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Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded in: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What the difficult thing was
  • When you did it / where
  • How you did it / steps you took
  • And explain how you felt after succeeding
Show all 52 answers

Cue 1:What the difficult thing was

  • Clearly state the challenging task you undertook, making it relatable and specific.
  • Explain why this task was difficult for you personally.

Example

The difficult thing I did was preparing for the IIT JEE entrance exam. It was a significant challenge because it required extensive knowledge of physics, chemistry, and mathematics, and I had to compete with thousands of other students.


Cue 2:When you did it / where

  • Mention the time frame when you undertook this challenge, such as during your final year of school.
  • Describe the environment, like your study space or school, to give context.

Example

I started preparing for the exam in my final year of school, around January 2022. I spent most of my time studying in my room, which I had turned into a mini classroom, filled with books and notes.


Cue 3:How you did it / steps you took

  • Outline the specific steps you took to overcome this challenge, such as creating a study schedule.
  • Include any resources or support systems you utilized, like coaching classes or study groups.

Example

To tackle this challenge, I created a strict study schedule that included daily study hours, practice tests, and regular revisions. I also joined a coaching class where I could get guidance from experienced teachers and interact with fellow students.


Cue 4:And explain how you felt after succeeding

  • Describe your emotions upon achieving your goal, emphasizing the sense of accomplishment.
  • Reflect on how this success impacted your future aspirations or self-confidence.

Example

After successfully clearing the IIT JEE and securing a seat in my desired engineering college, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and pride. It boosted my confidence and motivated me to pursue my dreams in engineering with even more determination.


Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, overcoming the challenge of preparing for the IIT JEE was a transformative experience for me. It taught me the value of hard work and perseverance, and I believe it has set a strong foundation for my future endeavors.


    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: Vague Descriptions

    Avoid being too general when describing the difficult task. Vague answers can leave the examiner confused and uninterested in your story.

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    Tip

    Provide specific details about the task, including what made it difficult and the context in which you faced it.


    2: Skipping Steps

    Do not skip important steps in your explanation. Omitting details can make your answer seem incomplete and less engaging.

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    Tip

    Outline the steps you took clearly, ensuring you explain how each step contributed to your success.


    Neglecting Emotions

    Failing to express your feelings after succeeding can make your answer less impactful. Emotions help connect with the examiner.

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    Tip

    Share your feelings in detail, explaining how you felt during and after the experience to create a more compelling narrative.


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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
    anonymous person icon

    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 5-6

    The difficult thing which I have attempted is my admission in the master's in the abroad. So I just tried for the several universities for the five years and I will be getting into the like I will be admitted into the university but unfortunately due to some circumstances I will not be able to get into the university like due to my family situation or due to my health issues so something was keep on just pushing back all this efforts and it's been five years since I was trying my fullest effort. So this was the year where I came to the visa process and I have fully started this efforts like started this challenge when I was in the last semester of my college which is on my bachelors and now from it's been like more than five years where I started trying from my bachelors till now I just made the efforts in like gradually increase and I also made all my like a fullest efforts to attain like to get into the college which is the like Kent or rank holding colleges and to get a perfect score in the exams and to crack all the interviews and then to get into the university without any kind of in.

    Band 5-6

    so today I'm going to talk about a difficult thing that I that I do and I succeed in. The difficult thing it might be my language training for last two months and I face so many struggles in that and I I have a lot of problem with that because it's not my mother tongue and I'm not a multilingual so so I practiced a lot and I didn't get my desired score that that's the difficult thing I have faced for last some last few months so so currently I'm doing my last exam so I think it will be more it will be more beneficial for me because I'm practiced as much as I can I learned more about another searched about many things that I care that helped me a lot so so I feel like I can achieve my desired score and I will succeed in my journey so after after every I feel I feel frustrated and also I feel some problems while while doing while doing the sessions like speaking or writing sessions but now I'm confident about my speaking and also I'm literally literally yes I'm confident and there is a plethora of reasons that I cannot focus on my studies because I have a two-year-old daughter I'm a mom and also I'm a working woman and so I'm I'm living in a joint family so that's why I cannot focus on my studies or something that's why I that's why I didn't get my desired score for last time but now I'm confident about now I'm confident about that because because I'm practicing much
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