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Describe a journey that didn't go as planned.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What was the destination?
  • With whom were you going?
  • What went wrong?
Show all 34 answers

Cue 1:What was the destination?

  • Begin by clearly stating the destination of your journey, making it relatable and specific.
  • Provide some context about why you chose this destination, such as its significance or your expectations.

Example

I was supposed to travel to Manali, a beautiful hill station in Himachal Pradesh, known for its stunning landscapes and pleasant weather. I had been looking forward to this trip for months, as it was my first vacation after a long time.


Cue 2:With whom were you going?

  • Mention the people you were traveling with, highlighting your relationship with them.
  • Share a brief insight into why this group was significant for this journey.

Example

I was going with my college friends, who I hadn't seen in years. We had planned this trip as a reunion to relive our college days and create new memories together.


Cue 3:What went wrong?

  • Describe the specific issues that arose during the journey, ensuring to convey your feelings about the situation.
  • Explain how these problems affected your plans and the overall experience.

Example

Unfortunately, our bus broke down halfway through the journey due to engine failure. We were stranded for hours in the middle of nowhere, and by the time we got a replacement bus, it was too late to reach Manali before nightfall. This unexpected delay turned our excitement into frustration.


Conclusion

  • Summarize the overall impact of the journey on you and your friends.
  • Reflect on any lessons learned or how you adapted to the situation.

Example

Despite the setbacks, we made the best of our time together, sharing stories and laughter while waiting. This experience taught us the importance of patience and adaptability, reminding us that sometimes the journey is more memorable than the destination itself.


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 in the Journey

Providing vague information about the journey can make your answer less engaging. Specific details help the examiner understand your experience better and keep their interest.

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Tip

Include specific details about the destination, the people you traveled with, and the events that unfolded during the journey.


2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

Failing to express how the journey affected you emotionally can make your answer feel flat. Sharing your feelings adds depth and personal connection to your story.

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Tip

Reflect on your emotions during the journey and share how the unexpected events made you feel, whether it was frustration, disappointment, or humor.


Ignoring the Structure of the Answer

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. It's important to structure your answer clearly to ensure it flows logically and is easy to follow.

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Tip

Use a clear structure: start with the destination, introduce your companions, describe what went wrong, and conclude with your reflections on the experience.


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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 5-6

A few years back, I had a long trip with my friends to Manali, Himachal Pradesh, so which is the northeastern part of India. So after we started the trip, so total we were around 20 people and once we start the trip, we realized that we booked the wrong tickets. We were planning to have third AC tickets but we booked sleeper class tickets. So since the weather was cold, it was January, so we had, the first wrong thing happened was the weather and we had to suffer the complete cold till our destination and the journey was around 30 hours. After that once we landed on the destination, there we find like the buses we got are quite small so we had to divide into two to three buses. Then once we started our journey, the bus got stuck in few locations because there was landsliding which in turn wasted our much more time. So then when we checked in our hotels, there was the food quality which was very wrong like the food quality was not good and we had to just maintain whatever it is. So we have to eat that food whatever it was and even though once we moved on from these issues then we started our journey next day. But since the weather was quite harsh that day, so many tourist spots were closed. So we can say like it was a complete disaster trip and we had to just go there and spend our days in the hotel rooms just in the summer.

Band 5-6

this is a trip I planned with my office friends so that we were supposed to go on a long trip a road trip in we planned it in by traveling by car and it was a long road trip with cons planning around for five to six days as a trip so we went to the trip on the way the main obstacle we faced was face was one of my friends fell sick so whatever we planned it for like agenda for a day the places which we wanted to cover in a particular day we couldn't do it and we couldn't just let them sit in the car and be in a pain we tried giving medicines going to a nearby clinic but nothing solved his stomach ache so we had to come back from the trip so that we can get him a proper checkup

Band 5-6

it was a recent trip to my trip to Kerala with my family recently it was six months back we were just so excited to go on this trip we were planning for this trip ever since from from past one year we had booked the train tickets prior but it was unfortunately cancelled due to overbooking I overbooking so all my family members were disappointed because I could not travel in car because I have this motion sickness but then to a convince my parents that I would I I don't wanted to see them disappointed so I convinced them that I could take a road trip to Kerala the entire journey was just so horrible because I could not bear the smell of the car but I did manage to somehow reach the destination as soon as we reached Kerala we did explore a lot of places it had a very beautiful heritage we visited the famous backwaters and there was greenery everywhere after that we decided to take a boat ride in one particular afternoon as soon as we the journey was pretty good at the initially it was pretty good but then it well it went really bad I started feeling seasickness and I just felt very sick at that particular moment so everyone so I kind of kind of spoiled the trip

Band 5-6

The journey that I didn't go as planned is to Ponnmudi. Ponnmudi is located in the Tumantrums best and notable place named Vidura and it is 50 kilometers from my home. I have gone to Ponnmudi with my mother in 2022 I think and we traveled 50 kilometers in my own bike and we have reached there on 10 o'clock and we are very experienced with this Ponnmudi. It's lot of fogs are around there it's a glacious form of hilltops and we found so many travelers from Europe and also from North Indians and we have eaten some drinks and we go to there
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