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Describe a difficult skill you learned.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did you learn it?
  • Why and how did you learn it?
  • How did you feel after learning it?
Show all 25 answers

Cue 1:When did you learn it?

  • Mention the specific time frame when you started learning the skill.
  • Provide context about your life situation during that time.

Example

I learned this skill about two years ago when I was in my final year of college. It was a challenging period as I was also preparing for my exams.


Cue 2:Why and how did you learn it?

  • Explain the motivation behind learning this skill, such as personal interest or necessity.
  • Describe the methods or resources you used to learn the skill, like classes, online tutorials, or practice.

Example

I decided to learn graphic design because I wanted to create my own projects and improve my employability. I enrolled in an online course and spent hours practicing using software like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.


Cue 3:How did you feel after learning it?

  • Share your emotions and thoughts after mastering the skill.
  • Reflect on how this skill has impacted your life or confidence.

Example

After I finally grasped the concepts of graphic design, I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It boosted my confidence, and I even started freelancing, which has been a rewarding experience.


Conclusion

  • Summarize the overall impact of learning this skill on your personal or professional life.
  • Mention any future plans related to this skill or similar skills you wish to learn.

Example

In conclusion, learning graphic design has not only enhanced my creativity but also opened up new career opportunities. I plan to continue improving my skills and possibly explore other areas like web design in the future.


Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.


Tips to answer this Cue Card

1: Lack of Specific Examples

Failing to provide specific examples can make your answer vague and unconvincing. It's important to illustrate your experience with clear details.

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Tip

Use personal anecdotes or specific situations to highlight your learning process and feelings about the skill.


2: Overly Simple Language

Using overly simple language can make your response sound basic and uninteresting. Aim for a richer vocabulary to express your thoughts.

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Tip

Practice using varied vocabulary and complex sentences to enhance your descriptions and make your answer more engaging.


Ignoring Emotional Impact

Neglecting to discuss how you felt after learning the skill can make your answer less relatable. Emotions add depth to your response.

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Tip

Reflect on your feelings and share them to connect with the examiner, making your answer more personal and impactful.


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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

Answer

I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.

Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

Answer

The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.

Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

Answer

As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.

Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

Answer

When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.

Describe a book you recently read
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

Answer

It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

All Answers

Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

Band 6

Well, there are many difficult skills which I have learnt through many years. Here, I would like to talk about one particular skill which I have learnt few years ago. This skill is none other than cooking. I am a foodie person and I love to eat delicious foods and I tried many recipes. Few years ago, my mother went to my nani's house due to some reasons. So even after that, I don't know how to cook. That time I faced many difficulties and I ordered food from outside. So then I decided to learn cooking skills because it is very good and I am a foodie person and I have a craving of different sweets. So I decided to learn cooking skills. I felt very difficult to learn cooking skills but with the practice and my efforts, I have learnt this skill and I feel very happy because I have learnt so many skills.

Band 5-6

Difficult skill I am learning it's a cooking it's a very difficult for me because I don't love to do cooking and it's very difficult for me because I am single person live in the different city I want to learn the cooking method and all the things because of the food when I am eating the junk food I am sick so I want to learn the cooking and when I get the cooking classing it's a Mira house cooking center in nearby my house I'll I admission in the 2021 and now I'm perfectly fine for cooking and they learn it's very difficult to learn the ingredients how to cook how to manage how to serve very very difficult it's a very difficult for me now I am very perfect and I love to do cooking and also preparing the different delicious different desserts different cuisines however it's very I think it's very not good for me because I am a single person I love to eat the junk food and I love to eat the different cuisines that's why I learn the cooking it's a very good for the every person you can make the everything in home you can also try the different cuisines different desserts and extra and it's also appreciated for me because I learn the lots of different things like driving it's also difficult for me I am a very single and I don't have interest in the learning that's why it's very difficult to learn the lot of things

Band 5-6

I learned computer skill when I was 8 years old I started learning computer typing skill and now I am improved and now I am very expert in typing skill I have skill in typing in computer so I can type within few second and I can complete the tasks so it is very helpful to me I think it will help me out by getting job in any government sector which will provide me some financial support too

Band 5-6

One of the most difficult skill I have ever learnt is learning how to use the Cadence Virtuoso software which is a VLSI based design software used for developing boards and semiconductor boards etc. I learnt it because I am doing a research paper based on that, this is an 8-bit memory module I needed to use that to build a circuit diagram out of that Usually I took nearly 2-3 months trying to learn how to download it from the website It is a paid version so I have to try to find out the Cracked version out of the torrent and torrents etc I felt very happy when I downloaded it When the download completed I felt very happy

Band 5-6

In my opinion, cooking is a skill which everyone should know. It is a basic necessary skill that everyone should inculcate in their lifestyle. So, cooking is a skill which I learnt when I was a child. Earlier, I used to watch my mom make food, experiment culinary skills.
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