Describe a hobby you started recently.
A strong long turn names the subject in the first sentence, spends most of the two minutes on the last bullet — the why — and arrives at a prepared final line rather than trailing off.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Describe a hobby you started recently.
You should say
- what the hobby is
- when you started
- what you do
- and explain why you started it
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 190 words at a natural pace — roughly what 120 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.About seven months ago I started restoring an old bicycle, which began as a two-weekend job and has become something considerably larger. A neighbour was throwing out a frame from the nineteen eighties, I took it mostly out of politeness, and then I looked up what the parts were worth and discovered it was a rather good frame under about four decades of neglect. What I do is mostly small and slow. Cleaning, mainly. There are hours of work in the parts you cannot see, which is the part I did not anticipate enjoying. I have replaced the cables, the tyres and the chain, and I am currently stuck on the bottom bracket, which requires a tool I do not own. Why I started it is partly the neighbour and partly that I wanted something with no screen in it. My work is entirely intangible, and there is a specific satisfaction in a thing that is either bolted on correctly or is not. I have spent about four times what the finished bicycle will be worth, which I worked out last month and have decided not to think about again.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- restoring
the precise verb for repairing something old
- politeness
abstract noun explaining the original motive
- neglect
the exact noun for years without care
- cables
concrete component noun, plural handled cleanly
- bracket
a specific technical noun that shows real knowledge
- intangible
four syllables with the stress on the second
- bolted
the right verb, with an audible past ending
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the hobby and how it grew.
- 2Tell the origin briefly.
- 3Describe what you actually do, including the unglamorous part.
- 4Explain why, with a reason about your work.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a hobby you started recently.” be?
You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak for up to two minutes without interruption. Aim to still be talking at ninety seconds: finishing at forty is the commonest way to lose marks on this part.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
A free account remembers every take, so you watch a trend instead of a single answer, and it picks tomorrow's question for you.