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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 66 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

    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

    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...

    Band 6-7

    My favorite story or novel of all time is Harry Potter. I have read all the parts of Harry Potter. I like fantasy and Harry Potter serves the purpose. My favorite character is Hermione Granger. I like the way she is brilliant, amazing, beautiful and up to the mark always. Her intellectual level is so high that even teachers need to ask her for some doubts if they have. McGonagall gave her the time turner and not to Harry Potter who is the main character because she is capable of that time turner. I found the book first when I was 4 years old. I was just wandering around the library and I came across that book. And the front page was so captivating that I felt I should read it. I should read it.

    Band 6-7

    The story is about the courage a human can make so God can always help us. As the story title is Himmate Marta To Madate Kota. I read this story in 5th grade. It was in my textbook when I was so inspired by this story. And till I am getting courage while only thinking about it. So this story is about a boy who captures in his own house. And some robber who pretends to be his father comes to his house and tie him up to rob in the house. So he gathered the courage and while robbers were robbing the house. He goes to the balcony of the house while he locked the door from outside. And gathered people by screaming and so that whole neighborhood was gathered. And they captured the robbers. So it is about the courage when we made if we are in totally so bad situation where nothing comes into our mind. So we should calm down and think about what we can make out of the situation rather than what we can't do. So I truly inspired by this story because it tells how much courage and mind when in the situation help us to go through it. Instead of worrying about it.

    Band 6-7

    Reading a book has always been fascinating to me as I have my favorite hobby is reading and I started reading when I was in eighth grade and after that I mainly focused on fictional books at that time but now I am into non-fictional books. Today I would like to talk about a book that gave a story that was really interesting the book's name was Da Vinci Code. The story was really interesting and amazing as it followed a different style of writing and the book was written in a way of different perspectives and it really intrigued me and I got to know about this book through my friends because the book was really famous at that time and from my friends would suggest me this book. It is one of the books that I was really keen on reading because it was really famous and I read this book when I was in ninth grade and it really inspired me to read more books and it really made me more into books and to learn more about the culture and the perspective that the book gave me as the story goes to say that it is an adventure book and the story goes on to say it is a story about a person who goes after a painting and the painting is stolen by some thieves and it really gets interesting at the end because it doesn't follow a traditional way of storytelling as it really gets interesting by the end and this book has really helped me to widen my

    Band 6-7

    Few months back I read a novel called Sweet Bean Paste. The storyline revolve around three people. One of them is an old lady and then there is a middle-aged man and a teenager. The story revolve around these three people where the middle-aged man named Sakoru own a bean paste shop and he's been making bean paste for years. And then this lady, an old lady come in the story when she was willing to get a job in the shop as a sweet bean paste maker. Firstly, the man was not sure about the woman but later on he decided to hire her as a sweet bean paste maker and when they started working together they get to know about more each other. Then he realized that once in her life she was diagnosed with a disease which was considered untouchable at the beginning of her life so she was isolated for years and now she came from that isolated area and all of the people who get to know about her disease was afraid of meeting her, touching her because of the disease.
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