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Describe a time when you had a problem with using the computer: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did it happen?
  • Where did it happen?
  • What was the problem?
  • How did you solve the problem in the end?
Show all 118 answers

Cue 1:When did it happen?

  • Mention a specific time frame, such as a particular day or month, to give context to your experience.
  • Explain any relevant circumstances that led to the problem occurring at that time.

Example

It happened about three months ago, during the peak of my final exams. I was preparing for my computer science paper, and I had planned to complete my project that evening.

Cue 2:Where did it happen?

  • Describe the location where you were using the computer, such as your home, a library, or a friend's place.
  • Include details about the environment that might have contributed to the situation.

Example

I was at home, sitting at my study desk in my room. It was a quiet evening, and I had all my study materials spread out around me, creating a focused atmosphere.

Cue 3:What was the problem?

  • Clearly state the issue you faced with the computer, such as a software crash or hardware failure.
  • Explain how this problem affected your ability to complete your tasks.

Example

Suddenly, my computer froze while I was running a crucial software program for my project. I panicked because I hadn’t saved my work in a while, and I was worried about losing everything.

Cue 4:How did you solve the problem in the end?

  • Discuss the steps you took to resolve the issue, including any troubleshooting methods or help you sought.
  • Mention the outcome and what you learned from the experience.

Example

I took a deep breath and decided to restart my computer. Thankfully, when it rebooted, I found that the auto-recovery feature had saved my work. I also learned the importance of saving my work frequently and started using cloud storage for future projects.

Conclusion

    Example

    This experience taught me valuable lessons about technology and the importance of being prepared for unexpected issues. Now, I always make sure to back up my work regularly, which has made my study sessions much less stressful.

    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 Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your response unclear. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about the problem or the situation.

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    Tip

    Be specific about the time, place, and nature of the problem. Use clear examples to illustrate your experience.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Not addressing all the cues can lead to an incomplete answer. Each cue is designed to help structure your response effectively.

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    Tip

    Make sure to answer all the cues in order. This will help you stay organized and cover all important aspects of your experience.

    Lack of Problem-Solving Detail

    Failing to explain how you solved the problem can make your response less engaging. It's important to show your thought process and actions.

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    Tip

    Describe the steps you took to resolve the issue. Highlight any challenges you faced and how you overcame them to add depth to your answer.

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    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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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

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    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.
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    Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

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    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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    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    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

    As I am a technophile person, so I love using the technological gadgets like computer. Recently I have faced a problem with my computer and it was related to the software problem. And I have overcome this because of my friend's help. Even I have burnt the midnight oil to overcome these problems. And this was held on the 14th of May on my previous birthday. And it was really a hectic problem for me. Because there are a lot of errors and complications coming in my computer. But recently my friend and few of my cousin brothers helped me a lot to overcome this problem. Because we have searched on the internet or few of the social media platforms to search the platform. And also this problem has a lot of people are facing this problem. But we have managed it at all. Moreover, these kinds of problems are really necessary in everybody's life. Because to overcome these challenges, it would help us to maintain a discipline. Also we get to know more about the technologies like what things are coming in the modern era. Also we get in touch with most of the new technologies. In conclusion, I just like to say that these kinds of problems are really necessary in everybody's life. Because everything is based upon the technological gadgets. So just like that, these kinds of technological gadgets like computer, mobile phones are really necessary to use. And these kinds of errors which we can solve in our day to day life are important to get in touch with the technology.

    Band 6-7

    Firstly, I buy a new PC for my studies, so I didn't have any knowledge or experience about computer that how it works. So when I open or start the computer, I face many problem while using it because I didn't have any experience of using computer. So when I open it, I didn't start the computer and I didn't know about any programs which was helpful for my studies. So that I prefer to online classes, so I use my phone to know about how to start computer and how to work on it, so then I get knowledge about computer from my phone, then I start my computer and while using step-by-step method, so after that it works very fast. Then I also enjoy to work on my PC because it provides many information about my studies which may be help in my studies and so that's why I got the experience how to work on computer and recently I solved my problem.

    Band 6-7

    6 months ago, when I visited my uncle's house, which he lives in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and I took my computer with me, but for some issues, the computer was not working, so I asked my uncle for borrowing the computer, and he helped me with that. When I started using computer, it was fine, but when I was coding and I was researching something, the screen was flickering again and again. I told this issue to my uncle, and he told me that you are doing a very high processing job that is not supported by a big PC. So, my uncle suggested me to go to nearby computer cafe and do your stuff there. So, I went there and I started doing my stuff, and when I came and I realized that the issue was not in the processing, the issue was in cable. The cable was not plugged properly, so I told my uncle about it. My uncle was very fascinated to listen that, and first of all, he panicked, then he realized that that was not the situation.

