goes into hibernation for a while.
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