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Describe a place that wasn't kept clean.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Which place was it?
  • When did you visit? How untidy was it?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 27 answers

Cue 1:Which place was it?

  • Begin by naming the place clearly, providing some context about its significance.
  • Mention any specific features or characteristics that made it memorable.

Example

The place I want to talk about is a public park in my neighborhood called Green Meadows. It's usually a lovely spot for families and children, but on my last visit, it was quite neglected.

Cue 2:When did you visit? How untidy was it?

  • Specify the time of your visit and any relevant events that might have contributed to the untidiness.
  • Describe the extent of the mess, including specific examples of litter or disarray.

Example

I visited Green Meadows last Saturday afternoon, and to my dismay, it was littered with plastic bottles, food wrappers, and even some broken furniture. The grass was overgrown, and the benches were covered in dirt, making it look very uninviting.

Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your emotional response to the state of the place, reflecting on any disappointment or frustration.
  • Consider discussing any thoughts you had about the importance of cleanliness in public spaces.

Example

Seeing the park in such a state made me feel really disappointed. I believe public spaces should be well-maintained for everyone to enjoy. It was frustrating to see that many people were not taking responsibility for keeping it clean.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your main points about the place and its condition.
  • Reflect on any actions you think could improve the situation or your hopes for the future.

Example

In conclusion, Green Meadows was a beautiful park that sadly fell into disrepair. I hope that the local community can come together to clean it up and maintain its beauty, as it is a vital space for relaxation and recreation.

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 Descriptions

Using vague language makes your answer less engaging and informative. Candidates often fail to provide specific details about the place, which can lead to a lack of clarity.

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Tip

Use descriptive adjectives and specific examples to paint a clear picture of the place and its untidiness.

2: Ignoring Emotional Impact

Not expressing your feelings about the untidy place can make your response sound flat. Candidates often overlook how the experience affected them emotionally.

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Tip

Share your feelings and thoughts about the cleanliness of the place to add depth to your answer.

Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. Candidates sometimes jump between points without a clear flow, making it hard to follow their story.

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Tip

Organize your answer by addressing each cue in order, ensuring a logical progression from one point to the next.

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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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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

The place which I found was the most untidy is a public bathroom. It was located in a test center. I went there around 30 days ago when I wanted to write a test for my online degree program. The main issues I faced in that bathroom is there was no water for flushing the cupboards and there were even no locks for the bathrooms. So anybody who went to the bathroom wouldn't be able to lock themselves in. And there are food pins all over the bathroom making them look very ugly. And even though when it comes to, not only about the cupboard, when it comes to toilet flushing, there isn't enough water for me to flush my toilet and it's not available. And after I saw that, I went to the washroom in the middle of the test and when I saw how untidy the bathrooms were, I felt very uncomfortable and my brain was filled with so much disgust that I couldn't think of anything else for another 10 minutes. This also impacted my test results because all I can remember in the test after I went to the bathroom was that how untidy the washrooms were. In addition, I also thought that there aren't barriers for one people to, there aren't barriers between people who are going to toilet such that one people can see another people when they are urinating, which makes me very uncomfortable because other person can see me when I'm urinating.

Band 6-7

The place that I would really describe as a place that wasn't kept clean would be India. India is a very nice country, however, in some scenarios, some places could be very untidy, such as having a lot of flies and mosquitoes and all those kinds of insects that wouldn't be there if the place was kept clean. And I would also talk about how the street vendors provide their services. Majority of the street vendors don't actually wear gloves, which is a very bad thing to do. I think that's a very bad idea. And in addition, the street vendors don't really wash their hands or in general, they don't have the basic idea of keeping themselves clean, which I consider very notorious. In addition, I really think that India could increase hygiene by maintaining basic standards in public places. Also, I would think that ensuring the public gets educated enough on hygiene would really be appreciated, as the public really doesn't get educated enough as it's a country that isn't really educated. Furthermore, I would really encourage the citizens of India to be more cautious as they provide themselves with the service of eating. And I would really appreciate it if people wash their hands more frequently. And in general, I would really think the idea of hygiene should be maintained more appropriately. And the place that I recently went to wasn't clean enough at all and it gave me the idea that I should speak on it and raise my voice. And yeah, that's how I would consider a place that wasn't kept to be clean could be improved.

Band 6-7

so in our city there is a famous beach which is called a Gaimukh so it is 20 kilometers from my residence and it is very popular tourist destination because lots of people come at this beach because it is only one beach which is easily accessible for the crowd and what I noticed that the beach was very untidy it was not clean and all the garbage all the wafer bags plastic bags were thrown on the beach and it was not a pleasant view although I think that people should understand that they should not keep their tourist place untidy because other people from different location come to enjoy here so I think everyone has their own responsibility to keep the place tidy also there is one more thing I would like to add which is that the place had no lifeguards and of that people were not informant there were no police officers present to perform discipline over the beach area because of that I think people were not conscious and they were throwing

Band 6-7

So, recently I visited Mumbai for my interview, which was in a management college. It was my first time that I was visiting Mumbai, so as soon as I entered Mumbai, I noticed that everywhere there was garbage around and it was pretty dirty and lots of foul smell was coming wherever I went. Mumbai is very, I would say, very unhygienic. It is full of, everywhere there is litter around, there are lots of sewage also. I also visited to beach, which was also not clean. It was also very dirty and visiting to Mumbai, I didn't like Mumbai because it was not clean. It was, in every area that I visited, a consistent foul smell was coming and also at the hotel which I stayed was not so clean and hygienic. There were mosquitoes all around and I didn't find...

