背景知識
IELTS Speaking は試験官との 1対1の会話形式 で行われる口頭試験です。今回のテーマ「Free Time & Hobbies（自由時間・趣味）」はPart 1で最頻出のトピックの一つで、一見簡単に見えますが「なぜそれが好きか」「いつから始めたか」を具体的に語れるかどうかでスコアに大きく差が出ます。Part 2では学んでみたいスキル、Part 3では趣味と社会・世代間の違いという抽象的な議論にまで発展します。
| パート | 形式 | 時間 | ポイント |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | 日常的な質問（3〜4問） | 4〜5分 | 流暢さ・自然さを見せる |
| Part 2 | Cue Card スピーチ | 準備1分+1〜2分 | 1〜2分間まとまった話ができるか |
| Part 3 | 抽象的な議論（3〜4問） | 4〜5分 | 高度な語彙・意見の展開力 |
・全体的に理解可能な英語を流暢に話せる
・多少の言い直し・フィラー（"to be honest", "having said that"）はOK
・単語の幅をある程度見せる（"like" を "be into" "be keen on" で言い換える）
・複文（because / although / since）を使う
これまで Education & Learning（Day 078）→ Health & Lifestyle（Day 087）→ Travel & Tourism（Day 094）→ Work & Career（Day 101）と扱ってきましたが、今回は 趣味・自由時間の過ごし方 という、Part 1で最も聞かれやすいのに実は答えにくいトピックを深掘りします。単に "I like reading" で終わらせず、具体的なエピソードや理由を添えて話せるようになることがBand 6.0の鍵です。
採点基準 — Speaking Band Descriptor
| Band | Fluency & Coherence | Lexical Resource | Grammatical Range | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 9.0 | ほぼ完全な流暢さ。話題を自由に展開 | 高度で自然なコロケーション・イディオム | 完全に正確かつ多様な文構造 | 完全に明瞭。抑揚が自然でネイティブに近い |
| Band 7.0 | 多少の自己修正はあるが流暢に話せる | 幅広い語彙を柔軟に使用 | 複雑な文法を概ね正確に使用 | 明瞭で理解しやすい。アクセントはOK |
| Band 6.0 ★目標 | ある程度流暢。繰り返しや言い直しあり | 基本〜中程度の語彙。コロケーションに誤りあり | 複文を使うが誤りが散見される | 概ね理解可能。発音パターンが安定 |
| Band 5.0 | 単純な構造のみ。話が途切れがち | 限られた語彙。繰り返しが多い | 基本文法のみ。複文はほぼない | 発音ミスが多く、理解に支障をきたす |
Part 1
日常的な質問
- What do you usually do in your free time?
- Have your hobbies changed since you were a child?
- Do you prefer spending your free time alone or with other people?
- Is it common for people in your country to have a hobby?
Part 2
Cue Card スピーチ
- what this hobby or skill is
- how you would learn it
- how much time it would take
Part 3
抽象的な議論
- Why do you think people's hobbies change as they get older?
- Do you think technology has made hobbies more solitary than in the past?
- Should governments or schools encourage people to take up hobbies?
構成ガイド
Part 1 の答え方
OK例: "I've been into reading since university, mainly science fiction. It's a great way for me to unwind after a long day at work." ← 具体性・理由を追加
Part 2（Cue Card）の推奨構成
| セクション | 内容 | 語数目安 |
|---|---|---|
| 導入 | "I'd like to talk about [スキル], which is something I've always wanted to learn." | 15〜20語 |
| What | そのスキル・趣味の具体的な説明 | 30〜40語 |
| How | どうやって学ぶか（教室・独学・オンライン等） | 25〜35語 |
| Time | どれくらいの時間・期間がかかるか | 20〜30語 |
| Why | なぜ学びたいか | 30〜40語 |
Part 3 の答え方（議論型）
1. 立場を明確に: "I think / In my opinion, ..."
2. 理由1: "This is largely because ..."
3. 例・具体化: "For example, ..."
