Describe an activity that usually wastes your time.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

Overuse of 'so' and 'rather than' at the beginning and throughout the response.

Try using varied connectors like 'therefore,' 'instead of,' or 'as a result' to improve cohesion.

Repetition of the phrase 'scrolling through my phone' and 'Instagram Reels.'

Use synonyms or paraphrase to avoid repetition, such as 'browsing social media' or 'checking Instagram stories.'

Incorrect use of 'rather than' in certain contexts.

Use 'instead of' when talking about alternatives. For example, 'Instead of doing my work, I scroll through social media.'

Incorrect sentence structure: 'Another thing is Snapchat using.'

Rephrase to 'Another time-wasting activity is using Snapchat.'

Lack of structured storytelling.

Begin by describing when and why you usually start scrolling, how it affects your tasks, and what you plan to do about it in the future.

Subject-verb agreement error in 'One of the activity that usually waste most of my time...'

Use 'activities' instead of 'activity' and 'wastes' instead of 'waste' to maintain subject-verb agreement. The correct phrase should be 'One of the activities that usually wastes most of my time...'

Repetition of the phrase 'from one place to other place'.

Use 'from one place to another' to avoid repetition and improve coherence.

Overuse of the word 'packing'.

Consider using synonyms or rephrasing to avoid repetition. For example, 'organizing' or 'arranging'.

Overuse of 'and' and lack of cohesive devices.

Incorporate more cohesive devices such as 'Additionally,' 'Furthermore,' or 'In contrast,' to improve the flow of the response.

Incorrect use of 'it needs extra care'.

Use 'they need extra care' since 'products' is plural.

Starting a sentence with 'Yeah'.

Avoid starting sentences with informal words like 'Yeah'. Use 'Indeed' or 'Certainly' instead.

The response begins with 'Today I would like to talk about the activities that consumed most of my time,' which repeats the question unnecessarily.

Start directly with the specific activity without repeating the question. For example, 'One activity that used to waste a lot of my time was playing video games on my PlayStation 5.'

The phrase 'I got so addicted with the console' contains an incorrect preposition.

Use 'addicted to' instead of 'addicted with.'

The sentence 'But after few years, I got to know the importance of studies' lacks an article.

Include 'a' before 'few years' to make it 'after a few years.'

The sentence 'Today I cleared my PLAB exam which is a United Kingdom Medical Licensing exam which helped me do my post-graduation in United Kingdom' can be made more cohesive.

Use linking words to improve flow: 'Today, I have cleared my PLAB exam, which is a United Kingdom Medical Licensing exam, and this achievement helped me pursue my post-graduation in the United Kingdom.'

The response ends abruptly with 'When compared with other people, I have...'

Complete the thought or remove the unfinished sentence. You could end with a reflection on the positive changes in your life.

The phrase 'waste of time scrolling my Instagram website' is awkward. It should be 'waste of time scrolling through Instagram.'

Use 'scrolling through Instagram' instead of 'scrolling my Instagram website.'

The sentence 'I usually do when I get a time and I particularly take time out of my schedule, my working duty and I go on scrolling on Instagram' lacks clarity and coherence.

Rephrase to 'I usually do this when I have some free time, and sometimes I even take time out of my work schedule to scroll through Instagram.'

The sentence 'Sometimes just I get involved in that and I started feeling like why they have been so much, they just, why they are so much involved' is confusing and lacks coherence.

Rephrase to 'Sometimes, I find myself getting too involved and wonder why others are so invested in sharing their lives.'

The sentence 'it sometimes depresses me that I don't have that what they possess' is grammatically incorrect.

Rephrase to 'it sometimes depresses me when I realize I don't have what they possess.'

The phrase 'being just getting in touch with what they are going through is not waste of time but being getting involved and getting influenced by them' is awkward and repetitive.

Rephrase to 'Keeping up with their activities isn't a waste of time, but getting overly involved and influenced by them can be.'

The sentence 'Many when I feel like they are showing what only they have to show and the insight is very vast to be seen which they are hiding' lacks coherence.

Rephrase to 'Often, I feel they only show what they want us to see, and there's much more that remains hidden.'

The concluding phrase 'So I think waste of time' is incomplete.

Complete the thought with 'So, I think it can be a waste of time if not managed properly.'

The sentence structure is awkward and lacks coherence, particularly in the phrase 'Why I am saying this as a time waste is...'.

Consider rephrasing to improve clarity and coherence. For example, 'I consider this a waste of time because...' would be clearer.

The use of '15 to 10 minutes' is incorrect as the smaller number should come first.

Rephrase to '10 to 15 minutes' to maintain numerical order.

The phrase 'this will, with our given one hour lunch time, this will' is repetitive and disrupts the flow.

