Do you like taking photographs?
A strong Part 1 answer puts the actual answer in the first clause, adds one reason or one example, and stops. Two or three sentences, roughly forty seconds.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Do you like taking photographs?
no preparation, about 45 seconds to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 63 words at a natural pace — roughly what 45 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.I take a great many photographs and I would not call myself good at it. My phone is full of pictures nobody will ever look at, including four hundred of the same sunset. What I have noticed is that taking a photograph sometimes stops me actually seeing the thing, so I have started making myself look first and photograph afterwards, if at all.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- photographs
stress on the first syllable, unlike photography
- sunset
compound noun, concrete and slightly comic here
- noticed
past tense introducing a reflection
- actually
adverb reduced heavily in natural speech
- afterwards
British adverb used correctly
- pictures
everyday noun, with a weak second syllable
How a strong answer is built
- 1Answer with an honest assessment of your ability.
- 2Give concrete evidence of the habit.
- 3State an insight you have had about it.
- 4Say what you now do differently.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Do you like taking photographs?” be?
About 45 seconds. Long enough for the answer plus a reason or an example, short enough that the examiner can get through the rest of the set.
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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