Most Popular IELTS Speaking topics 2025 [+key vocabulary]

Today, I'm going to give you some of the most popular IELTS speaking topics this year and the vocabulary you need to discuss these topics so you can face the

IELTS examiner with confidence. Are you

ready? Let's do it.

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy and the YouTube channel English Speaking Success. here to help you become a more confident speaker of English. Now, today I'm going to give

English. Now, today I'm going to give you some of the most popular IELTS speaking topics, but also I want to share with you, oh, by the way, if you

haven't watched the first video in this series, go and check it out later. Now,

in addition to the topics, I want to break this down into subtopics as well.

In fact, these topics go across part one, part two, and part three of the IEL speaking test. It's in part three where

speaking test. It's in part three where you need to know the subtopics. That's

where the examiner breaks it down. Okay.

I'm also going to share with you key vocabulary collocations that you will need to talk confidently on these topics

and subtopics and all of this to help you succeed in your IEL speaking test.

Okay, I'm going to begin first of all with the topic of travel. Are you ready?

Get your seat belt on and let's get ready to go.

Uh ladies and gentlemen, um this is your captain speaking on flight KSA123.

Um I'd just like to remind you before we take off that there is a PDF there is a PDF you can download at the end of this video to get all of the

vocabulary you need from today's flight.

Great cabin staff ready for takeoff.

Rightyo the topic of travel. Okay. Um

there are four different subtopics I'm going to look at and these are transport um traveling to work holidays and tourism. Let's begin with transport and

tourism. Let's begin with transport and in particular different forms of transport. Actually very often we say

transport. Actually very often we say means of transport right? What's your

favorite means of transport? Um do you like to travel by car, by train, by plane? on foot. Maybe none of the above.

plane? on foot. Maybe none of the above.

I just go everywhere on foot. I get

around town on foot. Now, different

means of transport. We're going to look at public transport and private transport. Notice in America, they often

transport. Notice in America, they often say transportation.

Public transportation or private transportation. In the UK, we tend to

transportation. In the UK, we tend to say public or private transport.

So, what is your favorite means of transport? For me, honestly, it's the

transport? For me, honestly, it's the train. I love to travel by train. It's

train. I love to travel by train. It's

great. I find it so relaxing. I can

stretch my legs. I can walk up and down, see the countryside. It's great. Now,

one of the big issues, controversies, and topics we talk about with transport today is global world, global warming, climate change. Because all of this

climate change. Because all of this travel, especially by plane, by train, by car, is emitting carbon dioxide into

the atmosphere, right? Um, so each person has something called your carbon footprint.

Very good collocation to know your carbon footprint. This is how much CO2

carbon footprint. This is how much CO2 you're putting into the environment through your travel. So if you travel by plane, your carbon footprint is going to

be pretty high. If you're a CEO who is jet setting everywhere, flying on your jet left, right, and center, you're going to have a high carbon footprint.

If you go everywhere by bike, good for you. You'll have a low carbon footprint.

you. You'll have a low carbon footprint.

You can offset your carbon footprint by paying some extra money. A lot of airlines do this nowadays because airlines are the big culprit, right?

They're responsible for a lot of the CO2 going into the air. The other thing or the other area of discussion is then around sustainable vehicles.

This can be electric vehicles, electric bikes, um zero emission vehicles.

This is the goal for a lot of organizations and governments to reduce the emissions we put out there, right?

Um so zero emission vehicles are becoming more popular as are electric cars and also driverless cars. Very soon

we will have lots and lots of driverless cars.

All of this is good news for the environment, but it's good news for your English. Look, look at all these

English. Look, look at all these beautiful collocations you can use to talk about transport and your favorite means of transport. Let's look at the

next subtopic, which is traveling to work. Do I have to work? Sorry.

work. Do I have to work? Sorry.

Traveling to work is not a problem for me because I go from my bedroom to my office. It takes me about 3 seconds.

office. It takes me about 3 seconds.

What about you? How do you travel to work? Now a lot of you will get the

work? Now a lot of you will get the train or get the underground if you're in London get or get the metro or drive to work. Then you have something we call

to work. Then you have something we call the daily commute. To commute is to travel to work. Your daily commute is that journey you make every day. Okay.

