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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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    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
    anonymous person icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    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

    So, I met her in college. She is from North India and I am from South India. We both like to hang out a lot because she is from Kolkata actually and I like sweets. The way of poojas, ritual poojas and everything seems to be very different. I learned it very well from her and I used to learn some skills from her like her language Bengali and some classical dance of theirs, which is their native and I think it will be useful in my future. So, when I came through any person who is speaking in Bengali or something, so I can understand them, how they are speaking and I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent together. She is my best friend and we met in the college and even after completing my degree,

    Band 6-7

    Well, since my childhood, I met with a different kind of people, whether it's from my country or from other background. Here, I would like to talk about Priya, who is my best friend that belongs to different cultural background. We met on the very first day of my college. Actually, I was a little bit nervous sitting alone in the classroom. Eventually, she came to me and talked that if I wanted to spend some time with her by doing activities like dancing, singing and playing games, I did the same. After some time, we played a drama in school together, in which we became sisters. In fact, we acted as sisters. Before that, we got a reward and first number, everyone appreciated for our efforts. After some time, because of his father, he moved to another city. But even though we are far apart, we stayed connected through the phone and messages. He is like a role model. She is like a role model for me because she is a clever person and she always helps other people. She never misses a boat if she gets a chance to help someone. All in all, she is an inspiration for me as she taught me a very valuable lesson, whether it's on educational matter or about life. Moreover, she got a first prize one month ago for her dancing skill. She is an all-rounder and she can communicate with every person in a very well manner.

    Band 6-7

    Well, there are a lot of persons that I have met in my whole life, but today I would like to talk about a person who has a different culture, background, he or she is better than my friend who has become my best friend when we met in vacations. Like I usually went to vacations in Shimla with my family, there I met a friend who was from Kerala and we also came to attend vacations and me and my family and her family also stay in same hotels and we talked a lot like when we were usually going to some places, at that time I met her during that time and we talked a lot about her like she was from Kerala and her background was also different from me like we talked about their cultures, traditions and she also told me that on a daily life, we usually prefer to use coconuts as I also told her about our traditions and cultures like our festivals like Diwali, Holi and a lot of other things. So that was a person whom I have met who has a different cultural background.

    Band 6-7

    The person who would I like to describe for this question would be my friend Roms. He's from Africa. In Africa he belongs from a country named Zambia. He is a black guy and he belongs from a different culture. Although we are from different race but we enjoy quality time when we are together because he tells about his culture and I tell about mine. So we exchange culture knowledge which is very exciting as well as useful for everybody. Another point I would like to describe here is that the way we interact. He greets me in his culture manner and I greet him in my culture manner and with time we have learned each other's way of greetings. So now he greets me in my culture and I greet him in his culture manner. Apart from this we also enjoy the diversity that is present in our friendship. Also apart from diversity the love and the caring feeling among each other is very important for us because although we belong from a different race we belong from different culture but we have something in common which is humanity.

    Band 6-7

    So, I have met my friend named Mandini. She is from Sri Lanka and we met her, I met her sorry, I met her in university at my first year and I think we have spent a lot of time together. I know her background. She is from Sri Lanka and I am from India. So, we both have different cultures and I enjoy with her while studying. Sometimes she helps me in my studies. Sometimes we went, some of the occasion we went outside or we are attending the university cultural fest where each and every culture we can see over there, we can taste their food and we know their culture in detail. So, we spend time together a lot. We solve the doubts, both of them for each other and sometimes I feel like I have a friend which I can share my things to her, my deep down secrets to her and I think she is a lovely person that I have met at my uni in here because after coming from my overseas to here study, I feel like I won't make any friends but after meeting her, she is a gem for me and I think that's it. I like her and yeah.

    Band 6-7

    This person is my best friend Anjali. She is Gujarati and I am Rajasthani. I really like her culture, like her festival, like Garba and all. So beautiful. I love their festival so much and we both are going outside together, exploring, traveling together. I really like to spend my time with her because she is so understanding. Spending time with her is a beautiful memory. We are creating a very beautiful bond together and it feels so good. That's all I want to tell. Thank you for watching.

    Band 6-7

    The person I met from a different culture and background and I enjoy spending time is my friend Riva. We met in a tuition because we used to go in the same tuition. She belongs from a Hinduism culture where I belong from a Sikhism. When I met her first time, they tell about their culture and their background, how they celebrate the Janmashtami and other function where I also tell him that in my culture there are lot of festivals like Diwali, Rakhi and many more. And also I came to know about a lot of tradition and culture. Mainly I am a person who like to know about different culture and different background. So when they tell me about their background and about their culture, I was very happy and listen to her very carefully because I am quite interested in and by her I also came to know about Janmashtami and I also visit once with her. I enjoyed a lot there. It helped me to improve my knowledge and gain knowledge about different tradition and culture which I think are quite interesting for me. I used to spend a lot of time with her because she has also very good nature and always help me in my studies and many more activities.

    Band 6-7

    So, in college, first day, I met this girl and her name was Aditi. She happened to be my friend for a longer time, I'm still friends with her. She is a South Indian who has always lived in Delhi for most of her life and the cultural difference between the North and the South. The first day of my graduation, I meet this girl, her name is Aditi, who I happen to be friends with and I actually end up having the deepest conversation I ever had with a person. She is a South Indian coming from the roots of Kerala and now she is based in Delhi and the fact that North-South of India, the total cultural differences between us kind of grew and we actually became friends about how the diversity of each other, we actually tended to be friends together. So, she is a person whom I can actually talk to most of the time. The cultural difference is basically about how punctual she is. I think most of the North Indians have this mentality of getting into a job and doing it for the most of the time, but I think the South Indians are more culturally inclined towards pursuing what they love to do and similarly, I think she is more artistically influenced and inclined and she has the courage to do things and go out and explore stuff and that's what actually motivated me to actually do my stuff and not just be a book reader or just a person who is a bookworm and just completing courses and studying stuff, but also exploring things out of the box, trying new things and understanding how life functions and just not be in a single thread of life. So, that's what it basically was.

    Band 6-7

    Today I am talking about a particular person who is my cousin. He is from British culture. First of all, he is a very kind person according to my opinion. Such as he is humble and very friendly with everyone and also with my friends. His name is Hazar. By profession he is a doctor but he loves cooking, especially baking. When he came to India in 2022, that time we have spent a lot of time together. Like we had a baking together and made a cake for my birthday at that time. So he made a cake for me and also I helped him in this activity. In addition, he is very interested in any kind of this particular activity and the impact of me is very positive. Because I thought in my past years that from another country people are not good with us. But after we met, I think I am wrong and it is a very positive impact on me. And I thought that all people are not same because he is good with me at that time. So that is my answer of this question.

    Band 6-7

    The person that I enjoy spending time with comes from a different cultural background. So the person that I am talking about is my senior from my bachelors degree, I met him during my bachelors degree. So he comes from a native town, a small village in Bihar. He comes from a very conservative family, where families are very much close knitted with each other. So I like spending time with him because we do a lot of things together. He is someone who is senior, superior to me and he is my mentor. He teaches me all the professional stuff that I need for my professional career. The cultural difference that he has is, I get to eat a lot of different variety of foods that usually we don't make here. And apart from that, there are a lot of cultural festivals that I am not aware of. So whenever they have this festivals planned, the celebrations for the festivals planned here in Mumbai, so it is for the first time that I usually get to see how they celebrate those kind of festivals. So it is really enriching and I get to learn a lot.
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