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Describe a gift you recently gave to someone.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who did you give it to?
  • What was the gift?
  • Why did you choose that gift?
Show all 26 answers

Cue 1:Who did you give it to?

  • Mention the relationship you have with the person to whom you gave the gift.
  • Share a brief context about the occasion or reason for giving the gift.

Example

I recently gave a gift to my younger sister, Priya, who just graduated from college. It was a special occasion for our family, and I wanted to celebrate her achievement.

Cue 2:What was the gift?

  • Describe the gift in detail, including its type and any special features.
  • Explain how you presented the gift to make it more memorable.

Example

The gift I chose for her was a beautiful silver bracelet with her initials engraved on it. I wrapped it in a lovely gift box and added a handwritten note expressing my pride in her accomplishments.

Cue 3:Why did you choose that gift?

  • Explain the thought process behind selecting that particular gift.
  • Mention any personal significance the gift holds for the recipient.

Example

I chose this bracelet because it symbolizes her journey and hard work throughout her studies. I wanted her to have something special that she could cherish and wear on important occasions.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the emotional impact the gift had on the recipient.
  • Reflect on the joy of giving and the importance of thoughtful gifts.

Example

Seeing the joy on Priya's face when she opened the gift was priceless. It reminded me of how meaningful it is to give thoughtful gifts that can create lasting memories.

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: Being Vague About the Gift

Candidates often give unclear descriptions of the gift, making it hard for the examiner to understand its significance. This can lead to a lack of engagement in the response.

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Tip

Be specific about the gift. Describe its features, appearance, and why it is meaningful to the recipient.

2: Neglecting Personal Connection

Failing to explain the relationship with the recipient can make the answer feel impersonal. This may lead to a less compelling narrative.

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Tip

Mention your relationship with the person and how it influenced your choice of gift to create a more personal story.

Rushing Through the Explanation

Candidates often rush their answers, skipping important details about why they chose the gift. This can result in a lack of depth in the response.

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Tip

Take your time to explain your thought process behind choosing the gift, including any special occasions or memories associated with it.

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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 7

Very recently I gifted my father a very special thing on his 60th birthday. It was a Uniqlo down jacket that I had carefully selected for him from the Uniqlo store in Mumbai. The thought behind it was that he is a very passionate traveller and he keeps travelling to several countries throughout the year. So last time when as a family we had visited Japan together, he had really liked the down jackets displayed in the Uniqlo store and he had mentioned his interest of buying one sometime in the future. So when the time came I thought that this would be the perfect gift for him and the colour was also of his liking. So when he opened the wrapped gift and he found it in a beautiful small pouch that the jacket was folded into, he really appreciated the lightweight jacket and it was looking good on him as well. His face lit up as soon as he wore the jacket and looked himself in the mirror and he thanked me for remembering his choice.

Band 6-7

I really like giving gifts to my family members and my friends. And I equally like receiving gifts as well. Today I would like to talk about an expensive item that I gave for my nephew. Last year my nephew came to stay with me during the summer vacation. During that time we played a lot of playstations. We also developed a great bond due to the time we spent together. Whenever we talk on the phone, he talks about the game we played on the playstation and how eager he is to visit me during the next summer so we can play together. However, my sister told me they won't be able to visit us during the next summer as she is working during that time. She hasn't told me yet but I know she is heartbroken when she learned how won't be able to visit me. So I wanted to give my nephew a PS5. That way we can play together online. Plus I want to see his surprised face when she opens the box. There is no better feeling than seeing a smile on our loved one's face. The playstation cost around 50,000 which is quite expensive that time. And I work part time nowadays. With my part time salary, it would take me around 4 to 5 months at least to afford the price. That means I won't be able to get him before the August. So I am planning to borrow some money from my parents to pay for the PS5.

Band 6-7

Well, giving gifts is a sign of love to your kith and kins and here I would like to talk about the gift which I had given to my best friend, it was a guitar and two years ago my brother came to India from Canada and he took me a guitar, well I found I have no use for it so I decided to gift it to my best friend because he is a good singer and it would be a great gift to him because at that time of two years, two months in my school there was a function and he was participating in that function and he was going to sing a song so that in that case that guitar helped him a lot and because of that guitar he won the competition for first position.

Band 6-7

The experience that I am going to describe right now is the time where I gifted three of my college friends three separate gifts according to their needs currently. I decided to do something like this because the three of us, the four of us were moving on to different and more difficult challenging parts of our lives and I wanted to relieve or alleviate the tensions that they might have had thinking about their futures and I wanted to make light of the situation by giving them something that they have been wanting for a couple of days now. For my first friend, she had been asking for a hair curler because she has loved the feeling or the look of curls on her hair. So I bought her a hair curler and she was elated. My next friend wanted a bunch of a skin care set as she would have been leaving to Australia very soon and she wanted a skin care set that she can use once she gets there. For my last friend, lastly I got her an astronaut which projected a sort of light onto a surface so that she can look at it and feel a little less lonely in the night. They were absolutely overjoyed with the gifts that I have given them and moreover it makes me extremely happy that I could make a little part of their day better by spending just a little bit of money and additionally I also wanted to do this because a person in my office also did something very sweet for me and I wanted to pass on the favour. All in all, those are the gifts that I recently gave them and I wanted to continue this trend of giving people gifts just because everyone deserves something.

