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Describe A Situation When You Helped Someone: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What was the situation where you helped someone?
  • How did you come to know about the need for help?
  • What did you do to help?
  • What was the outcome of your help?
Show all 11 answers

Cue 1:What was the situation where you helped someone?

  • Begin by describing the specific situation where you offered help, including who was involved.
  • Make sure to convey the emotions and urgency of the situation to engage the listener.

Example

Last year, I was at a local market when I noticed an elderly woman struggling to carry her heavy bags. She looked quite distressed, and I felt compelled to assist her.

Cue 2:How did you come to know about the need for help?

  • Explain how you became aware of the person's need for assistance, whether it was through observation or communication.
  • Share any thoughts or feelings you had when you realized help was needed.

Example

As I walked past her, I saw her trying to lift the bags but struggling. It was clear she needed help, and I couldn't just walk by without offering my assistance.

Cue 3:What did you do to help?

  • Detail the actions you took to provide help, emphasizing your willingness and approach.
  • Mention any specific tasks you performed to assist the person.

Example

I approached her and asked if she needed help. She gratefully accepted, and I took her bags and walked her to her car, making sure she was comfortable along the way.

Cue 4:What was the outcome of your help?

  • Describe the result of your actions and how it affected the person you helped.
  • Reflect on how this experience made you feel and any lessons learned.

Example

Once we reached her car, she thanked me profusely and shared how much she appreciated my kindness. It made me feel good to know I had made her day a little easier, and it reminded me of the importance of helping others.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, helping others not only benefits them but also brings a sense of fulfillment to ourselves. This experience taught me that even small acts of kindness can have a significant impact on someone's life.

    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

    Avoid being too vague when describing the situation. Candidates often give unclear details, which can make their answer less engaging and informative.

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    Tip

    Provide specific details about the situation, including who needed help, what the circumstances were, and why it was important.

    2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

    Many candidates forget to mention the emotional aspect of helping someone. This can make the story feel flat and less relatable.

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    Tip

    Include how you felt during the situation and how your help affected the person you assisted emotionally.

    Skipping the Outcome

    Some candidates fail to discuss the outcome of their help, which is crucial for showing the impact of their actions.

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    Tip

    Always conclude with what happened after you helped, including any changes or improvements that resulted from your assistance.

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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 6-7

    So, it was a few months back, I came to know about a girl named Anjali through my aunt. She mentioned that she has lost her way, she is around 10 years of age, she is from North India and she doesn't remember her address or phone number. Police have tried contacting their parents, they have given advertisements on advertising platforms, but there is no improvement. So they joined her in a government aid hostel. My aunt was looking for a sponsor, so she is in need of financial support where she can study and has some basic essential needs. So what I did is, I started a whatsapp group, adding my friends and colleagues and explaining them about the situation and I started fundraising for it. So we had a decent amount, where we paid her school fees and we got her essential supplies as well. She is a very good, nice girl, we spoke with her, we met her. She was just 10 years old, her name is Anjali, sorry I forgot to mention. So that made a huge impact in me and my friends. So we planned that we should help others every once in a month. Once we get our salaries, we should sponsor some money and help somebody who is in need. Anjali is 14 years now, she has completed her primary school and now she is going to appear for the public exam and later, of course, she wants to become a pilot. So we said yes, of course, we are all there to support.

    Band 6-7

    Well, when I had completed my course, GP rating, and I was searching job for my rank. With me, one of my friend also searching job for his rank. And I was from that department and he was from another department. We both were searching job. And after long time, we didn't find a job. And my friend gave up and he was going back to home, Uttarakhand. One day, I visited a company and asked for vacancy of my rank. They told me, we don't have vacancy for this rank, but we have vacancy for engine room. So, I suddenly remembered my friend is from engine room department. I just informed him. And I asked to the HR, my friend is also looking for the job. Can you please refer him for this post? They gave me number and told me, okay, though you sent the resume on this number, we will see and let you know. I just gave to my friend. He went to office and he got selected. So, after 4 days later, he got his placement in that company. So, he was very happy because he was about to quit this life.