More collocations which are useful are the rush hour or the peak hours. This is

where you have most traffic on the roads. typically early morning before

roads. typically early morning before work, late afternoon after work. These

are the rush hours. And if you travel during the rush hours, well, you're going to get what? You're going to get traffic jams. You're going to get stuck

in traffic. I'm sorry I'm late. I was

in traffic. I'm sorry I'm late. I was

stuck in traffic. Great excuse.

You may find if the traffic is really bad, you can say the cars were or are bumper to bumper. Right? This is the

bumper of a car. And when the cars are so close together, bumper to bumper, literally the cars are not moving, right? Um there's too many cars, big

right? Um there's too many cars, big traffic jam, the cars are bumper to bumper, bumper to bumper. Great. Sounds

like a bit of a wrap, right? Bumper to

bumper to bumper. Bumper to bumper. Nice

collocation. Finally, you may also talk about the air pollution from all of this traffic and the exhaust fumes. So, the

exhaust fumes are the fumes that come out of the back of the car or the trucks or the lorries. Not very good for the environment. Listen, all of this

environment. Listen, all of this traveling to work is quite stressful. I

think it's time for a holiday. Our next

subtopic. Great. Let's have a holiday.

What vocabulary do you need to talk about this? Well, first of all, here's a

about this? Well, first of all, here's a very very common mistake, right? The

correct collocation is to go on a trip.

To go on a trip. The trip is your your holiday, right? Sometimes I hear

holiday, right? Sometimes I hear students say, "Oh, I I want to go on a travel." To go on a travel uh uh is not

travel." To go on a travel uh uh is not correct. Travel is a verb to travel. The

correct. Travel is a verb to travel. The

noun is a trip. Okay? to go on a trip to the south of Spain or go on a trip to Asia to go on a trip. When you go on a

trip, you need to book a holiday. Book a

well, you don't need to, but many people book a holiday. Um, and that could be a package holiday where everything is already organized for you or you just

organize it yourself, right? You'll need

to book a hotel or to reserve a hotel when you arrive in the place you're going to visit. Um, then you're going to have well, you can see the sites. I love

to see the sites. I love to go sightseeing.

See the sites. Sightseeing. Nice

alliteration right?

Um, also we've got you can visit tourist attractions or visit a tourist attraction. Um, what are the most

attraction. Um, what are the most important tourist attractions you should visit in your city? I wonder.

What's more, you may stay in a hotel or stay in an Airbnb, stay in an apartment.

Notice we don't say I live in a hotel. I

sometimes get students saying, "Yes, I lived in a hotel for two days." No, you didn't. You stayed in a hotel, right?

didn't. You stayed in a hotel, right?

The only people who live in a hotel are possibly the owner and the manager who actually do live there. That's their

home. So, live is your home. Stay is

temporary in a hotel or an apartment.

Okay. Now, if your holiday destination is abroad, nice collocation, holiday destination.

If that is abroad, you'll probably need to take a flight. Take a flight. And if

you're going far, we call it a longhaul flight. A longhaul flight. For example,

flight. A longhaul flight. For example,

traveling from Spain to China takes around 10 12 hours. That is a longhaul flight.

And the chances are you're going to have jet lag. To have jet lag, jet lag is

jet lag. To have jet lag, jet lag is that feeling you get of being tired and drowsy because of the time difference

between Spain and China or wherever you're traveling. The bigger the time

you're traveling. The bigger the time difference, the bigger the jet lag. So,

if you get jet lag, have a bit of um chamomile tea or something to help you relax. It's a real struggle, right?

relax. It's a real struggle, right?

Anyway, this leads us, it's a nice segue into the next subtopic, which is tourism.

Okay, the fourth subtopic is tourism.

Okay, now this is the phenomena of lots of people traveling on holiday to a place, right? Um, and we have this in

place, right? Um, and we have this in Spain where the south of Spain has lots of beautiful beaches. So all the Brits and the Germans and the Dutch, they

travel down to the south of Spain and there's too many of them. And a lot of the local people, they don't like it.

There's a bit of a kickback. It's too

many people. This is what we call mass tourism. And mass tourism causes a

tourism. And mass tourism causes a problem because it can be well it can be good for the local economy, but it can be bad because it can too many people

push up house prices, inflation, blah blah blah blah blah. Anyway,

this is not an economics program. This

is an English program. So, one of the things people say to handle mass tourism is instead of traveling abroad, why don't you opt for domestic travel? Nice

collocation. Opt for choose domestic travel.

