Popular hobbies and interests change over time and are more a reflection of trends and fashions than an indication of what individuals really want to do in their spare time. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Sample Response
It is true that people's hobbies and interests change in accordance with the latest trends and fashions. They are following these hobbies and interest for the sake of popularity, not for personal pleasure. To a certain extent, I would agree with the statements, but there are some new hobbies which people follow due they like the activity.
On the one hand, many people change their hobbies for popularity purpose. People follow and do popular activities to show that they exist and up to date with the latest trends. But In the reality, they do not have the passion in doing it. For example, mountain biking has become a popular activity in Indonesia lately, and many people are following it. While some of them do mountain biking due to they like the sport, others are doing it to show that they are following the current trend and to show that they have the latest model of the bicycle.
On the other hand, there are few other people who change their interests and hobbies due to the fact that they like these new activities. These new hobbies might be the latest trend, but these people change their interest because they have such huge passion in these activities. Besides that, these hobbies might be newly invented, therefore no one was doing these hobbies in the past.
In conclusion, it is a fact that people's hobbies and interest sometimes changes. To a certain point, I agree that some people change their hobbies due to following the trend, but there are others who change their interest due to they like the new activity. I personally believe that hobby is a personal matter, and we should not follow what is popular in public and should do things that we really like.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use simple present and plural Original: They are following these hobbies and interest Suggested revision: They follow these hobbies and interests Why it matters: A general habit takes the simple present, and coordinated hobbies require plural “interests.”
- 2. Use singular reference Original: statements Suggested revision: statement Why it matters: The prompt presents one statement, so the noun must be singular.
- 3. Correct cause clause Original: people follow due they like the activity Suggested revision: people pursue because they like the activity Why it matters: “Because” introduces a finite reason clause, while “due” cannot do so.
- 4. Use natural purpose phrase Original: for popularity purpose Suggested revision: for the sake of popularity Why it matters: The original noun phrase is not idiomatic English.
- 5. Use activity collocation Original: follow and do popular activities Suggested revision: take part in popular activities Why it matters: People take part in activities rather than follow and do them.
- 6. Add parallel verb Original: they exist and up to date with the latest trends Suggested revision: they are socially visible and up to date with the latest trends Why it matters: Both coordinated complements require the linking verb “are.”
- 7. Correct connector phrase Original: But In the reality Suggested revision: In reality Why it matters: The fixed phrase takes no article, and “in” should not be capitalised after “but.”
- 8. Correct passion collocation Original: the passion in doing it Suggested revision: a passion for these activities Why it matters: The noun “passion” takes “for,” and the plural reference clarifies the object.
- 9. Use natural recent action Original: are following it Suggested revision: are taking it up Why it matters: People take up a hobby when they begin participating in it.
- 10. Correct reason clause Original: mountain biking due to they like the sport Suggested revision: mountain biking because they like the sport Why it matters: A finite clause requires the conjunction “because.”
- 11. Use concise model phrase Original: latest model of the bicycle Suggested revision: latest bicycle model Why it matters: The compound noun is more natural than the “of” phrase.
- 12. Avoid unintended scarcity Original: there are few other people Suggested revision: there are some people Why it matters: “Few” implies almost none, whereas the argument refers neutrally to another group.
Suggested Rewrites
- They are following these hobbies and interest They follow these hobbies and interests
- statements statement
- people follow due they like the activity people pursue because they like the activity
- for popularity purpose for the sake of popularity
- follow and do popular activities take part in popular activities
- they exist and up to date with the latest trends they are socially visible and up to date with the latest trends
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response presents a clear partial-agreement position and organises the trend-driven and genuine-interest explanations into distinct paragraphs, supported by a relevant mountain-biking example. However, the counterargument remains thin and the language repeatedly uses inaccurate grammar and collocations. The priority is to explain more fully why genuine preferences can coincide with new trends, while correcting recurring patterns such as due to the fact that and subject-verb agreement.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The essay answers the extent question with a consistent position and relevant ideas, but the genuine-interest side is only briefly developed.
Extend the counterargument with a specific example and explain how a fashionable activity can still reflect an individual's authentic preference.
Coherence and Cohesion
The four-paragraph progression is clear and cohesive devices guide the reader, although repetition and mechanical linking limit fluency.
Build stronger logical links between sentences and reduce repeated references to hobbies, interests, and trends.
Lexical Resource
The response has adequate topic vocabulary, but imprecise collocations and repeated wording limit flexibility and naturalness.
Use more accurate phrases such as for popularity, keep up to date, be passionate about, and because they enjoy the activity.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex sentences are both attempted and meaning remains clear, but agreement, article, preposition, and clause-structure errors occur frequently.
Focus on accurate reason clauses with because, consistent plural agreement, and correct article use before expanding sentence complexity.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Popular hobbies and interests change over time and are more a reflection of trends and fashions than an indication of what individuals really want to do in their spare time. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.