Part 2 cue cardSkills and success

Describe a skill you could teach other people

This card switches tense: the past for how you learned, then would and conditionals for how you would teach it. The trap is slipping back into the past, or into vague practice-makes-perfect advice instead of real teaching steps.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a skill you could teach other people.

You should say:

what the skill is
how you learned it
how you would teach it
and explain why it is worth learning

Rehearse the long turn

1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

A 60-second plan

what the skill isEthiopian coffee ceremony, jebena
how you learned itgrandmother in Bahir Dar, school holidays
how you would teach itwatch first, roast by smell, pour water
and explain why it is worth learningpatience, hospitality, culture abroad

Sample answers

232 words · about 2:01 spoken at a Band 6 pace

The skill I could teach other people is how to make coffee in the traditional Ethiopian way. We call it a coffee ceremony, and it is much more than just making a drink. You roast the green beans in a flat pan, you grind them by hand and then you boil the coffee in a clay pot which is called a jebena.

I learned it from my grandmother in Bahir Dar. Every school holiday I stayed in her house, and since I was ten she made me prepare the coffee for the guests. In the beginning I was burning the beans many times and she was very strict with me, but slowly I got better.

If I teach someone, first I would ask him to just watch me one time. Then we roast the beans together, and I would explain how to know when they are ready, because you have to listen the cracking sound and look for the colour. The most difficult thing is pouring. You must pour from high without stopping, so I would let them practise with water first so they don't waste the coffee.

I think it is worth to learn because it teaches you patience. Also the ceremony is about hospitality, people sit together for three rounds of coffee and talk. And if you live abroad, it is a beautiful way to share your culture with friends.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

since I was ten she made me should be from the age of ten she made me
I was burning the beans many times should be I burnt the beans many times
If I teach someone, first I would ask should be If I taught someone, I'd first ask
watch me one time should be watch me once
Then we roast the beans together should be Then we'd roast the beans together
listen the cracking sound should be listen for the cracking sound
pour from high should be pour from a height
worth to learn should be worth learning

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length and covers all four bullets, moving from the past to the hypothetical ("If I teach someone"). It stays at Band 6 because the final paragraph lists reasons with "Also" and "And" instead of developing one properly, and some links are mechanical.
Vocabulary: Enough topic vocabulary to explain the process ("roast", "grind", "clay pot", "hospitality"), but some choices are inappropriate: "pour from high" is not the natural phrase, and "worth to learn" uses the wrong form after worth. Band 7 would describe the steps more precisely.
Grammar: A range of structures is attempted, including conditionals and purpose clauses, but they contain errors: "If I teach someone, first I would ask" mixes two conditionals, "Then we roast" drops the hypothetical, and "since I was ten she made me" uses since with a past simple.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

261 words · about 2:00 spoken at a Band 7 pace

A skill I could definitely teach is how to make coffee the traditional Ethiopian way. We call it a coffee ceremony, and it's quite an involved process: you roast green beans in a flat pan over charcoal, grind them by hand with a pestle, then brew the coffee in a round clay pot called a jebena and serve it in tiny cups.

I picked it up from my grandmother in Bahir Dar. I used to spend every school holiday with her, and from about the age of ten she put me in charge of making coffee whenever guests came round. She was a tough teacher. I lost count of the times I burnt the beans, and she'd make me start again while the guests waited politely.

If I were teaching someone, I'd start by getting them to just watch the whole thing once without worrying about the details. After that, we'd roast a batch together, and I'd show them how to judge when the beans are done by the smell and the sound, because they crackle and turns a glossy dark brown. The pouring is the trickiest part, since you're meant to pour in one long unbroken stream from quite a height, so I'd have them practise with plain water first.

I think it's well worth learning because it forces you to slow down, and it's really about hospitality: guests stay for three rounds and nobody is in a hurry to leave. And for anyone living abroad, as I hope to be, it's a lovely way of sharing where you're from.

The slips

crackle and turns should be crackle and turn

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length easily and handles the switch from past to hypothetical smoothly ("I picked it up", "If I were teaching someone"). Not Band 8 because the teaching steps follow a predictable order ("I'd start by", "After that") and the last paragraph adds reasons rather than building one.
Vocabulary: Some less common, precise vocabulary: "quite an involved process", "picked it up", "I lost count of the times", "a glossy dark brown", "one long unbroken stream". Band 8 would show more idiomatic range; "a tough teacher" and "a lovely way" are fairly plain.
Grammar: A good range used mostly accurately: a second conditional ("If I were teaching someone, I'd start"), causatives ("getting them to just watch", "I'd have them practise"), habitual would. One slip, "crackle and turns", where the second verb doesn't agree.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

275 words · about 1:54 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The skill I'd feel confident passing on is the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. People tend to assume it's just making coffee, but it's closer to a small ritual: you roast raw green beans in a shallow pan over charcoal, pound them in a wooden mortar, brew them in a clay jebena with a long neck, and pour the coffee into little handleless cups, usually with incense burning nearby.

I learnt it from my grandmother in Bahir Dar, where I spent every school holiday. Once I turned ten, making coffee for visitors became my job, and she was an exacting teacher. I scorched more beans than I'd care to admit, and each time she'd quietly tip them out and hand me the pan again, without a word, which was somehow worse than being told off.

If I were teaching it, I'd take a gentler approach. I'd have the learner simply watch a full ceremony first, to get a feel for the rhythm of it. Then we'd roast together, and I'd teach them to go by their senses rather than a timer: the beans start to crackle, turn glossy and smell almost like chocolate, and that's your cue. The pour is where everyone struggles, because it has to be one steady stream from well above the cup, so I'd get them to practise with water until they stopped flooding the tray.

As for why it's worth learning, it's partly the patience it demands. But mostly it's that the ceremony exists to make people sit down together, three rounds, nobody rushing off. That's a habit worth exporting, and it's what I'll take with me wherever I end up living.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent, contrasting how the speaker was taught with how they would teach ("I'd take a gentler approach"), which gives the answer real shape. Short of Band 9 only because "As for why it's worth learning" signposts the last bullet a little conventionally.
Vocabulary: Wide and precise: "an exacting teacher", "I scorched more beans than I'd care to admit", "get a feel for the rhythm", "that's your cue", "a habit worth exporting". Band 9 would sustain that precision in the more technical description of the equipment.
Grammar: A wide range used accurately: a second conditional ("If I were teaching it, I'd take"), causatives ("I'd have the learner simply watch"), habitual would ("she'd quietly tip them out"), a comparative clause ("than I'd care to admit"). No errors.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

Rounding-off questions

Is teaching a skill in itself?: Definitely. Being good at something doesn't mean you can explain it. A good teacher breaks a task into steps, notices exactly where the learner is going wrong, and knows when to stay quiet.
Do people learn better from teachers or on their own?: It depends on the skill, but for most things a teacher speeds you up enormously, because they spot bad habits early. Learning alone works better later, once you know enough to judge your own mistakes.