Describe a job that one of your grandparents did: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What was the job about?
  • Was this only the one job she or he did?
  • How you felt about it?

Band 7

00:00

/

00:00

My grandfather worked as a daily worker in Sri Lanka during his young age and after working for 15 years, he came back to his hometown and started a small shop which he eventually developed to a big supermarket. And after earning a good amount of wealth, he joined a political party and started his career as a politician. And that is how he started his political career. Later on, he has met many great leaders of his time and has been a big contributor for his village being as the panchayat leader and could contribute a lot to his family too. Because he built his own house from the scratch using the wealth that he has earned from his childhood and that house still stands now. That much of wealth was earned by him during his young age.

Band 7

00:00

/

00:00

So my grandfather, his name was Sashikant Ramgir. He was in army. He was a sergeant there. I remember he used to tell me all of these stories of how he started earning when he was in eighth grade. He was earning and learning at the same time. He used to teach other kids who were younger than him. Other than being an army officer, he was also a professor at engineering colleges and he later on had his own designing firm. I really look up to him a lot because he has made me proud in ways I can't even explain. He has wrote books about engineering that my now friends use in their college. I remember there's one time I had a friend over. He was going through our library of books and he just pulled out one book and said that this book is taught in our college and I told him that that book was written by my father. He was so impressed. He directly went down, talked to my grandfather. He now comes only to meet my grandfather, not me. I really look up to him. He has had two degrees so he has set the bar so high that none of us can even reach it. I feel I have achieved at least half. I have achieved everything if I achieve half of what he has done. He has built his own home. Two building, two stories home which is quite big and I feel very proud and like rising up from what he has been through, building your own empire on your own without anyone's help, learning and earning at the same time. He got into army when he was just 18 years old and it was just

Band 7

00:00

/

00:00

I would like to talk about my grandfather's job. He worked as a school teacher in a small town. His main responsibility was to teach mathematics to high school students. Apart from teaching, he also guided students in extra-calcular activities and helped them with their personal problems, which made him very popular among them. This was not the only job he did in his life. Before becoming a teacher, he also worked on our family farm for a few years. However, he always wanted to become a teacher because he loved sharing knowledge. He felt very proud of his job. He often told me that teaching gave him respect in society. In a sense, it was satisfying because he was shaping young minds. Even after his retirement, whenever people met him, they still called him sir, and that made him very happy. Personally, I also feel proud of him because his dedication and love for education inspired me a lot.

