Describe a Skill You Learned From an Older Person: IELTS Cue Card

The skill I’d like to talk about is cooking, and more specifically, cooking traditional dishes without a recipe. I learned it from my grandmother, who’s now in her eighties.

When I moved into my first flat at nineteen, I could barely boil an egg. I was living on instant noodles and takeaways, and after a few months I felt terrible and was spending far too much money. My grandmother found out and, being the kind of person she is, she immediately announced that I would be coming to her house every Sunday to learn to cook properly.

The way she taught me was quite unusual. She never used measurements; when I asked how much salt to add, she’d just say “enough” or “until it smells right”, which drove me crazy at first. So I had to learn by watching her closely and copying her. We started with simple things like soup and rice, and gradually moved on to bread and more complicated stews. I made plenty of mistakes along the way. I burned at least three loaves of bread and once forgot to add salt to a whole pot of soup. But she never criticised me; she’d just taste it, laugh and tell me what to change next time. After about a year of Sundays, I could cook most of her dishes on my own.

It’s turned out to be one of the most useful skills I have. On a practical level, I eat much more healthily and spend about half what I used to on food. It’s also made me more confident socially, because I often invite friends round for dinner. But most importantly, I feel I’m keeping her recipes alive. Nobody wrote them down, so if I hadn’t learned them, they would eventually have been lost.

Useful language:could barely boil an eggliving on instant noodlesdrove me crazylearn by watchingalong the wayinvite friends roundkeeping her recipes alive

Quite a lot. Older people have practical skills, like cooking, repairing things or managing money, that many young people never learn. They also have life experience; they’ve been through difficult times and can offer perspective when young people are worried about problems that seem huge. Unfortunately, many families don’t spend enough time together for this knowledge to be passed on.

Useful language:offer perspectivepassed on

Absolutely. Technology is the obvious example: many grandparents learn to use smartphones or video calls from their grandchildren. Young people can also bring fresh ideas and more open attitudes on social issues. I think the best learning happens when it goes both ways.

Useful language:fresh ideasopen attitudesgoes both ways

Many are, yes. Skills like sewing, preserving food or making things by hand are less common because it’s cheaper and quicker to buy things. However, there’s also a revival: lots of young people are learning crafts through online videos, partly as a reaction against mass production. So some traditional skills are disappearing while others are being rediscovered.

Useful language:a revivalmass productionrediscovered

For most practical skills, I think a person is better, because they can watch you, correct your mistakes immediately and adapt to how you learn. The internet is great for getting started and for flexibility, since you can learn at any time. Ideally, you’d combine both: online videos for the basics and a real teacher for feedback.

Useful language:correct your mistakesadapt to how you learngetting started