When we talk about creative activities in English, we frequently put one verb after another. We say I enjoy painting, not I enjoy to paint. We say I want to learn, not I want learning. This is one of the most important points at B2 level: some verbs are followed by a gerund (the -ing form) and others by a to-infinitive (to + verb). There is no single rule — you need to learn the verb patterns.

Group 1: verbs followed by a gerund (-ing)

A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun: painting, sketching, writing, learning. Common verbs followed by a gerund include enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, consider, imagine, keep, practise, miss, admit, deny.

Group 2: verbs followed by a to-infinitive

The to-infinitive is to + the base form of the verb: to paint, to learn, to exhibit. Common verbs followed by a to-infinitive include want, decide, hope, plan, promise, learn, agree, offer, refuse, expect, need.

Group 3: verbs that can take both, with a meaning change

A small group of verbs — stop, remember, forget, regret, try, go on — can be followed by either a gerund or a to-infinitive, but the meaning changes. This is a classic B2 exam point.

• Stop doing something = stop an activity you are doing.
• He stopped painting when the light faded. (He was painting, then stopped.)
• Stop to do something = stop in order to do something else.

• He stopped to buy more paint. (He stopped walking in order to buy paint.)

• Remember doing something = remember something that happened in the past.

• I remember meeting her at the gallery. (I met her, and I remember the meeting.)
• Remember to do something = remember that you need to do something.

• Remember to bring your sketchbook. (Don't forget it in the future.)

• Try doing something = experiment with an activity.

• Try adding a little water to the paint. (Experiment with this method.)
• Try to do something = make an effort to do something.
• I'm trying to finish the canvas before Friday. (I'm making an effort.)

After prepositions: always gerund

When a verb comes after a preposition (in, on, at, of, about, for, from, by), we always use the gerund, never the to-infinitive.

• She is interested in learning pottery.
• He is good at sketching faces.
• I am thinking about exhibiting my work.
• I look forward to hearing from you.

A useful tip: if you can replace the verb with a noun and the sentence still makes sense, you almost certainly need the gerund. Compare: I enjoy music (= noun) → I enjoy painting (= gerund). If to + noun is impossible, you usually need the gerund too: I am afraid **of failing, not afraid to fail (well, both are possible here, but in many cases only the gerund works). The exercises that follow will give you plenty of practice with all three groups.

Look at the two model sentences above. In the first sentence (with enjoy), what form follows the verb?

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

In this section you will hear a short conversation between two friends, Emma and Tom. They are meeting after a Saturday pottery class at their local community centre. As you listen, try to focus on three things: who is more experienced, which item each person made, and what they plan to do next.

Before you listen, predict the answers to these questions:

• What new vocabulary from the lesson might you hear?
• Do you think Tom is better at pottery than Emma? Why?
• What might someone plan to do after a pottery class?

The conversation is in natural, friendly English. Both speakers use gerunds and infinitives in places — exactly the grammar we practised in the previous section. Listen for phrases like enjoy working with, finished my, want to learn, hope to join, and planning to exhibit. These collocations are useful in your own speech, too.

When you listen for the first time, do not try to catch every word. Just try to get the gist — the general situation and how each speaker feels. When you listen for the second time, focus on specific information: the time Tom spent, the item Emma made, the class she wants to join. On the third listen, you can zoom in on detail — single words and small phrases.

Here is the dialogue in full so you can read it after listening:

Emma: That was such a good class today. I really enjoyed working with clay. Tom: Same here. I finished my bowl, finally! It took me three hours. Emma: Three hours? Let me see... Oh, that's lovely. The shape is so smooth. Tom: Thanks. I tried adding a simple pattern on the side. What about you? Emma: I avoided making anything too complicated. I just made a small cup. But I want to learn to throw on the wheel properly. Tom: You should keep practising. Have you considered signing up for the next course? Emma: Yes, I hope to join the advanced class in September. Tom: Great idea. I'm planning to exhibit some pieces at the local café. Emma: Really? That's exciting. I'd love to come and see them.

Now answer the three questions that follow. You will not see the transcript while listening; the app will play the dialogue with two different AI voices — one female (Emma) and one male (Tom). Notice how often the speakers use the gerund and the to-infinitive: enjoyed working, finished my, tried adding, avoided making, want to learn, keep practising, hope to join, planning to exhibit. These are exactly the patterns from the grammar section, used in real conversation.

After the listening task, try to write three short sentences about the conversation using your own ideas, for example: I think Tom is more experienced because his bowl is smooth. I would also like to exhibit my work one day. I hope to take a class like this next year.

Listen to Emma and Tom talking after a Saturday pottery class. Pay attention to what they made and what they plan to do next.

What is the conversation mainly about?

How long did Tom spend on his bowl?

