Hi.

I'm Jessica Beck from the podcast, IELTS Energy, and the website, IELTS.AllEarsEnglish.com.

Today, let's talk about some idioms, some idiomatic phrases, that can get you a seven

or higher on the IELTS speaking exam when you have to talk about free time.

First of all, remember that British English, uh, in which the questions are written in

on the IELTS exam, they usually don't say free time.

They say "leisure time", so remember that.

(laughing) And, also, be aware that you have to show the examiner some idiomatic, interesting

language in order to get a seven or higher on the speaking exam for vocabulary.

So, um, the first idiom that you can use is to say, um, that something is a "guilty pleasure".

I love this phrase.

(laughing) So, for example, if you're describing something you like to do in your free time

that maybe isn't super healthy or very educational ... Basically, it's not really good for you

in any way, but you enjoy it anyhow, you can say it's a "guilty pleasure".

So, for example, for me, uh, one of my guilty pleasures is watching super gory horror stuff.

I love just the ... The bloodier, the better.

(laughing) I don't know why I love watching this stuff, but it is one of my guilty pleasures.

So all of these idioms can be used to answer questions on the speaking exam, such as "What

do you like to do in your leisure time?"

"Do you do the same activities now as you did when you were a child?"

Also, "How have leisure activities among young people changed in recent years?"

So any questions about free time, leisure time, fun activities you do on the weekdays,

on the weekend.

All of these idioms can be used to answer questions like that.

And, remember: even in writing task two, you can use one or two of these to push your vocabulary

score up.

So, even in writing.

Okay so, first, we have "guilty pleasure".

The second idiom is "social butterfly".

I am somewhat of an introvert, so I enjoy staying home and reading but, once in a while,

I do really like going out to a party or to big dinner with friends, um, and that does

make me feel like a social butterfly.

A "social butterfly" is someone who is really good at talking to people and really enjoys

being a big group of people and is very lively.

Okay?

So that is a social butterfly.

You can also say, "I'm not really a social butterfly.

(laughing) I enjoy just going out with one or two friends and not talking to big groups

of people."

So you can use this either positively or negatively to describe yourself or friends or family.

Another idiom you can easily use is "take it easy".

Uh, so if the examiner says, "Do you do the same things on the weekend as you do during

the weekday," you could say, "Oh, definitely not.

I mean, during the week, I am so busy so, on the weekends, I like to take it easy.

I like to relax.

I enjoy just going for long walks, maybe watching a movie.

Um, but I really don't like to work too much on the weekend.

I just take it easy."

(laughing) Okay, so those are a lot of examples how you could use the idiom "take it easy".

You can also say, if you're talking about something that you really love doing, you

can say, "I'm crazy about watching horror movies."

Um, or a little more British English, instead of "crazy", you can say "mad".

"I'm mad about watching movies."

So all of these, guys, these are four phrases you can use to impress the examiner and show

them that you deserve a seven or higher for vocabulary on the IELTS speaking exam.

If you want to get into an IELTS course that guarantees your score will increase on test

day, please visit my website, IELTS.AllEarsEnglish.com.

We have an IELTS course available right now online called The Three Keys Success System,

so get into that today and start preparing to get your highest IELTS score.

Thank you so much for watching.

Have a good day.