Remove redundancy by saying, 'With our one-hour lunchtime, this takes around 20 to 30 minutes just for travel.'

The sentence 'And apart from this, I do think this is a good approach to reduce the pollution and it is a sustainability point of view has been taken into account.' is grammatically incorrect and lacks clarity.

Rephrase for clarity: 'Apart from this, I think it's a good approach to reduce pollution, and sustainability has been considered.'

The sentence 'Maybe they can allow on a certain days, so that they can restrict the other days and they can maintain the standards, so and the employee also can be happy.' lacks clarity and coherence.

Rephrase to improve clarity: 'Perhaps they could allow it on certain days to restrict others, maintaining standards while keeping employees happy.'

Incorrect use of 'wasteful activity' and missing article 'a'.

Use 'a wasteful activity' instead of 'the wasteful activity'.

Repetition of 'it's' and incorrect subject-verb agreement in 'I doesn't'.

Avoid repeating 'it's' and use 'I don't' instead of 'I doesn't'.

Use of 'passing the time' without an article.

Use 'for passing the time' or 'for the purpose of passing the time'.

Incorrect use of 'the addiction to the Instagram'.

Use 'my addiction to Instagram' instead.

Incorrect tense and structure in 'I am starting to Get on the screen limit'.

Use 'I have started to limit my screen time'.

Repetition and redundancy in 'spend time more on the other things'.

Use 'spend more time on other activities'.

Incorrect use of 'Duolingo from German'.

Use 'learning German from Duolingo'.

Incorrect phrase 'highest race'.

Use 'higher studies' instead.

Awkward phrasing in 'by wasting time on Instagram is Not good'.

Use 'wasting time on Instagram is not good'.

Overuse of 'Instagram' and 'not good'.

Use synonyms or paraphrases to avoid repetition, such as 'social media' and 'unproductive'.

Overuse of 'your' and 'you' when referring to personal actions.

Use 'my' and 'I' to personalize the response, e.g., 'scrolling through reels on my Instagram.'

Repetition of words like 'Instagram' and 'reels.'

Use synonyms or paraphrase, such as 'social media platform' or 'short videos.'

Lack of cohesive devices.

Incorporate connectors like 'for instance,' 'as a result,' or 'therefore' to improve the flow.

Incorrect use of tense and sentence structure.

Ensure consistency in tense and use complete sentences, e.g., 'Whenever I receive a notification, I tend to open Instagram, and before I know it, I've spent a significant amount of time scrolling.'

Lack of descriptive vocabulary.

Include more descriptive words like 'mesmerizing,' 'engaging,' or 'distracting' to enrich the narrative.

The sentence structure is quite repetitive and lacks clarity.

Try to vary your sentence structures and be more specific about the activities. For example, instead of 'watching and unnecessarily I spend the time on seeing the WhatsApp,' you could say, 'I often find myself spending excessive time scrolling through WhatsApp and Facebook.'

Incorrect use of present continuous tense.

Use the simple present tense for habitual actions. For example, 'I watch WhatsApp and Facebook unnecessarily,' instead of 'I am watching.'

Overuse of simple connectors like 'and.'

Use more varied connectors such as 'moreover,' 'in addition,' or 'furthermore' to improve the flow of your response.

Lack of descriptive vocabulary.

Incorporate more descriptive language to paint a clearer picture. For example, 'I get absorbed in the endless stream of updates on social media.'

The response is too short and lacks content.

Try to provide a more detailed answer by elaborating on the activity, explaining why it is considered a waste of time, and providing examples or personal experiences related to it. Use the 5W+1H method to structure your ideas.

The response lacks coherence and structure.

Organize your response by introducing the activity, explaining its impact, and concluding with your thoughts on how to manage or avoid wasting time. Use cohesive devices to improve the flow.

Repetition of ideas and phrases, such as 'scrolling through apps like Instagram and Facebook waste my time.'

Try to avoid repeating the same phrases. Instead, use synonyms or paraphrase to express the same idea differently.

Incorrect use of 'instance of happiness' and 'in the verge of scrolling.'

Use 'instant happiness' instead of 'instance of happiness' and 'on the verge of scrolling' instead of 'in the verge of scrolling.'

Subject-verb agreement error in 'scrolling through apps like Instagram and Facebook waste my time.'

Use 'wastes' instead of 'waste' to maintain subject-verb agreement.

Overuse of simple connectors like 'but.'

Use more varied connectors such as 'however,' 'although,' or 'nevertheless' to improve cohesion.

Lack of structured storytelling and coherence.

Structure your response by discussing past experiences, present impacts, and future plans. Use cohesive devices like 'First of all,' 'Therefore,' and 'In conclusion.'