English has many vowel sounds, and two of the most common are the short /ɪ/ (as in bit) and the long /iː/ (as in beat). For many learners these can sound very similar, but they are clearly different in natural speech. The difference has two parts: length and quality. /ɪ/ is short and relaxed — the tongue sits low and the lips are only slightly spread. /iː/ is long and tense — the tongue moves higher in the mouth, the corners of the lips are pulled back more, and you hold the sound for almost twice as long.

To feel the difference, say the word bit and hold the vowel for about one second, then say the word beat and hold the vowel for about two seconds. You should feel your tongue lift slightly and your face stretch a little more for the long version. Your jaw should not move much — the work is happening inside the mouth, with the tongue and the lips.

A useful test: if the word is written with double e or with a single e at the end of a syllable, the vowel is usually long: see, feel, leave, beat. If the word is written with a single short vowel followed by a consonant, the vowel is usually short: ship, fill, hit, bit. This is not a perfect rule — English spelling is famously irregular — but it works in many common words.

Some words can be either /ɪ/ or /iː/ depending on meaning. Live (verb, "to be alive") is /lɪv/, but live (adjective, "a live broadcast") is /laɪv/. We will not focus on that today.

In connected speech, native speakers often reduce the long /iː/ to a shorter sound in unstressed syllables, but in single-syllable content words like feel, leave, beat, the vowel is usually clearly long. This is what we will practise in the steps.

Even at B2 level, mixing up /ɪ/ and /iː/ can sometimes cause real misunderstandings. For example, ship and sheep are different words, and live (verb) and leave (verb) mean very different things. Clear production of these vowels will make your spoken English much easier to understand, especially on creative topics where you may be saying I need a clean sheet of paper or I filled the canvas with green.

Creative-activity words with these sounds include:

• feel /fiːl/ (long)
• fill /fɪl/ (short)
• seen /siːn/ (long)
• sit /sɪt/ (short)
• leave /liːv/ (long)
• live /lɪv/ (short)
• sheet /ʃiːt/ (long — the paper for sketching)
• sketched /sketʃt/ (contains the short vowel e in the first syllable)

In the steps that follow, you will first see a teaching card on how to make the sound, then a listen-and-choose task with a minimal pair (a pair of words that differ by only this vowel), and finally three short phrases for you to record yourself saying aloud.

To make the short /ɪ/ sound, keep your tongue low and relaxed, with lips only slightly spread. Hold the sound for about one beat. To make the long /iː/ sound, lift your tongue higher, pull your lips back a little more, and hold the sound for almost two beats. The long vowel is both longer and tenser.

Read this sentence aloud. Focus on the long /iː/ in feel.

Read this sentence aloud. Focus on the short /ɪ/ in filled.

Read this sentence aloud. Focus on the long /iː/ in leave.

Reading a short article at B2 level does not mean reading every single word. In fact, good readers use different reading speeds for different goals. The first reading strategy we will use today is skimming: read the first and last sentence of each paragraph quickly, without stopping on unknown words, to get the general idea. We will then read the article again more slowly to find specific detail.

Before you skim, here are four key words from the article that you will see. They are not in the lesson's main vocabulary list, but they are important for understanding the text:

• apprentice (noun): a person who works for an expert to learn a skill
• workshop (noun): a room or building where things are made or repaired
• portrait (noun): a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person
• gallery (noun): a place where paintings and other works of art are shown

A useful additional strategy at B2 is to look for the main verb in each sentence and ask yourself: is it a gerund, a to-infinitive, or something else? This is good practice for the grammar we are studying and helps you read more actively. For example, in the second paragraph of the article, learning to throw combines both a gerund (learning) and a to-infinitive (to throw).

Now read the article. As you skim, ask yourself: what is this article about? Who is the main person? What changed in her life?

From hobby to career: Aisha's story

Aisha first tried pottery at a community workshop seven years ago, when she was looking for a creative hobby to fill her free time. She enjoyed the feel of the clay from the very first class and decided to take it more seriously.

After a year of practice, she became an apprentice to a master potter, learning to throw larger pieces on the wheel. She was particularly interested in creating simple, useful objects such as cups and bowls. Her early work was not perfect, but she kept practising and finally managed to create her first masterpiece: a large blue vase inspired by the sea near her family home.

Today, Aisha exhibits her work in galleries across the country. She hopes to open her own studio one day and to teach other people the joy of working with clay. "I never planned to become a professional," she says. "I just wanted a hobby. The hobby became my life."

Read the article once for gist, then read it again more slowly to find the answers to the questions that follow. Pay attention to the gerund and infinitive forms in the text — they will be useful for the grammar and speaking tasks later. If you cannot guess an unknown word, try to use the surrounding context: e.g. wheel here means a potter's wheel, the round table that spins clay.

After the questions, think about your own creative hobby. Could you write a similar short paragraph about how you started? You can use the speaking section that follows to practise exactly that.

Read the article below.

From hobby to career: Aisha's story

Aisha first tried pottery at a community workshop seven years ago, when she was looking for a creative hobby to fill her free time. She enjoyed the feel of the clay from the very first class and decided to take it more seriously.