4. (加点) 逆接: "Although some people might say ..., I'd still argue ..."
解答欄（自由記述）
Part 2のCue Cardスピーチ原稿、またはPart 3の解答メモをここに書いてみましょう。
有用語彙・表現
| 表現 | 意味・使い方 | 例文 |
|---|---|---|
| to unwind (after work/school) | （仕事・学校の後に）リラックスする | Gardening helps me unwind after a stressful day. |
| to be into ~ / to be keen on ~ | 〜にはまっている | I've been really into photography lately. |
| to pick up a hobby | 趣味を始める | I picked up painting during the pandemic. |
| a hands-on activity | 実際に手を動かす活動 | Pottery is a very hands-on activity that takes your mind off work. |
| to take up ~ (as a hobby) | （趣味として）〜を始める | She recently took up rock climbing. |
| a steep learning curve | 習得が難しいこと | Learning the violin has a pretty steep learning curve. |
| to master a skill | スキルを習得する | It takes years to truly master a skill like calligraphy. |
| a sedentary lifestyle | 座りがちな生活習慣 | Many hobbies today, like gaming, contribute to a sedentary lifestyle. |
| screen time | 画面を見ている時間 | People's screen time has increased a lot over the past decade. |
| to strike a balance (between ~ and ~) | （〜と〜の）バランスを取る | It's important to strike a balance between work and leisure. |
ヒント
Part 2 のスピーチは 「何を学びたいか→どうやって学ぶか→どのくらい時間がかかるか→なぜ学びたいか」の順に、実現可能な範囲の目標として語ると説得力が増します。
- 空想的なスキル（宇宙飛行士になる等）ではなく、「今の自分が実際に始められそうなこと」として語る
- 具体的な習得方法（オンライン教材・教室・独学）を出すとLexical Resourceの幅が見える
- 結果を語る動詞: "involve", "require", "take (time)"
一方的に断言するより両面から論じるのが Band 6.0+ のアプローチ
| 年齢とともに趣味が変わる理由 | 変わらない理由 |
|---|---|
| 時間・体力・優先順位の変化 | 幼少期からの愛着・習慣化 |
| 家族・仕事の責任が増える | アイデンティティの一部になっている |
| テクノロジーが趣味を孤独にする面 | テクノロジーが趣味をつなげる面 |
|---|---|
| ゲーム・動画視聴など一人で完結する活動が増加 | オンラインコミュニティで同じ趣味の人とつながれる |
| 対面での交流機会の減少 | 遠方の人とも趣味を共有できる |
"I'd like to talk about [スキル], which is something I've always wanted to learn."
"It basically involves [活動の説明]."
"I think the best way to learn it would be [方法：教室・オンライン・独学]."
"It would probably take [期間] to get reasonably good at it."
"The main reason I want to learn this is [理由]."
実際の興味・関心を自分のものに置き換えましょう。
モデル解答（Band 7.5〜8.0相当）
Part 1 モデル解答
I spend most of my free time coding on personal projects, to be honest, but I also try to get outside and go for a run a few times a week. It helps me switch off from work and clear my head.
Quite a lot, actually. As a kid, I was obsessed with drawing, but these days I barely pick up a pencil. I think my interests shifted towards more technical, screen-based hobbies as I got older, largely because of my career.
It really depends on my mood. Some evenings I genuinely enjoy the solitude of reading or coding by myself, but on weekends I much prefer being with friends, whether that's playing sport or just grabbing dinner together.
I'd say it's fairly common, yes, although a lot of people's hobbies revolve around their phones nowadays, like watching short videos or gaming. More traditional hobbies, like crafts or sports, still exist, but they're arguably less dominant than they used to be.
Part 2 モデル解答（Cue Card）
導入 I'd like to talk about learning to play the guitar, which is something I've always wanted to do but never quite got round to.
What It basically involves learning chord shapes, strumming patterns and eventually being able to play full songs, ideally well enough to sing along at the same time.
