Speaking
IELTS speaking food questions are almost guaranteed in Part 1, and they catch people out for the same reason hometown questions do: the subject is so ordinary that candidates answer in four words and stop. This page shows how to turn I like pizza into thirty seconds without inventing a cooking career you do not have.
Examiner: Do you enjoy cooking?
Candidate: Not really.
True, and worth nothing. Note that the honest answer is fine — you are not being marked on enthusiasm. The first improvement is to give the reason.
Candidate: Not really, mainly because it always takes longer than I expect it to.
Better, and it took two seconds. The second improvement is to qualify the answer, which is where most of the language lives.
Candidate: Not really, mainly because it always takes longer than I expect it to — there is half an hour of chopping before anything actually starts cooking, and then the washing up afterwards, which I resent more than I should. I can make about six things properly and I stick to those. The exception is when I am cooking for other people, which I do enjoy, probably because there is a point to it.
bland, rich, greasy, fresh, filling, spicy, stodgy, delicate, overpowering, tasteless
home-cooked, freshly made, overpriced, generous, plain, hearty, light, reheated, authentic
grab something, throw something together, live on, be sick of, cut down on, treat yourself to, get takeaway
now and again, most weeknights, hardly ever, when I can be bothered, as a rule, more often than I should
That last group is doing more than it looks. Part 1 food questions are nearly always about habit — what you usually eat, whether you cook often, what you ate as a child — so frequency phrases give you a natural way to extend an answer without adding new content.
Record yourself, then open the model and look for the moves you did not make, rather than the words you did not use.
Not especially, although I can cook a few things quite well. The problem for me is that it always takes longer than I expect — there is a lot of preparation before anything actually happens, and then the washing up at the end, which I like even less. So on a normal evening I make one of about six things I know by heart. Cooking for other people is different, and I do enjoy that, probably because somebody notices.
Home-cooked, though not for the reason I am supposed to give. It is partly that it is healthier, obviously, but mostly it is that fast food gets boring extremely quickly. If I have it twice in a week I am already sick of it. Home cooking at least varies, and you can adjust things to your own taste, which I have started caring about more than I used to.
It depends entirely on how busy I am. On a working day it is something I can eat in ten minutes at my desk — a sandwich, some noodles, occasionally just whatever was left over from the night before. At the weekend it is a proper meal and often the main one of the day, especially if I am eating with other people. So it is less a habit than two different habits.
Quite a lot, and not always for the better. As a child I ate whatever was put in front of me at more or less the same time every day, because somebody else was organising it. Now I eat far more variety but far less regularly, and I skip meals when I am busy in a way I never did then. The one improvement is that I eat vegetables voluntarily, which would have astonished my parents.
If your Part 1 topic is food, the discussion later may widen into diet, agriculture and cost. Each of these needs an opinion with a reason attached rather than a description of what you eat.
Why do you think fast food has become so popular?
Should governments do more to encourage healthy eating?
Are traditional dishes disappearing in your country?
Is it a problem that healthy food costs more than processed food?
Record yourself whenever you practise. Nearly every phone will do it. Listening back is the only way to notice the words you repeat and the places where your voice goes flat, and both of those are being scored.
Quick question, 10 seconds
Where do you want to study or move to?
When are you planning to go?
How far along are you?
Want free IELTS practice sent to you?
Optional. Leave it blank and your answers are still counted.
Thanks. That helps.
Back to your practice.