Typing on a Keyboard

The answer relies on short, plain statements like 'Maybe an hour a day' and simple reasons introduced with 'because', giving clear but unembellished responses typical of Band 6.5.

How often do you type on a keyboard?

Maybe an hour a day, mostly for typing messages to clients on Zalo. My job is more about drawing and designing than actual typing.

Why this band

• LR“My job is more about drawing and designing than actual typing.” — The comparative frame 'more about X than Y' is built entirely from common nouns — drawing, designing, typing — with no attempt at a more specific job-related collocation. That plainness is exactly what keeps this a solid but unremarkable Band 6.5 answer: a 7.0 speaker in the same spot would likely reach for a slightly sharper phrase like 'my role revolves around' or name a concrete task, rather than resting on the safe comparative. Here it does its job by explaining why the Zalo messaging mentioned just before barely counts as real typing for this speaker.

Did/Do you learn how to type at school?

No, not really. My older cousin worked in an office and taught me at home, on an old family computer, when I was a teenager. I practised for a few months until it felt normal.

Why this band

• GRA“I practised for a few months until it felt normal.” — The single subordinate clause built on 'until' is the only complexity in the sentence — everything else is simple past-tense reporting. That's the grammar ceiling expected at 6.5: enough control to attach one time clause accurately, but no attempt at combining it with a further clause (e.g. describing the cousin, or the outcome) the way a 7.0 answer would layer on top of it. It still lands cleanly because 'until it felt normal' gives a clear, concrete endpoint to the practice period described just before it.

Which do you find easier: typing on a keyboard or writing by hand?

Typing, definitely, for almost everything now. My handwriting has become messy over the years, so I only use a small notebook for simple things like grocery lists.

Why this band

• FC“Typing, definitely, for almost everything now.” — The answer opens with a fragment-style direct response — 'Typing, definitely' — before any supporting detail is added, which is the minimal-development pattern typical of 6.5: the question gets answered but the speaker doesn't yet explain why. A 7.0 or 7.5 response would more often fold a reason into that same opening sentence rather than isolating it. Here the follow-up about messy handwriting and the notebook for grocery lists does eventually supply the reason, just one beat later than a higher band would allow.

Would you like to improve your typing skills?

Yes, one specific thing. I still look down at the keyboard while typing, which slows me down a lot during presentations at work. I'd like to type without looking, like my colleagues do.

Why this band

• GRA“which slows me down a lot during presentations at work” — A single non-restrictive relative clause with 'which' adds one extra piece of information onto the main statement about looking at the keyboard, without any further subordination or variation. This is accurate and easy to follow, but it represents the basic complexity ceiling typical of Band 6.5 rather than the more comfortable mixing of clause types expected from Band 7.0 upward. It clearly explains the specific problem -- slower typing during work presentations -- that motivates wanting to improve.

The language is fluent and natural, using a light collocation ('under pressure during meetings') and a couple of comfortably linked complex sentences, without reaching for the more inventive imagery of the 7.5 answer.

How often do you type on a keyboard?

Quite a lot actually, probably around three or four hours a day. Most of it is for work, replying to emails and typing up reports, but I also chat with friends on my laptop sometimes in the evening. So typing has basically become a normal part of my day.

Why this band

• LR“has basically become a normal part of my day” — The adverb 'basically' softens and naturalises the claim that typing has 'become a normal part of my day', a slightly more flexible phrasing than the plainer 'is now a normal part of my day' a Band 6.5 answer might use. It's a common, easy word rather than a distinctive or idiomatic one, which keeps it at Band 7.0 rather than 7.5. The phrase neatly sums up the several examples of typing (emails, reports, chatting) given earlier in the answer.

Did/Do you learn how to type at school?

Not really, no. We didn't have proper typing lessons, so I mostly picked it up by myself at home, using two fingers at first. It wasn't until I started working in an office that I forced myself to learn where all the keys were, because I was too slow otherwise.

Why this band

• GRA“It wasn't until I started working in an office that I forced myself to learn where all the keys were, because I was too slow otherwise.” — The sentence opens with a cleft-like "It wasn't until X that Y" structure, delaying the main clause for emphasis, and then adds a further "because" clause explaining the underlying pressure. Combining this emphatic fronting device with a subordinate reason clause, and keeping the whole thing accurate, is a more varied piece of grammar than the mix of simple and complex sentences typical of Band 6.5, matching Band 7.0's target of a comfortable, accurate range of structures.

Which do you find easier: typing on a keyboard or writing by hand?

Typing, without a doubt, especially for anything long. My handwriting has got worse over the years from lack of practice, so now I only really write by hand for quick notes or a shopping list. Typing just feels faster and neater for everything else.

Why this band

• FC“Typing, without a doubt, especially for anything long.” — The answer states its preference first, then reinforces it with the confident idiomatic phrase 'without a doubt' before narrowing to a specific condition ('especially for anything long'), rather than a flat one-word answer. A Band 6.5 response would likely just say 'Typing' with a brief reason; a Band 7.5 one might add a reflective comparison. This assured, immediately elaborated opening is typical of the fuller development expected at Band 7.0.

Would you like to improve your typing skills?

