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Describe a public holiday that people enjoy.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What public holiday is it ?
  • How is it celebrated?
  • What you do during that time?
Show all 50 answers

Cue 1:What public holiday is it?

  • Begin by naming the holiday and providing a brief background about its significance.
  • Mention why this holiday is particularly enjoyed by people in your community.

Example

The public holiday I would like to talk about is Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. It is celebrated by millions of people across India and signifies the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.

Cue 2:How is it celebrated?

  • Describe the various traditions and activities associated with the holiday.
  • Include details about decorations, food, and any special events that take place.

Example

Diwali is celebrated with great enthusiasm. People decorate their homes with colorful rangoli designs and lights. Families gather to perform puja (prayers) to Goddess Lakshmi, and the evening is filled with fireworks, which light up the night sky.

Cue 3:What you do during that time?

  • Share your personal experiences and activities you engage in during the holiday.
  • Mention any special memories or traditions that are important to you and your family.

Example

During Diwali, I spend time with my family preparing sweets and snacks. We also visit relatives and exchange gifts. One of my favorite memories is the family gathering where we light diyas (oil lamps) together, creating a beautiful atmosphere of joy and togetherness.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the significance of the holiday and its impact on people's lives.
  • Express your feelings about the holiday and why it is meaningful to you.

Example

In conclusion, Diwali is not just a holiday; it is a time of joy, love, and togetherness. It brings families closer and allows us to celebrate our culture and traditions. I cherish this holiday deeply as it fills my heart with happiness and gratitude.

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: Being Too Vague

Candidates often give very general answers without specific details. This can make the response less engaging and informative.

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Tip

Include specific examples and personal experiences related to the holiday to make your answer more vivid and interesting.

2: Ignoring the Cues

Some candidates forget to address all the cues provided, which can lead to an incomplete answer and lower scores.

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Tip

Make sure to answer all the cues: the holiday, how it is celebrated, and what you do during that time.

Overly Complicated Language

Using complex vocabulary or long sentences can confuse the listener and detract from the clarity of your message.

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Tip

Use clear and simple language to express your ideas, ensuring that your answer is easy to understand.

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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

In India actually there are a lot of public holidays which people enjoy a lot but a particular holiday which comes to my mind is Pongal. Pongal is a festival which are celebrated during the mid of January and it's known to be a well known, it's quite a well known festival in Tamil Nadu and also it is known by other names in other districts also. So during the Pongal everyone in their house would celebrate it hugely by boiling some rice and offering it to the god as a sign of prosperity and rewarding to the god for the harvest that they have collected. It's a festival which is for giving what we own to the nature. It's kind of harvesting festival. Every people around my home town and even whole Tamil Nadu would celebrate it as a huge festival and the fun part is every farmers also involves in this festival by cleaning their cows and dressing it up, cleaning their utensils used for agricultural resources and everything. During that day I was also involved praying in that festival and enjoyed the sugarcane a lot because that's a speciality of Pongal.

Band 6-7

One of the public holidays that I would like to name would be Diwali. It is a festival that beckons the return of Lord Ram to his birthplace Ayodhya, after winning over the unjust ruled Ravana to her kidnapped Sita, wife of Ram. This festival is celebrated around October or November based upon the Hindu calendar as the stars and planets are aligned. This festival is celebrated by bursting firecrackers, buying new clothes, sharing sweets, inviting people for dinner and various such activities. I personally love this festival because it provides me with an opportunity to spend time with family and indulge in sweets which are a weak point for me. However, I refrain from bursting firecrackers as they can create some rambunctious feelings. I want to set an example to my child which is environmentally sustainable. Other than that, meeting family members is fun, having sweets is great, but let us not get overboard and spill it over to the next day. The extra calories that you get on Diwali is something that you may remember for a very long time if it is not burnt. Diwali is a festival where there is a lot of lights, a lot of sounds, a lot of hustles, a lot of giggling, a lot of fun and this is how a festival should be. Diwali actually portrays the life and soul of a festival. I enjoy that. That is it.

Band 6-7

I think Diwali is one such public holiday where the whole nation enjoys to celebrate it. It is celebrated every year at the months of October or November. It is a prosperous celebration. The people think that doing Goddess Lakshmi Puja will bring a lot of fortune in their business. I do enjoy the festival a lot. Because sweets are cooked, we get to meet people, family members and enjoy. And even we burst crackers, which I like the most.

Band 6-7

The public holiday that I enjoy the most is the new year's day because it's the end of the year right, everybody wants to make new year resolutions and they want to start a new life because it's a new day of the year. So everybody think of it as a way that if they are going to stay consistent on that one day it will lead for the coming days too. So yeah, the new year's day is the public holiday that everyone enjoy. People tend to celebrate with their family members and their friends and everyone. Actually in my friends, we used to celebrate it such a way like we used to collect some money from my friends and then we pool it together and we buy some things, we will invest you know on food and drinks and we will plan a karaoke and we will dance for some time and then until too well, when it fits too well, we will celebrate with loud noises and we also firecrackers too and yeah, we wish each other a new year, happy new year and I try to message my closest and dearest ones who are not with me, who are in abroad studying, I wish them over phone or I'll drop them message wishing happy new year. And we spend time with family on the new year.

