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Describe a time when you felt incredibly sad.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What made you feel sad?
  • When and why did this happen?
  • How did you tackle it?
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33 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 33 answers

Cue 1:What made you feel sad?

  • Clearly identify the event or situation that caused your sadness.
  • Express your emotions honestly to convey the depth of your feelings.

Example

I felt incredibly sad when I lost my grandmother last year. She was not just my family but also my best friend, and her absence left a huge void in my life.

Cue 2:When and why did this happen?

  • Provide a specific time frame for when this event occurred.
  • Explain the circumstances surrounding the event to give context.

Example

This happened in the summer of 2022, just a few months after I graduated from college. I had always looked forward to celebrating my achievements with her, and her passing felt especially painful because I couldn’t share those moments with her.

Cue 3:How did you tackle it?

  • Discuss the coping mechanisms you used to deal with your sadness.
  • Mention any support systems, such as friends or family, that helped you through this time.

Example

To cope with my sadness, I started journaling my feelings and talking to my friends about my memories of her. I also participated in a local support group, which helped me connect with others who were experiencing similar losses.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the impact of this experience on your life.
  • Reflect on any lessons learned or changes in perspective.

Example

In conclusion, losing my grandmother taught me the importance of cherishing loved ones and expressing my emotions. Although I still miss her dearly, I’ve learned to celebrate her life and the memories we shared.

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: Being Vague or General

Avoid giving vague answers that lack detail. This can make your response less engaging and informative, which may lead to a lower score.

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Tip

Provide specific examples and details about the event that made you sad. Use descriptive language to paint a clear picture.

2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

Don't overlook the emotional aspects of your experience. Failing to express how you felt can make your answer less relatable and impactful.

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Tip

Share your feelings openly. Explain how the situation affected you emotionally and why it was significant.

Rushing Through the Response

Avoid speaking too quickly or skipping important points. This can lead to a disorganized answer and may confuse the listener.

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Tip

Take your time to structure your response. Use the cues to guide your answer and ensure you cover all aspects clearly.

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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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

So the time when I was emotionally devastated was when my best friend stopped talking to me. I don't know what was the specific reason for it but I guess it was because of the situation that was, the situation was getting absolutely tough in her house, her father's death has also occurred in that specific year when she stopped talking to me. She was in a relationship and the other guy was quite toxic I'd say. She was already dealing with all the things that were happening in her life but I thought that I was supporting her in a way but it was quite harsh of her to just abandon me without any prior notice or without telling me what actually happened or just by confronting me or just saying that, yeah, okay, she doesn't want to talk to me at that specific time or at that specific moment, I would have actually sat back and waited for her, okay, if she wanted to end the friendship then she should have came and told that to me on my face. But yet, she decided to just abandon me and ghost me so it was quite tough on me to tackle this. I just kept myself busy throughout the period and yeah, that's how it happened.

Band 6-7

Yeah, when I was in B.Tech first year, I really felt sad when I got my B.Tech first year results. I am really upset with that result because I failed in two subjects. First time I failed a failure in my educational history from the preliminary school to my B.Tech college. I was a topper in the school but in the B.Tech college, I got two backlogs in my first semester.

Band 6-7

A time I felt really and incredibly sad was when I lost my phone. Yes, it is iPhone 16 Pro Max which I bought very recently on my birthday and I self-gifted it. So that's what really bothered me and made me sad. Last month I visited an exhibition which is with my friends. That place is really crowded and every other person is just pushing each other. Unknowingly my phone was lost. In the beginning I didn't realize it. I thought it's in my purse and I am just concentrating on exhibition and started to enjoy myself with my friends. That's when I thought my place is really good and I have to click a picture. I took my hand out, I put it in my purse and started to search for it. That's when I realized it's gone. I am really shocked and that time I was overwhelmed because I have almost 10,000 photos on my phone and also the videos are around 9,000 and I don't have a backup of iClock. On one hand I have to really take care of this situation all by myself because there were no one with me apart from my friends like my family. On the other hand I was so sad like I would break into tears at any minute of time because the photos are really gone and the memories associated with the phone are gone. That's when I didn't tackle my gut. I just sat there, I weeped, I cried, I yelled at my friends that no one didn't realize it. That's when I controlled my emotions, gathered around, I went to the police station, I filed a complaint but also police told me that it's the least possible thing because the place is really overcrowded.

Band 6-7

My dog had passed away in 2022 and I couldn't see him for the last time before he passed away. That is something which took a toll on my mental health. I never thought that I would lose him this way. I never got to say a goodbye to him. Never got to hug him for the last time. Because he was not there in our house at that time. We had kept him at our relative's house and they let us know the next day that he had passed away. And they did the funeral and the burying without letting us know. That was the most difficult period of my life. Actually I still haven't got over it. I still haven't gotten over it. I still don't know how to deal with that sorrow. That is something which has inflicted a lifetime of pain on me. And it's a scar that can never heal. I just loved him so much.

