The following vocabulary is useful for talking about holidays.

Free time and holidays

• Vacation – this is the American word for a holiday. Note that you can use American English or British English in the IELTS test (or even a mix of both)
• A weekend break – a common expression to talk about going to a different town or city from Friday to Sunday
• Downtime – period where you are not working or being active
• Leave of absence – time when you have permission to be absent from work