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Describe a person from a different cultural background with whom you enjoy spending time: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who this person is?
  • What their cultural background is?
  • What activities you do together?
  • And explain how this experience impacted you.
Show all 193 answers

Cue 1:Who this person is?

  • Introduce the person by name and mention how you met them.
  • Share a brief description of their personality traits that you admire.

Example

The person I enjoy spending time with is my friend Aisha. I met her during my college days when we were both part of the cultural committee. Aisha is very friendly and has a great sense of humor, which makes her fun to be around.

Cue 2:What their cultural background is?

  • Describe Aisha's cultural background, including her ethnicity and any specific traditions.
  • Mention how her background differs from yours and what you find interesting about it.

Example

Aisha comes from a Bengali background, which is quite different from my Punjabi roots. She often shares stories about the rich traditions of Durga Puja and how her family celebrates it with elaborate rituals and delicious food. I find her culture fascinating and love learning about the different customs.

Cue 3:What activities you do together?

  • List some specific activities you enjoy doing together that reflect her cultural background.
  • Explain how these activities help you bond and learn from each other.

Example

We often cook together, trying out traditional Bengali recipes like fish curry and mishti doi. I also enjoy attending cultural events with her, where I get to experience her music and dance. These activities not only strengthen our friendship but also allow me to appreciate her culture more deeply.

Cue 4:And explain how this experience impacted you.

  • Reflect on how spending time with Aisha has broadened your perspective.
  • Discuss any personal growth or changes in your views due to this friendship.

Example

Spending time with Aisha has significantly impacted my understanding of cultural diversity. It has made me more open-minded and appreciative of different traditions. I now celebrate Durga Puja with her family, which has enriched my life and helped me build a deeper connection with my friend.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, my friendship with Aisha has not only been enjoyable but also transformative. It has taught me the importance of embracing cultural differences and has made my life more colorful and fulfilling.

    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 Generalizations About Culture

    Making broad statements about a culture can lead to inaccuracies and misunderstandings. It's important to focus on specific aspects of the person's background.

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    Tip

    Provide specific examples from your experiences with the person to illustrate their unique cultural traits.

    2: Neglecting Personal Connection

    Failing to explain your personal connection with the person can make your answer less engaging. It's essential to share why you enjoy spending time together.

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    Tip

    Include personal anecdotes or feelings that highlight your bond and shared experiences.

    Lack of Detail in Activities

    Being vague about the activities you do together can make your response less vivid. Detailed descriptions help paint a clearer picture.

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    Tip

    Describe specific activities you enjoy, including where you do them and what makes them special.

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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

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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
    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 6-7

    The person I know and belongs to a different culture background is my cousin sister Ananya. She is my father's brother's daughter. She is 17 years old. She lives in America with her family. She came to India last year when we spent quality time with each other. We played so many games with each other. I also told her about the Indian culture. She was so surprised to know about the Indian culture because she has a keen desire to know about this. On the other hand, I also want to know about the British culture and educational system of the British because I also want to pursue my education there. So we both exchanged our ideas regarding our cultures and how the festivals are celebrated in our countries. I like her so much because she is a good advisor. She helped me in my model because when she came to India, I have assigned a model from my school regarding the plastic and eco brick. So she helped me a lot in that project. She is also a good listener and for me, she is my ray of hope.

    Band 6-7

    Hello, now I am going to talk about a person named Veera. So actually he is from Hyderabad, from Sainikpuri. So how we have met, I mean, we had a deep connection through online, we met through online and we have made an untold relation or we just talked for hours and I enjoy spending time with him, his presence makes me feel safe. Actually, he is an introvert, calm, innocent, tall and mature than me. So a few days after we have spent few days, he confessed to me that he loves me. So I don't know how to react for that. I just stayed silent but after few days, he craved for my presence and he was like, oh, this is a girl I needed for my future, he realized everything about me and I don't know what to answer to him but wherever, at some corner, I think I like him, doing things together, laughing together.