And this can be better, right? It can be cheaper. It's an affordable option,

cheaper. It's an affordable option, which is great, but also um it's it's kind of helps this mass tourism problem.

A lot of people now talk about echo tourism which again is a kind of tourism which is good for the environment. So

you're not taking the plane. Um you're

being sustainable in many aspects from washing the towels in the hotel to traveling by bicycle maybe. All of this is echoourism.

Oh, what's happened there? The sun looks like I'm a in a horror film or something. It's getting brighter and

something. It's getting brighter and brighter. Not to worry. Let's push on.

brighter. Not to worry. Let's push on.

Um, we can talk about other collocations. Budget travel. Um, or to

collocations. Budget travel. Um, or to travel on a budget. And this is where you have limited money, not a lot of money that you want to use for your

trip. Okay? To travel on a budget, in

trip. Okay? To travel on a budget, in which case I suggest you go backpacking.

To go backpacking is to take a rucksack and walk. Or you can not only walk but

and walk. Or you can not only walk but visit different places in a kind of sustainable way, right? Go backpacking.

There are many affordable travel options.

All of this traveling, gosh, I'm getting um jet lag.

I'm getting vocabulary jet lag. So many

words. But don't worry, right? Remember,

there's this PDF you can download to review. And it has for each topic

review. And it has for each topic there's a story and there's a song so you can review in a really fun way.

Lovely. Let's move on.

Right. Let's talk about hobbies.

I'm going to sit like this to get the sun light.

Okay. We spend so much time complaining about the sun. It comes out and I'm starting to complain. It's affecting my video. Hobbies. Do you have a hobby? Is

video. Hobbies. Do you have a hobby? Is

there a hobby you would like to do? Now,

if you have a hobby, you can say, um, I pursue a hobby. This is a hobby I want to pursue. Okay. To pursue a hobby. If

to pursue. Okay. To pursue a hobby. If

you want to start, we can say take up a hobby. I want to take up painting. I

hobby. I want to take up painting. I

want to take up I want to take up French. It's a new hobby. Okay. Also,

French. It's a new hobby. Okay. Also,

you could say to develop an interest in something. I have developed an interest

something. I have developed an interest in coding.

I've developed an interest in painting.

Nice collocations. Hobbies, of course, you do in your free time. We can say spare time or leisure time. British

English leisure time. I think in America they say leisure, but either way, spare time, free time, leisure time. talk

about all of these. Let's talk I'm going to have a look at different types of hobbies. Um sports is a common hobby and

hobbies. Um sports is a common hobby and the reasons for hobbies. Okay, different

types of hobbies. What do we have? Well,

we've got outdoor activities like walking hiking trekking.

social hobbies. That may be hanging out with friends, having, I don't know, a breakfast club, or just doing an activity where socializing is the key

goal. We've got digital hobbies.

goal. We've got digital hobbies.

That could be surfing the net, gaming, uh maybe content creation, right? Maybe

creating videos on your YouTube channel.

It's a hobby. Could be. Other things are collecting things. So, a lot of people

collecting things. So, a lot of people collect stamps, coins, postcards, all sorts of things, antiques, maybe.

Now, here's a nice um expression to dabble in something is to try something, something new and to try it a little

bit. Usually, something with your hands.

bit. Usually, something with your hands.

You can say, "I want to dabble in cooking."

cooking." So, I don't really know how to do it, but I want to try and do it. I want to dabble in painting. I'm going to dabble

in coding. Right? Those three work very

in coding. Right? Those three work very well because it's clearly with your hands.

To dabble in um another very common hobby is volunteering.

We would say to do some volunteering. I

like to do some volunteering. where you

offer your time for free to help other people. Let's talk about sports is one

people. Let's talk about sports is one of the subtopics is one of the most popular hobbies, right, of or areas for hobbies.

If you're talking about sports, you may want to say get in shape.

Um, which means to get fit and healthy, to have a good body, to get in shape.

Um, to lose weight. If you are overweight, maybe you're doing sport to lose weight. Um to or to build muscle,

lose weight. Um to or to build muscle, right? To build muscle, to build your

right? To build muscle, to build your strength. You need in order to do that,

strength. You need in order to do that, you need to train regularly. To train

regularly, maybe every day you go down the gym or you join a club. to join a club, any kind of sports club, maybe a

football club, athletics club, and so on and so forth. Why have a hobby? Let's

find out. Reasons for hobbies. For many

people, it is a stress buster, which means life is so stressful, especially if you're stuck in traffic, etc. You

need to do something to relax. So,

hobbies can be a stress buster.

