arrow back icon Top Answers

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.

bulb icon

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.

bulb icon

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.

bulb icon

Tip

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

calendar icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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 event I almost missed lately was my own sister's wedding. I was supposed to go there and make all the preparations and was supposed to intermingle with all my relatives and have a fun time. That was my whole idea. But it was intervened by my boss, the district judge. I had applied for a one-month leave and then I also went there to ask him for special permission so that he can expedite my application. On the contrary, I found that he was furious on me asking for a leave to attend my sister's wedding. To quote him, that was his exact words, that paid leave is not to attend your sister's wedding. So I was very frustrated that how a person can be so inhumane and so cold to other people's emotions. Because of him, I had to make all the other arrangements. I had to cancel my flight. Me and my husband had to take car and travel 700 kilometers to reach the place. The weather was not good. It was February and it was raining cats and dogs. So it was a misadventure. Then finally when I reached the venue, my sister was actually, they were very happy to see me and I was so, although I was happy to reach there, but I regret the beautiful moments which I have missed because of my boss and the time is not going to come back. And those moments are lost forever.

Band 6-7

No audio text available

Band 6-7

The situation was like there was an event in my family, it was my brother's mundan ceremony. Like in Indians, when the boy is of three or four years, there is a ceremony in which we shave his head and a part of head is devoted to the God. So in that ceremony, I was late by almost half an hour. And the time I reached there, the ceremony was already done. And I was called it so badly at that time. Also, it was a little embarrassing.

Band 6-7

I was late to an entrance exam and the factors that led to the same were mainly traffic, transportation problems and lack of time management from my side as well. When I reached the exam centre, I was in a situation of panic and I was thinking that I would not be able to give the exam as I was very late to the centre. Moreover, with some buffer, I somehow managed to reach the exam centre and they allowed me to give the exam. I was not in a good mood then because I had a really big fight at my home as well. In addition to that, I got late to my exam, so it caused a cascading effect and I was thinking that I would not be able to perform well in that exam due to the factors I already told you. But the question paper came, I relaxed my mind and attempted the whole question paper

Band 6-7

I would like to talk about a situation when I was late. It was my NEET exam. NEET exam is an entrance test to get admission into medical colleges for the course MBBS. I went to the exam centre 10 minutes late because I was stuck in traffic. On the day of examination, in my city there was a CM visit so the traffic congestion was there. Moreover, I got late for only 10 minutes but the exam centre did not allow me to enter the hall and write the exam. I felt very sad about that thing. Moreover, I have to give up for that exam on this year. Consequently, I prepared for the next year. Finally, I cracked my NEET exam with a score of 580 out of 720 which was a decent score to get admission into reputed universities. And finally I got admission into Mahatma Gandhi Medical College which was about 17 km away from my home. I recommended my brother to write the same exam but I advised him to be on time to the exam centre.

Band 6-7

I got an experience, I have an experience recently because in my working schedule we have to do punching and signing before 1 p.m. On that typical day, as my in-law was in the weather, I took her to hospital for treatment. Because of that I couldn't reach my working time, I couldn't reach my working place on time. So, but anyhow I punched right 1 p.m. but I couldn't do signing in front of the superintendent before 1 p.m. After changing to uniform I reached at her office at 1.15. She inquired the reason for the late. Then I told ma'am this is because of because of this hospital purpose I couldn't reach here on time. She told it's not an excuse, we are not able to accept late punching and late signing. As this is the first time I'm giving a warning now, don't repeat the same. Then I told definitely I will make sure that this type of things are happening again. Afterwards I made my whole efforts to reach my work place.

Band 6-7

I would like to describe a situation where I was late to join a class. It was during my post graduation. So during that time, we had classes conducted by the head of department. Actually we had two campuses, one old campus and one new campus. So the classes were conducted in the new campus but we were residing in the old campus. So it was like 2 km away from each other. So every morning we used to go by walk or by auto to attend the classes. So what happened on that day was that the class was at 10 o'clock and we first was opting to take auto but unfortunately we didn't get any auto. So we were stranded for a very long time. Then we decided to go by walk. So it took a little bit more time and we reached there 5 minutes late. But our head of department was already there in the class and he was very disappointed to see us. And he asked us to never repeat this again. I felt very bad about this because I am a very punctual person. And this was the first time that I felt hurt and I made someone also disappointed with my behavior. So I never repeated it again. I was extremely careful the very next time that I never become late. And I hope that I have never disappointed him another time.

Band 6-7

A situation when I was late, it takes me back to my grade 12th year when I was late for an English speaking test. Those were the board exams period and I remember I had a centre which was quite far from the place that I used to live. The person that I am, I prepare myself well, I pack all my stuff in advance, even I plan my clothes in advance so that I don't want to be late for any particular event per se. However, that day a very misfortunate incident happened. While I started travelling, I decided that instead of taking the train I would take a cab. When the journey started, it was quite okay for the first 20 minutes. However, I was suddenly stuck in huge traffic as there had been an accident on the road. The situation was completely chaotic. I was in a panic state of mind because I could not understand what to do. At that time I did not use a mobile phone and thus I could not reach out to my friends in order to inform them that I am on my way and it would take me some time to reach and it is a legitimate reason that I am late. However, I reached my college. Yes, I was not allowed to give the exam the same day because according to the rules for the board exams, I need to be present half an hour prior to the centre. I was very embarrassed. It was very shocking for me. I started to cry. I clearly remember

Band 5-6

A situation can be described as a set of circumstances in which individuals of groups find themselves at a particular moment. Situation can be categorized into various contexts such as social, professional or event, hypothetical scenarios, each of which necessities, densities, approaches and perspectives. For instance, consider a professional situation where a manager must native a conflicts between team members that requires not only emotional intelligence but also an accurate understanding of the dynamic at place. The manager of most employees diplomacy and tact to ensure the issues is resolved amicably while simultaneously preventing team cohesion and moral. On the other hand, a social situation such as encountering a culture, misunderstanding during international travels demands adaptability and open-minded in such case acknowledging the nudance of different cultures and demonstrating respect and pivotal in transforming potential goalie fix into opportunities for

Band 5-6

last year at my brother's wedding we were supposed to arrive at 9 a.m. but a very accident happened that day in the morning my father got his spines injured and that morning he actually fell in the bathroom and that very situation made everything worse we had to go to the doctor first and then to the wedding I was very excited for my brother's wedding from a very long ago from lot of months I prepared everything my dresses my hair accessories everything but that very moment destroyed everything I was actually also worried about my father but as well as I really wanted to go to the wedding because it's my own brother's wedding and I couldn't miss that also
1 2 3 4 5
ielts logo

Get the IELTS Prep App

Star rating icon

4.2

1M+ Installs

 app download banner image

Get the app link on your phone

+91

Or download app from

google play storeapp store
master ielts speaking ad