Describe a performance that you liked.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What performance was it?
When & where did you watch it?
Why did you enjoy it?

27 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 27 answers

Cue 1:What performance was it?

Begin by identifying the type of performance, such as a play, concert, or dance show.
Mention the name of the performance and the main artists or group involved.

Example

The performance I really enjoyed was a classical dance recital called 'Nritya Vihar', which featured renowned dancer Shobana. It was a beautiful showcase of Bharatanatyam, highlighting the rich cultural heritage of India.

Cue 2:When & where did you watch it?

Specify the date and location of the performance to give context.
Share any details about the venue that made it special, such as its ambiance or significance.

Example

I watched this recital last month at the prestigious Kamani Auditorium in Delhi. The auditorium was beautifully lit, and the atmosphere was electric with anticipation as the audience settled in.

Cue 3:Why did you enjoy it?

Discuss the aspects of the performance that captivated you, such as the choreography, music, or storytelling.
Reflect on your emotional response and how it connected with you personally.

Example

I enjoyed it immensely because the choreography was mesmerizing, and the music was soul-stirring. The way Shobana expressed emotions through her dance made me feel connected to the stories being told, evoking a sense of nostalgia and pride in our culture.

Conclusion

Summarize your overall impression of the performance.
Mention how this experience has influenced your appreciation for the arts.

Example

In conclusion, 'Nritya Vihar' was not just a performance; it was an experience that deepened my appreciation for classical dance. It reminded me of the beauty of our traditions and inspired me to learn more about Indian art forms.

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 Descriptions

Using vague language can make your answer less engaging and informative. It may leave the examiner confused about the performance you are describing.

Tip

Be specific about the performance details, such as the type of performance, the artists involved, and key moments that stood out to you.

2: Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can make it difficult for the examiner to follow your thoughts. This can lead to a lower score in coherence and cohesion.

Tip

Organize your answer by clearly addressing each cue in order: what the performance was, when and where you saw it, and why you enjoyed it.

Overly Short Answers

Providing overly brief answers can limit your ability to showcase your language skills and may not fully answer the cues provided.

Tip

Expand on your answers by adding personal feelings, specific examples, and details that illustrate your enjoyment of the performance.

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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 6-7

The performance which I liked most was a dance performance and which was performed by my friends and I watched in my college days when I was in my third year of engineering. I enjoyed it because that choreography, that dance choreography was done by me. It was a dedicated performance to a Martial's wife. Her name was Nikita Dandiyal. She is the wife of Martial Dandiyal who was the part of the Pulwama attack, a soldier from India. And after two years of his death, she joined the army. So this performance was wholly based on how she joined the army, how she made a courage to make his dream come true. So this performance was based on it. Our group included six members. I used to teach them for a month and it was the most great experience for me. When they were performing, I can see how emotionally they were attracted to Nikita's courageous attitude towards the country of India. They did a fabulous job. Both colleges were appreciating them. And it was the most amazing experience I have ever seen in my life. And I am looking forward to choreograph such dance performance more and more. And I want them to all support me in all this. And yes, that was the great experience which I ever had while watching a dance performance.

Band 6-7

I'll be talking about a violin concert that I attended last month. So one of my friends suggested me that we should visit a concert that is going on at the NCP theater at Nariman points Mumbai. So we booked the tickets of the concert and visited the concert for for the violin concert and after visiting we were greeted by the staff and it was a very interesting session as I wasn't that much into violin and classical music but that day I got to experience a lot about string musical instruments which were extremely hard to play but on the other hand it was a very soothing experience as the classical music started playing I was totally delved into all the notes and all the background music that was playing along with the main violinist so as the show proceeded we got to know that on top of the violin there was a one performance schedule which was of jazz so in jazz there were many performers in which the one I liked the most was the performance performed with saxophone and as it caught my eyes from the very beginning as the performers start playing with the very jazzy note so as it passes by the music totally kind of hypnotized me and since then my new form of favorite music is jazz and then I came back home and researched a bit about voiding and jazz as well and I got to know much more things about classical music that I than I what I know also it was a good experience to have