    Band 6-7

    Well, I know that cultural backgrounds can offer different types of customs and traditions. India is a vast country where all religious peoples held together and lived together by happiness. Here I would like to talk about my friend Rashmika. She is from Kerala and she has a very bold color skin tone. She is good looking and her personality expresses her language also. I still remember when first time I met her is in my institute of preparing for NEET. At Akashi Institute I firstly met her and she was very cool. She speaks in Malayalam which is not a language of mine because I belong to North India and customs of North India as well as food is very different from Kerala. One day she came to me and requested me can I study with you. Then I responded yes of course. We both make friends and spend time with each other. By spending time I know many things about her customs, about her traditions, about her religion, about her festival. One day I visit her home in Kerala where her mother cooks a very tasty food including Uttapam which is a Keralian dish. She also tells me many things about the festivals like Onam that are going in Kerala. About the coconut races, about the boat races that are going in Kerala. And then I go towards her house and liking the area that what is going up to be in Kerala. I really miss that area too much now. Then she returned to me. She came to my home and I offered her my traditional dishes such as Aloo Paratha, Sholay Bhature. She liked our customs as well.

    Band 6-7

    There are a lot of persons I know who are from a different cultural background but if I had to choose one, I would definitely talk about Jishita. She is actually from Kasaragod, we studied together in our post-graduation class in Mahatma Gandhi College which is one of the reputed colleges in Trivandrum district. So she came from Kasaragod, she has an entirely different cultural background that of Trivandrum people. We used to talk about different things or celebrations, some kind of food, activities, rituals related to Kasaragod because people from Kasaragod are entirely different and their views and thoughts especially with regard to the food and traditions are so much varied from that of Trivandrum. In Trivandrum, the special food item is Bholi. She had never experienced Bholi, she didn't hear about the thing. One day I get along with her to give her a Bholi, the first time that she is tasting her Bholi. So she was very excited about that when she ate it because it was a signature food item in Trivandrum district. We usually talk about different kinds, the language, entire slang was different from Trivandrum. Trivandrum has a separate slang and Kasaragod is which is far away from Trivandrum so there is a special kind of slang in the Kasaragod language. Moreover, some Malayalam words are entirely different from Trivandrum. I always love to spend time with her because I love the way she talks with us so it is exciting for me to know about other cultures or people from different backgrounds. It is one of the pleasures that I always have.

    Band 6-7

    So, the person I met was Abhilash when I was in PUC. So we were roommates together. So we used to pray and study together as we were in the same room. He was following Jainism. Some of the practices I really wonder are, firstly, they must eat before the sunset. And secondly, they should not eat any crops or vegetables which are grown under the ground. And lastly, they don't eat any non-veg and prefer to cook by themselves. These are the things I really wonder them. I have actually seen him praying at least couple of times a day, which I feel amazed. And he is a very wonderful guy who is always trustworthy and optimistic, always believes in himself and God. So this has made me to be optimistic in my life and to have learned some of these good habits from him to always believe in oneself and to strive hard towards the goal, no matter what the condition is. Praying God always helps as it gives us a peace of mind. Also one can believe that God may help in difficult situation.

    Band 6-7

    As soon as I saw this topic, multiple persons have crossed in my mind that I have met since my childhood. But here, when it's choice to describe one person, then it's none other than my best friend because he is also from another culture and I love to spend time with him. Even if I am talking about my best friend, he is from Rajasthani culture and his culture is really very good because his culture is famous for the wedding season. Furthermore, I love to spend time with him as per his traditional dance because he also loves to dance whenever he wants to refresh his mood. So at that time, I have opportunity to learn that type of dance with him and I enjoy that activities together with him because it refreshes my mood and it also helps me to reduce my stress while listening that type of songs, that type of traditional dance. It also helps me to learn some new activities at that time. Well, if I am talking about other things of him, however, the food over there, Rajasthan is really awesome because it's totally different from my culture and I love to eat different type of cuisines because I am a sweet tooth and their sweets are really very awesome. They have a total type of 90 varieties in their wedding season. Yeah, it's very difficult to eat all of them in a one day. So I usually spend a lot of time with him to eat that type of different cuisines. Also I enjoy it a lot of time. It's also reduced my stress as I said earlier. However, lot of activities spent together and really it's impacted on me because with the help of that things, I learn new type of activities as well as also improve my skills.

