Describe a useful skill you learnt from another person. You should say: what the skill was who taught you how you learnt it and explain why the skill has been useful to you.

The skill that comes to mind is cooking a few dependable meals. My sister taught me after I moved out of our family home. I had assumed I would somehow pick it up, but within a fortnight I was surviving on sandwiches and spending far too much on deliveries. She came over one Sunday with the ingredients for a vegetable soup. What made her approach helpful was that she did not take over. She had me do the chopping, adjust the heat and taste the soup, while she explained what I should be looking for. Instead of presenting cooking as a set of exact instructions, she showed me how to notice when something needed changing. That lesson proved valuable a week later when my own soup turned out much thinner than expected. I called her in a panic, and she calmly told me to leave the lid off and let some of the liquid evaporate. It was such a small correction, but it made me realise a disappointing first result did not mean I had failed. I now cook several evenings a week. It has reduced my spending, certainly, but the bigger benefit is confidence: I can open the fridge, use what is there and make a reasonable dinner. I also like the fact that my sister taught me something I use almost every day. It feels like a quiet, lasting form of support.