Band 6-7

In India, almost everyone celebrates Independence Day on 15th August of every year. Back in 1947, India got independence and from that moment onwards, every day here Independence Day celebrated by public, schools and almost every organization very joyfully. On the Independence Day, people usually gather together and do a flag hosting and after that, children or maybe some other artist do some artistic style performance like maybe it may be a dance, they sing and usually they celebrate it as a cultural day. Apart from that, sweets get distributed in schools as well as in families also, people usually bring some sweets on that day to celebrate the Independence Day. And usually, most people go for some awareness campaigns or maybe they just hang out with their friends on that day and as an Indian citizen, I mostly enjoy it on that day because in the morning, I just saw that big celebration on TV and after that, I just go to my friends and in that way, I celebrate that. Apart from that, my father was a policeman so in our family, it's compulsory to celebrate that day and usually, he goes to his police station, they celebrate there by doing some parade.

Band 6-7

In public holiday, suppose for that Republic Day, it is celebrated all over India that everyone knows. So, however, we hoist the flag in our public organizations like office, school, etc. So, after celebrating that flag hoisting in school, if we have any programs regarding Republic Day, they will do. And after that, it will be a holiday, it will be a half day, like 11.30 they will send home. And after that, I will enjoy my holiday, like first I will listen to music and play sometime. And after that, I will spend with my family, like going outside and having some fun with the family in the weekends and that public holiday. So, I love spending with my family in the holiday time because we will not get more time to spend in weekdays. And after that, we may take some pics and it will be memorable for us. So, I will enjoy my public holiday in this way. So, thank you so much for giving this opportunity.

Band 6-7

According to me, the public holiday which most of the people enjoy in India is Independence Day or Republic Day. These both are the national holidays of India. These holidays are celebrated because of the freedom we got on that particular day. Every year, Independence Day is celebrated on August 15th. India got independence on August 15th, 1947. So hence from there, every year on August 15th, 1947, we Indians celebrate the Independence Day. Moreover, children like this national holiday, public holiday because it gives them a lot of excitement in their schooling days. Although all the students visit the school on that day for the flag hoisting and few dance programs, children enjoy it the most. While the elders get a week off from their office work and other things, children need to go to the school and finish a few formalities and then head back to their homes. Although it's not a piece of cake to even go to the school on the holiday day, but children like to go there, enjoy with their friends, have some chit-chatting with them and then head back to their homes. It is celebrated every year annually, so most of the people enjoy this one.

Band 6-7

I would like to describe a public holiday that people enjoy the most. Like, on every public holiday people used to spend their leisure time and enjoy shopping and watching movies in the malls and enjoy with their families by spending their time. But nobody cares about exactly what happens on that day. Like, if we talk about Independence Day and Republic Day, people don't care about the exact meaning of that day. But people just enjoy that day by spending their time watching TV. What exactly is, we have to know about the real meaning of that day. That what really happens on that day. Like, if we talk about Independence Day, we should know about that day, what exactly happens on that day. Like, if we talk about that day, what is Independence Day, we get independence on that day. In 1947, we got the independence.

Band 6-7

Well, the public holiday I enjoy the most is the Independence Day of India, Indian Independence Day, which this day falls on 15th of August and this is the day when we celebrate the independence of India from the British rule. On this day, people are all excited, they are all in their patriotic spirit. So this day is celebrated all over the country, in offices, in schools, in societies, in communities and through small localities too. Children, elderly, everyone is indulged, seen indulging in that patriotic fervor. People sing patriotic songs, they perform cultural dances, there are programs everywhere. The national anthem is sung, people wear traditional clothes, they wave, the flag is hoisted that day in offices and schools. And people have fun and they are soaked into that patriotic fervor. There's a lot of pomp and fair associated with this public holiday. The best thing about this public holiday is that the citizens of that country, citizens of India, they all come together to celebrate this in brotherhood. So you can sense, you can see that brotherhood amongst the citizens of India.

Band 6-7

According to me, a favorite public holiday that people really enjoy would be Christmas because Christmas is such a joyful time, it brings peace and it brings a certain kind of nostalgia to people that really enjoy. What people do during Christmas is kids make cookies or the right term would be kids bake cookies and they keep milk with it for the Santa and then the kids go to sleep and then parents act as Santa and they drop the Christmas gifts underneath the Christmas tree and next morning the kids wake up to a gift and it's such a joyful time for everyone, everyone exchanges gifts and they decorate their house with golden, sparkly or colorful lights and it's such a merry time for everyone. What I do during Christmas is me and my family exchanges gifts as a token of appreciation for each other and I like to go out with my friends, have a nice dinner and it's relatively I like to go out with a smaller group of friends because they know me really well and I like to celebrate my favorite time with my close ones. So it's just a joyful, merry time everywhere you go out in the city, it's all decked out in Christmas decorations, either in Christmas trees are there, the garlands are there, the mistletoes are present as well and yeah, like the entire city is shining with golden, silver or red or green lights and it's so pretty, it's such an enchanting time.
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