    Band 6

    Helping people has always been my passion since childhood. I think this was my major driving force to choose my medical career too. I am a person who believes in karma and doing someone good always does something good to you. There was one such incident where I had come across a person who was very tensed. It was middle of my work day and he was panicking because he couldn't arrange blood for his mother who was in the ICU. He has tried all the blood banks and unfortunately there was no luck. Then immediately I asked him for the blood group which he needed and it was all positive. Luckily my blood group was also that and I was able to help him by donating my blood. That day I felt really proud of myself. It gave me an immense joy, a joy from within and it was so fulfilling and satisfying. I could see the happiness in his face and that left a lasting impression on me. It was wonderful to help him. I felt really nice. After this incident I also urged my friends to donate blood and try to explain them the importance of blood donation. It's so alarming that people don't have enough blood out there and they blah blah.

    Band 6

    A couple of days ago, when I was heading towards my college, there was a lady crying, shouting aloud, and I saw her, and she was a pregnant lady, so I went there. She was in pain, she was about to have a kid, and I called an ambulance, I called an auto, took an auto, took an auto, and dropped her to the hospital as soon as possible, and yeah, that was the latest help I did do.

    Band 6

    During a busy day in our cardiology ward, I noticed an elderly patient who had came to get his tests done. So in order to help him, I personally escorted him to all the diagnostics test facilities. And first of all, I got his ECG done, which was normal. And I also noticed that he was having trouble walking around the hospital premises. So I went out of my way to help this patient, and I coordinated with other staff members and other laboratory professionals in order to reduce the waiting times for this person. And this person was entirely grateful that I was able to help him. And after that, we went for getting his bus, and I got him a bus, and then we went back.

    Band 6

    Well, I would like to talk about when I helped someone, I helped my best friend, she was preparing for her nursing exam and she did not get to understand some topics, so I helped her in those days, we studied together for some days, I helped her, I helped her, I helped her, I helped her, I helped her, I helped her. After that my help, she was understood and she passed in exam, she was very over the moon and I am felt good, I helped her.

    Band 6

    Hi, I think I feel that helping people is one of the good gesture toward them. I also prefer to help when someone need that. Yesterday I saw an accident happened in front of me and a car was totally broken. And I helped the passenger to came out from the accident car. And I called 911 for ambulance to help them to get that ambulance facility which are necessary for them. Because I saw they are bleeding from their head and from their chest. So at that time I feel that thank God I was available at that time to help them. When I saw them they are unconscious in the state. So I pulled out all of them and I called 911. When they need that I am always available for them.

    Band 6

    Helping someone is a bit of good gesture. When I was in Majestic metro station located in Bangalore, when I was travelling from Majestic to JP Nagar, when I was sitting in the seat of metro station, I found out a person, an elderly person, which might be ageing around 70 to 80, I found that he was a bit terrified and worried. He was searching his pockets and searching his bags. And then I went to him and asked about what was the situation. He then told me that he lost his wallet. And then I asked him, and then we searched everywhere in the metro station. Then I was feeling that I should help him. Then we together went to the metro station authority and filed a complaint regarding lost wallet. Then we filled the form and we given the number. If they found it, they can call us. So that they can call us. Then I also gave them a small amount of money so that he can go home safely. And moreover, I just told him to just contact their family by my phone so that they won't be worried enough. Then after reaching his home, he called me back and just explained me about, explained me that he, I mean, someone had already given his wallet to the metro authorities. And he was also pleased that he had helped me. And he was also willing to give me the money back. I just told him it's a good gesture.

    Band 5-6

    Thanks for giving this help for someone like me. What am I going to do for someone like me? Because my family situation is very sad. Recently my father passed away 2 years ago. My main source of income is my father. That's it. My family situation is very bad. My finances are not stable. It's a very bad deal nowadays. I have no source of income for my family. Some people are talking very bad things about me. I go to work for my family. My father takes care of me. I study well. My education is very good. I do everything for you. That's it. My education is very important for me. My family situation is very bad. I do my best in my education. After I become a police officer. My family life is very sad. My sister is also studying. She is studying to become a police officer. I am studying to become a police officer. I am not studying to become a police officer. I feel that my life is not going well. I'm studying to become a police officer. I'm studying to become a police officer. I'm studying to become a police officer. I'm studying to become a police officer. I'm studying to become a police officer.

    Band 5-6

    Helping is an art and it's like something which can be done only by a person who is having divinity. And we should have an empathy towards every human being and only that such person can help others. And one situation where I helped one of my friend is a situation when he was in a condition when he was unable to find a job. He was completed his studies and his name was Arun and he was unable to find a job. And once he called me and asked me whether that any vacancy available at my company. And I referred him to my trainer and his profile was okay with the particular section of job. And ranked him for the interview and he successfully cracked the interview section. And after that, that was a successful interview with the particular personalities.
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