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Describe a piece of advice you recently received.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did this happen & from whom?
  • What was it?
  • How do you feel about it?
Show all 34 answers

Cue 1:When did this happen & from whom?

  • Begin by mentioning the specific time frame when you received the advice, such as recently or during a particular event.
  • Identify the person who gave you the advice, explaining your relationship with them to add context.

Example

Recently, I received some valuable advice from my elder sister during a family gathering. We were discussing our career paths, and she shared her insights with me.

Cue 2:What was it?

  • Clearly state the advice you received, making sure to paraphrase it in your own words.
  • Explain the context in which the advice was given, highlighting any relevant details that make it more impactful.

Example

She advised me to focus on building my professional network rather than just concentrating on my technical skills. She emphasized that connections often open up more opportunities in the job market.

Cue 3:How do you feel about it?

  • Share your initial reaction to the advice and whether you found it surprising or helpful.
  • Discuss how you plan to implement this advice in your life and any changes you anticipate as a result.

Example

At first, I was a bit skeptical because I always believed that skills were the most important. However, after reflecting on her words, I realized the importance of networking. I feel motivated to attend more industry events and connect with professionals in my field.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the key takeaway from the advice and its significance in your life.
  • Reflect on how this advice might influence your future decisions or actions.

Example

In conclusion, the advice from my sister has made me rethink my approach to career development. I now understand that building relationships is just as crucial as honing my skills, and I am excited to explore this new avenue.

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 Responses

Providing vague or unclear answers can make it difficult for the examiner to understand your point. Specific details help convey your message more effectively.

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Tip

Use specific examples and details when describing the advice, such as the context and the person who gave it.

2: Ignoring the Cues

Failing to address all the cue prompts can lead to an incomplete answer. This may result in lower scores for coherence and task response.

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Tip

Make sure to answer all the cues: when it happened, what the advice was, and how you feel about it.

Overly Complex Language

Using overly complex vocabulary or sentence structures can confuse the listener. Clarity is more important than impressiveness in your language.

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Tip

Stick to simple and clear language to express your thoughts, ensuring your ideas are easily understood.

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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 6-7

Yes, I have received an advice from my dad very recently, like a month ago. I was confused to go abroad or not. So I just sat with my dad an evening and he told me one of the best advice I ever got. He just told me, you make decisions that you don't look back. And at that moment I didn't get what he meant. But when I came back to my room in Hyderabad and just sat for a while and had a thought about it, I just realized, oh, this man told this thing with so much of experience from his life. Like, you make that type of decisions that you never gonna regret or you never gonna look back once you made them. At least if you can't make them very successful or get the result you wanted, but at least you don't have to regret about those things. So make a decision and don't look back. After getting these words from my dad, I felt like this is what I'm lacking. I think these kind of things come with the experience of life more than just by reading some kind of books or some kind of attending few lectures. And from that moment, I felt so confident about myself and I stood on the decision that I want to go abroad and study. And I'm not going to just settle for the bare minimum. And I want to do something that I like.

Band 6-7

I recently got into stock marketing and investing where I was pretty much hesitant and nervous at first because I am not a person who is very risky or very positive minded so I was hesitant to invest my money somewhere where I might lose some few bucks but then my father approached me he told me what why are you thinking so much rather than just invest your money and let's see learn from it whether it will change something or not you might also learn from your failure as well as also learn from your success so after listening to him he helped me consult to his friends who were already practicing stock market since the years then he gave me that confidence that you should be rather not stepping back and rather step up and invest in the things that you prioritize then from him I started learning I took one step at a time where I first invested in very small amount rather seeing the gains and profits and along with that I also saw some losses but from that I learned that where I need to invest and where I do not then I saw the certain options and learned from YouTube also so I would say that he really helped me to learn something that you either have to risk something in order to gain something and that is what I have learned and I will always look forward for it and that advice has also helped me in many many things in life when I am already time deprived then I look forward to it and rather than just procrastinating I tend to push myself to perform better saving some time and also performing well at it so I am always grateful for my father because whenever I need him he is always available for the advice

Band 6-7

A piece of advice that I recently received was regarding my impatiency and the fact that I wasn't able to excel at something as soon as I put my hands into it. So a few months ago, I wanted to apply to more internships to improve on my skills and gain more experience. But I was going through a slump where I would apply to around 10 to 15 internships per day. But I would get only one or two callbacks and I would not end up getting the internship itself. It got to a point where I got extremely demotivated and started self-doubting myself and doubting my skills and whether I actually deserve to, you know, even apply to such positions because I just realized that maybe I won't get the job itself. And when I expressed these feelings to my mom, she advised me that I should never bother about what the outcome is. I should always focus on putting my best foot forward and making sure that I give it my best shot in every application so I have the self-satisfaction that from my end, I've done whatever I could. And she also advised me that I shouldn't be impatient and that good things will always end up coming to you once you put the effort into it. And therefore, with resilience and with the support from my parents, I still continued applying for more internships and I successfully landed an internship two weeks ago. It was a marketing role at an AI company and I'm extremely happy with the role and I'm really pleased that all my hard work has finally paid off.

