Describe A Positive Change In Your Life: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What was the change?
When did it happen?
How did it happen?
And explain why it was a positive change.

15 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 15 answers

Cue 1:What was the change?

Clearly state the positive change that occurred in your life.
Make sure to provide some context about what your life was like before this change.

Example

The positive change in my life was when I decided to pursue a healthier lifestyle. Before this change, I often felt tired and lacked energy due to my poor eating habits and lack of exercise.

Cue 2:When did it happen?

Mention the specific time frame when this change took place.
You can also include any significant events that led to this change.

Example

This change happened about a year ago, during the COVID-19 lockdown. With more time at home, I realized I needed to take better care of my health.

Cue 3:How did it happen?

Describe the steps you took to implement this change in your life.
Include any challenges you faced and how you overcame them.

Example

I started by researching healthy diets and creating a meal plan. I also began exercising regularly at home. Initially, it was challenging to stick to the routine, but I motivated myself by tracking my progress and celebrating small victories.

Cue 4:And explain why it was a positive change.

Discuss the benefits you experienced as a result of this change.
Explain how this change has impacted your overall well-being and happiness.

Example

This change has been incredibly positive for me. I now have more energy, feel more confident, and my mood has improved significantly. I also enjoy cooking healthy meals and exploring new recipes, which has become a fun hobby.

Conclusion

Example

In conclusion, the decision to adopt a healthier lifestyle has transformed my life for the better. It has not only improved my physical health but also enhanced my mental well-being, making me feel more fulfilled and happy.

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 can make your response unclear and unengaging. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about the change.

Tip

Use specific examples and details to illustrate the change, such as mentioning the time frame and the impact it had on your life.

2: Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. Failing to follow the cue prompts can lead to missing important points.

Tip

Organize your answer by addressing each cue in order: what the change was, when it happened, how it happened, and why it was positive.

Neglecting Personal Impact

Not explaining how the change affected you personally can make your answer less compelling. It’s important to connect the change to your feelings and experiences.

Tip

Reflect on your emotions and personal growth related to the change, and share specific feelings to make your response more relatable.

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

So, having a positive change in anyone's life is a great thing. Today I would like to describe about the positive change which came in my life. When I was in my 7th standard, I was so introvert in nature and I got easily nervous while talking to strangers. Even I can't talk to my teachers also because I feel nervousness while clarifying my doubts to the teachers. And I am highly dependent on my friend to clarify all my doubts. At that time, my parents decided to change my school and they put into my other school which name is 720 senior secondary school. It was ICSC board and I gained confidence after going into that school. Actually, there are many teachers who have helped me a lot, who build up my confidence. Initially, I get a lot of problems in talking to some others. Then my teacher who taught us geography, he just started helping me. He just went away a mile and helped me to learn, to think and to reduce my nervousness. He boosts my morale and confidence. After that period, I become more confident in talking to some others, in talking to any stranger.

Band 6

Around five years back, I was suffering from depression, so I started to exercise and do some meditation, yoga practices and everything in my daily life. I consulted many doctors, but then they gave me the same advice that, you know, you must

Band 6

To talk about the positive changes in my life recently are, there are two things, namely exercising daily and eating healthy diet. As I had travelled to Pune for my education in bachelors, I faced many issues. I faced, there was a huge issue, there was a drastic issue of eating a good diet, eating good food or unhealthy diet in my canteen. Due to this, I had to face many issues in my body, like I used to, like I frequently used to get sick and I haven't been practicing enough exercise as well. So, after my third year, I started doing daily exercise as well as eating healthy diet every day with maintaining less sugar intake as well as a proper cardio. The reason I started it was that my weight had drastically reduced in the three years and even it was difficult for me to travel everywhere with such kind of health.

Band 6

Well, changes are an important part of everyone's life, transformation, changes, hopes and challenges make our life very exciting and worth living. Some changes are unexpected and some are long expected that bring something mean to us and good for us. It is the change I am going to talk about is performing yoga regularly. It is about a year ago when I made this decision. I realized that I need to improve my physical as well as mental well-being. I had been living a sedentary lifestyle for a long time. Then I started with a few simple yoga poses and gradually increased the duration and complexity of my practice. My flexibility and the strength has improved significantly and I feel more relaxed and energetic throughout the day. I have also noticed the improvement in my productivity and concentration, which also helped me in my studies and work with good grades in my class and remembering the things. I have incorporating yoga in my daily routine had made a significant transformation experience.

Band 6

So, this change occurred in the second year of my life. So, I didn't go to a college which I liked, I didn't take a course which was my dream thing or my aspiration to do so. Actually, after completing my 12th, I had no plan, I had some wish like marine engineering without any future aspects, prospects or something. I just had a plan of doing marine engineering and my parents said, if you are not so into the course and you don't know the actual inside of the course, doing that would have no scope in your future. So, better choose a course which gives you a good job in your life in the future. So, I was thinking and finally a lot of people said civil engineering is something very easy, I was very poor in academics. So, I started listening to them and I just chose civil engineering and this college was something which my parents pushed me into and my college life was also very poor at the initial stages. So, I didn't like it. So, till the second year I was very poor in academics in college, I had a lot of arrears and my life was like a lame one without any reason and nothing was going according to a plan or a schedule. So, that's when I decided I need a change. This positive change occurred because of a real life example. He was a neighbor of us, he is around 10 years older than me. He is from a rich family, their parents are all well settled. But as he was very poor in education, he didn't show a lot of interest to it, he got addicted to cigarettes and drugs. He spoiled his own life. So, when I saw him, I thought I shouldn't be someone like that in the future. So, I just changed everything.

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