Describe a skill you would like to learn.
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 skill you would like to learn.
You should say
- what the skill is
- why you want to learn it
- how you would learn it
- and explain what would be difficult about it
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 199 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.The skill I would most like to have is being able to draw, by which I mean specifically being able to look at something and get it down on paper in a way that resembles it. Not art exactly. Observation. Why I want it is that I have noticed people who draw see more. A friend who sketches can describe a building she walked past a week ago in detail that I simply do not have, because the act of drawing forces you to actually look at where the edges are. How I would learn it is not a mystery. There is a well-known book and a fairly standard progression, and the honest requirement is about thirty minutes a day for a year. What would be difficult is entirely psychological. I am extremely bad at being bad at things in a visible way, and drawing produces a permanent record of every failure that sits on the table looking at you. I have owned the book for two years and started the first exercise three times, which is a fairly complete summary of the situation. I suspect I will do it eventually, in a year when nothing else is happening.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- resembles
three syllables with the stress on the second
- observation
four syllables with the stress on the third
- sketches
the precise verb, with a hard final cluster
- edges
concrete noun that explains what drawing teaches
- progression
three syllables with the stress on the second
- psychological
five syllables with a silent p
- permanent
three syllables with the stress on the first
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the skill and define it precisely.
- 2Give the reason as something you have noticed in others.
- 3Say how you would learn it, realistically.
- 4Answer the difficulty with an honest one about yourself.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a skill you would like to learn.” 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
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