Describe A Time When You Forgot Something Important: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

When did it happen?
What you forgot?
What was the result of your forgetting, and why was it important?

8 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 8 answers

Cue 1:When did it happen?

Begin by mentioning the specific time and place when the incident occurred.
Provide some context about what was happening in your life at that time.

Example

It happened last year during the busy exam season in college. I was preparing for my final exams and was quite stressed out with all the studying.

Cue 2:What you forgot?

Clearly state what important item you forgot and why it was significant.
Mention any preparations you had made that were affected by this forgetfulness.

Example

I forgot my admit card for the exam. It was crucial because without it, I wouldn’t be allowed to enter the examination hall and take my test.

Cue 3:What was the result of your forgetting, and why was it important?

Explain the immediate consequences of forgetting the item.
Reflect on how this incident impacted your overall performance or feelings about the situation.

Example

As a result of forgetting my admit card, I panicked and had to rush back home to get it. I ended up arriving late and missed the first half of the exam. This was important because it affected my confidence and my overall score in that subject.

Conclusion

Example

This experience taught me the importance of being organized and double-checking my essentials before any important event. Since then, I have developed a habit of preparing everything the night before to avoid such stressful situations.

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 Responses

Being vague can lead to a lack of detail in your answer. This makes it hard for the examiner to understand your experience and its significance.

Tip

Provide specific details about the event, including the exact time and place, to create a clearer picture for the examiner.

2: Neglecting the Importance

Failing to explain why the forgotten item was important can weaken your response. It may seem like the event was not significant.

Tip

Clearly articulate the consequences of forgetting the item and why it mattered to you, emphasizing its impact on your life.

Lack of Structure

A disorganized answer can confuse the listener. Without a clear structure, your response may seem scattered and hard to follow.

Tip

Follow a logical order: start with when it happened, then what you forgot, and finish with the results and importance of the event.

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 7

Well, as far as I remember, I forgot my gold chain. I actually didn't forget, but I lost it. I lost my gold chain in a wedding ceremony of my brother, which happened three years before. So I was so busy in making arrangements and dealing with all the guests and also looking after my children. So I was unaware that this is so delicate and it could be lost so I should not wear this. But as it was in our ritual, in our culture, it's mandatory to wear gold chains or gold bangles and earrings. Because ornaments represent the woman's personality. So that's why I wore this. But when the function came to an end, I came to know that I lost my gold chain. I was really sad because I had no idea where I lost it. But it was important to me because it was a gift from my mother. My mother used to wear this in her young age and she gave me this gift on the birth of my daughter. So it was very precious for me. But when I asked the guards and all the sweepers to find out where it is, then they did their best to find my chain. And almost after one hour, they found it and they gave it to me. I was so overwhelmed.

Band 6-7

Precisely speaking, 20 days back, I had forgotten a task which was given by my parents. And collectively, I had to bear a very huge consequence after forgetting that important task given by my parents. Somewhere, I had to complete it in a stipulated time wherein I could not do it. And which resulted into a very massive fight in my house. A dispute in my house due to which my whole family did not talk to each other for almost 5-6 days. And then we had to come into a conclusion that we need to stop this fight and get together, talk it over a table, clear out the matter and resolve the whole issue that we had been addressing.

Band 6-7

He took me to the principal's cabin where we talked about this. The principal told me to show my other documents like my college ID card where I studied before and my Aadhaar card. When I showed it to him, he asked me to write a letter. With the letter, he told me to enter the examination hall. But when I entered the examination hall, they stopped me saying that without a hall ticket, it will not be allowed. So I showed them the letter which helped me to write the exam. From this moment, I became very responsible whenever I go to an important task. I keep all my belongings and essential things with me. This was a very good experience for me to understand. It taught me the responsibility and focus to the work which I am doing. Reporter- Sunita Prajapati Script- Lakshmi Sharma Editor- Guru Films Producer- Lakshmi Sharma

Band 6

I'd remember when I was in my 9th standard, I was not very good in art and my teacher, my art teacher was very, very strict. So one day, it was our exam, the test day on which he will be grading us on our artwork. So that will be evaluated in our report cards. So I remember it that the night before that day, I was completing my art file and trying to make everything on whichever I was lacking. So in the morning, I was in so much hurry that I forgot to take my art file, my completed art file to school and at that time, there was not any convenience for me to get back home and get to take my file again with me to the school. So I had to face my strict art teacher at that time. He scolded me a lot and he also made me stand outside the class for a whole one hour. I was very ashamed and I was feeling very bad for myself because I had completed my file just because I was in such a hurry that morning, I forgot to take it with me. However, I, on the next day, I did take my art file with me and showed to him, though he did not tell me anything good about my art because of course, it was not good. But yes, he graded me a B on my art file, but I remember it very vividly of how ashamed

Band 6

I have to mention about something very important which I have forgotten and that is that was my husband's birthday. It was his 29th birthday which I forgot completely every year I wish him at midnight but that particular year I forgot and this happened five years ago. And what happened after that I got earful from my husband because every time he remembers my birthday and he wishes me at midnight but that particular year I completely forgot about it. I was stressed and I was into a lot of things during that time. I didn't even realize it till he mentioned after two days. So that was a horrible part which made me feel sad and awkward because every year we used to celebrate his birthday. It is very important because he is someone very close to my heart. After my parents I can say he is the one who takes care of me and I forgot such a person's birthday. Not intentionally but sometimes it happens but to convince that to him took a lot of time and it was a big struggle and even today I get to hear that once I did not wish him. So I think this is the lifelong guilt I have to carry. Another thing, whoever is close to us they expect that on their special occasion, on their unique day.

Band 6

okay so this was the story when I was in my college first year so at that time I usually go to regular college but this was the incident which happened with me once in my life it was the time of Baiba when all the students of my class were there but I didn't know how to and when to give the Baiba because that was my first incident and first Baiba which I was going to give to my professor and even I didn't prepare a file that was called practical file so when I reached there and I heard from my classmates and now we have to submit a practical file as well so when I listened that I was totally shocked and my one friend when I told my one friend I haven't complete my file right now so he suggested me you give my give your file to me and I will complete your file in in just an hour so I was shocked and I was in dilemma what should I do and what kind of things I can do how I can complete my file so the things are going very bad but my friend finally after when I came written I so he done my file he's done my file so this was very annoying moment

Band 6

Last month, I did a mistake. Actually, I was careless at that time. That was an unforgettable moment. I am working as a Customer Relationship Executive, so I had a lot of duties. The major one is, I had a lot of reports. Our company had a monthly review meeting every first week of the month. So, I am in charge of preparing the reports. But unfortunately, I forgot about the reports to prepare. My manager got scolded by the higher authorities. I had to submit my reports to my manager, but I couldn't at that time. Just because I forgot, she got a lot of scolding from our higher authorities. She didn't complain about anything or she didn't pinpoint on me. The result was really pathetic. I was the one who did the mistake, but she got scolded by them.

Band 5-6

Well, thank you for giving me opportunity to share one of my experience with you. Actually, two years back when I was in my hometown, I was invited for a wedding party at my friend's house and that friend was living four hours drive from my city. So on that day, I remember I was ready, I got ready and my family, all of us, we got ready.