arrow back icon Top Answers

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?
Show all 31 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

    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

    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.

    Band 6-7

    So, that is a great question. Firstly, today I am going to talk about my grandfather. Today I am going to talk about my grandfather on what job he had done. He had opened a pharmacy back in 1970s. He got all the certificates and the funding required to open it. He had few connections that helped him get his first few clients and made the job a success. And not only did he provide for the family, he also created wealth for his future generations to come. He had saved up a lot of money for education and other interesting stuff for his children to do. Furthermore, this wasn't the only job that he had done. He was also a part-time boxer. He made us learn how important discipline is and how he used to work out all the different types of techniques and old school machines he used for working out. He still has a membership in the same gym he used to work out back in the time when he was young. He did a very good job on explaining me the different kinds of workouts that we do in the gym for improving the muscle definition and how to develop the muscles much more efficiently. Thank you.

    Band 6-7

    So, my grandparent name is Ramroop Tiwari. He, in 90s, he has done, he was lecturer in college and moreover, he was so fascinating man that people could not resist to meet him and to talk him. He was a charming personality and his speaking vocabulary and his way of speaking is much more best and anyone, anyone who listen him and just, just flirted on him. And the teaching was the very best profession at that time on 90s. He was, moreover, he was, he was good teacher. He has, he was, he has also fight petition towards the colleges in the high court and other supreme court. He was a good lawyer also and I love about how he speak and his personal relations and, and his work, how, how simply he, how simple man he look. He was a very simple man, but he was very strong personality. When a moment where a businessman called him and he just gave his name and he just, by knowing my grandparent name, he just answered him. He allow him and give whatever my grandparent, my sir has asked.

    Band 6-7

    My grandparent was born in a very modest family where there was nothing in his childhood. So, he started working in this childhood as a newspaper seller. So, that was the first job he has done. So, that job I want to discuss with you. And it was very low class job at point where he wants to sell the newspaper at the morning at 5 am. He wake up at 5 am and start distributing newspaper in the society. Furthermore, he start delivering the milk and milk items at the morning. He went to the cows and the other areas where the milk is produced. And he start gathering the milk and distribute them in the society and other slum areas. So, those are the days actually where the hardship and everything of my grandparent comes up. I don't feel shy about it. I don't feel ashamed about it. I feel proud because he has done the work which I think in recent times no one will come up and do it. But as the time was there, actually that was the ask of the time. So, he has to do it for his family, for his children, for his complete life. But now, if you see, the time has changed. We are no more poor. We are in middle class. We don't have to do that kind of a job. But that was a job which my grandparent did and I am proud of it and I am not ashamed of it. So, now we are at a situation where I am doing a corporate job and I am earning a good amount of money. And my grandparent is now retired. He is relaxing and he is doing adventure of his life. He is living his life actually and I am very proud of him and I get the experience from him as well. So, that is where I can say that is a good thing.
    1 2 3 4
    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