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Describe a situation when you were late.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What was the event?
  • Why were you late?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 48 answers

Cue 1:What was the event?

  • Begin by clearly stating the event you were late for, such as a meeting, a family gathering, or an exam.
  • Provide some context about the significance of the event to you.

Example

I was supposed to attend my friend's wedding, which was a significant event for me as we had been friends since childhood.

Cue 2:Why were you late?

  • Explain the reason for your delay, whether it was due to traffic, personal issues, or something unexpected.
  • Make sure to include any details that highlight the situation, such as the time you left home or any obstacles you faced.

Example

I left my house on time, but there was an unexpected traffic jam due to road construction. I was stuck for almost an hour, which made me late.

Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your emotions regarding being late, such as anxiety, embarrassment, or frustration.
  • Reflect on how your feelings might have affected your experience of the event.

Example

I felt really anxious and embarrassed when I arrived. I was worried that I would miss important moments of the wedding, and I hated the thought of letting my friend down.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the overall experience and what you learned from it.
  • Mention how you might handle a similar situation differently in the future.

Example

In the end, I enjoyed the wedding, but I learned the importance of leaving even earlier for important events. Now, I always plan for extra travel time to avoid being late.

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

Giving vague or unclear answers can make your response less engaging. It may leave the examiner confused about your experience and feelings.

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Tip

Provide specific details about the event, such as the location and people involved, to create a clearer picture.

2: Lack of Emotion

Failing to express your feelings about being late can make your answer sound flat. Emotions help connect with the listener and make your story memorable.

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Tip

Share your feelings honestly, whether it was embarrassment, frustration, or something else, to add depth to your response.

Overly Complicated Language

Using complex vocabulary or grammar can lead to mistakes and misunderstandings. It's important to communicate clearly and effectively.

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Tip

Stick to simple and clear language to ensure your message is understood, focusing on fluency over complexity.

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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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Anonymous student Band 8

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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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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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Anonymous student Band 7

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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.
Describe a book you recently read
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Reported by

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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

Yeah, so basically I was late in the last week for my team meeting. Team meeting was earlier scheduled on the next day, but due to some emergencies my manager has pre-pondered it on the same day. And I was not aware like meeting schedule has been changed and I was under the impression that meeting is on next day and like meeting but it was on the same day due to some of the reasons. And I was late for that meeting because I was not aware, I have not checked my outlook and my personal mails that is the reason I was late. One of my colleague has called me and he told me to join the meeting immediately. So I joined and I have apologized for my mistake and for being late. I felt really bad because this is the like first time when I missed anything and I was late for any of the important meetings. So yeah.

Band 6-7

So, there was this incident that happened to me like two years ago in which I went to an internship to the United Kingdom and when I was coming back, there was this flight that I had to take and we were already late for the boarding because one of my friends decided to get something for his family. So, he went out and like got late which like surprisingly made us also late and then we went and then there was this uncle that who took us in the car to the airport. So, while on the way, we got into some very difficult situation in which there was this maintenance going on the road which led to an accident and there was this long line of traffic and like the GPS which was on, it was showing that it would take more than what we were supposed to take. So, it felt really anxious to me. My heart started pounding as if I was like everything just gonna explode or anything. I don't know what but then like by the God's grace, we successfully reached there on time like before a few minutes. So, we decided to conquer it in parts like one of my friend would take our passports and run to the boarding counter and other two would carry our luggages quickly and would rush through the you know airport and to other end of the airport. So, it was really you know overwhelming for me. So, but then also we got into some trouble at the counter station but eventually we got lucky and got on time on the airplane. So, that was really anxious for me.

Band 6-7

The situation is very violent and one day at school, I'm late. The teacher asked me why I'm late. I answered, the bus is late. The teacher started hiding me and the students left. So, the situation is very violent. But, at last, she's talking with me, the intrepid, and she said,

Band 6-7

Well, I am very punctual person, but sometimes due to some reasons when I was being late. Here I would like to say some light an event when I was reached late. I vividly reach a couple of month ago. I had to go to Ahmedabad for my cousin's marriage. Her name is Afreen. She was not just my cousin, but my bosom buddy also. She called me before one month for marriage, but due to my hectic schedule, I couldn't go as early as she said. But after 15 days, whenever I was go to the station due to heavy rain. Moreover, I felt blue at that time because I had to go to Ahmedabad as soon as possible. Furthermore, I just travelled by road, so I called my friend and told him the whole story. Luckily, he was available at that time, which was just a cherry on a cake news for me because he was very engaged person. Besides this, he came and I reached there after 7 hours. All in all, this was the time when I was late and I felt blue because it's my friend's marriage and I don't wanted to reach there late.