Practice other cue cards

Describe a time when you made a plan to do an activity with a lot of people
View answers
Describe something that you did with someone/a group of people
View answers
Describe a crowded place you have visited
View answers
Describe A Happy Memory From Your Childhood
View answers
Describe A Difficult Decision That You Once Made
View answers
Describe a time when missed or were late for an important meeting/event
View answers
Describe A Mistake You Have Made
View answers
Describe a time when someone asked for your opinion
View answers
Describe a time when you answered a phone call from someone you didn’t know in a public place
View answers
Describe an activity that usually wastes your time.
View answers
Describe a situation when you were late.
View answers
Describe An Occasion When Many People Were Smiling
View answers
Describe a beautiful sky you enjoyed seeing
View answers
Describe A Time Of The Day You Like
View answers
Describe an occasion when you helped a family member/relative with something
View answers
Describe A House Apartment That Someone You Know Lives In
View answers
Describe your first day at school.
View answers
Describe a person who thinks music is important and enjoys music
View answers
Describe The Best Gift You Have Received
View answers
Describe an argument two of your friends had
View answers
Describe A Time When You Were Stuck In A Traffic Jam
View answers
Describe a time you used your cellphone/smartphone to do something important
View answers
Describe an exciting activity you have tried for the first time
View answers
Describe a time when you used your imagination.
View answers
Describe a time you enjoyed a free day off work or school
View answers
Describe A Time You Successfully Did Something Difficult
View answers
Describe A Speech You Gave
View answers
Describe a place that you would like to learn the culture there (e.g. a library, museum, theatre)
View answers
Describe a time you made a decision to wait for something
View answers
Describe a letter you have received in your life.
View answers
Describe a time when you told your friend an important truth
View answers
Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded in
View answers
Describe a gift you recently gave to someone.
View answers
Describe A Birthday Party
View answers
Describe An Exciting Activity That You Experienced With Someone Else
View answers
Describe an unforgettable experience that you had
View answers
Describe An Interesting Activity That You Remember Enjoying Most In Your Primary School
View answers
Describe A Time When You Helped A Child
View answers
Describe a time when you organized a happy event successfully
View answers
Describe An Occasion When Someone Or Something Made Noise
View answers
Describe a story someone told you.
View answers
Describe an instance when you received an apology.
View answers
Describe A Time When Your Entire Family Was Together
View answers
Describe a skill that you learned from older people
View answers
Describe a time when you were in line for a long time.
View answers
Describe An Activity That Made You Feel Tired
View answers
Describe Something That Saves Your Time
View answers
Talk about an interesting old person you met recently
View answers
Describe your favourite place in your house where you can relax.
View answers
Describe A Puzzle You Have Played
View answers
Describe An Interesting Tradition In Your Country
View answers
Describe your experience when you changed your school/college
View answers
Describe a party that you enjoyed
View answers
Describe A Time When You Missed An Appointment
View answers
Describe something that surprised you and made you happy
View answers
Describe an important event you celebrated
View answers
Describe A Time When You Forgot Something Important
View answers
Describe A Time When You Observed The Stars
View answers
Describe a time that something changed your life in good ways
View answers
Describe Your Hometown
View answers
Talk about a thing you complained about something (but finally got a good result)
View answers
Describe a time when you lost an important and valuable item
View answers
Describe An Interesting Person You Know
View answers
Describe An Intelligent Person You Know
View answers
Describe When Someone Gave You Something
View answers
Describe a person who always has interesting ideas or opinions
View answers
Describe a person who encouraged you to achieve your goal
View answers
Talk about a time when you helped a friend.
View answers
Describe A Positive Change That You Have Made Recently In Your Daily Routine
View answers
Describe a time when you lost your pet.
View answers
Describe A Memorable Event In Your Life
View answers
Describe A Situation When You Helped Someone
View answers
Describe an experience when you got bored with others.
View answers
Describe a piece of good news you heard from others
View answers
Describe an important text message you received.
View answers
Describe The Game You Enjoyed Playing When You Were Younger
View answers
Describe A Good Decision You Made Recently
View answers
Describe A Period When You Were Busy
View answers
Describe An Occasion When You Lost Your Way
View answers
Describe a complaint that you made, and you were satisfied with the result.
View answers
Describe A Time You Had To Finish Something Quickly
View answers
Describe a time when you moved to a new home
View answers
Describe A Time You Made A Promise To Someone
View answers
Describe a challenge you faced that you thought was rather difficult
View answers
Describe An Exciting Experience In Your Life
View answers
Describe An Occasion When You Had To Do Something In A Hurry
View answers
Describe a time when you received money as a gift.
View answers
Describe a prize you have won.
View answers
Describe something you had to share with others
View answers
Describe a time when you felt incredibly sad.
View answers
Describe an interesting discussion you had with your friend
View answers
Describe someone else’s room you enjoy spending time in
View answers
Describe a special meal that someone made for you
View answers
Describe something you were disappointed about.
View answers
Describe a time when someone apologized to you
View answers
Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned.
View answers
Describe an unusual meal that you had
View answers
Describe Something That Surprised You
View answers
Describe A Day When You Thought The Weather Was Perfect
View answers
Describe An Occasion When You Lost Something
View answers
Describe Something That Was Broken In Your Home And Then Repaired
View answers
Describe An Outdoor Activity You Did
View answers
Describe a prize you have received recently (e.g. money, something valuable, a medal)
View answers
Describe something you did in your study/work that has made you feel confident
View answers
Describe a website which helped you to do something / website you visit often/ use regularly
View answers
Describe a time when you were late
View answers
Describe A Time When You Shared Something With Others
View answers
Describe a place/country in which you would like to live/work for a short period of time
View answers
Describe An Interesting Conversation That You Had
View answers
Describe A Time When Someone Who Did Quite Well In A Team
View answers
Talk About A Special Day Which Was Not That Expensive
View answers
Describe An Occasion When You Heard Someone Complaining About Something In A Restaurant
View answers
Describe a piece of good news that you heard about someone you know well.
View answers
Describe someone you know who made a good decision recently
View answers
Describe something you did that made you feel proud
View answers
Describe a time when you received good service in a shop/store
View answers
Describe a time that you showed something new to others
View answers
Describe An Occasion When You Got Incorrect Information
View answers
Describe an enjoyable journey by public transport?
View answers
Describe An Occasion When You Waited A Long Time For A Nice Thing
View answers

Band 7

00:00

/

00:00

My grandparents live in the countryside and they had acres of land in which they farmed wheat, rice and sugarcane. Each time I visited them I could see all the healthy and green crops in their field and it was very pleasing for me to watch it. My grandfather was not only a farmer but also a milkman. He had three cows whose milk he would sell to all the locals in the village. My grandparents were very respected in the village because of how much they provide for the society.

