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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
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    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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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

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    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

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    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 6-7

    If I were to just pick out one person from a different cultural background would be my best friend. She is a Hindu and she follows Hinduism but mainly she is a Jain and I love spending time with her because there are so many different cultures that they follow and me being a Christian, it is totally opposite. We mostly celebrate Navratri together, that is basically she calls me for Garba Nights. It is a dance form that many people know of. Garba is very famous in India. So we dress up together, we buy certain outfits, it's called a Ghagra. We plan our 9 day outfits. Navratri is a 9 day festival and we try to make or buy different types of outfits for each day. Mostly it's a ground where we dance. There are certain steps that you have to learn for Garba. I really like how they have a different take on their festival. They enjoy it to the fullest, they dance, they rejoice for their God. It is very different from us because we do not go very extravagant with the things that we do or the prayers that we say. It's very simple and basic but Dhyana is very loud and exciting and that's why I love spending my time with her.

    Band 6-7

    So the person from a different cultural background with whom I enjoy spending time is my classmate Manisha. I actually got to know her during my schooling right from my 5th standard. So she is from Sri Lanka. I feel that she has a very culturally diverse background despite being from Sri Lanka. She actually knows many languages including Sinhalese, Tamil, German, French and even bit of Spanish. I do play a lot with her and I get to learn a lot about their traditions, customs and the unique rituals. Also I am fond of the Sri Lankan food which her mother prepares and she shares with us during lunch time. I actually feel at ease whenever I am with her. She is the first go-to person for me. So wherever it is, whatever it is, I can actually count on her and say whatever I want. She is such a trustworthy and loyal friend to have.

    Band 6-7

    Well, he's a friend of mine and he comes from a Punjabi culture. His name is Diljeet and we do a lot of activities together. The cultural norms that he follows, we follow it too. The way he goes to his temple known as Gurdwara. They call Punjabi temple as Gurdwara. We went there and he did his whole puja and stuff, his whole cultural norms. And that was really exciting for me. And on our basis and how it affected me is like his parents are more open to him, cultural wise. They are like very friendly, very casual to him and he can open up to them very easily. While on the other hand, I came from a Marwadi background in which it's not very casual for us to open up about our feelings to our parents. We can't just go to them and have our things let out. Can't do that usually. That's how it impacted me and I felt that this is very important for us to be included in our background as well. To actually open up to our parents the way they are opening up to their parents and letting their things out. And you know, it helps children to understand things in a different way, in a different scenario. And I also love celebrating his culture, his festivals like Lohri, Dussehra. These are some of the festivals I love celebrating with him. It's very exciting. It's actually very full of colours, lights. You do a lot of eating in that festivals. It's actually great to spend time with him. It's amazing to spend time with him, knowing his things and helping me understand.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to describe a person in my life who is my only true friend. And she is my bestest friend whom I ever loved. She always stays with me, always speaks with me and she does everything what I need. For example, she helps me in studies, she helps me in curriculums, activities and etc. In addition, her background is she has a father, mother and sister in brothers. Furthermore, she is the one who stays with me at night where we talk, cozy talks, share one pillow together. Now we two together are living in a hostel and studying together. So, I also get motivated by her, inspired by her activities. We two staying together do many activities like playing, studying, walking, jogging, exercising and so on. This is how I spend time with her and this is how I feel. And all together I feel so excited when I see her or I feel very bruised when I am with her.

    Band 6-7

    So, this is the person who is so close to my heart. She is my friend Nishi. She is from Hindu culture and I am from Muslim culture and right now she is living in Canada and I am living in India. So basically our culture are so different from each other but somehow we are doing things like playing or outgoing or doing some religion works and understand each other's religion to accept what we are in real life and we are so understand that what her culture is and what my culture is and we both respect our religion and the differentiated things in our culture. And once upon a time I remember that there was a festival which is called Diwali which is basically Hindu's new year. So I make a very humble gift for her to give her and she liked the gift so much which is basically a mannequin of her Ganesh Bhagwan and when my festival came which is called which is so important for us Muslims. So he sent me a very

    Band 6-7

    So recently there was a new admission in our class and he was a boy. The teacher made him sit with me because that day I was sitting alone and after the period had got over we started talking and he told me that he's from South India basically he was from Chennai. Furthermore, we gained interest in each other's cultures and I told him about all my religion and my culture how I used to go to my temple and pray to God. He also told me about all his culture and how they used to celebrate certain festivals of their own in their hometown. Also the accent was different but our thoughts matched. In the recess we played together and ate our lunch. While I was talking with him I realized that a person is not judged by the outer appearance but we should judge a person on the basis of how he speaks and how he behaves with yourself and at last I realized that we all are human beings we cannot just get separated by the means of religion or caste or color and we should respect each other we should value each other and we should we should work like a team and we should respect all the cultures that our country has.

    Band 6-7

    The best person which I found from the different cultural background is my friend Gungun. She is one of the sweetest person whom I ever got in my life. And she is one of the best person whom I can relate to, whom I can share all the thoughts, whom I can share all the things which I have done in the day, whom I can share all my memories. And the best time which I can enjoy with her is like we used to go with lots of roaming. We had lots of travel together. And we shared our food as well. We shared our food in the same plate. And she is one of the most loved and favorite person. I just love to be with her all the time. And also...

    Band 6-7

    To be honest, I am not very social, that's why I tend to avoid interactions with a lot of individuals in my life. However, I have some friends who are really close to my heart. I always share my perspective with them. Today I would like to tell you about one of my best companions who is none other than Sumer Sonni, actually he is from Himachal, which is the state of India. We used to study together in a same college during our post-graduation. That's why I have known this person for several years. If I talk about the background of this friend, then his background is really very vast and versatile because he has different attires as well as different types of meal from me and it is quite intriguing for me to know about the Himachal culture as well as religious values. So, I find that Sonni is more interesting person for me, apart from his cultural background, I also do some activities with him, like to explore different places due to our hodophile nature and I also talk with this person regarding different aspects of life. I enjoy.

    Band 6-7

    Yeah, it's a very interesting question. I like to enjoy my time with Nepali people. They are very beautiful and kind and very respect towards Indian people. I like Nepali food very much and I like their culture very much. And their love for other religious people is also very wonderful. Most important thing is their hospitality is very good. And moreover, I like Nepali food very much. They are very good in non-vegetarian and vegetarian food. One of my best dreams is to visit Nepal one day and experience the beautiful mountains, food and people. The most important thing is Indian people doesn't require visa to go to Nepal. One day I will sure visit Nepal and experience the people.

    Band 6-7

    I would say that it's my friend George who is from Christian background, moreover he is one of my best friend. His culture is so much different from ours as I am a Hindu. He always encouraged and supported me in every situation in our childhood days as we are school friends. Moreover he was unique in character and we have done a lot of activities together like going to movies, going to different type of festivals near the hometown itself. As he is from Christian background, the foods varies and I like their food so much as he had invited me to his house on every festival and I think it's the best time I have ever spent with him.
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