    Band 6-7

    Today, I will talk about one of my friend, her name is Aina. She belongs to Himachal Pradesh and as I am belongs to Punjab, she is from Himachal Pradesh. That's why our cultural background are totally different. When we meet at our college, at that time, she just shared me about her birth place. Once in September month, her cousin's wedding, she invited me, I will go there to attend that wedding. At that wedding, there are a lot of different rituals and the wedding rituals are tremendously amazing. Their local dance is amazing. I just learned that local dance. That experience is really very amazing. I just enthusiastic about that thing. I truly love that thing. The overall impact is very very good on me. It gives me a lot of memories. I know about Himachali culture. I enjoy there a lot of different kind of food varieties as well.

    Band 6-7

    So, my friend's name is Saina. She is a Punjabian. So, she is basically from Chandigarh but she is living in Mumbai with her parents from past 2 years. So, we met a year ago but she is now like my best friend. We spend a lot of time. We go to gym together. We love to do art together. We even spend hours of together watching movies, playing games online. So, she is really helpful. She helped me in a lot of things. Like, way back when I was depressed with some issues going on with my family. So, she helped me a lot during that phase. She gave me the motivation to get back into the game. So, now I am very much happy to have her in my life and as forward. I will never forget her as my friend. Now, she is planning to move abroad and even I am going abroad. We will still stay in touch. So, my experience with her is like very beautiful. So, even she is very beautiful. We have good friends. Like, we think we are childhood friends. Like, even if we have met like 1 year ago but after meeting her, it feels like a home to me. It felt like we are friends for more than 10 years. So, really it was a nice time with her.

    Band 6-7

    So, I really wanted to spend my time with Arab people and there is one person who is Arabic and she is my friend. Her name is Hessa and she is UAE national and the beauty about their culture, I really like it, is they are so modest yet elegant and their food is not that good but the welcoming feeling that they, the welcoming attitude whenever somebody goes to their house is so welcoming which attracts the visitors and they do enjoy everything though they are modest but they enjoy all the occasions quite nicely and I believe that one should always enjoy their customs and everything within a limits and that's what they do. You don't need to party around, you don't need to drink and smoke to enjoy the life and that's how their culture shows you that you can enjoy your life without having these things in your life. So, they do enjoy with small small things but that makes you happy from internally and they avoid these non-cultural drinking and smoking which is something very attractive and they are very strict on their rules and they limit their self, they know their boundaries and they don't expose their self to the drinking and smoking and partying around which is commendable that they have.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about my friend, Clary, who is my childhood friend. She grew up in a very different cultural background because her parents spoke in Konkani and Tamil, whereas my language at home is Kannada. It was very amazing to be able to get to know her culture, her foot. Religiously, we were also very different. So, every day I would go to her house and have different kind of fish curries that her made that made my childhood so special with her. The activities that we did love enjoying together were cooking at her house, baking. As a person with her roots in Karnataka, I don't have a lot of baking that's being done in my house. So, having this opportunity to learn how to bake, how to have that Anglo-Indian cultural impact on me was a lot. It helped me improve my overall growth. It helped me analyse who I am as a person. It also helped me understand that it's okay to be different. It helped me build a stronger relationship with friends in the future. Just by this mere interaction, which happened accidentally, which grew into a lifelong bond of friendship. She is one of the most beautiful people I know. Exploring cuisines at her house, understanding her culture, reading the Bible with her, making a lot of memories and us having Bible discussions. These impacted me a lot. Growing up, it just felt like I was free to be whoever I wanted. I was free to explore myself as a person. That was one of the most beautiful memories.
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