Band 6-7

During my college days, there was inter-college competition based on arts held at the university level. The venue for the program was Thiruvananthapuram and many students from different colleges participated in the event. So one of the programs which we all look forward is the drama. It is the performance which lands the greatest points. So there is a saying that whichever college wins for the drama, they will be victorious throughout this festival. Therefore, drama is something which we all anticipate and look forward to. I am personally attached to this because the main protagonist is my friend and I have seen how much hard work he has done to make his role into perfection. So the story revolved around a hospital area where there was a bedridden patient who used to hallucinate and he had a companion who used to soothe him during his devastating times. My friend was the companion and he was able to portray all the emotions to the audience. The judges were highly pleased by his acting performance and he was also awarded the Best Actor award coming under the drama category. It is a mesmerizing experience where we think we are actually in action.

Band 6-7

The performance I recently liked a lot is definitely Saipa Livvi from the movie Amaran. She's a heroine in a movie. I watched it first day, first show and theater only because of her, because of the reviews or because of her talent. I don't know why, but I definitely thought that I have to watch it first day, first show. Moreover, her acting skills which made me enjoy the movie thoroughly. She is magnificent and world-less. The worth of the movie lies in her character. One hand, the movie is really smooth going and the movie is really good scene-wise. If I have to say, on the other hand, Saipa Livvi's character is really unique. She is a girl from a small town who supports her boyfriend in every point of view he has and every ambition of his. She supports him like a stone in his life. So I really loved her. If I have to add additionally, whenever she cried in the movie, I definitely cried myself out because of her immense performance and she's so natural. She didn't really act in the movie. She has lived in the movie. So for that particular reason also, I loved her character so much. If I have to say, other than Saipa Livvi, none of the heroine would have done so much justice to the character. In this movie particularly, there is a scene where the hero die and the heroine has to act in a shock but in a subtle way and that particular scene, I think Saipa Livvi nailed it and if there are 1000 awards, I would definitely recommend 1000 awards for her character and that was a performance I definitely liked in the recent times.

Band 6-7

Hi, I liked a dance performance which I watched in a stage show, a dance performance which I watched in a stage show in Thailand. It was conducted by Thailand Tourism to demonstrate their culture for the tourists from outside of Thailand. And I would say it's kind of a mandatory package for all the tourists to take it. Initially, I thought, you know, right, it's kind of a mandatory package, so we have to attend it. The moment when the program started, I was stunned by the performance arranged, the way it is organized, and almost the artists are more than 20 to 30 members. The coordination between the artists, it's really awesome in terms of their timings, in terms of the perfections, and the way they portrayed themselves in each and every step of a dance. And you don't feel that this is actually a practiced one.

Band 6-7

So back in, when I was in 6th or 7th standard, our school used to organize a lot of Dramas and dance performance in our school so people used to come and perform their whatsoever they are perfect in and then they entertain the people. So one of the dramas that influenced me and was eye-catching to me was a drama related known as Nukka Natak in which people raise voices against the wrong things happening in the society like enacting the act of a situation in a rape or or Nukka Natak is basically a performance done by people regarding the basic issues like there's a hole in the road, there's a regular electricity shortage in the city and so this was the performance and that in drag because it is based on a real event so it was very relatable and was entertaining too because they perform that thing in a very funny and basically they roast the government or whosoever is responsible for that damage.

Band 6.5

The first performance that I really enjoyed is a classical live performance. That was the first live performance that I have ever watched, so I really enjoyed it. I watched it when I was 13 years old, when I was studying my 6th class. So, me and my mom went to a classical dance live performance in a local auditorium in my hometown, maybe because that being my very first live performance, I really enjoyed it a lot. That experience really lasts till now. Whenever I think of it, I still get goosebumps thinking about the performance of the artist. I still remember her emoting all the emotions just through her eyes. The expressions that she gave really made me involved in the dance so much. I was very little at that time, but I could understand each and every emotion that she is trying to show through her performance. Her expressions were very good, and I tried to imitate her a lot throughout these years, but I couldn't do it. I always tried to learn classical dance, but some way, I couldn't do it. But I'm still looking forward to learn classical dance, and someday, hoping I will perform like that. Being very young at that time made me watch it with a lot of enthusiasm. So, I loved that performance. Whenever I

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