They can be a form of relaxation, a way to kick back, a way to disconnect.

Great collocations for other people. It

can be about creativity.

Um, a creative outlet for me.

Uh, writing, I do some writing on the side. Writing is a creative outlet.

side. Writing is a creative outlet.

Making videos could be a creative outlet. Painting is a creative outlet.

outlet. Painting is a creative outlet.

You could just say, "I find pleasure in doing that." I find pleasure in making

doing that." I find pleasure in making videos. Nice collocation. Also, if

videos. Nice collocation. Also, if

you're thinking about walking in the countryside, the idea of to get back to nature. So, the reason I go hiking is I

nature. So, the reason I go hiking is I want to get back to nature. Get back to nature. Have that closeness with nature.

nature. Have that closeness with nature.

very good for your mental health as well as your physical health. Finally, some

people choose to do a hobby because they are at a loose end. What a

lovely idiom. To be at a loose end means you've got lots of free time and you don't know what to do. Sometimes happens

when people retire, no work to do, and they think, well, I've got all this h all this time on my hands. What am I going to do? I'm at a loose end. I know

I'll take up a hobby, a nice creative outlet. Maybe I'll dabble in painting or

outlet. Maybe I'll dabble in painting or something like that. Right now, we're going to move on to our next topic.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking on flight KSA123.

Just a quick update on the flight. Um,

we've been traveling over the topics of travel and hobbies. Um, we're cruising at the moment of an altitude of 1 meter.

And if you look out the window on the right, you can see the next topic coming up, which is, um, family and friends.

It'll be very useful. That's it anyway from me, the captain. Um, sit back and enjoy the rest of the flight.

Good. Family and friends, let's do it.

So, I'm going to talk about the subtopics of um family, friends, duh, and emotional relationships. Yes,

indeed. Let's talk then about family first. Okay. If you're talking about

first. Okay. If you're talking about your close family, that is your husband and wife. Uh can you have a husband and

and wife. Uh can you have a husband and a wife? No, husband or wife or maybe a

a wife? No, husband or wife or maybe a partner if you're not married, and maybe children if you have them. We call that your immediate family. If you include

parents, uncles and aunties and that's your extended family. Okay. If your

family are very very close, um then that is a close-knit family.

Closen-knit family. Great. A close-knit

family. Um we can also talk about when your family come together for celebrations, birthdays, bar mitvas,

parties. It's family gatherings.

parties. It's family gatherings.

So, I love family gatherings because we all come together and celebrate and catch up with each other. Family

gatherings and it's a time where you can spend quality time with each other. Now,

it's a great collocation. I'm not a real believer in spending quality time with your family because I think the whole

idea is a bit strange because the time with your family is always got to be quality time. But I understand the

quality time. But I understand the reason for it is to not be on your phone but to spend real time. What does that mean? To spend quality time with your

mean? To spend quality time with your family, right? Where you're focused on

family, right? Where you're focused on your family. Another expression we have

your family. Another expression we have is blood is thicker than water. You can

imagine what that means, right? If blood

is thicker than water, family is more important than friends, acquaintances, and everybody else. It's a very common expression you may get in your own

language as well. I guess you have a similar expression. Fin. Uh, finally, we

similar expression. Fin. Uh, finally, we can talk about the generation gap talking about families. So that distance between even parents and children or

grandparents and grandchildren. The

generation gap is that difference in thinking attitude because they grew up in different periods of time. The

generation gap. Okay. Let's move away from our family. Bye-bye. And come over to our friends. Hello.

Some collocations for you. So one of the most common collocations is to make friends. Do you like to make friends? To

friends. Do you like to make friends? To

make new friends? To make friends? You

can say slightly more formal, but it's still good. To form a friendship.

still good. To form a friendship.

I met somebody at work and very quickly we formed a solid friendship. Nice

collocation. Okay. Some people have lots of friends. So, your friends, we can

of friends. So, your friends, we can talk about a circle of friends. Circle.

