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Describe A Story Or Novel That Was Interesting To You: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What story or novel was it?
  • Where did you come to know about it?
  • When did you read it?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 70 answers

Cue 1:What story or novel was it?

  • Begin by mentioning the title of the story or novel clearly.
  • Briefly describe the main theme or genre of the book.

Example

The novel I found particularly interesting is 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho. It is a philosophical story about a young shepherd named Santiago who dreams of finding treasure in Egypt.

Cue 2:Where did you come to know about it?

  • Share how you first heard about the book, whether through a friend, school, or online.
  • Mention any specific recommendations or reviews that influenced your decision to read it.

Example

I first came to know about 'The Alchemist' from a friend who recommended it during our college days. She spoke highly of its inspirational messages, which piqued my interest.

Cue 3:When did you read it?

  • State the time period when you read the book, such as during a specific year or season.
  • You can also mention any particular circumstances that made you choose to read it at that time.

Example

I read this novel about two years ago during my summer vacation. I had some free time, and I wanted to read something that could motivate me.

Cue 4:How did you feel about it?

  • Express your emotions and thoughts after reading the book.
  • Discuss any lessons learned or how it impacted your perspective on life.

Example

After finishing 'The Alchemist', I felt inspired and hopeful. The story taught me about following my dreams and listening to my heart, which has influenced my decisions since then.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, 'The Alchemist' is not just a novel; it’s a journey of self-discovery that resonates with many readers. Its timeless message encourages us to pursue our dreams, making it a memorable read for me.

    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: Avoid Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer less engaging and informative. It’s important to provide specific details about the story or novel to capture the examiner's interest.

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    Tip

    Include key plot points, character names, and specific themes to make your description vivid and memorable.

    2: Don't Rush Your Response

    Rushing through your answer can lead to unclear explanations and missed details. Take your time to think about each cue and structure your response logically.

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    Tip

    Pause briefly to organize your thoughts before answering each cue, ensuring clarity and coherence in your response.

    Neglecting Personal Feelings

    Failing to express your personal feelings about the story can make your answer less relatable. The examiner wants to hear your unique perspective and emotional connection.

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    Tip

    Share how the story impacted you personally, discussing your feelings and thoughts to create a more engaging narrative.

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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

    Two years ago I came across this novel called Shatter Me. I really love it. It's a dystopian adult fantasy book. It really attracted me because of the main characters. Their names are Juliet Ferrars and Aaron Warner. They are such interesting characters that they intrigue me so much. I feel like the story has a very interesting plot and plot twists that makes the reader want to know more about it. It talks about how Juliet was born and how she gained powers and it also talks about Aaron Warner's life and so many other things.

    Band 7

    A story or novel that I was really intrigued in the recent times would be a book called The Silent Patient. It was given to me by a dear friend called Bhanavi. She also shares the same interest that I have in books. The genre we really love is crime thrillers and something that keeps us engrossed while we are reading the book. She had given it to me on a Saturday and I started reading it on that day itself. The book was so engrossed and captivating that I finished it over the weekend. The plot revolves around a famous painter who has had some trouble in childhood but eventually made her way to the top. She is accused of killing her husband in the living room of their house and since then she does not utter a word from the trial to the end of the book, justifying the title of the book. The novel is written in the perspective of the psychiatrist who is trying to help her come back to her original self and possibly find a few clues about what happened. The writing is brilliant in this book particularly because there is a clue at the end of every chapter. Generally, in books that have crime or suspense in them, there is suspense every few chapters to keep you engrossed and captivated but in this book, there are certain clues that are revealed at the end of every chapter, keeping you at the edge of the seat and wanting you to read more at the end of every chapter, so that is something I really liked in the book. There is a lot of twists and turns throughout the book but the main twist that comes at the end of the book is mind-boggling, it can be something you have never ever even imagined and that is something I really enjoyed.

    Band 6-7

    Hello, a story or a novel that was interesting to me was Better Than The Movies. I came across this book. This book is basically a rom-com book about a girl and a guy who meet at first as enemies and slowly and later they fall in love with each other. I first came across this book on Instagram and Goodreads as well as Amazon but one of my classmates happened to have the book at that time and she spoke highly about the book and how it's a very cute rom-com and a really lovely book. That's when I read it. I read this book when I was in 12th grade, actually right before I was preparing for my board exams. So that's when I read the book. It's a really lovely story and it's amazing. I love this story a lot. It has a very sweet ending and a very wonderful ending. It makes me sometimes feel like, oh I wish I could also have a movie like that. I recently came to know that there is a part two to this book which is called Nothing Like The Movies which I am eager to read and find out more about what happens. Apparently it's a continuation of the first book, Better Than The Movies. Bye!

    Band 6-7

    Well, my favorite book that I read as a teenager was The Kite Runner, which was written by Khalid Hosseini and it tells you the story of two little boys in Afghanistan. It is a story of friendship, brotherhood and the violence that happened during the time of Afghanistan wars. The reason that I love this story is because it made me feel emotions that I thought a book could never make me feel. I felt sad, happy with the characters and storyline. And the part that most resonated with me was when the two kids grow up and one of the protagonists goes back to find the child of the other protagonist and he brings back the child and takes care of the child as if it was his own. This shows that even though we are separated by the boundaries of the world, we are not much separated by emotions. And I gifted that book to most of my best friends and they love this story as well. So that would be the book that is the closest to my heart because it was the first book that I ever read. The second book was by the same author, it was called A Thousand Splendid Sons and it was about motherhood and the survival instincts of a woman and I love that.

