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Describe a piece of good advice that you gave to someone: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who did you advice?
  • What was the advice?
  • Why did you give the advice?
  • How was it helpful, and how did he/she feel about it?
Show all 199 answers

Cue 1:Who did you advise?

  • Begin by introducing the person you gave advice to, including your relationship with them.
  • Mention any relevant background information that helps to understand the context.

Example

I advised my younger sister, who is currently in her final year of college. She was feeling overwhelmed with her studies and unsure about her future career path.

Cue 2:What was the advice?

  • Clearly state the advice you gave, ensuring it is specific and actionable.
  • Explain any reasoning behind your advice to provide context.

Example

I told her to take a step back and focus on her strengths and interests. I suggested that she explore internships related to her field of study to gain practical experience and clarity on what she truly enjoys.

Cue 3:Why did you give the advice?

  • Share your motivation for giving this advice, including any personal experiences that influenced your decision.
  • Discuss the importance of the situation to emphasize why your advice was necessary.

Example

I gave this advice because I had faced similar challenges during my college years. I remember feeling lost and stressed about my future, and I wanted to help her avoid that anxiety by guiding her towards practical experiences.

Cue 4:How was it helpful, and how did he/she feel about it?

  • Describe the outcome of your advice and how it positively impacted the person.
  • Share their feelings or reactions to your advice to illustrate its effectiveness.

Example

After following my advice, my sister secured an internship at a local marketing firm. She felt much more confident and excited about her future. She expressed gratitude for my support and mentioned that it helped her gain clarity about her career goals.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, giving advice to my sister not only strengthened our bond but also helped her navigate a crucial phase in her life. It was rewarding to see her grow and find direction, and it reminded me of the importance of sharing experiences and supporting loved ones.

    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

    Avoid giving vague or general answers that lack detail. This can make your response less engaging and informative, leading to a lower score.

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    Tip

    Provide specific examples and details about the advice you gave, including the context and the person's situation.

    2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

    Failing to discuss how the advice affected the person emotionally can weaken your response. It's important to show the significance of your advice.

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    Tip

    Include how the person felt after receiving your advice and the positive changes it brought to their life.

    Ignoring the 'Why'

    Not explaining why you gave the advice can leave your answer incomplete. This is crucial for understanding your thought process.

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    Tip

    Clearly articulate your reasons for giving the advice, linking it to the person's needs or situation.

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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.
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    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 >7

    I gave this advice to my mother as she was in a difficult time in her life and she was very much tackled by the anxiety of the situation she was in. So my advice was to stay calm and believe everything, keep all her trust and belief on karma as it returns back and it will help her get through the stage and she should have patience as she will survive in her life. This was my piece of advice to my mother and it did help her convince that this was just a fleeting moment in her life and it will pass just as fast as it came and that did calm her down a bit in that moment, it did calm her down.

    Band 7

    Throughout my life, I have always seeked advice from my peers. So when it was my turn to give advice to one of my best friends, I tried to make an impression on her. After she graduated, she was not able to get a job. Seeing how I was already a working professional, she approached me for advice. I told her to not give up and to continue to apply to opportunities and the right job will find her. In spite of trying her best for a year, she could not get an opportunity in any company. She felt very rejected and was on the verge of giving up. I told her that if she could not find a job, that there were other opportunities that she could take up. She could go for her master's degree. She decided to act on my advice and applied for a course for a master's degree in a reputed university. After a few weeks, she got a reply saying that she was accepted into university. She was extremely happy and overjoyed. Moreover, she even took me out to thank me for my advice. I am very proud of her and her decision to not give up.

    Band 7

    A piece of advice that I gave to my friend Rhea was that always take comparisons as an appreciation and don't take life too hard on yourself. Life is unpredictable. One day we will be alive and kicking, the next day something might happen and we might not be alive anymore. This resonated with her a lot because she lost her mother very unfortunately in a road accident. So the moment I advised her about not being too hard on herself, she realized that life is all about the light moments, the simple joys and being together with the loved ones. Furthermore, we know that life is very fragile. Any uncertainty can knock our door, all our plans might go into vain. So my advice has always been to take life lightly and not to put that pressure of achieving something like our whole life depends on it. It is very well appreciated that someone who is going through something has overcome and has healed. This might be the best lesson to tell someone.

    Band 7

    I recently advised my best friend to prioritize smart work over hard work and she was, I. I recently advised my best friend to prioritize smart work over hard work as she was facing with a moral dilemma at work. She wasn't being appreciated for her efforts and was facing lack of motivation. After giving her this advice, it really helped her put things into perspective that in the long run, smart work matters more than hard work. Adding on to that, it is immaterial of how much time one spends doing a task, but rather the efficiency and outcome that is achieved from doing the task. Hence, smart work is more appreciated in today's day and age rather than hard work. She was very happy with the advice that was given to her by me and began implementing it at work and soon she noticed changes and found that she was being recognized and appreciated for her work when she started decompartmentalizing and prioritizing herself and this is one of the advices that worked in her favor. In my personal experience, whenever I have worked hard and dedicated my blood, sweat and tears to something, it has not reaped the result that I expected it would, but rather it has often turned out to be the way I did not expect it to. Smart work allows people to prioritize time according to their convenience, but achieve the optimal results. For instance, a person takes 10 hours to do one task, but for another person, they may be able to achieve the same task's results in just 2 hours, so in such a case it is smart work over hard work.