Band 6-7

One place I couldn't forget because of how untidy it was is my friend's room. Me and my friend, we hung out after our exams were completed during our holidays. I went to her room. I visited her room. I was in a disbelief looking at how untidy her room was. The room was so unorganized, piled up with too many books, leftover food, and unwashed dishes and bottles. The only thing I felt at that point was I immediately wanted to run away from that place. But in the corner of my heart, I also wanted my friend to have a tidy place. So both of us ended up cleaning her room.

Band 6-7

A place that wasn't kept clean is my friend's apartment. Last week when I have to attend my friend's birthday party, they planned this party at their particular friend's apartment who was common for all the groups. So I went to their home. It was unexplainable. It's super untidy. Firstly, I have a habit of organizing things and maintaining things very clean. So my OCD was triggering a lot. On one hand, I really have to enjoy the birthday party because it's one of my close friends who is organizing the party and the birthday girl is also my favorite one. But on the other hand, I really can't enjoy the party seeing all the mess around me without organizing it. Everywhere, on the couch, on the table, everywhere there is a mess. The clothes were thrown in the air and the food was also not clean. And in addition to that, not only the food, not only the clothes, but there is the dust everywhere in the apartment. I think they cleaned the apartment a donkey's ears ago. So I don't think the apartment has been cleaned once in a while also. The rush of feelings in my heart to go there, to pick up things, to make them organized, to clean the apartment. But everyone around are really good. I really didn't understand what's going on. Is the mess bothering only me or everyone else is really good? Furthermore to that, the birthday party has begun. Everyone has started to enjoy, eat food, have fun. Contrast, I am not that good in staying in those places. So I found my place there.

Band 6

So recently, during my last visit to Amritsar, I boarded a train from Ludhiana to Amritsar. So as soon as I boarded my train, I had to use my washroom. So when I went to use the washroom, I saw that it was not at all clean. It was very unhygienic and the way the toilets were maintained were not very good. Moreover, the fact that disturbed me most was that many messengers who hadn't got any seats were sitting around it. And it was a sheer failure of the authorities to see both the cleanliness and the seating arrangement also. Even many eatables that have been distributed on the railway station are rested on that platform. So it also defines that there is no sanitation regarding what we eat on the trains. Moreover, I was disturbed that the train was for the holy station, Amritsar, where there is the largest community kitchen. And the unhygienic situations that have been imposed on the passengers, moreover not on the trains, was very poor. And moreover, I felt disgusted only about seeing how I saw that thing.

Band 6

As a working individual, I often visit different places for job purposes and every time, most of the time I use public transport and public toilets for my convenience. So once this was the time when I went for a consultation from my clinic to a bit far place from my hometown, it took me almost one and a half hours of travelling and I took this public transport and I have to get down, I have to take two buses. So once I get down from the first bus, I immediately use the public toiletry. It was very untidy and I have to tell you that the floor, not only the floor, the closet, everything was filled with sanitary napkins, the toiletries, the papers, everything and I didn't feel like using it. When I come out of it, I filed a complaint in the inquiry about such issue and they were giving lame excuses. It was a government authorized property and they have to take care of all these things but they gave least importance to all these things. I feel very pity for them as well as the people who are using it because as you know, we can get so many diseases by using a bad toilet especially for females. I couldn't find any hotels or restaurants nearby so I didn't use that thing and I catch the next bus to my destination.

Band 6

I have actually been to many places which has been untidy and all, but recently I have been to Kutchi, because I actually study, I am actually preparing for my, for writing my German exam, so to pursue my masters degree in Germany. So as I mentioned, I have been to Kutchi recently, and especially to Marienreim and all, so the place was actually really untidy, especially with the, you know, food waste and various other chemical factory dumpings in the river, so that and all, so considering the place where I am coming from, it's actually quite clean in my area, quite eco-friendly and environmentally it's quite greener than Kutchi, so it was really uncomfortable for me at first, but considering the fact that most of the population in Kutchi, that in Marienreim, the number of people living in this small area is considerably huge with respect to the place where I am coming from, so it's actually, you know, quite justifiable, but even though, I think, there can be taken various measures in order to reduce that.

Band 6

I hate to say this but I think one of the most unclean places I have seen would have to be the kitchen in the apartment that I currently live live in it's not that unclean now but when I had first moved in it was a mess that's one of the things I didn't pay attention to while moving in and it costed me heavily honestly so in this new house the two of my roommates that were living there at that time were very indifferent to the state of cleanliness in the house especially in the area of the kitchen where there's a lot of wet food and you put your garbage cans there and everything so they used to really not care about keeping it clean as a result it became really unhygienic so if you don't clean it for a day it's fine but if you don't do it every day for a very long amount of time it becomes unbearable and as a result there were a lot of cockroaches in the kitchen when I moved there so I used to really feel icky about it and I was quite honestly disgusted so much so that I didn't even want to go inside the kitchen to get my food but seeing that my roommates didn't really care much about that state they had the attitude that you just have to live with it I had to take the initiative and get the pest control done I handled the entire process emptying the kitchen getting them to put in the medicine and everything and the maintenance of the kitchen after that as well but I think now it's a lot better but the state it was in when I had first moved in was absolutely disgusting
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