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Describe a great dinner you and your friends or family members enjoyed: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Where/when the dinner was
  • Who was there
  • What you ate / what made it special
  • And explain why you enjoyed it
Show all 103 answers

Cue 1:Where/when the dinner was

  • Begin by describing the location of the dinner, whether it was at home, a restaurant, or a special venue.
  • Mention the date or occasion that made the dinner memorable, such as a birthday, festival, or reunion.

Example

The dinner took place at my home last Diwali, which is a significant festival in India. We decided to celebrate with a family gathering, as it’s a time for togetherness and joy.

Cue 2:Who was there

  • List the people who attended the dinner, focusing on family members or close friends.
  • Share a brief detail about the relationships you have with them to add a personal touch.

Example

My parents, my younger sister, and a few close friends were there. It was lovely to have my best friend from college join us, as we hadn’t seen each other in a while.

Cue 3:What you ate / what made it special

  • Describe the food that was served, highlighting any special dishes or homemade items.
  • Explain what made the meal unique, such as traditional recipes or a special chef.

Example

We enjoyed a feast of traditional Indian dishes, including biryani, paneer tikka, and a variety of sweets like gulab jamun. My mother made her famous biryani, which always brings back fond memories of our family gatherings.

Cue 4:And explain why you enjoyed it

  • Reflect on the atmosphere of the dinner and the feelings it evoked.
  • Mention any memorable moments or conversations that contributed to your enjoyment.

Example

I truly enjoyed the dinner because of the warmth and laughter shared among us. We reminisced about old times, shared stories, and played games, which created a joyful atmosphere that I will cherish forever.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, this dinner was not just about the delicious food but also about the love and connection we shared as a family and friends. It reminded me of the importance of togetherness, especially during festive occasions.

    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 Detail

    Providing vague answers can make your response less engaging. Specific details help paint a vivid picture of the dinner experience.

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    Tip

    Include specific information about the location, the people present, and the dishes served to make your story more interesting.

    2: Ignoring the Emotional Aspect

    Failing to express why the dinner was enjoyable can make your answer feel flat. Emotions connect your experience to the listener.

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    Tip

    Share personal feelings or memorable moments from the dinner to convey why it was special to you and your friends or family.

    Rushing Through the Answer

    Speaking too quickly can lead to unclear communication and missed details. It's important to pace your speech for better understanding.

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    Tip

    Take your time to articulate each point clearly, ensuring you cover all the cues without feeling rushed.

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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
    anonymous person icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

    location icon

    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

    location icon

    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

    A dinner that I would never forget in my life is the dinner party we had on my mother's birthday. We went to a very fancy restaurant in Coimbatore which was called Dhanahati Mandi. So it's a restaurant which serves Arabian cuisine. It's a very popular restaurant in the city and I wanted to try it out for a long time. So I made, I booked a table on my mother's birthday to give her a surprise. So we went there as a family and we ordered Mandi. Mandi is a very popular Saudi Arabian dish and it's made out of rice and meat. So we ordered it and the food came and what I fell in love with immediately is the way it was presented to us. So there was this server, he came to us with a very good looking utensil, I'm not really sure what the word it is called, it's something in Arabic but it's some kind of utensil in which the food is served. And the moment he lifted the lid, there was charcoal burning inside and smoke was coming out of it and it looked really really good and delicious. The meat, I mean my mouth started watering just looking by the meat. We ate it and the taste was just mesmerizing and I had a really really good feast on that night. We do have plans to go there one day for another birthday party, until then I would just be dreaming about it.

    Band 7

    The shortest route to a person's heart is his stomach and I would agree to that so much because recently I've been enjoying the greatest food of my life from my mom's hand. My mom has always been sick but the recent new development in medical field has allowed her to get back on her feet. I cook food and meal for the entire family and I would thank God for such a blessing and I would thank all the researchers and doctors who have worked towards making this possible because now I can try food from my mother's hand that I've been craving for so long. I would also say we had a great dinner for the New Year's fest this year because our entire family was together. It's not about the taste of the food, it's about the people you're having the food with. These family dinners, the little talks we have about our past, our future, what we want to do in life, how's life, all these kind of things really lighten up the mood, they really lighten up the festival and I really loved and enjoyed the time I spent with my family this New Year.

    Band 7

    So, a great dinner that I enjoyed recently with my friends was at this restaurant named Nusara. Going to this restaurant was not a planned decision but a coincidence. I remember it was my friend's birthday and he wanted to throw us a party. We were looking at different restaurants and comparing their discounts to go to a place which served fancy food but was also light on the pocket. We decided on one restaurant but unfortunately the bookings were full. Then lastly we reached at this restaurant which was located at Juhu near the Juhu beach. Firstly, the impression of the restaurant was as if we had reached China or Japan. It was dimly lit and the seating was really comfortable. The food we ate there was sushi, we tried Chinese and additionally we feasted on a large pizza. My friends accompanied me and there were two males and a female. Overall, the meal was quite good. We ate a lot of food, had a good laughter and left feeling really content. Something that I cherish looking back at that memory is how having a good feast with your friends and sharing a light evening is necessary for a change.

    Band 7

    A great dinner that my friends and family enjoyed would have to be my niece's birthday. On my niece's 7th birthday, we had booked out a reserved table at a hotel called Hayat which is a 5-star restaurant and there were 7 of us present in the dinner gathering. It was a buffet with an exquisite range of desserts. One could easily walk around and choose between the elaborate array of food that was on display. I myself started off with a soup and a small salad and moved on to have a biryani which is a local food that is quite famous in my area. And for dessert, I cannot pick one particular dessert that I had because I went through a lot of them. I came out of it stuffed till my esophagus and the icing on top would have to be the complimentary cake that they gave which we all cut and shared between ourselves. The food was beyond tasty and my niece was extremely happy from the dinner. Everybody left with a full tummy and a content heart, hoping to go back there for the next event that we can think of. One particular dish if I had to pick would have to be the lamb chops. They were marinated in this barbecue sauce and were drooling just at the sight of it.