Band 6-7

Recently we celebrated my sister's birthday and during that time I presented her with a cute little golden retriever puppy. So the reason I gave this gift is because she was having this desire to get a puppy right from her age of 12 and now she is over 25. And she always wanted to have a puppy right from her school days but back then my mom was very adamant of not letting us buy any. So that was the reason I chose that and when I gave her the gift she was very happy. She even felt that that was the best gift that she received. I made sure that the puppy is put inside a box, not like a proper box, it was like a basket kind of a box and I just gave it to her during the cake cutting celebration. So we all friends went to her home, we kept that box near to the door and she was just randomly passing through and she just got to, you know, her eyes stuck on that box and she opened it and she was crying with excitement. I really felt happy on giving that because if someone was having this childhood wishes because lot of childhood wishes never really happens and when that was fulfilled and she was very content, I felt very happy and I felt that I did something that made my sister proud. Now the puppy had grown up, right now the puppy is enjoying and living its best life with my sister. So it's like giving the puppy as well as my sister the best of both worlds.

Band 6-7

A gift I have recently gave to somebody would be, I had a friend known as Ria and she is living in Delhi. I have gifted her a photo like you know of a family photo which is painted by an artist and you would ask me why actually I would have chosen a family photo like you know with the family and I would really say like it is a more like an emotional connection because she lost her father when she was in the 12th standard and she lost him because of battling like blood cancer, leukemia. He was battling around for 3 years or like you know 3 to 6 years I guess I don't actually remember it but one while he was battling this cancer like this friend of mine could actually not see him because her father was mostly in the ICU and ventilator and after 10 years of his passing I as a person who closely knows them I can see how sad they would get on the memory day and their death anniversary. As I see this I also like you know used to feel like you know she misses her dad a lot and as a person seeing all this the idea of a family photo including all of them in a frame of like how they are currently like grown ups because most of them like were child like both of them were child while they lost him.

Band 6-7

The most recent gift I got was a pair of thermals, snow boots and a snow jacket to my boyfriend from Decathlon. I chose to give him this gift because 1. It was his birthday, 2. Because he was moving to a different country from India and we are not used to those temperatures and he had to get adjusted to those temperatures and I thought this was the best gift I could give him for this birthday. There was a lot of discount as well in Decathlon which helped me give him that. Apart from that, I even got him a few other clothes from shopper's top and a few other things. I just got clothes because I think clothes are something which is an everyday essential and since he was moving abroad, clothes would be a little expensive right there so I thought that would be the best gift I could give him.

Band 6-7

I always love gifting books to my friends. That is probably like the most interesting thing that I like to do. I've gifted a lot of books to my friends. So I gifted a book to my best friend recently. His name is Asrit. So this book was regarding micro-expressions. So there is this famous book by Paul Lickman and its name is Lie to Me. So it's regarding micro-expressions. So the book basically talks about learning about the emotions of human beings from the small changes on your face. So Paul Lickman talks about the changes on your face when you have a specific emotion. So it's very difficult to hide something if you're talking with a person who knows about micro-expressions. It's very difficult to lie to a person who knows about micro-expressions. So it's a very interesting book and I gifted it to my friend very recently.

Band 6-7

Recently I gave one laughing buddha to my female best friend. Why I gave her? Because she always make me laugh and she is the one why I am happy right now. She is the reason why I am achieving, what I am achieving, she is the reason to achieve something in my life. She always motivate me to achieve good things, she always tend me to focus on my goals and she always back me up to work on my communication, so that's the reason I gave her that laughing buddha. The reason why I gave laughing buddha is because I want her always to be happy, she is the reason why I am happy right now, I don't want her to make sad, so whenever she see that laughing buddha, I want her to remember me, that's the reason I gave her laughing buddha. Laughing buddha is a symbol of love and it give a positive energy to a person whom we gifted that buddha, so that's the reason I gifted her and she always tends me, she always ask me to like, whenever she see that buddha, she always remember me, so that's the reason I gave her buddha and she is good girl.

Band 6-7

I recently attended my friend's birthday. My friends, relatives, everyone also attended the birthday. I gifted a special gift to my very special friend Satish. He is dearest friend of mine since childhood. We were born and grown up together in a town called Saigaon in Karnataka, Latur district. I gifted a cricket bat to my friend as he plays cricket since a very long time. He needed a season cricket bat which was very good.
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