Introduction
In IELTS Speaking Boredom may appear as a topic for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
This lesson will give you exactly the language and idioms you need to talk fluently on the topic of boredom and being bored in the IELTS Speaking test.
Download this IELTS Speaking Lesson PDF
What you will learn
IELTS Vocabulary Boredom
Bored or boring? 🤔
This film is boring and I feel bored
Boring – active: describes things/people that bore you
Bored – passive: shows how people are made to feel
For example: I was bored by this film / book / person
This means I feel bored because this film is boring
Two more examples below:
- John is boring, he makes me fall asleep
- John is bored, he is not interested in this film
Collocations
To be / get / grow bored (adj.)
Word Forms
Boredom (n.)
To bore (v.)
Things that may bore us
Notice we can use a noun or a noun phrase followed by a verb to answer this question.
- Being broke (noun phrase) bores me
- Waiting in line (noun phrase) makes me bored
- Politicians (n.) are boring
- Being stuck in traffic is boring
- Living alone is quite boring
- Being jobless is a bore = unemployed, not having a job
Here are some other ways to answer this question.
- If you are laid off, it’s a bore
- I am bored when people don’t get to the point
- I am bored with household chores = (housework: e.g. ironing, cleaning, cooking)
- I am fed up of spammers and scammers on the Internet
- I am bored with people who don’t pull their weight at work
- She is fed up of her sister spending ages in the bathroom
Related vocabulary
To be broke = to have no money
To lay someone off = to let them go, say there is no more work
The following three expressions all mean to be direct or say something directly
- To get to the point
- To cut to the chase
- Don’t beat about the bush
I am fed up = I am bored
To scam = to cheat
To spam = to send messages trying to sell things
They don’t pull their weight = they don’t do enough work
Show them the ropes – show how something works
It gets on my nerves = it’s annoying, irritating
She takes ages = takes a long time
There’s nothing worse than ________!
There’s nothing worse than a lazy person!
Tackling Lockdown Boredom
Here are some phrases you could use to answer this question
- We played board games, like Monopoly, Go and Ludo.
- I learnt to cook and baked lots of cakes
- I studied a lot online
- I took an online course to brush up on my Spanish
To brush up on = to improve something you are already good at
- Actually I wasn’t that bored because I was swamped with work, as I work online.
To be swamped with work = to have a lot of work
- I took up knitting and knitted some jumpers
- I started painting and did some lovely paintings
- I put pen to paper and wrote some letters to some old friends
- To put pen to paper = to write something
- I started writing a blog
- I watched too many streamed series on Netflix
- I honed my culinary skills = improved my cooking skills
Being easily bored in today’s society
Some of the common reasons for feeling bored nowadays are,
- Technology – social media – streaming videos
- Online learning – learn new skills (painting, a language, coding….)
- Growth of health and fitness – cooking, exercising, gyms,
Here are some phrases you could use to answer this question
Too much connectivity can drain you = it makes you tired
Learning something played down the boredom = reduce (to make less important)
I am not too sure, I mean there are lots more things to do like participating in social media, but even that can become boring.
Forever scrolling on Facebook becomes boring after a while
The wealth of opportunities to learn things online means there is really no excuse for feeling bored
On the one hand, there are lots of great films and series to watch, but spending ages watching screens becomes boring after a while.
IELTS Speaking Idioms about Boredom
The following expressions are used to talk about being very bored
- I am bored_to death
- I am bored to tears
- I am bored stiff
- I’m bored silly
- I am bored_out_of my mind
- I am fed_up
- I am fed up to the back teeth
- What a bore!
If something is boring, we can say
- It leaves me cold
- It does nothing for me
- It’s dull
- It’s about as exciting as watching paint dry.
It is _____
- mundane
- monotonous
- tedious
- banal
- mind numbingly boring
Student's Questions about Boredom
Keith, what do you do when you’re bored?
Well, it’s an interesting question. You know, sometimes, I might get bored with a book that’s a bit monotonous or mundane, and in that case to be honest, what I do is, I normally stop the activity, I’ll stop reading and I will just go and do some exercise.
I like to go out for a little stroll, get some fresh air, and just change the environment or the atmosphere, to try and change my mindset and get focused on something different. That’s basically what I do when I am bored.
What made you bored as child?
As a child, I typically got bored at school. Unfortunately, there were one or two teachers who bored me to death because they just were so monotonous, and their voice was really monotonous and unchanging.
They just were not very energetic or exciting and so as a kid, you know, I had a very low threshold of boredom, and I would easily get kind of irritated or bored by monotonous teachers.
Some useful Links
Things that might make you bored
https://11points.com/11-boring-things-life-according-science-according/
Howe to fight boredom in Lockdown
https://www.dw.com/en/6-ways-to-fight-coronavirus-lockdown-boredom/a-56394277
More live lessons for you
If you liked this lesson, leave a comment below!
There are more lessons you can follow in the links below too.
Transport in IELTS Speaking. Learn the essential vocabulary for this topic, especially public and private transport now and in the future.
Family in IELTS Speaking. How to talk about your family, stages of life, and idioms about family.
Shopping in IELTS Speaking. Learn vocabulary of shopping habits, behaviour and changes in the way we shop.