    Band 7

    Well, to begin with, family meals are not just about food, but also spending quality time together and creating a last longing memory. Here, I would like to talk about a great dinner that I had with my family member a couple months ago on my mother's birthday. On that special occasion, all my family members, including my father, mother, sister, brother, and my cousin brother who came abroad from a long time and we visited a famous restaurant in our locality. When we visited there, we were amazed by the elegant interior and the guard welcomed us with a warm smile and table was beautifully decorated with flowers and lights. My mother was also surprised as she didn't know about this surprise. When she was feel over the moon and her eyes were full of happiness, it was truly a perfect moment for me. Apart from that, we ordered some delicious dishes like butter chicken, dal makhani, and fresh chapatis, my favorite dessert, gulab jamun. The food was so delicious that it surprised our acceptance by leaping the bonds. During dinner, we talked about many things. My cousin shared his experience as they lived abroad and told us about the culture and about the people over there. Apart from that, my brother is a family joker, kept teasing us, which made everyone burst into laughter. If I talk about why I enjoyed it so much, then there are so many reasons. Firstly, the key reason is that it was not just about the food but also about the warmth and togetherness. On the top of that, the surprise for my brother was the ice on the table.

    Band 7

    I would like to talk about a really wonderful dinner I enjoyed with my family for my mother's birthday last month. We decided to celebrate at a cozy Thai restaurant in our neighborhood that we'd all been wanting to try. It was just a small group, me, my parents and my older brother, even though it was simple having us all together and made it feel like a special occasion. The restaurant had a lovely warm atmosphere with soft lighting and traditional Thai music playing. We decided to order a few different dishes to share, which is my favorite way to eat. We had a creamy green curry, some spicy pad thai noodles, a tangy mango salad and steamed jasmine rice. The food was absolutely delicious, everything was so fresh and flavorful. What made the dinner truly special though wasn't just the food, it was the fact that we were all together completely focused on each other. We put our phones away and just talked and laughed for hours. We shared stories and reminisced about old family holidays. I enjoyed it so much because it felt like a genuine connection. In our busy lives, it's rare for all of us to sit down for a meal without any distractions. That evening was relaxed, full of love and a perfect celebration for my mom. It was a simple dinner, but it's a memory I really treasure.

    Band 7

    Let me share a recent dinner I had with my family. It was two weekends before. My mom and my brother were busy with their work and studies and I was also busy with my work for the past few months. So we had a feeling that we should come together at least for dinner. Thus we planned to have a dinner during a Saturday evening at our home itself. It was one of the memorable dinners we had at our home. I cooked some dishes I included. I bought the grocery and I cooked it myself. Therefore it is very important to me. Moreover everyone at the dinner enjoyed it. Usually there will be some tasteless dishes that I make but that dinner included four or five of my dishes and it was great. Everyone praised me. Furthermore we got a lot of time to discuss our family matters, personal merits and our problems. It was a great memory for us. We spent more than three hours at the dinner table discussing our thoughts and interests.

    Band 7

    It was 11th June, my 20th birthday, when I went to dinner at La Cucina, an authentic Italian restaurant in Kolkata with my friend and his sister. Stepping into the restaurant with a tinge of goat cheese smell and also a smell of freshly baked pizzas, it was a large space decorated with Italian wine and other liquors, a wooden authentic Italian ambience and dimly lit place. We started off with bruschetta, an Italian appetizer and then we tried their ham pizza which was a covered pizza, not a surface pizza. It was baked in an authentic Italian charcoal oven and the smell was just amazing.

    Band 7

    All right, so I'm going to be talking about a great dinner that my friends and I enjoyed. This was when we went to this new restaurant in Bangalore called Four Peas. They basically serve authentic pizza, they are a Vietnamese brand. Getting reservations at this restaurant is super hard. So we really thought we would not stand a chance because we weren't able to pre-book any reservations. However, we did walk in and the waiting period wasn't too long. It was just 10 minutes. So that sort of helped us to get motivated to go and wait and then, you know, finally have dinner there. Once the waiting period was over, we went up, they sat us in the rooftop area and they were all super polite. The service there is extremely excellent. They actually have iPads wherein you can sort of order your meals. And one thing that really stood out was the half-and-half pizza that they have. The half-and-half pizza is basically two different toppings in a single pizza. So one half of it is a topping that you like and another half is the second topping that you like. So we chose burrata cheese on one side and we chose a taco pizza on the other side. So the taco pizza was excellent. It was like something that we've never had before. It had paneer and the twist to the pizza was that you'd have to squeeze a lemon on top of it for extra flavor. So overall, it was great. The pizza was fantastic. We also ordered a basil pesto pasta and that was also excellent. Additionally, they asked us if this was our first time visiting the place and it was. So they got us complimentary yogurt and it was like yogurt that we've never had before. It was sweet and sour and perfect. Overall, it was a great dinner.

    Band 7

    Last weekend, I hosted a potluck party at my new residence. I invited all my friends over and we had a gala time. All of us brought different cuisines from our house and displayed it on the table just like a buffet. We enjoyed every meal and had a lot of fun. I made dal bati at home. That was my dish for the day. It's a traditional Rajasthani dish where I come from. We reminisced and were nostalgic about our school life because we are going to graduate class 12 really soon. We cracked a lot of jokes, spoke about our memories and in short had a wonderful great time.
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