This is a Part 3 IELTS Speaking paper question.
(1) Take a 3 stage approach.
(1) Think – you are not expected to have a prepared answer.
Mmmm / Well… / Actually… / I’m not sure.. / I haven’t really thought about it… / I suppose / I have no idea but.. / That’s a difficult question.
(2) Refer to the question.
Note: there is usually NO clear answer because the question is worded much too vaguely:
Here for example:
(1) “most people” – there is nothing that “most people” do – different people do different things.
(2) “most people” – it depends on the age – there is a big difference between someone who is 20 and 60.
(3) “to keep fit” – means different things to different people.
(4) “in my country” – just because I am from XX doesn’t mean I’m an expert on everything about XX – I can only talk about my group of friends.
(5) maybe “most people” don’t do anything special – just normal life.
(6) “keep fit” sounds like exercise – but maybe diet is the most important part of keeping fit.
These are just examples to show you how you can think about the question itself.
Some general phrases to use are:
I think it depends on (which people we are talking about / the age of the people)
It depends on what you mean by “keep fit”
Note: This is a normal way to approach a question in an academic / serious context. If you can say it – and use it accurately – in a natural way, it is very imporessive.
(3) Use an example
The particular is always better – and it gives you a chance to express yourself more fluently.
(2) Possible answers.
Well, I think it depends on what you mean by “keep fit”. I think that having a good healthy diet is probably the most important thing that people do – in my country we eat a lot of fresh fish – caught locally everyday, and we eat salad with olive oil. Personally, I was shocked when I came to England to see so many people eating burgers and chips!
Well, actually I think that’s a difficult question to answer – I don’t think there is ONE thing that “most people do”. I think people do different things and it depends on your age and where you live. I live near a tennis club and I love playing tennis – so for me and most of my friends, I suppose that playing tennis is the thing we do – but that’s not true for “most people” – people are very different.
(3) Express yourself.
You try: follow exactly the same pattern but with different content.
Well, I think it depends on which people we talk about. It differs from people to people. In my university most girls prefer to playing badminton. For boys, most of them love playing football or basketball, some more competitive. And there are also many elderly people who live near our university dancing in our campus every everning. So I can’t give an exact answer to this question.
Nice try. A coule of points: “prefer playing..” “depends on who we are talking about..” (is more natural) “it differs from person to person” or “it varies from perdon to person”. What can you do? If you want to be more natural you need to practise saying it the natural way – so that it becomes automatic. Just reading my correction won’t help. Say it in your head until you feel comfortable witht the pattern.
Well, I think that’s a difficult question to answer – I suppose there isn’t one thing that “most people do”. I think different people do different things to keep fit. In Guilin, a city in China, many people dace in the park or by the river every morning and evening, and also there are a lot of people like me, who enjoy walking and sometimes go to gym.
Excellent – virtually perfect. “go to THE gym.”