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Describe A Skill That You Learned In Your Childhood: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What skill did you learn?
  • When did you learn the skill?
  • How did you practise and develop this skill?
  • Why do you think it's essential to learn such skills?
Show all 47 answers

Cue 1:What skill did you learn?

  • Begin by clearly stating the skill you learned, such as playing a musical instrument or a sport.
  • Share a brief personal connection to the skill, explaining why it was important to you.

Example

One skill that I learned in my childhood was playing the guitar. I was always fascinated by music and wanted to express myself through it.

Cue 2:When did you learn the skill?

  • Mention the age or grade when you started learning the skill.
  • Provide context about your environment, such as whether you took classes or learned from a family member.

Example

I started learning the guitar when I was around 10 years old. My father, who is a musician, taught me the basics during our weekend jam sessions.

Cue 3:How did you practice and develop this skill?

  • Explain your practice routine, including how often you practiced and any specific exercises you did.
  • Mention any performances or milestones that helped you improve.

Example

I practiced every day for about an hour, focusing on different chords and songs. I also participated in school events where I performed, which boosted my confidence and skills.

Cue 4:Why do you think it's essential to learn such skills?

  • Discuss the benefits of learning this skill, such as discipline, creativity, or social interaction.
  • Relate it to personal growth or future opportunities.

Example

I believe learning skills like playing the guitar is essential because it teaches discipline and enhances creativity. It also helped me make friends who shared similar interests, which was invaluable during my school years.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, learning to play the guitar in my childhood not only enriched my life with music but also shaped my character and social skills. It remains a cherished part of my identity today.

    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 general when describing the skill you learned. Vague answers can make it difficult for the examiner to understand your experience and may lead to lower scores.

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    Tip

    Provide specific details about the skill, including examples of what you did and how it felt to learn it.

    2: Neglecting Practice Details

    Failing to explain how you practiced and developed the skill can weaken your response. Examiners look for depth in your answer.

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    Tip

    Include specific activities or routines you followed to improve your skill, such as classes, practice sessions, or personal projects.

    Ignoring Importance

    Not addressing why the skill is essential can make your answer seem incomplete. This part shows your understanding of the skill's value.

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    Tip

    Discuss how the skill has impacted your life or how it can benefit others, linking it to broader life lessons or future applications.

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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
    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 7

    One valuable skill I learned during my childhood was public speaking. I was introduced to it when I was around 10 years old, thanks to a school event where students were encouraged to participate in a storytelling competition. At first, I was extremely hesitant. Like many children, I was shy and afraid of speaking in front of an audience. However, with the encouragement of my English teacher, I decided to give it a try. She helped me up a short story and taught me some basic techniques, such as making eye contact, using high-end gestures, and speaking clearly and confidently. The first time I stood on stage, my hands were trembling and my heart was racing. But once I began speaking, I slowly started to feel more comfortable. The applause I received at the end was a turning point. It gave me a huge boost in confidence and made me realize that public speaking wasn't as scary as I had imagined. Since then, I have taken part in numerous debates, presentations, and speeches throughout my academic journey. The skill has been incredibly used not just in school, but also in real-life situations like in interviews and team meetings. It taught me how to express myself clearly, persuade others, and connect with an audience. Looking back, learning public speaking at such a young age shaped my personality and opened up many opportunities for me.

    Band 7

    I decided to enhance my communication skills, as I felt it was crucial for both personal and professional growth. Effective communication helps build better relationships and open up more opportunities in life. I wanted to be more confident and articulated in expressing myself. I enrolled in public speaking workshops, practiced mindfulness to improve my listening skills, and started reading books on interpersonal communication. I also joined social groups to practice engaging in conversation. Over time, I noticed significant improvement. I became more confident during presentations, built stronger bonds with colleagues, and handled challenging situations with clarity. Yeah, that's why I like to improve myself in self-development in many other ways.

    Band 6-7

    The one skill that I learned in my childhood is cooking. My mom taught me how to cook. I first learned how to cook when I was in eighth grade. It was because out of necessity my mom had to go somewhere for two days and there was nobody at home to prepare food. So she taught me how to prepare lemon rice. I tried making it but failed at the first time. I failed in first time but I tried again and after few attempts I made a good lemon rice. It tasted really delicious. I cook for my family different recipes and they all love my cooking. I used to cook only South Indian cuisine but nowadays I started preparing, I started trying to cook Italian dishes like pasta. I had once in a restaurant and I loved it so I wanted to prepare it myself at home. When I cooked it for the first time it came out really delicious. I made my parents try it also and they said it was really good. This skill really helps when nobody is around to cook for you and it's kind of like a survival skill.

    Band 6-7

    The skill that I learned when I was a child was long-distance running. Actually it was in-built within me. I didn't know that I was able to run a long distance until I was learning grade seven. My school physical education master found out the ability that I can run with more stamina for quite a long distance. Then later he gave me a lot of practice to complete in 1500 meters running. I usually used to run at least 5,000 meters both in the morning and evening practice session. We had some exercises, stretches, cycling, high knee actions, all those things to improve the quality of running and sometimes I also had shuttle run and we were given a lot of training for that. A day came when I was running and I secured second place in the state level competition and this skill kept me physically fit and healthy always.