After a year of practice, she became an apprentice to a master potter, learning to throw larger pieces on the wheel. She was particularly interested in creating simple, useful objects such as cups and bowls. Her early work was not perfect, but she kept practising and finally managed to create her first masterpiece: a large blue vase inspired by the sea near her family home.

Today, Aisha exhibits her work in galleries across the country. She hopes to open her own studio one day and to teach other people the joy of working with clay. "I never planned to become a professional," she says. "I just wanted a hobby. The hobby became my life."

What is the article mainly about?

What is Aisha's masterpiece?

In this final section, you will move from reading about other people's creative hobbies to talking about your own. We will start by listening to a model conversation, then repeat a few key phrases, and finally have a live roleplay with the AI.

Here are useful phrases for talking about creative hobbies. Try to learn them as whole chunks — that is the most natural way to speak.

Notice how the gerund (-ing form) appears in five of these seven chunks. This is a useful pattern: when you talk about an activity as a thing (painting is relaxing, I enjoy sketching, I'm thinking of exhibiting), the verb becomes a noun and takes the -ing form. This is the same grammar we practised in section 2, but now in your own speech.

Listen to the model conversation first. Emma and Tom are talking at a coffee shop. Tom is sharing a creative hobby he enjoys. Pay attention to his chunks — the same ones you can use about your own hobby.

Emma: So Tom, what do you do in your free time? Tom: I've been doing photography for about three years. I really enjoy it. Emma: That sounds interesting. How did you start? Tom: I started taking photos when I was at university. Now I'm thinking of selling some of my work. Emma: That's exciting! I'd love to try portrait photography one day. Tom: You should. It's a wonderful hobby.

After listening, repeat the key phrase I've been doing ___ for ___ years. Then record two more short sentences using the chunks above. Finally, you will have a real conversation with the AI, who will play the role of a friend asking about your creative hobby. The AI will start the conversation in a friendly way. Your job is to talk for at least four turns, using chunks from the table above and at least three vocabulary words from section 1.

When you speak, you don't need to use perfect grammar. Focus on being clear, using at least three of the chunks, and answering the questions the AI asks. If you forget a word, paraphrase it — for example, instead of pottery, you can say making things from clay. And remember: the AI is there to help you, not to test you. If you get stuck, you can always say Could you repeat that, please? or I'm not sure how to say this in English.

After the roleplay, take a moment to think about the lesson. Which words from the vocabulary block do you remember? Can you make three sentences using gerunds and three sentences using to-infinitives? Could you explain the difference between stop doing and stop to do in your own words? If yes, you have achieved the lesson's learning objectives.

Listen to Emma and Tom talking about Tom's creative hobby. Notice the chunks Tom uses.

Read this sentence aloud. It is a model sentence for talking about a hobby and how long you have been doing it.

Read this sentence aloud. Notice the gerund sketching after the verb enjoy.

Creative activities cover a very wide range of hobbies and arts — from painting and pottery to writing music, sketching in a café, or making short films. To talk about these things naturally in English, you need more than just the activity names; you need the words around them: the tools, the places, and the feelings involved. In this lesson we will work with eight key words that come up again and again when people talk about creativity.

Study the table below carefully. Pay attention to the part of speech, because some of these words can be used as both a verb and a noun (for example, sketch and exhibit). That double role is important when we move on to the grammar section, because verbs change form differently in gerund and infinitive structures.

A few quick notes on the words. Pottery is uncountable when we mean the art in general ("Pottery takes years to learn"), but countable when we mean individual objects ("The shop sells beautiful potteries"). In everyday speech, we usually keep it uncountable. Compose and complete are often confused: to compose is to write or arrange — used with music, poems, letters, photos — while to complete is to finish. Inspiration is a noun, and the related adjective is inspired ("She felt inspired after the exhibition"). Finally, exhibition is the noun form of exhibit; the verb is to exhibit, and the noun for the event is an exhibition.

Several of these words form common collocations that you should learn as a chunk rather than as separate words. We say take up a hobby, not begin a hobby. We say be a masterpiece, be inspired by something, and exhibit work at a gallery. You will hear all of these in the listening track later in the lesson. If you can use these short combinations naturally, your spoken English will sound much more fluent.

You will also notice the spelling of pottery with a double t, and sketched with an -ed ending that we pronounce as /t/ (a voiceless consonant at the end). The pronunciation section of this lesson will give you extra practice on short and long vowels in words like feel and filled, which are very common in this topic.

The vocabulary in this lesson is not just decorative. The grammar block that follows uses these exact words in realistic sentences, and the listening and reading sections also recycle them. By the end of the lesson, you should be able to produce at least three of these words in your own short paragraph about a creative activity, and recognise all of them in conversation.

We will start with a quick recognition task, then move to a model sentence that uses several of the new words together. This will help you see how the words combine in natural spoken English.

Learn these eight words about creative activities.

Which word completes the sentence? The artist will ___ her paintings at the new gallery next month.