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Describe a goal you set that you tried your best to achieve: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What Is the Goal?
  • When did You First Begin to Have This Goal?
  • How You Would Achieve the First Step of Your Goal?
  • How Easy or Difficult Do You Think It Will Be to Reach This Goal?
Show all 100 answers

Cue 1:What Is the Goal?

  • Clearly state the goal you set for yourself, making it specific and personal.
  • Explain why this goal was important to you and what motivated you to pursue it.

Example

The goal I set was to improve my English speaking skills, particularly to achieve a band score of 7.5 in the IELTS speaking test. This goal was important to me because I wanted to pursue higher studies abroad, and a good score in IELTS was a requirement for my university applications.

Cue 2:When did You First Begin to Have This Goal?

  • Mention when you first realized you wanted to achieve this goal.
  • Share any experiences or events that influenced your decision to set this goal.

Example

I first began to have this goal during my final year of college when I attended a seminar about studying abroad. Listening to the experiences of students who had successfully gone through the process inspired me to improve my English and aim for a higher score in IELTS.

Cue 3:How You Would Achieve the First Step of Your Goal?

  • Describe the initial steps you took to start working towards your goal.
  • Include any resources or strategies you used to help you get started.

Example

To achieve the first step of my goal, I enrolled in an IELTS preparation course. I also started practicing speaking with friends who were fluent in English. Additionally, I began watching English movies and listening to podcasts to improve my vocabulary and pronunciation.

Cue 4:How Easy or Difficult Do You Think It Will Be to Reach This Goal?

  • Reflect on the challenges you anticipate facing while pursuing this goal.
  • Discuss your mindset about overcoming these challenges and staying motivated.

Example

I think reaching this goal will be quite challenging, especially since I need to practice consistently and manage my time effectively. However, I believe that with dedication and the right resources, I can overcome these difficulties. I stay motivated by reminding myself of the opportunities that a good IELTS score will open up for me.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, setting the goal to improve my English speaking skills for the IELTS test has been a significant step in my academic journey. I am committed to working hard and believe that with perseverance, I will achieve my desired score and fulfill my dream of studying abroad.

    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 Goal Description

    Avoid being unclear about your goal. A vague description can confuse the examiner and make your answer less engaging.

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    Tip

    Clearly define your goal with specific details. Explain what it is and why it matters to you.

    2: Neglecting Timeline

    Not mentioning when you started working towards your goal can make your response seem incomplete. It lacks context.

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    Tip

    Include a timeline in your answer. State when you first set the goal and any important milestones.

    Ignoring Challenges

    Failing to discuss the difficulties you faced can make your answer sound unrealistic. It’s important to show the effort involved.

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    Tip

    Talk about the challenges you encountered and how you plan to overcome them. This adds depth to your response.

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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    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.
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    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 6-7

    A goal is what can give human life purpose, meaning and direction Out of the various milestones that I decided and carved out for myself during my childhood The one goal that I have tried to attain during my childhood is to become a person who can make a difference in the world and to be a person who can make a difference in the world and to be a person who can make a difference in the world and to be a person who can make a difference in the world A goal is what can give human life meaning, purpose and direction My overarching goal has been to work in the larger domain of access to basic human rights and my short term goal to achieve the same has been to secure higher education in a country outside India where the human rights ecosystem is much more developed than in the Indian domestic context To attain this goal the first step which I have already undertaken is to research for law schools that have competitive courses designed for study on human rights and to look into requirements and fill in applications and send it to these colleges of my choice It has been immensely difficult to seek to achieve this goal as I have been trying to send in my applications and prepare to the best of my ability for them along with juggling a job that requires my presence all 7 days of the week and also doing this without much mentorship or support has led to significant obstacles in fulfilling this process to the best of my ability However this entire experience has taught me self-reliance, it has given me a degree of confidence It has also taught me patience which are significant achievements as far as my personal growth is concerned Infact giving this IELTS practice test is also one of the steps that I am undertaking to achieve this goal that I have set out for myself and I hope that with these personal developments

    Band 6-7

    The goal I set on the New Year's Resolution Eve was to have a healthy mindset and as well as the physical. So I started preparing myself for this goal by making my mind strong and my body fissile and to work on it I did have difficulties but then later on I overcame those difficulties by being constant and consistent on this goal. So the goal was to have a healthy mindset and a healthy physical lifestyle as well. So I began myself by making my mind clean by thinking all positive things and negative things and just you know thinking about the positive however for the physical lifestyle I started cultivating healthy food styles and then going to gym and adding more physical activities in my daily routine moreover it was a difficult to achieve this goal but once I did I was on cloud nine because this was my dream goal to achieve and this was my New Year's Resolution as well. So I was very happy completing this one and this gave me too much of happiness moreover I will try my level best to maintain this goal forever but it was difficult but I tried my level best and just come back but I sucked at some sort of goal.

    Band 6-7

    Let me share an experience that led me to set this particular goal. Earlier during my school days, I used to come up home and sit on my mom's and dad's lap in their office and hear what they do, see what they do. And I have seen them help a great number of people. I have seen clients of them coming, running for their lives one day to thanking them for saving it the other. So that is the moment I chose to become a lawyer, to set a goal. It will be difficult to achieve this goal. For it to achieve, I have to join in a Bachelor of Law course in any university. To be specific, I would love to choose the Ambedkar Law University in Taramani. Even though it would be difficult, I will push through because it has been my sole purpose in life that I should help people, the poverty people, the people who are in need. And I also have this policy that I am not going to get legal aid from them if they can't afford it. Everybody needs justice. And my mom and dad were a huge inspiration for me, this goal.

