Speaking Part 2 · Activities & habitsIn the Sep–Dec 2026 reported set
Describe Something You Did to Learn Another Language
In short
“Describe Something You Did to Learn Another Language” is a common IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card. You get 1 minute to prepare and should speak for 1–2 minutes, covering all four points below. This page gives you a Band 9 model answer, an idea map so you can make it your own, the Part 3 follow-up questions with answers, and the vocabulary examiners reward.
The task card
Describe Something You Did to Learn Another Language. You should say:
- •What language it was
- •What you did
- •How long you did it for
- •And explain how well it worked
Band 9 model answer
The language was Spanish, and the thing I did — which sounds slightly absurd when I say it out loud — was watch the same television series three times in a row over about eight months.
I'd been at it conventionally for a couple of years before that. Evening classes, an app, a grammar book I got about a third of the way through. I could construct a sentence perfectly well on paper and I understood essentially nothing when anyone actually spoke, which is a common and extremely demoralising place to get stuck.
So I picked a series with about forty episodes and did three passes. The first was with English subtitles, purely to know what was happening — that took maybe six weeks and was, honestly, just watching television. The second pass was with Spanish subtitles, which was the hard one and took about four months, because I was pausing constantly and writing down phrases that kept recurring. Not vocabulary lists — whole chunks, the things people actually say to open a sentence or change the subject. The third pass was with nothing, and that was the point of the whole exercise.
So about eight months in total, roughly forty minutes most evenings, which I'd guess was somewhere near a hundred and fifty hours.
How well it worked was uneven, and I want to be honest about both halves. My listening improved beyond anything the classes had achieved — by the third pass I was following dialogue at natural speed, and when I went to Madrid the following year I could follow conversations in a way I simply couldn't have before. What it did not do was make me fluent. My speaking lagged badly behind, because I'd spent a hundred and fifty hours being an audience, and the first week in Spain I understood everything and could barely reply.
But it broke the specific wall I was stuck at. What made it work, I think, wasn't the method so much as the repetition — hearing the same phrases in a context I already understood, dozens of times, until they stopped being decoded and started being heard. If I did it again I'd add something that forced me to talk, which was the obvious gap. I've since started doing an hour a week with a tutor, and that part is now catching up.
Make it your own: three angles
An immersion method (television, music, podcasts, reading)
The most interesting answer because you can explain the method in stages, and the fourth bullet has an honest, specific verdict.
A class, course or exchange programme
Straightforward and easy to describe. Focus on what actually changed rather than on the syllabus.
Speaking practice with a person
Strong if you can describe the awkwardness of the early stages — that detail is what makes the story specific rather than generic.
What the examiner is listening for
The fourth bullet asks how well it worked, and an honest mixed verdict scores far better than 'it helped a lot' — it forces comparison, concession and evaluation, which are exactly the structures Part 3 will need. The model says listening improved enormously and speaking did not, and explains why, which is a complete answer rather than a claim.
Part 1 warm-up questions
- How many languages do you speak?
- When did you start learning English?
- Do you think languages are easier to learn as a child?
- Would you like to learn another language?
Part 3 follow-up questions & answers
What is the best way to learn a language?
There probably isn't one, but the methods that work share two features: large amounts of input you mostly understand, and regular forced output. Classes tend to give structure and too little of either; immersion gives plenty of input and, on its own, produces people who understand everything and can't reply. Most people need both and get whichever is more comfortable.
Is it harder to learn a language as an adult?
For pronunciation and instinct, genuinely yes — children absorb sound patterns in a way adults largely lose. But adults are much better at grammar, at using strategies, and at understanding why something works, so they often progress faster in the first year. The real disadvantage is time and embarrassment rather than capacity: children get thousands of hours and don't mind sounding foolish.
Why do some people give up learning a language?
Usually because of the plateau after the beginner stage. Early progress is fast and visible, then it slows dramatically while the remaining work gets harder, and without a concrete reason to continue people drift away. Having an actual use — a person to talk to, a trip, a job — is the strongest predictor of who keeps going.
Will technology replace the need to learn languages?
For transactional purposes it more or less already has — you can order food or ask directions with a phone. What it can't replace is the relationship. Speaking someone's language changes how they respond to you in a way a translation app doesn't, and there's a good deal of humour, tone and implication that survives translation badly.
Should children learn a second language at school?
Yes, and earlier than most systems manage, since the window for accent and instinct closes gradually. The bigger problem than timing is method — a lot of school language teaching is grammar drilling with almost no speaking, which reliably produces students who pass exams and cannot hold a conversation after five years.
Do you think some languages are more useful than others?
Useful is entirely relative to purpose. English has enormous reach and is the obvious default for work and travel. But the most useful language for any individual is usually the one spoken by the people they actually need to talk to, and that's often a smaller one. Choosing by global speaker numbers rather than by your own life tends to produce a language you never use.
Useful vocabulary
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| to pick up a language | to learn it informally |
| to be fluent | to speak easily and naturally |
| immersion | surrounding yourself with the language |
| to hit a plateau | to stop making visible progress |
| a native speaker | someone who grew up speaking it |
| to get by | to manage with limited ability |
| a false friend | a word that looks similar but means something else |
| to brush up on | to improve something you once knew |
| input | the language you read and hear |
| demoralising | making you lose confidence |
More cue cards
Describe Something You Do to Improve Your English
Preparing for the whole test, not just Speaking?
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