Band 6-7

I was recently advised by my father to never give up early and strive hard in order to achieve your dreams. When I was preparing myself for my badminton tournament, I tore my ligament which caused me a major setback in preparation for my tournament. Despite having struggles in walking, I was advised from my father to have rehab sessions time to time and not think negatively. Additionally, I also asked help from my friends and the badminton coaches to help me cope through this new experience. Despite having a major setback and wanting to play, I tried my best in order to help myself get back on track and get better as soon as possible.

Band 6-7

So, this is about the advice that I have received from my manager during my work at my previous company and also one of my peers who has worked with me during my college. So, I am basically more a workaholic kind of person and whenever I start to work I don't see at the time what is happening, time and the surrounding, I don't care what is happening and how much time it is costing to me, so whenever my, and I don't, and I hesitate very much to refrain or deny somebody to help or anything, that sort of, so last year when I was working, my manager asked me, called me and told me that, hey Narayan, you should try saying, you should be not hesitating to say no or sorry, I cannot help, you should, so this was a very important piece of advice that I got, so the problem was that I was very much hesitant to deny or politely say sorry, denying the, denying my ability to help. I found that advice very much helpful in my life, so I have, later on I have found some of the, some of tricky situations when I am there, I am stuck there and I have remembered to this advice and I use it, I follow it very much.

Band 6-7

So, I was recently not feeling very good about myself, my face was having too much of acne which kind of undermined my confidence, so recently my mom advised me about self-love that the acnes that are caused, I am in my teenage years, so it is hormonal imbalance and so many other factors, she advised me to start eating healthy, start exercising, take care of yourself, give positive affirmations, just so that you should, not only you should do skin care from outside, you should eat healthy so that the body feels nice and good from the inside as well, this was the piece of advice my mom gave it to me, which actually worked, I started working on myself, I started taking care of what I eat, I started doing some good skin care routine, I started having one, a morning routine and evening routine, the dinner routine, sorry the night routine, which has helped me a lot and which has helped me boost my confidence and not only she also told me that it's not necessary to have a clear skin to be comfortable with yourself, being comfortable with yourself as you are is the most important thing, so that is what I took from the advice and I am working on it, I carry myself with confidence, with some good aura, so the acne is just something superficial and external, it matters what is within the person.

Band 6-7

Last week, there was inspection in my school, though I am a teacher and I teach primary classes, especially grade 1. So in my school, during that inspection time, I have a lot of work to do. One of my colleagues came towards me and just asked me for some kind of help. Being so courteous to her, and although my nature is that kind, I won't say no to anyone. So I was in dilemma that how could I say no to her. I said, yes, yes, definitely I would help you. Usually while I was helping her, I found out that she, that she is misusing me. She does not require the help she asked for, but she wants to spoil my time, waste my, that duration that I won't be able to complete my work and at the time of inspection, they won't appreciate, the inspection team won't appreciate me. Suddenly, my supervisor was crossing through my class and she entered into my classroom. She gave me an advice, which I really adore in my life. I felt that if she won't give me that advice, so I won't be happy as I am after that day. So she told me that never say yes to anyone. Firstly, complete your work and then you would be able to help someone if you're not able to help yourself. She told me the great proverb that God will help only those who will help themselves. So I recommended her and I felt on.

Band 6-7

Well, the recent advice I received is from one of my friends, my close friend, and the advice I received was how to tackle the tricky questions asked in data structure and algorithms. So he gave me some clues and hints about how I could approach the problem in a more simpler way. He told me how I can break the problem in smaller tasks and parts and to approach all those parts individually and after that make the decision in a sequential manner so that I can arrive at a solution which I am confident of. This advice helped me tremendously because it helped, it allowed me to improve my performance and helped me solve my problems in the parts I was getting stuck in. I attempted few of the mock tests and my scores gradually improved after following his advice. I was able to understand the things more clearly and precisely so. It was one of the best advices I would say that I have ever received till date because it boosted my confidence and made me feel very clear in my mind about how to approach a particular problem.

Band 6-7

Two weeks earlier before I applied, I started planning for my abroad. I actually was planning to go to Germany for my masters but due to my credit constraint, the consultancy advised me not to take off to Germany because it might lead to rejection in my application. So during that time I felt very depressed and very upset because it was a plan I have been making since 3-4 years which is because of the failing of the plan, my two years plan has been wasted. I was very down during the next two days. My father then advised me to bounce back and be resilient because life is all about ups and downs and uncertainties and he advised me not to feel down about it and try to think of another plan so that I wouldn't waste the next upcoming days. He also suggested me to feel motivated and encouraged because at least we have got to know about the process at the right time. After his advice, I felt grateful and encouraged to start my applications to the UK universities and I actually felt grateful of having him as my dad and it's important to be resilient when you're in the lowest point in your life because it is the time when God is testing how much you are able to face challenges and difficulties. This shows that you are strong and independent enough to work towards achieving your dream.

Band 6-7

It was at a well-spent evening at a family gathering, when I by mistakenly said something that probably offended one of my family members. Later that night, coming back at home, I got a specific advice from my father, saying that there is a way of speaking to different age groups. There is a way of rephrasing a sentence to different people depending upon their age and experience. I truly agree with this advice and have inculcated this method of speaking in the way that I converse with people. I contemplate other people's feelings before speaking, but not only that, I also consider their mindset and from what era or age they belong. I believe that adult people can be a little more conservative as compared to the youth, and hence there is a different way to pitch things to them. This is an advice which I will remember for my life.
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