    Band 6-7

    Well, in my life I have set many goals because I want to pursue each and everything that will help me to pursue my skill and to pursue my future. So one goal I set apart from my study is the goal of becoming a good driver. I think it's a simple skill for some people but for me it was a life-changing skill. Firstly, I was curious to learn driving because I want to feel the sense of independence and wisdom. So, 8 months ago I decided to learn the skill of driving, I mean driving. At that time I made a concrete plan. Initially I was very terrified about how to manage clutch, brakes, accelerator, all these collectively but as time passed with my instructor's instructions, with my constant efforts I used to achieve my first goal and at that time I felt on cloud nine when I started the car and go a mile but I go extra mile with my father because I want to learn it anyhow in very short time. So this goal was very, like it's not very difficult, it wasn't very difficult but for me like a girl who is currently pursuing her degree is very difficult and my elder brother also helped me because he is quite a pro in driving skills. So all in all, I believe that if you follow your passion, your ambition, you are more able to achieve the goals with very sound.

    Band 6-7

    Some goals are being set up in order to achieve the best and some goals are being set up in order to try the best. If I talk about myself, then the long-term goal that I have already settled for myself is becoming a doctor, specifically the dentist, which I was very prudent to from the beginning of my childhood. I was in the 5th grade when I decided to become a doctor in order to help others and make people disease-free. I was really accompanied by many of my friends and played as a role of doctor and we had a lot of such games. So I acted every time as a main doctor, so from that time I have been very motivated and inspired by all of my teachers even because doctor is a very great profession and one can have an opportunity to serve the people. But although it is a very difficult task and it is not going to be a bed of roses, sometimes I have to beat the blues in order to overcome the results of my scores, but still I try to achieve my best. So then I try to do a lot of hard work and I know it is not going to be easy. The first step was the difficult one and I took the first step by opting the medical in the grade in my secondary school education, moreover the difficult prospect was to learn the biology for me because from my childhood maths was a piece of cake for me, but not the biology. It was really a daunting prospect to learn all the experimental values and theories, but I know that I would achieve it one day definitely and moreover it would be a very suggestive moment for me, I would be really proud whenever I get to my goal, so in order to wait for my success I am very lucky to have a long term.

    Band 6-7

    A goal that I set in the beginning was becoming or passing the NET examination which is primary requirement for becoming teacher and I started that one when I was in the when I completed my master degree after that only I started and set that goal as my career and the first step I took to achieve that one is I took online classes for NET examination through that only I can succeed because in that a guider, a tutor guide everything what is necessary and what I need to improve and which part is I am lacking all those are taught by them for me so that was the biggest that was the first achievement I took as a career in my life and that initially it was very difficult to understand the subject and analyze the things but after going

    Band 6-7

    Recently the goal I set is to become an advanced level coder because it was my dream to get a job which has a good amount of salary. So I started this by planning out how to begin with the course. So I have written the whole plan which has different strategies to finish the course. So then later on I started from the beginning which is an easy level. Then later I got into medium. Then in future I am going to get into advanced level as that is my goal. So I have faced a lot of difficulties while getting into next level which was really extremely hard for me as I am a beginner in this stream but my goal has never went down. I always pushed myself out of the boundary to reach whatever that I have set and I used to follow all the structure and schedule that I have written without missing any single

    Band 6-7

    Well, if you ask me about the goal I have tried my best to achieve, was back then in 2018, after completion of my 10th, I was so op-paced, like I got so fat. But later, in 2022, I started going to gym, basically, it began, I went to a function where I was discriminated by all my cousins for being fat, their body shamed me, and later I set a goal that I need to maintain my physique well. So in the year 2020, I started going to gym, made a diet chart, cutting sugar and keeping account of all the calories I intake. I made a workout plan, weekly basis, it usually was from Monday to Friday, and the Saturday Sunday I used to go on early morning walks. So my workout chart was, on Monday I used to do chest, on Tuesday I used to do back, on Wednesday I used to do cardio, on Thursday I used to do arms, and on Friday I used to do core workout. So it is actually how consistent you are, regarding your diet as well as the workout. The most difficult part is cutting out the sugar, as I crave a lot for desserts, it is really hard to cut out. But I think I have reached my goal, and now I am having a perfect physique. And in future, I will try to maintain the same.

    Band 6-7

    The goal that I achieved was, I succeeded in my NCLEX RN exam, that I pursued this goal from a three-month course which I taken. The first step should I taken was I should search for a good tutor for my exam and I need to work hard to achieve this particular goal. Obviously this is a license exam for the country Canada and it is too difficult to pass this exam and it was my every time goal that I need to achieve. Firstly, I start a course and I started studying and I got organize all things like I scheduled time for studying and I scheduled time for doing my questionnaires. That time was really hard for me and I was so panic at the time of examination and after examination when the result came it was really a magical surprise for me and I really remember that time that I went through it was really hard time and it was really difficult for me to achieve that goal. After my result came, I was really surprised and I was happy because all these hard work makes me so proudful for me and also the great support from the family.

    Band 6-7

    It is a very interesting question because recently I had set a goal with the commencement of this new year. My goal was to cut down on caffeine that I regularly consumed through the excessive intake of chocolate and coffee. Since caffeine is the main product or you can say which dwells from cocoa for this coffee and chocolate, it was a goal. It was a task for me which I have to accomplish and I started this task in the start of my year 2025. It's been 5 months now and I have almost abstained from coffee and chocolate. However, it was completely difficult for me to accomplish this task because I was someone since I was a child, I was a regular consumer of chocolate and I was habitual to it. How I started it is a different deal. I initially cut down the coffee which I used to consume during my office hours by getting involved in two different tasks at that time so that I can get distracted. Secondly, for chocolates, I used to order online softies, sweeteners, a lot of different types of candies which I stopped as I removed the notifications of that particular restaurant so that I do not remind of them once I see it. So these were a few of the ways in which I abstained from.
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