Yes, one thing in particular. I still make quite a few typos when I'm typing quickly, especially under pressure during meetings, so I'd like to become more accurate rather than just faster. I've actually downloaded an app to practise with, but I haven't used it much yet.

Why this band

• LR“especially under pressure during meetings” — "Under pressure during meetings" adds a specific, plausible context for the typos just mentioned, using ordinary vocabulary but combined into a precise situational detail rather than a vague "sometimes." A Band 6.5 answer would likely leave the claim unspecified, so this small but concrete contextual phrase is what Band 7.0 lexical resource means by natural, topic-appropriate word choices layered onto everyday vocabulary.
• FC“I've actually downloaded an app to practise with, but I haven't used it much yet.” — The word "actually" frames the downloaded app as a slightly surprising extra detail, and the "but" clause that follows adds an honest, unflattering admission (barely having used it) rather than ending on the more flattering fact alone. This kind of self-aware, slightly ironic follow-up — admitting the plan hasn't fully worked out — is the natural, developed fluency Band 7.0 targets, compared to a Band 6.5 answer that would likely just state "I downloaded an app to help me."

The answer uses a vivid simile ('a friend who typed like rain on a roof') and a balanced semicolon sentence ('My speed doubled; my spelling didn't improve'), showing the flexible, idiomatic language and varied structures of Band 7.5.

How often do you type on a keyboard?

Constantly, though less than most people in offices. A designer's day is more dragging and drawing than typing; the keyboard is for messages, the notes I make in meetings, and the endless emails to clients. I'd guess two or three hours a day of actual typing. The rest is a mouse, a pen, and staring.

Why this band

• LR“The rest is a mouse, a pen, and staring.” — The final item in the list is the abstract noun 'staring' rather than another physical object, which is an unexpected, precise, slightly witty lexical choice a lower-band answer would be unlikely to risk. Ending the sentence on this odd-one-out word gives the answer a reflective, dry humour that fits its overall self-aware tone about a designer's working day. This kind of natural, less-common word choice deployed smoothly is exactly what marks Band 7.5 lexical resource.

Did/Do you learn how to type at school?

No, nobody taught us. I learned with two fingers at an internet café near school in Hue, mostly by typing my name in different fonts, and I typed badly for years. At university a friend who typed like rain on a roof shamed me into learning properly, and I spent a summer on a free typing program. My speed doubled; my spelling didn't improve.

Why this band

• LR“a friend who typed like rain on a roof shamed me into learning properly” — The simile 'typed like rain on a roof' is an invented, situation-specific image rather than a stock phrase, and it's paired with the idiomatic verb 'shamed... into', which itself carries a slightly ironic, self-deprecating tone. That combination — original figurative language plus a natural idiom used accurately in the same clause — is a hallmark of Band 7.5 lexical resource; a 7.0 answer would more likely settle for a flatter 'a friend who typed really fast made me want to improve'. It also does real work in the story, explaining the shift from two-finger typing at the internet café to the disciplined summer of practice that follows.
• GRA“My speed doubled; my spelling didn't improve.” — The semicolon joins two short, grammatically parallel clauses with no connector at all, relying on the punctuation and the parallel structure to signal contrast — a compact, literary move that lower bands rarely risk because it's easy to get wrong (a comma splice, for instance). At 7.5 this kind of controlled economy, where the balance between the clauses does the work a conjunction like 'but' would normally do, is exactly the sophistication examiners are listening for. It also closes the typing-course anecdote with a pointed, slightly wry summary rather than a flat conclusion.

Which do you find easier: typing on a keyboard or writing by hand?

Typing for anything long or anything someone else has to read, since my handwriting has decayed into a private code. But for thinking, I write by hand — ideas in the sketchbook, notes in the margins of a printed document. Something about the slowness of a pen makes me choose words more carefully. Typing is for producing; handwriting is for deciding.

Why this band

• FC“Typing is for producing; handwriting is for deciding.” — The answer ends on a symmetrical, aphorism-like statement that reformulates the whole preceding contrast (thinking by hand vs. writing for others) into a single memorable line. That kind of evaluative, almost quotable closing move — going beyond simply restating the point — is what separates a 7.5 finish from a 7.0 one, which would more likely just repeat 'so I prefer handwriting for personal notes' without the compression. It works because it mirrors the semicolon sentence used earlier, giving the whole answer a consistent, deliberate rhythm.

Would you like to improve your typing skills?

In one specific way, yes. Typing English I'm fast enough, but Vietnamese, with its tone marks and accents, still slows me down, and I make errors that change the meaning of a word entirely — I once wished a client a happy 'ghost' instead of a happy 'mother'. Learning the shortcuts properly would save me a small embarrassment a week.

Why this band

• FC“I once wished a client a happy 'ghost' instead of a happy 'mother'” — Rather than stating abstractly that Vietnamese tone marks cause errors, the answer illustrates the point with one vivid, specific, self-deprecating anecdote, complete with the two contrasting words in quotation marks. A Band 6.5-7.0 answer would likely stop at the general claim that typing Vietnamese is harder; here the concrete example does the explaining instead. This kind of memorable, illustrative development, chosen over plain description, is characteristic of Band 7.5 fluency and coherence.