Describe a skill that you learned from older people.
You should say:
What the skill is? Who you learned it from? How you learned it? And how you feel about it?
Note: You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.
Model Answer 1:
Introduction: Well, old people are like a storehouse of knowledge and there is so much for us to learn from them.
What the skill is? and Who you learned it from? Here, I would like to talk about the skill of gardening that I have learnt from my grandfather. Actually, my grandfather who is about 70 years of age now has spent most of his life doing farming.
Since, we have moved to city now, he cannot visit his farms but he spends most of his time enjoying gardening.
How you learned it? Seeing him doing this activity I developed interest and requested him to teach me how to take care of plants. Now every evening, I spend an hour daily to help my grandpa in this pursuit.
I must say he has profound(deep) knowledge of gardening and he introduced me to various species of plants and vegetables that are frequently grown at homes.
He also told me about the nutrients found in soil and how to naturally improve the fertility from the domestic waste. We also grow seasonal vegetables at home and enjoy fresh home grown vegetables which most people do not.
One thing that developed my further interest in this activity is making flowers pots from plastic bottles and other things as he never lets anything go waste.
He plants seasonal flowers and herbs in empty plastic bottles and containers and today, we have more than two hundred such pots that enhance the beauty of our garden.
And how you feel about it? and Conclusion: I not only learn about gardening but spending time with him also helps me to learn the history and culture in a better way. I’m grateful to my grandpa for helping me to learn practical skills which keeps me physically and mentally fit.
Model Answer 2:
Older people are an important source of information and role models. Here are some of the things your beloved elder can teach the children /young people. People may learn at any age because age matters little when they learn or teach important skills.
Older people can teach or teach young people a great deal. Today I want to speak about a skill I learned from my grandmother’s friend.
What the skill is? and Who you learned it from? It’s a fun activity that enables grandparents to connect with their grandchildren. Teaching traditional dances could keep your beloved active and let your children learn something new.
A friend of my grandmother lives close to home. She is very good at dance, especially in the old forms of dance.
How you learned it? Last year during the final year of graduation, our college principal gave the task of performing folk dance at the party. I know a variety of dance forms, but these are new dance forms.
I know the names of the old dance forms, but I did not try them because they are very difficult. Traditional dances require a lot of hard work and should have the talent to show facial expressions.
I told my grandma. She told me she could ask her friend who can teach you traditional dance. A day later grandmother told me that her friend was ready to teach me how to do a traditional dance. The training of this form of dance took two weeks.
I learned Kathak from her. I went to her house every evening after college for two hours and on weekends I spent about half a day at her house to practice dancing.
And how you feel about it? and Conclusion: I was always feeling very tired after dancing because it demanded full focus and hard work. I lost 2 kg in training in a couple of weeks. On the day of the reception, the director of my college was pleased with my performance.
I felt very happy because it was only possible with her assistance. After this event, I did not stop learning, even I continue to learn traditional dances from her until now and possibly in the future as well. I thanked my grandmother and her friend for helping me.
Model Answer 3:
Introduction:
It is true that the younger generation can learn valuable skills and life lessons from older people.
What the skill is?
One skill I learnt is to recycle, reuse and repurpose everything.
Who you learned it from?
I learned this skill from my incredibly talented grandmother.
I grew up in a nuclear family with both parents working busy jobs.
How you learned it?
Every year during summer I used to spend two months with my grandparents.
My grandmother would find imaginative ways to reuse and recycle everything in her home.
She would never dispose old clothes and would instead sew little pieces together to make curtains, quilts, pillowcases, tablecloths, etc.
She would recycle glass jars and use them to hold spices, tea, grains, lentils, etc.
She used newspaper to clean windows and reused aluminium foil to clean pots and pans.
She made old broken furniture drawers into garden containers. She used fruit and vegetable scraps from her kitchen for compost.
She would keep me busy with craft activities like making old card boxes into fun toys, cars, and robots.
I mostly learned everything by observing her and helping her with some of the repurposing projects she did.
I started to implement her ideas at my house too and as I grew older it became a habit.
And how you feel about it?
I feel indebted to my grandmother that she taught me these valuable skills.
Reduce, reuse, and recycling waste is so important in present times.
Our landfills are filling fast, and recycling is one way to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills.
Global warming and plastic pollution have taken a toll on the planet and people need to take action to stop this damage.
Conclusion:
I am so glad that I am doing my part in saving our planet.
IELTS Speaking Part 3 : Follow up Questions
Here some examples of follow up questions that you may asked during your speaking part 3 by examiner related to cue card “describe a skill that you learned from older people”.
1. What can children learn from their parents? Children learn by observing their parents, they are their role models especially during their early years. Parents can teach children important life lessons just by modelling good behaviour. Respecting others, working hard, positive attitude, eating healthy, saving money, helping the needy are some life lessons children can learn from their parents.
2. What knowledge can children learn from their grandparents? Grandparents have years of wisdom that they love to share with their grandkids. Children can learn about history and growing up in times totally different from now. It is much more interesting to learn about history from personal grandparent stories than books. Children can also learn practical skills like sewing, knitting, gardening, baking which parents nowadays either don’t know or are too busy to teach.
3. What kind of help do you think older people need?
Help with chores like laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, etc.
Having caring family around so they don’t feel lonely is also helpful.
Help with learning new technologies like smartphones
Older people need good nutrition and healthy meals to stay fit.
Regular doctor visits and tests to make sure everything is ok with their health.
Help with transportation if they can’t drive themselves.
4. What skills can young people learn from older people? Older people have years of experience and have seen both success and failures. Young people can learn important life lessons from them. For instance, they can learn to appreciate the good times and have the courage to face the bad times. They can learn that family matters the most and making time for loved ones is very important. Elders can teach them the importance of saving money for emergencies and for their retirement.
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