    Band 7

    My friend Harsha was always passionate about fashion designing and she wanted to pursue it for her graduation. Unfortunately, because of family pressure, she ended up taking English literature as her major in bachelors and after completing her bachelors, she was disoriented as to what path should she take next. So this is where she made a call with me one evening and wanted to have an elaborate conversation regarding her future options. So I advised different career paths that she can choose but she always steered her conversation towards the direction of fashion designing because that's what she wanted to pursue. When I realized that this is her true call, I advised her even though it would be time consuming and very laborious, I insisted that she make the choice of doing a second graduation in fashion designing. So this particular advice helped her to have a very heartful conversation with her parents and finally they were all also on board with her decision in pursuing another graduation. Finally after completing the second major in fashion designing, she has joined a very reputed company in a good position and she is more than happy and she's ecstatic that she made that call that evening with me and came to the decision of pursuing her one true original passion.

    Band 6-7

    So, I would like to talk about the advice that I gave my junior in my workplace. So she was new and was hired I guess 3 months back and she is a fresher with no experience. She replaced my other colleague who had experience of 1 and a half years. So everything was new to her and she was overwhelmed with all the work pressures and new client requirements and one day she was so stressed and crying. So I just went to her and gave one piece advice that be calm, have patience. It takes time to learn new things. So you should be patient with yourself atleast and I asked her to maintain a work-life balance that do not overwork yourself just do what you can do and express yourself in confident manner and be truthful to your manager and your other colleagues that this I need your help because I am new so help me in this and also told her that this is office and we are not friends because this is the same advice I got from my senior where I was stressed that nobody is friend in a workplace so you should be mindful what you are sharing and what you are not sharing. She thanked me because I think my advice made her calm and she learnt many things during that time and she still asks me for advice and she thanks me many times for that.

    Band 6-7

    In grade 9, I was selected to this prestigious summer program called Highly Abled Children's Program in Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum. There, I had a friend named Nabhiya Mistry. He was from Maharashtra. We really got along well in the first few days of the camp and after that, I saw a dramatic change in him. Instead of talking to professors, engaging in class, interacting with us, he was drawn to this one girl and he had an enormous crush on her. And at that time, I felt it was my moral duty to remind him that we are in one of those most prestigious programs in India, having selective rates around 1-2%, so that's an opportunity which is not given to a lot of high schoolers and he should use it to his extent. But on the other hand, he never listened to my advice. He continued to get the attention of that particular girl called Munalini. She is also from Maharashtra, which is his home state. I think my duty, my essence to tell him has been done but what happens after that is not my concern. I've told him my advice. If he follows it or not follows it, it does not matter to him. And yeah, that's all.

    Band 6-7

    Recently, my friend called me out of the blue and she was explaining about her life after getting married. She was not working at the time she got married. After that she started working at an administrative company, but her husband was not impressed by her job. He wanted her to get into an IT company, for that he is asking her to learn new technologies, but she is not having confidence to go with the process. So she called me and asked me for my advice. I told her, if you can work on administrative, you can try on other things also, because you have a talent to work, you have some knowledge, that's why you are able to get the job done today. So just trust yourself, trust the process, start taking the classes from today. On my advice, she took a demo class, after that she felt she could complete the process and she went through the classes, she then completed whole training and started applying for the job. She went through several interviews, after applying for multiple interviews, she got selected for few, she attended interviews, after that she got finally selected for one company with a good package. Now she says that because of that day I told her to trust in herself.

    Band 6-7

    The one advice I can think of I gave to my best friend, her name is Ayesha, she had been having a really bad week. First she felt quite down after receiving her A-level results and then her father was sick as well, therefore she wasn't really in a healthy mental state. So her cousins came over and she lashed out on them. And then she called me and she was crying about how bad she felt, that she projected her anger on somebody that didn't deserve So I remember telling her that this happens because she refuses to accept and embrace her feelings. I believe the more you keep your feelings bottled up inside of you, the more likely you are to explode on someone else. So it's always better that you put your thoughts down, whether that's in a journal, in a physical journal or on your notes app on the phone or maybe it's venting to a friend. So I advised her to sit down and think more about what she's feeling and how it's affecting her. And if she feels that she can't really talk about it with someone, then she should try writing her thoughts down. Because when you project your feelings onto something that's non-living, it's a lot easier for you to come to terms with it.

    Band 6-7

    I gave a piece of advice to one of my classmates, way back in the college days. It was pretty simple. I asked him to be part of the institute brass band, which I was part of. That's because he was talented. At the same time, he was lazy. So, when he was walking in the corridor, I came and sat next to him. I came and patted him and I said, Hey man, I think you should be part of the institute brass band so that you could learn something very useful. I asked him to even go for the auditions which were taking place then. But he said, will I be part of it? He was very doubtful about his ability. But then I encouraged him to do that and he gave the auditions and successfully had cleared the auditions.
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