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?

66 unique answers with expert feedback

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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.

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.

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.

Tip

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

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

I was very fascinated by the story named Harry Potter when I was in class 4. Within a week I completed the whole novel and even made my friends to read them. I came to know about the novel from the movie actually. There were, the movie was divided into 8 chapters which I couldn't get access to all of them and that made me go and read the book. Maybe I was in class 4th if I remember, that was the time I read the book. I felt like a whole new person after reading the novel. It just changed the perspective towards life for me. And I never knew I was the person who loved fantasy or fiction in my life. That made me to watch more fictional fantasy genres in life later. And also that made me read more fictional books later in life. Even after going through the novel, I watched the movies of Harry Potter.

Band 6

Okay, thank you for the question and I like to read novels and stories because that will give a good outcome to us. So, last week I read one novel by Jilda, written by Benyamin and through that I can really understand what a person can do for his life. So, he survived a very hard week and he got a good outcome. So, I felt so happy and sometimes in some situations I felt sad in a certain way. Anyways, at the end of the story I felt like anyone can do anything. So, we should pray and wait. Then we will get our blessings and a good, better life. So, through the life of an adult novel, mainly the character is Bashir. So, Bashir is a farmer and for a better life he went to some other countries and he worked hardly and in some situations he blamed also. So, after that also he survived with his own power. Then he got many happy life after that. He didn't go and share his wife, children and all. So, after that few years he came back to his home and he saw his family. So, through that I got the outcome.

Band 5-6

My interesting to reading some novels in my pleasure time and my favorite novel was this gen and poor guy because this book guide me to secure my future about my finance and about how to deal with money in my real world but first of all I am describing what the benefit of pursuing novel in the pleasure time in my pleasure time this is the only time which I could utilize to secure and most interesting time to get an achievement about how to deal with another hobby so I could realize that I am switching my pleasure time to read a novel my favorite novel was the gen poor and I am again say and this is also be a very vigorous thing because some people don't rely on there some people interesting topic on also interesting book was the rose water.

Band 5-6

Till now, I read many stories, but I would like to say about one of my favorite memory and story is king and his four sons. One day, the king has sent his four sons to the forest. So, they went to the forest and they are searching what purpose his father sent them. They don't know and they came to his father and said, what purpose you sent father to me? And his father said to them, you need to bring some raw material to build house. So, they went to again forest and they brought raw material. They are searching for raw materials. They don't have any idea about the materials while constructing the building. So, again they came to king and they are asking, what raw material we have to bring? On that day, they said some examples of raw materials and they went and they brought them. So, here finally the king said, after bringing back of raw materials, you should have to learn first. Then you need to know more or you need to listen first and you need to ask some doubts when we are going to do anything. So, this is the thing I have learnt on that day and I felt very happy. We should not have to be hurry-burry if anyone says work to us. We need to completely listen to them and we need to follow them. And if we have any doubts, we need to clarify and then we have to start the work.

Band 5-6

I read the book The God Life by Benyamin, it's actually I read in my mother tongue that is in Malayalam, it's name in Malayalam is Aadu Jeevidam, it was actually it was a story that happened for a human being, that means the main character of that story, that novel is a real world person.

Band 5-6

Well, the inspiring story is about Mahendra Singh Dhoni and after reading the story and I am very big fan after reading the story and firstly I read the story at my 8th standard and it completely changed my way of thinking about Mahendra Singh Dhoni and such an inspiring story that from ticket collector to the world cup champion and he took very very much man of the match trophies and all everything the team wants and if a match if a if a team and he was the captain of India up to 2011 and when the team won the match he will be on the back side and and pushing the team members like a leader and if a team loses the match he will be on the front and put his team members on the back and he the way he responds to the answers is very nice and I feel very inspiring about the story.

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