IELTS Speaking Topics: Free-time

In this interactive video we’re going to look at IELTS speaking topics to help you talk about your free-time.  Watch the video, choose which vocabulary you want to work on and play the mini games.  So whether you are really into listening to music, maybe you are football daft, maybe you find playing football more rewarding or perhaps you think that shopping is very therapeutic.

Talking about your free-time or hobbies is a topic that comes up again and again in the IELTS Speaking and you really need to have some good vocabulary for that Band 7.  Here are just a few examples of questions: do you have a hobby?  Did you have a hobby as child? What’s you favourite leisure time activity? What is a common leisure time activity in your country? Describe a leisure activity that you do regularly.

Dictation Game

Try writing some of the sentences that you heard in the video.  Once you are finished, you can record yourself repeating some of them in the recorder

Free-time vocabulary

  • a guilty pleasure
  • spare time
  • to be daft about something
  • to be fond of something
  • to take it easy
  • to be into something, rewarding
  • time-consuming
  • therapeutic. 

Meaning and example sentences

A guilty pleasure is something you like, but you know isn’t good for, or isn’t considered high quality.  So in my spare time I probably watch too much television and I have a guilty pleasure for reality TV.  The latest series of X-factor has been brilliant. 

Spare time. Synonym of free-time I read a lot of books in my spare time

Daft.  If you are daft about something, it means that you are very passionate about something.  I am absolutely daft about foosball and play it all the time with friends in my local bar.

Fond of something. When you like something. I am quite fond of chocolate and know that I eat too much.

Take it easy.  By taking it easy you are relaxing and not doing much in particular.  I like taking it easy at the weekend and spending time with my family.

To be into something. When you like something. I am really into jazz.

Rewarding.  If something is rewarding then it gives you satisfaction.  We don’t actually have a television at home, so we don’t watch much television.  I find it much more rewarding to read books or magazines.

Time-consuming. Something that takes a lot of time I would read more books, but it is very time consuming.

Therapeutic Therapeutic.  Something is therapeutic if it is good for your health or helps you relax.  Cooking is very therapeutic to me as it stops me thinking of the stresses of work.

Try making your own sentences from the vocabulary.

IELTS Speaking Vocabulary

How to practise IELTS Speaking

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