Band 6-7

The one instance that I was late for, off the top of my head, was my farewell ceremony for my bachelor's degree. This was a day, unfortunately, my dad was dropping me off. It was a day where there was a nationwide protest and there was a Bharat Bandh. Now what that meant was that there were no public transit, so everybody took their own personal vehicles. The event was supposed to start at around 10 a.m. and I was stuck in traffic for a long time. Now this was a very momentous occasion, this was my graduation, we were supposed to have fun and I was all dressed up. And I was getting extremely antsy because I, as a person, do not really like tardiness of any capacity. As I was going about a flyover, I noticed my friends in an auto next to me and as I realized, as I saw them, I realized that all of us were on the same boat, which was unfortunately sinking. Now although we were all late, we were almost 40-45 minutes late, which I would not let slide normally, we had tremendous fun and I am extremely glad for that opportunity. However, I do realize that I am not somebody who likes tardiness, who does not like to go late, even in circumstances which are unavoidable, which makes me feel uneasy.

Band 6-7

Okay, I am not usually a late person to the class, like, I don't always go late to the class, but one such event made me feel so bad. When I was, like, I had to eat my lunch too fast to make up the time, but I'm not a person who eats my lunch very fast, so I had to eat slow, and as a result, I was late to the class, like, I was only late for five to six minutes, but I felt really sad because many of the students who were intentionally made late to the class were also standing, and students like me were unintentionally late, were also standing beside them, like, together with them, so it made me feel very bad in such a way that I decided to come to class earliest possible because I felt very ashamed of standing in front of all those 60 people, like, I have done some crime, and there is no possible way to come out of that crime, so, yeah, that's it.

Band 6-7

One time I was running late for an exam and it turned out to be quite stressful and everything planned out. I woke up on time, got ready and even left early to avoid any delays. However, as I was on my way, the cab driver I had booked had problem navigating through the map. We ended up stuck in the traffic and taking wrong routes. The driver wasn't familiar with the area which made things more worse. I was getting more and more anxious as I watched the clock ticking down. By the time I reached the exam centre, I was already about 15 minutes late. I quickly rushed in and explained the situation to my professor. Luckily she was very understanding and could tell I wasn't trying to make excuses. She gave me some extra time to complete the exam which was a huge relief. I was really grateful for her kindness and flexibility. It was really great.

Band 6-7

It was the day of my exam. It was my first exam of the engineering course. I was very nervous. Generally, everyone will be nervous to do things they do first time in their life. And I was also very nervous. I know that I have prepared very well. Furthermore, I was nervous to attend the exam. I still remember during the time, I reached the exam hall before half an hour to start the exam. Then later on, I realized that I have forgotten my hall ticket in my room. I couldn't understand, I couldn't think what can I do at that time. However, my friend suggested me to go and get my hall ticket back. I ran to the room and I took my hall ticket and I came back. On my arrival, I realized that it was a sunny day and I was already sweating. My exam time is on and I was already late to the exam. I went to the class and the exam was already started. I requested the individual to allow me for the exam. I explained my situation. He understood that and allowed me. Somehow, later on, I started to write my exam. I couldn't realize what I have done. I couldn't recall what I read. So, that was a very tough situation to be in. That was very disgusting. So, everyone should be on time when they have to be prepared for everything.

Band 6-7

A situation which I faced very recently was when I relieved from my previous organization. It was due to the change in my team members and I was put under a lead who was very egoistic in nature and she was very dominating and very controlling and it was very saddening because I worked in that organization for two years and I was not given the proper recognition. She came in and she dodged the situation completely and it was very disheartening and I am a person who usually comes every day on time, very punctual person but after she came I was dragging myself to the office and I was not on time and it was like I was punching myself because of her. I was punching myself because of her. So it is like a very, I do not want to meet such person again in my life, you know. So I relieved from the organization because of her and I was literally made to relieve from the organization and it was like all our efforts for the two years has gone on vain, gone in vain actually. So it happens but I put those things into perspective and decided to move on with my life and pursue my masters and get more exposure towards my field and that is how we should take things positively and move ahead in life.

Band 6-7

So, the time when I was late was, it was my jury day. So, I come from, I am an architecture student where in the end of every semester we have architectural design juries. So, prior to this day, all of the students, we generally pull in all nighters to work through our design. So, I have been staying up night constantly, continuously for 2-3 days. So, this really affected my sleep cycle. And before my jury day, I was working on my model. I really wanted to emphasize on my model work so that I could get more marks in my jury. So, working on my model and pulling in all nighters, it equally resulted in me getting up late the next day. So, I woke up very late and there was so much traffic on the roads. And I was constantly scared about how my jury would go. And when I finally did reach the university, I did not have any cuts to enter into my classroom. But I did so. And it was a very embarrassing moment because everyone were ready and few of them were done with their reviews. And it was my chance to go and I was very much unprepared for it. So, it was hard for me to face the jurors. But I did go through it. I was panicking but I also tried to make it possible and I made my way through the jury. I did hope that it would go well but unfortunately, it did not. My being late has also accounted into the jurors providing me for marks. So, it did result in a low grade which was kind of disappointing. So, I learned that there will be many consequences when you are not punctual.
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