Band 6-7

volunteers around the area to help her. 1. Cover the body with a blanket. 2. Leave wall to block movement. 3. Cover the neck with a blanket. If you're holding a person, use the neck as the cover. 4. My side does usually not cover my face. Describing about the time when I felt incredibly sad, I could recollect the recent happening in my surrounding when I was rushing toward a railway station to catch my train and while on my way, I saw a mother dog just following all the individuals and each and everyone walking by the road to take her puppies to a safe place as it was raining heavily outside. She was probably hungry, drenched in the rain and asking for help to everyone. Seeing her, I felt really really sad for her and for her newborn puppies. No one stepped forward to even help her and people were approaching this situation very casually. They were not bothered about what is making her sad exactly and they were not bothered to see why is she going around and pleading everyone to help her because at the end of the day she was a mother who wanted to keep her babies really really safe. She went on approaching each and every individual trying to take a rest in the shade when there was heavy rain or a vehicle splashing water when she was passing by. She was trying her level best seeing her efforts to keep her babies safe I could feel the emotions in her eyes that she was really crying for help. She was all sad and hoping that some of the individuals will come forward to help her but unfortunately people were busy in their own life were rushing so they could not help her at all.

Band 6-7

I still remember it was a hard time, but I want to share with you this experience. When I was in my 8th standard, there was a surprise test of maths that was conducted by my teacher. I was unsure about it and extremely astonished to hear it, that this was my first encounter of the surprise test in my entire life. I wasn't ready for it, specially the terrific subject that I feel was for me is maths. But what I could do, it's not in my hands so I have to give the test. I was not prepared as I have mentioned and I given my test and I told my friend that I will get around 5 or 10 something and if I get such score then I would kill myself or do something terrible. So my friend got scared that what she will do or this and that because every friend from my friend circle has performed well. They were well prepared for the maths test even though it's a surprise test, but they had a good practice in the past time. So when the result declared, my teacher called me in front of everyone and said you scored very less Vaishnavi, what happened to you? And I was very ashamed of my performance and I thought that ma'am is scolding me in such a way that definitely I have got very less marks. She told me that you have got only 10 marks and you need to practice hard otherwise you will fail in your upcoming exam. This hurt me a lot so I took a tuition and finally in the next surprise test I scored 20 out of 20 and showed my determination and hard work.

Band 6-7

When I was younger, I used to travel on bus. To go to college, I used to struggle a lot. Then my father bought me a bike. At that time, I felt on clod 9. So, I was not familiar with shifting of gears in bike as the mechanism was very difficult to me. I burnt a midnight oil to learn the mechanism of it. Then I started riding it slowly. I have watched several videos on YouTube about the balancing. Then I started riding on roads. Before, I used to ride only in a ground. After few days went, I started riding it perfect. But the time came when I met with an accident. The accident was because of my fault. As I was speeding, then suddenly a turn came. Then I got unbalanced and fall down. My new bike was destroyed. It was totally damaged. Nothing was left. I got several injuries. I felt that it's my last time I will drive now. It happened in my summer holidays. The whole holidays went in hospital. After that, I again got a courage to learn perfectly. Then again, I started riding. But slowly, I have riding it.

Band 6-7

Last year on my birthday I was really looking forward to spending time with my friends. I had planned a whole day of fun activities and was excited to hang out with everyone. All my friends had come and we were in a great mood, ready to enjoy the day. But then something unexpected happened. One of my friends had to rush home early because her parents kept calling her. She seemed really upset and that started to change the mood.

Band 6-7

So, the saddest moment in my life was when my maternal grandmother passed away. It happened in 29th of October, 2023. She was suffering from cancer but on 28th of November, she suffered some heart congestion. So, we admitted her to the hospital and so what happened was, so she had a heart attack and after that, the hospital called my parents and told us to come to the hospital for some check-in. So, after that, when my parents reached to the hospital, they told that my maternal grandmother is no more. It was the hardest phase of my life because she cared a lot about me and so what happened was, I gathered all my emotions and started to move on in my life. I know it's very hard, it was very hard but I have to do it.

Band 6-7

I think the last time or the time when I really felt sad was the time duration when I was working on this very particular project. It was scheduled in the first week of December and it was a project from the Apex team of the organization and it came with a very very steady purpose of reducing the inventory for a particular store and it also had a very tight deadline. Why I felt sad was because the person who was leading this project was not aware about the agenda of this particular project and he tried to load me up with tasks which also sort of increased the working hours for me and added to the pressure of it. So what I tried to do was I tried to communicate with my manager for the strategy and how will dodge this particular issue that was with the person who was leading it and finally the outcome of it was that due to clear communication on a timely manner it not only helped me professionally but also helped me mentally.
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