Band 6-7

00:00

/

00:00

My grandfather was an advocate. He was a leading advocate in the city or town called Tirunelveli, which is in the southern part of India, Tamil Nadu. Again, to be very fascinated about his job is that he has held several criminal cases. He has won several judicial arguments. There has been several instances where he was threatened by different people of the opposite parties, but he has never failed any single case that he has taken. So, that is very fascinating about him. It so happens that my grandfather was also the one who was able to win a case for a very leading and a popular actor in those times. He not only was an active lawyer, he was also into theatre and theatre performances. He was a part of a local drama team where every month they used to put up stage shows. So, he was able to manage both his profession of being an advocate. At the same time, he held towards his passion for acting and he utilized the stage and drama as much as he could.
Show all 34 answers

Cue 1:What was the job about?

  • Begin by describing the job in detail, including the responsibilities and tasks involved.
  • Mention any specific skills or qualities that were important for this job.

Example

My grandfather worked as a school teacher for over 30 years. He taught mathematics and science to high school students. His job involved preparing lesson plans, grading assignments, and mentoring students. He was very passionate about education and believed that every child had the potential to succeed.


Cue 2:Was this only the one job she or he did?

  • Discuss whether your grandparent had other jobs or careers throughout their life.
  • If they had multiple jobs, briefly explain what they were and how they differed from the teaching profession.

Example

Teaching was not the only job my grandfather did. Before becoming a teacher, he worked as a clerk in a government office for a few years. However, he found his true calling in teaching and dedicated his life to it. He also took on tutoring students in the evenings to help them with their studies.


Cue 3:How you felt about it?

  • Share your personal feelings about your grandparent's job and its impact on you or your family.
  • Reflect on any lessons or values you learned from their work.

Example

I have always admired my grandfather for his dedication to teaching. His passion for education inspired me to value learning and hard work. I remember how he would often share stories about his students' successes, which made me realize the importance of making a difference in others' lives. His job taught me the value of patience and perseverance.


Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, my grandfather's career as a teacher not only shaped his life but also had a lasting impact on our family. His commitment to education and the values he instilled in us continue to inspire me every day.


    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: Avoid Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear and unengaging. Specific details about the job will help the examiner understand your response better.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Provide specific examples of tasks your grandparent performed in their job to make your answer more vivid and interesting.


    2: Don't Focus on Irrelevant Details

    Including too much unrelated information can distract from the main topic. Stay focused on the job and its significance.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Stick to the cues provided and ensure your answer relates directly to the job and your feelings about it.


    Avoid Negative Tone

    Expressing negativity about your grandparent's job can reflect poorly on your attitude. It's important to show respect and appreciation.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Even if the job had challenges, highlight positive aspects and what you learned from your grandparent's experience.


    calendar icon

    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

    location icon

    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

    My grandparents live in the countryside and they had acres of land in which they farmed wheat, rice and sugarcane. Each time I visited them I could see all the healthy and green crops in their field and it was very pleasing for me to watch it. My grandfather was not only a farmer but also a milkman. He had three cows whose milk he would sell to all the locals in the village. My grandparents were very respected in the village because of how much they provide for the society.

    Band 7

    So my grandfather, his name was Sashikant Ramgir. He was in army. He was a sergeant there. I remember he used to tell me all of these stories of how he started earning when he was in eighth grade. He was earning and learning at the same time. He used to teach other kids who were younger than him. Other than being an army officer, he was also a professor at engineering colleges and he later on had his own designing firm. I really look up to him a lot because he has made me proud in ways I can't even explain. He has wrote books about engineering that my now friends use in their college. I remember there's one time I had a friend over. He was going through our library of books and he just pulled out one book and said that this book is taught in our college and I told him that that book was written by my father. He was so impressed. He directly went down, talked to my grandfather. He now comes only to meet my grandfather, not me. I really look up to him. He has had two degrees so he has set the bar so high that none of us can even reach it. I feel I have achieved at least half. I have achieved everything if I achieve half of what he has done. He has built his own home. Two building, two stories home which is quite big and I feel very proud and like rising up from what he has been through, building your own empire on your own without anyone's help, learning and earning at the same time. He got into army when he was just 18 years old and it was just

    Band 7

    My grandfather worked as a daily worker in Sri Lanka during his young age and after working for 15 years, he came back to his hometown and started a small shop which he eventually developed to a big supermarket. And after earning a good amount of wealth, he joined a political party and started his career as a politician. And that is how he started his political career. Later on, he has met many great leaders of his time and has been a big contributor for his village being as the panchayat leader and could contribute a lot to his family too. Because he built his own house from the scratch using the wealth that he has earned from his childhood and that house still stands now. That much of wealth was earned by him during his young age.

    Band 7

    I would like to talk about my grandfather's job. He worked as a school teacher in a small town. His main responsibility was to teach mathematics to high school students. Apart from teaching, he also guided students in extra-calcular activities and helped them with their personal problems, which made him very popular among them. This was not the only job he did in his life. Before becoming a teacher, he also worked on our family farm for a few years. However, he always wanted to become a teacher because he loved sharing knowledge. He felt very proud of his job. He often told me that teaching gave him respect in society. In a sense, it was satisfying because he was shaping young minds. Even after his retirement, whenever people met him, they still called him sir, and that made him very happy. Personally, I also feel proud of him because his dedication and love for education inspired me a lot.