    Band 6-7

    So, my most interesting and favorite novel of all time is It Starts With Us. I was not really into novels before and this was the first book that I came across. This is a sequel of a book series written by Colin Hoover. I couldn't get a hold of the ends of this book, so I started reading It Starts With Us. This book basically has a triangular love story where there's three main characters and the protagonist somehow turns into the antagonist where different shades of each person are depicted as we move along through the book. This book was recommended to me by my friend when we were debating about how books are not interesting. She told me I should get started by reading this book. And ever since I started reading it from the first page itself, I was so involved and in character with it felt like I was part of the book, not just reading the book. I could personally relate to the character. I am not able to remember his name, but then the character which played the second hero's role where he was growing up in a very tiny home. He ran away from his house. He had to face a lot of difficulties and his friend who he met as a neighbor helped him through his childhood and a few years down the line, they meet and end up end up falling in love all over again. So that is how they connect the childhood story to the current scenario. This is the story of my first novel.

    Band 6-7

    Okay, one of the stories that I read and I still remember is Alice in Wonderland. It is a fantasy fiction. I was introduced to this one particular story by my dad. And I read it when I was in the fifth grade, I still remember. I was completely fascinated by this story. This story revolves around the main character, Alice, who goes into a fantasy land by following a rabbit. And I was intrigued by the story because of its characters. It had a chisel cat, it had two fat twins. I remember all the animals talking in the story and there was a joker who was the close friend of Alice. I remember the story having two queens, both red queen and the white queen who hate each other. But behind their hatred, there was so much love towards each other. And I was completely awed by how different animals were portrayed with their strong features and the strong colors that the story portrayed was completely fascinating. And as I read the book, I was able to imagine every character and it leveled up my sense of imagination is what I believe. And by the end, how Alice fought this particular dragon to save the fantasy land is something that cherished me as a child. So I would always recommend a child to read Alice in Wonderland, that it expands their sense of imagination.

    Band 6-7

    I am a person who likes to listen stories as well as reading novels. Here I would like to shed some light on that particular story which it touched the bottom of my heart when I was a child. At that time my grandmother gave me Shri Mahabharata which is the ancient book of Hindu mythology as well as she also told me one story in that book. She shared the small anecdote which is performing by Arjuna when he was attending his academic year. At that time Guru Drona asked to arch the eye of bird. At that time he asked question for every student. What you see some students say is that around environment and all. But when the same question asked to Arjuna, Arjuna answered that he only focused towards bird's eye. At that time Drona gave him a command to arch that eye and precisely he did his work. At that time my grandmother taught me the moral of the story that if you are focused towards your work and subside other obstructions so definitely I would reach the goal to cut the long story short if I would get an opportunity I would make my mindset like precise and always focus towards goal to make my future bright.

    Band 6-7

    The novel that I read sometime back to be exact I read it when I was in middle school quite long ago, but this story simply stayed with me because of its lasting impact. The book is called Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Album. It was a fairly small book, but I really enjoyed reading it. The story is about the five people in your life or in a fleeting manner you would have met them in a very casual way and not of a big importance or significance I would say, but their part in your life or your part in their life has made some kind of a registration with the with the both the lives. So, that is why either of you are here. So, it is five random people unexpectedly meeting after death that is one person meeting the others in heaven and having this very stark conversation of why they are there and why we are here in order to witness them and be with them and have this conversation with them. It was truly transformative, it was deeply spiritual I would rather say. It moved me in ways I cannot mention where it was a genre like this was not explored before or I have not read a book like this earlier and I got introduced to this book via my school library and I went on to get a copy for myself later because this was a really special book in my life.

    Band 6-7

    Good morning. I would like to speak about a story or novel that I have read recently. So I am a person who always like to read books because it helps to reduce my stress. So I found a book and I really enjoyed reading that book. That book was Atomic Habits written by James Clear I think. The main thing I noticed in that book was that it shows how small things can change into a significant change in your life. This story was really motivating. Other than motivating it helped to prepare a basic system through which good habits can be automated. I came to know about this book from my friend. My friend recommended me to read this book because this book helped to change our habits. After reading this book I started to wake up early to sort out my works in a proper way by avoiding distractions and all. So my friend was also in that same way. He was like messed up with his life. During that time he read that book. So he also convinced me to read this book. I read this book when I was also…

    Band 6-7

    So, it's not about any novel but it's a story that was written by S.J. Shankar, the external finance minister of India and he's one of the profound member of the parliament whom I followed the most. So he has written a novel or a storybook on India, the untruth of India, the hidden truth of uncertain world. So basically in this story, he has explained about the geopolitics that India have been through. When we talk about Asian geopolitics, we have China, we have Pakistan, we have so many nations that are against her but still amongst her enemies, India stands still and he has also talked about its geopolitical affairs with USA, Russia and one of the most global superpower countries and contenders and also with the developing or the underdeveloped countries like Africa and Russia, like Africa, like Africa, moreover, India have significantly witnessed its...
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