IELTS Speaking · 1

I'm from Brighton, a medium-sized coastal city in the south of England. What I like most is the sheer variety it offers — within just a few minutes you can be at the seafront, in a lively market, or walking through one of the inland parks. The community has a very relaxed, welcoming feel that I genuinely appreciate. As for the future, I'm honestly not certain I'll stay long-term; I might move somewhere larger for career reasons at some point, but Brighton will always feel like home. In terms of reading, I mainly use my phone to catch up on news and longer journalism during the commute, though I still prefer a proper paperback novel when I have real time to sit down and lose myself in a story.

I'd like to talk about learning to play the guitar, which took me far longer to master than I had originally imagined. I first picked up a guitar at around twelve years old, after watching a live performance at a local festival and feeling completely inspired. However, I only became genuinely confident after finishing university, when I finally had proper control over my daily schedule and could dedicate real time to practice. For the first few years I taught myself almost entirely through free video tutorials online, which gave me a solid foundation in basic chords and strumming patterns. The real breakthrough came when a close friend who plays in a local band took time to correct my posture and demonstrate how to shift between chord shapes more smoothly — something that no video had ever made clear enough. Several factors made the process so slow. During school and university I could only practise seriously at weekends, leaving long gaps between sessions that disrupted muscle memory. On top of that, the physical side proved genuinely difficult — my fingertips were unaccustomed to pressing steel strings, and they simply could not move quickly enough to keep pace with even the simplest songs in those early months. Looking back, I wish I had been more patient with myself during those frustrating periods, because the progress — although invisible at the time — was absolutely happening. Today I play for around thirty minutes most evenings, and the satisfaction when a difficult passage finally comes together is still as rewarding as the very first time.

I think people give up learning new skills primarily when progress feels invisible — you practise for weeks and still cannot play a piece cleanly or produce a phrase naturally, so motivation gradually drains away. Schools remain important for building foundations and instilling discipline, but online platforms are genuinely better for flexible repetition at your own pace. Looking ahead, I expect AI-powered tools to provide instant, personalised feedback on things like pronunciation and technique, which would remove one of the biggest obstacles self-learners face — the absence of a knowledgeable teacher available at precisely the moment guidance is needed.