    Band 6-7

    So, in the 90s, my grandfather was a government service, was into the government service sector and he was working as a chef. So, the place that he would work at, basically what they would do was to feed all the politicians and all these renowned people who would come to the village and they would stay at this guest house that was a government guest house and they would have lunch and dinner there. So, that was basically what my grandfather used to do. He was the head chef there and he's had the opportunity to feed so many renowned people and till date I feel like that was the best part of his job, more than cooking was to get feedbacks from people who enjoyed his food and I feel very happy about it, to know that he got to meet so many people and feed them all the amazing food that he makes.

    Band 6-7

    so my maternal grandfather was a farmer so he my entire maternal family except for the current generation has been a farming family we have a land in our native place which where farming we used to take place so this was my grandfather worked as a farmer many years ago approximately two or three decades ago maybe more than that so he used to work as a farmer he used to farm chili and ragi and similar things so it was generational occupation which was passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather so that is how he got the knowledge of farming this helped farming has helped to put all of his brothers who are also my grandfather's through education and to get a government official job so it has been helpful for them to build a life from there he has worked throughout his life for his family and he has been a tremendous asset to the family he also looked after all his children and they're very grateful to him so yes I would say this is one of my grandparents job

    Band 6-7

    My grandfather was a teacher and now he is retired and happily enjoying retired life. And he started his work at the age of 15 as we were from a poor background. My grandfather was the only son and others were the sisters. So he was made to work from the age of 15 as we were having so much land and cattle. So he used to go and graze the cattle and look over the land by cultivating so many cultivatable crops. And he used to even do the labour work in the places that helps others. And he has done so many works to survive. At the age of around 25-26 he attained the job in school and then only our family became stable to do his job. And from then he worked so hard and everyone knows my father by the name like everyone used to call him as teacher. And by hearing this my mind is always over the moon. And I used to ask my father how he has gone through all this and he used to say that it's so hard. But when we achieve something which we dreamed of our mind will be so happy and all the blue moments will be disappeared. And that's what made me happy.

    Band 6-7

    Firstly, I am from a farmer background. My grandfather used to farm the paddy crop in his life. In his whole life, he is a farmer. He harvests different types of crops like paddy, sugarcane, there are more of chili and some of vegetables, depends upon the season and the climate of that season and mostly depends upon the land. First, if he started planting rice, then he will rotate the crop, rotation of the crop means he will exchange the next crop to any vegetables because there will be a short time period between. If we plant rice, then we should give some time to regain the nutritious values of the soil again. So, we will plant like a small vegetation like vegetables or like some flowers etc. It is a short time period crop. It helps the soil to regain again its nutritious values. So according to my prior knowledge, my grandfather is a farmer and currently my father is also a farmer. He is continuing his father's responsibilities and the land he takes over from my grandfather and he is cultivating the land now. We are currently depending upon my grandparents' land and we are cultivating it. And he also, I also have a cattle.

    Band 6-7

    Hi, my grandfather once in his early 30s which is during the 1960s was a landlord in the village. He used to take land from people in return he would pay them money and if they were not able to pay him back with the money he would keep the land for himself. He did this for quite some time and he went on to become one of the richest person in the village and as he became so he ended up becoming the head of the village called as a village panchayat head who he was elected by the rest of the villagers and his duty as a head of the village carried out a lot of work. So he had to look after the village welfare, he had to look after the village schools, he had to look after how the funding of the village worked and in case there was any kind of disputes between the villagers they would come to my grandfather for solution. So he was kind of like the law and provided justice to the people there as well. My grandfather also continued his landlord business along with being the head of the village.

    Band 6-7

    My grandfather was an advocate. He was a leading advocate in the city or town called Tirunelveli, which is in the southern part of India, Tamil Nadu. Again, to be very fascinated about his job is that he has held several criminal cases. He has won several judicial arguments. There has been several instances where he was threatened by different people of the opposite parties, but he has never failed any single case that he has taken. So, that is very fascinating about him. It so happens that my grandfather was also the one who was able to win a case for a very leading and a popular actor in those times. He not only was an active lawyer, he was also into theatre and theatre performances. He was a part of a local drama team where every month they used to put up stage shows. So, he was able to manage both his profession of being an advocate. At the same time, he held towards his passion for acting and he utilized the stage and drama as much as he could.
    background image

    Explore

    473 Cue Cards

    ielts logo

    Get the IELTS Prep App

    Star rating icon

    4.2

    1M+ Installs

    app download banner image

    Get the app link on your phone

    +91

    Or download app from

    google play storeapp store
    master ielts speaking ad