How I think the best way to learn it would be a mix of approaches — maybe a few lessons with a teacher to get the fundamentals right, combined with online tutorials and just practising on my own most evenings. There are some fantastic free resources online these days, so it wouldn't need to be expensive.
Time Realistically, I think it would take at least six months of fairly consistent practice to play anything recognisable, and probably a couple of years to get genuinely good at it.
Why The main reason I'd like to learn this is that I spend so much of my day staring at a screen for work, and I think having a hands-on, creative hobby would be a really nice contrast to that. There's also something appealing about being able to just pick up an instrument and play, without needing any technology at all.
Part 3 モデル解答
I think it mostly comes down to time, energy and shifting priorities. When you're a child, you have very few responsibilities, so you can dedicate huge amounts of time to a single hobby. As adults, though, work and family obligations tend to eat into that time considerably, so people often gravitate towards hobbies that are more convenient or relaxing rather than time-intensive. That said, I think some hobbies do stick with people for life, particularly ones tied closely to their sense of identity.
To some extent, yes. Activities like gaming or streaming shows are often done alone, whereas traditional hobbies like sports or crafts tended to involve more face-to-face interaction. Having said that, I don't think it's entirely negative — online communities actually let people connect with others who share very niche interests, which wouldn't have been possible before the internet. So in a way, technology has made some hobbies solitary in the moment but more socially connected in a broader sense.
Yes, I think there's a strong case for that, particularly for young people. Schools could do more to expose students to a wide range of activities — music, sport, art — rather than focusing purely on academic subjects, since hobbies play a huge role in mental wellbeing and help people strike a balance between work and leisure. Governments could also support this by funding public facilities, like community centres or sports clubs, that make hobbies more accessible regardless of someone's income.
モデル解答の解説
フィラー（to be honest / actually / that said / having said that）が自然に散りばめられ、話が途切れず流れている。Part 2は「何を学びたいか→内容→学習方法→期間→理由」の構成で一貫性がある。Part 3では対比構造（"to some extent, yes... having said that..."）が議論に深みを与えている。
高度な語彙・コロケーションの使用:
- "never quite got round to"（なかなか手が回らなかった）— 自然な口語表現
- "hands-on, creative hobby"（実際に手を動かす創造的な趣味）
- "gravitate towards ~"（〜に自然と向かう）— やや高度な動詞
- "eat into (time)"（（時間）を圧迫する）— コロケーション
- "niche interests"（ニッチな興味・関心）
- "strike a balance between work and leisure"（仕事と余暇のバランスを取る）
文法テクニックの活用:
- "which is something I've always wanted to do" — 関係代名詞whichによる補足説明
- "so that people often gravitate towards hobbies that are more convenient" — so that構文＋関係代名詞の入れ子
- "wouldn't have been possible before the internet" — 仮定法過去完了に近い婉曲表現
- "regardless of someone's income" — 前置詞的表現regardless ofの使用
発音のポイント（カタカナ参考）:
- guitar → ギター（第2音節にアクセント。日本語とアクセント位置が逆）
- obsessed → オブセスト（第2音節にアクセント）
- solitude → サリテュード（第1音節にアクセント）
- community → コミュニティ（第2音節にアクセント）
よくある日本人のミス
| ミスの例 | 原因 | 正しい書き方 |
|---|---|---|
| My hobby is reading books. | 不自然ではないが単調・機械的な言い方 | I'm really into reading, especially novels. |
| I have no hobby. | hobbyは可算名詞。none/anyの扱いに注意 | I don't really have a particular hobby. / I don't have any hobbies in particular. |
| I want to learn playing guitar. | want to の後は原形不定詞が必要 | I want to learn to play the guitar. / I want to learn how to play the guitar. |
| It is fun for me. | forの使い方は不自然ではないが単調 | I find it really enjoyable. / It's a lot of fun for me. |
| Since child, I like drawing. | since の後には基準となる時点の名詞・節が必要 | Since I was a child, I've liked drawing. / I've liked drawing since childhood. |