In your IELTS Speaking test, part one has many questions about yourself and your life. One question you might get is, “What do you usually do with your friends?”
In this post, you can read 10 good band-seven answers to this question, with tips on how to think of your own answer (go straight to the answers here).
Give a True, Simple Answer
It’s always best and easiest to be honest in IELTS Speaking. It’s so much easier to talk about your real like than to make stuff up.
So just say what you usually do. Then add one or two more sentences with more details. You could talk about:
- Why you enjoy doing that thing with your friends
- How long you’ve been doing that thing
- How you started doing that thing
- How often you meet your friends
- Which friends you do it with
- Where you meet your friends
- Why one of your friends likes that thing
- Anything else that comes to mind
Maybe you’re too busy to do things with friends these days. No problem. You could talk about:
- What you do with your work colleagues or classmates
- What you used to do with your friends when you were younger
- What you would like to do if you had more time
- Anything else you can think of
Focus on Giving a Fast, Fluent Answer
In part one, you don’t need to focus on getting a high score by using clever vocabulary and grammar.
Part one is supposed to be easy, just to help you warm up.
So focus on answering fluently, without hesitation. This will grow your confidence and please the examiner.
It’s best to use simple English in part one so that you can speak quickly, with less chance of making mistakes.
In part two, you can show off more complex grammar and vocabulary. You’ll have more time to prepare.
Use the Three-Step YES Method
The YES Method will help you give just the right answer to any part-one question. Just say:
- Your answer (say what you like doing)
- Explain your answer (say why you like it) or add more details
- Stop talking (let the examiner know you’re ready for the next question)
Example Answers
Here are 10 good answers to think about.
Shopping
1. I like hanging out with my friends at the shopping mall. We all love shopping so we spend a lot of time browsing through the clothing stores and chatting in the coffee shop.
Parties
2. Well, I’m a college student so my friends and I tend to go out to a lot of parties. We like socializing and joking around. Sometimes we go to house parties, sometimes we go out to bars and nightclubs.
Card Games
3. I’ve been into a card game called Magic Cards for many years. My friends and I play it every weekend. We love this game because it’s very strategic and lots of fun.
Hanging Out
4. Well, I don’t really know. I guess we just hang out in each other’s apartments, messing around, catching up, gossiping, and sometimes cooking.
Sports
5. All my friends are very sporty, and I am too, so we often play football or basketball. And then we have lunch or dinner together afterward.
Business Talk
6. I mostly talk about business with my friends. We’re all entrepreneurs, which means we’re all very interested in business and making money. We could talk about it all day long.
Computer Games
7. Most of the time, I play computer games online with my friends. At the moment, we’re all really into a game called League of Legends, which is a big multi-player strategy game.
Too Busy
8. To be honest, these days I’m just too busy with work to spend time with my friends. It’s a pity, I’d like to meet up with them more often.
Traveling
9. I haven’t done anything interesting with my friends for a long time, to tell you the truth. But I’d love to go traveling with them sometime, perhaps to an exotic country like Thailand.
Colleagues
10. Most of my friends are my colleagues from work. We sometimes go out together after work hours, to have dinner or sing karaoke. That’s always great fun.
Now, It’s Your Turn!
I hope you gained some nice ideas from these example answers. Now, it’s time for you to practice.
Turn on the voice recorder on your mobile phone.
Then ask yourself, “What do you usually do with your friends?”
When you’ve finished answering, listen to your recording, and write down exactly what you said.
This way you can clearly see any mistakes.
Then answer again, and try to improve a little each time.
If you keep repeating this process in practice, then you’ll soon be ready to provide a great band-seven answer to any part one IELTS Speaking question.
