IELTS speaking model answer — something you enjoyed doing as a child
Band 9 model answer and practice tips
This section of the site is for model answers on Part Two topic cards. They are all rated at Band 9.0 (the top score).
It is good practice to read the model answer aloud, ideally while recording yourself. Then play back the recording, listening closely to your pronunciation (particularly your intonation) and the speed at which you are speaking.
Describe something you enjoyed doing as a child. You should say:
- what you did
- when you did it
- if you still do it
You should also say why you enjoyed doing it.
Model answer:
Well the thing I probably enjoyed doing more than anything else as a child, or at least from when I was about 6, was riding bikes. I had a new or secondhand bike every year or so and they always got faster and bigger as I grew. I remember my first bike had training wheels on the side so I didn’t fall over while I was learning!
As I got a little older – about 10 or so – I used to go out on my bike with some friends most weekends and evenings. I used to get to school on my bike as well, and we would call in at each others houses and ride in a group to school. The most exciting time was when I was 14, when three of my closest friends and I all went away overnight cycling with a tent on the back of the bicycles. It seemed like such an adventure, and we must have cycled over 60 kilometres that weekend! We had a great time just cycling around and then we set up the tent in the field and spent the night. The only problem was my friend had an accident and destroyed his bike, so his parents had to come and pick him up.
For my 15th birthday I had a bike with 15 gears, which, at the time, was very unusual. It was much faster than any of my friends’ bikes so I started to go out a lot on my own and later on I got a job delivering newspapers where again I used my bike a lot.
I stopped cycling when I was about 18 and I haven’t really gone back to it although I probably should. It’s very good for health and fitness. The only problem is the other road users don’t always watch out for bikes and it can be a little dangerous especially on busy roads. I’m not sure it would be so easy to have fun with a bicycle now as it was when I was a child because of the traffic on the roads these days.
Mostly I enjoyed it because it was a chance for me to get out of the house and be a little bit independent. It was a lot of fun playing with friends who also had bikes, so there was a very social side to it as well.
BOOST YOUR VOCABULARY! Here’s a glossary of key words from this post:
| Word (Part of Speech) | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation (noun) | the way a word or language is spoken | Work on your pronunciation when you practise speaking. |
| Intonation (noun) | the rise and fall of your voice when speaking | Good intonation helps your speech sound natural. |
| Kilometres (noun) | units for measuring distance (1 km = 1000 metres) | We cycled over 60 kilometres that weekend. |
| Training wheels (noun) | small extra wheels on a bike to help a child learn | My first bike had training wheels so I could learn safely. |
| Gears (noun) | parts on a bike that change how easy or hard it is to pedal | My bike had 15 gears, so it was very fast. |
| Delivering (verb) | taking and giving items to people’s homes or places | He earned money by delivering newspapers. |
| Independent (adjective) | able to do things on your own without help | Cycling made me feel more independent as a child. |
| Fitness (noun) | being healthy and physically strong | Riding a bike is very good for fitness. |
| Traffic (noun) | many vehicles on roads moving together | Busy traffic makes cycling on roads more dangerous. |
| Unusual (adjective) | not common or different from what is normal | Having 15 gears was unusual at the time. |