    Band 6-7

    Important thing for me. Actually, during my childhood, I preferred to build my skills like dance. My parents noticed that I used to dance to music, playing on kids' television. They decided to enroll me in a dance class. It was a mix of Bollywood and classical styles. And mostly the classical style is Kuch Pudi. At first, it was a hobby, but soon it became something like truly passionate. It really helped me to express my feelings without words. It made me feel happy, confident and relaxed. Over the years, I performed at many school functions, cultural events, and also on stages. Learning dance taught me more, improved my concentration, body balance and discipline. It also boosted my confidence while performing in front of people, which later helped me in other areas like public speaking and group activities. Even today, dancing remains an important part of my life. At present, I am doing studies. But whenever I get free time, I also dance. So, it helps me to get concentration and also stress-free. I conclude that learning dance when I was in my childhood was one of the best decisions. It shaped my personality and I have a lot of memories with it.

    Band 6-7

    and skill that I've learned in my childhood is drawing and painting during my leisure time I used to paint and during the summer vacation I used to practice drawing then gradually I joined in painting club held by Chennai Corporation won an award and silver medal practice made very easy for me to get better painting and the skill henceforth this skill has been very essential in my career and also through the skill have helped orphanage children by donating money which was earned through my painting every every children during the childhood should develop their skill it is very important to develop the skill and also it is a very right time to start from the childhood I learned through internet I started making small paintings and then through that I've learned to draw wall paintings and how to paint a big wall how to create a very unique paintings this has been helpful for my career as well so I think every every individual should have a skill which will be useful for their in future

    Band 6-7

    so a skill I have learned in my childhood is drawing and painting so I started learning art because as a kid when I used to be bored I didn't really have anybody to play with and that's that was mostly because I was an only child and when all my friends used to be like you know used to be preoccupied with something else I had nothing to do at home except watching the television and it isn't always good for your eyes so my mom made me learn painting and I fell in love with it it has really helped me to keep myself occupied and I started trying different kinds of artworks like you know explore with various mediums and over the time I picked up how to paint really well with acrylics and oil paints and this helped me participate in school art competitions I received a lot of appreciation from my peers and my teachers back in school and that's a skill that comes handy even now as a 21 year old I'm so glad I started learning to paint when I was six years old because it's really therapeutic and now in my busy schedule like juggling between work and preparing for my higher studies when I need a free time I need to like you know let some stress out painting really gets me in the mood and you know it helps my creative juices flow I'm so glad I've learned to paint and I hope someday I can even start selling my artworks

    Band 6-7

    Back then in my childhood days, I used to be very fond of learning drawing and craft. So that was my strength area and I put myself to enhance the skill furthermore. So when I was a child, I joined the drawing classes, which used to held twice a week. I still remember my art teacher, she was very kind and the way she handled and make me learn the new things that is unforgettable experience. In my opinion, art and craft doesn't only make you learn new things, but also adds to the creativity. Moreover, it is very important to get involved in such a skill because such kind of things, they are directly connected with your emotions. You are able to exhibit your talent and your feelings through drawing and craft. Such skills not only helps in your personal development, but also they are responsible for developing you in your career path. In addition to it, it's very important to have such skills in your life because it directly replicates your mind. It makes you feel very refreshing and also lightens your mood. Drawing and craft has always been a piece of cake for me. I thoroughly enjoy whenever I am doing this drawing. Not only in childhood, I still practice this whenever I get the time. It's a very stress booster.

    Band 6-7

    From what I can remember, the most earliest skill I learned was drawing or painting. I learned this when I was around 5 to 6 years old. I think I was in pre-primary or around second class and I was very interested in art basically. I used to scribble a lot. I used to make small forms when I was a kid. So my aunt, which is my mother's sister, taught me how to draw. We used to sit every evening and she used to teach me how to draw an apple maybe or how to draw a sunset scenery or a tree or something like that. I think learning a skill like this is very important for a child because it enhances their creative mind. It improves their motor skills and it enables a child to think more broader so that he or she can develop good thinking knowledge and can use this skill when he or she grows older. I think that is one skill very vividly I remember I learned in my childhood.

    Band 6-7

    A skill that I have mastered particularly is cooking. I would say that I have become incredibly good at it over time. I remember that I was not very fond of cooking in my childhood. It was because there was a clear inequality at my home in terms of gender. My parents never told my brother to cook anything whereas I was told to cook all the time. I started feeling like it was a gender stereotype and I just stopped doing it. But later on my parents sat me down and they had a conversation with me. They told me that cooking is a basic life skill and it is not something that only girls should do. Then I started questioning them, asking them, saying why don't you guys tell my brother to cook then. That I think actually made them open their eyes and they started incorporating my brother also when it came to kitchen tasks. Then I remember we used to have a lot of days where me and my brother used to cook together and it was a really fun time. Coming back to the present, I really love cooking. I love cooking for others too. I have become really good at it and my favourite dish to cook is a biryani. Everyone in my home loves the dishes that I make and I am specially skilled in garnishing the food that is made. That gives me so much of joy when others come and tell me that this was delicious and I really am happy about it.
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