A circle of friends. If you've got lots, you've got a wide circle of friends. On

the other hand, many people have a few close friends, a small circle of friends, of course, right? With your

friends, normally you have a lot in common. To have something in common

common. To have something in common means you both have, use, or do similar things. I have a lot in common with my

things. I have a lot in common with my friends. We go to the same uh well we go

friends. We go to the same uh well we go I was going to say supermarket what no we go to the same park we do the same

hobbies we work in the same office etc etc okay with distance often now it's important to keep in touch which is to

stay in contact with your friends to keep in touch um I talked about having a lot in common you can also say to be on the same wavelength the wavelength

length. If you're on the same

length. If you're on the same wavelength, you have the same way of thinking. So to be on the same

thinking. So to be on the same wavelength is a good idea with your friends because you then think in a similar way, right? Um if you are going

out with friends, we often say to hang out with friends. If you haven't seen them for a while, you're going to catch up with friends. Now catch up can mean

to chase after but here it just means to make contact and to see how people are doing. Have that update with friends. I

doing. Have that update with friends. I

need to catch up with Tom. I haven't

seen him for years. Okay. Finally, let's

look at the subtopic of emotional relationships.

So emotional relationships.

The sun. I've got to seriously I got to sit in the corner over here and do the video from this corner of the room.

Emotional relationships, we're talking about having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Um, now the most important

girlfriend. Um, now the most important phrase here is to go out with someone.

But this is tricky because we all also use this if you're just going for a drink or a chat with somebody. So, it's

very hard to make the difference.

Context is key. But generally speaking, if I say I'm going out with Tom tonight, that's probably just going for a drink

or a chat. But if I say, um, I've I'm going out with Tom. I've been going out with him for months, then it's probably

emotional, right? So that idea of

emotional, right? So that idea of long-term to go out with someone is is more emotional. If you say just one time,

emotional. If you say just one time, then it's probably just for a chat or a drink. It's not black and white. So,

drink. It's not black and white. So,

just be careful with that one. So, to go out with someone can mean to date someone. Nowadays, we talk about online

someone. Nowadays, we talk about online dating. A lot of apps to do that. Also,

dating. A lot of apps to do that. Also,

a longdistance relationship.

Um, another good collocation, if things don't go well with your girlfriend, boyfriend partner AI friend

you may fall out with someone and that means to have a disagreement or an argument and you stop speaking.

I fell out with my wife recently. When

that happens, it's important to make up with that person. To make up with someone is not to put on lipstick and

eyeliner. It's to say, "I'm sorry."

eyeliner. It's to say, "I'm sorry."

Start communication and try to rebuild the relationship to make up with someone. So, if you fall out with a

someone. So, if you fall out with a friend, try and make up with a friend.

Okay? Often in relationships, it's not easy. It's a bit like handling the sun

easy. It's a bit like handling the sun when you're recording a video. You have

your ups and downs and that means to have difficulties.

Sometimes you have good times and bad times. So we often hear people say,

times. So we often hear people say, "Yes, you know, we have our ups and downs."

downs." Ups and downs, right? Ups and downs. Ups and downs.

right? Ups and downs. Ups and downs.

Work on your pronunciation. You'll get

there. Um, finally with friends we often say to count on a friend. You can count on me means you can rely on me. To count

on somebody. Um, how many friends can you count on? Can you rely on? Okay,

good. That's it for family, friends, and emotional relationships.

Ladies and gentlemen, uh, this is your captain speaking. We'll be shortly

captain speaking. We'll be shortly arriving at our destination. um here on flight KSA123.

Um we realize you have a choice of airlines to fly with. So we thank you very much for choosing Keith Speaking Academy and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Um do remember we have a

free PDF uh available for download on this flight. Um in that you'll find

this flight. Um in that you'll find collocations, vocabulary, songs and stories to review all of this well to study, practice and review all the

language as seen in the speaking success system of the Keith Speaking Academy.

Why do captains never laugh on the airplane? They keep a straight face,

airplane? They keep a straight face, right? I don't know how they do it.

right? I don't know how they do it.

Listen, thank you so much for watching today. I do appreciate it. I hope this

today. I do appreciate it. I hope this has helped you. Um, and I look forward to seeing you again very, very soon.

Remember to subscribe. You can join the membership of the YouTube channel for extra videos. That's it for today. Thank

extra videos. That's it for today. Thank

you so much. Cabin staff, prepare for landing.

[Music]