    Band 6-7

    I recall of a story, when my computer was gone into a problem. It was basically when I was playing a game and suddenly the screen turns off. The error was showing that this PC has gone into some error and there was nothing else. So I was very worried about what the thing has happened, how did this happen and is this the fault of mine or is this game's fault etc. I was in my home at that time when this error happened. I asked my father about it but he also said that he doesn't know much more about computers. So I was solely responsible for solving that problem. There were two options, if I solve that problem by myself or I take my computer to the computer guy and he solves it. But as a student of computer science, I think that I should be able to solve these types of problems. So I checked it on Google and I found out that this is a silly problem according to the YouTube videos and I found out it was a deadlock. So I basically remembered that in my operating system subject, I read about a deadlock. I partially opened the notes for that subject. I studied deadlock again and tried to understand the problem, how the problem is solved, what kind of problem it causes and everything. So basically I then combined my knowledge and the knowledge of the YouTube video guy who said how to solve this kind of problem. I do such things and open the CPU, solve the error. There was a hard disk problem, basically the deadlock always appears in the hard disk. Finally it was solved and I was very much relieved and I feel very much proud of me as I've solved this problem.

    Band 6-7

    actually today evening when I was using my new PC I was connecting with my mobile phone then I faced the problem in connecting my mobile and it happens in my PC when I was connecting my PC through my mobile but unfortunately I was not able to connect the problem was that like there is the feature in the new laptops I have samsung book for laptop so we can connect our mobile through PC like for the message call and other notifications so I was unable to connect because I have a iPhone but the laptop is easy to connect with the Android system but I have iOS I was unable to connect but finally I checked how I solve this problem like I follow the instructions given in my PC how to connect how to step by step I followed the instruction and successfully I connected my mobile with my PC

    Band 6-7

    I come from a humble background. So we didn't have access to computers or laptops or mobile phones during our childhood. So as a result of that I'm not a very technologically sound person. That changed during the COVID era when a digital revelation happened in the entire world. As a result of that we started using these gadgets more, learned more about them. I am way better today with computers and with all the available information about how to use these gadgets on the internet. It's way, way better than what it used to be. Now I'm not as hopeless or clueless, a better word, about the use, about using the computer. Suppose if I have a problem, I can go on YouTube, search the topic, see the video and take in all the information and apply it, which is very helpful. So I would say I dealt with this problem in 2020 during the COVID times when we were all in a lockdown and we had a lot of free time.

    Band 6-7

    Most of the time I'll be on my computer as I am an IT consultant. I work as a developer where I develop integrations between cloud and also on-premise systems. So my screen time on my computer is almost more than nine hours a day. I had an issue where my eyes were irritated for a longer time and I had to work overtime to complete the task before the deadline, which made my eyes very irritated. Since it was continuous for one month, I had a few minor eye issues where my eyes were watering and also there were a few other things like itchy and irritation. I consulted an eye doctor, an eye specialist. He suggested me to reduce the screen time and also asked me to check if I can get two or three days off leave just to get away with the screen time on the computer. That helped me a lot but also my work time was reduced and my tasks were incomplete. So I had a problem with eyesight during this period and it was.

    Band 6-7

    Basically, I have suffered a using problem while using a computer. Once upon a time, I have downloaded some malicious file from the computer and some virus entered into my pc and that virus was redirecting to different sites upon specific time let's say 30 seconds and after 30 seconds, each different website were opening in browsers. So that was I facing the problem with that malicious file and even after deleting those files and restarting, the same process was repeating and virus was still in the computer. So I downloaded an antivirus and that fixed my virus and I have also suffered problem while using a computer that was when updated my windows and with that update some here and there functions got disrupted my pc was not performing well so I restarted and deleted the update and after that the pc run very normal.

    Band 6-7

    So, I have a HP Pavilion 360 Laptop which is a touchscreen laptop and recently I had an issue with this laptop screen as it wasn't working and I purchased this laptop 5 years ago during the time of the pandemic and because to attend my online classes and do some work which I usually do. So, recently what this laptop screen, touchscreens started, didn't work, was not working very well. So, I went to a HP service center and handed them my laptop and they said that it is in service so they can fix this without a single charge and I handed them my laptop and after many days I visited them and they said that the screen which we ordered was cracked or it came cracked and they are explaining me more and more things that are not actually appropriate but I was calm and I understood their problem and moreover they finally fixed my laptop and handed it over to me and I think it's been around a year with the laptop is working amazingly and I do not have a complaint about this anymore. So, this was the time which I had difficulties with my laptop.

    Band 6-7

    Well, that's a great question and quite relatable with my life. Being a good student during my school days, I have started preparing for numerous interviews after completion of my high schooling. And I remember one time when I was preparing for my German University of Europe Applied Sciences interview. I have to give an interview for proving my qualifications. That interview was conducted online through Zoom application and when I joined that particular meeting, it showed me a lot of glitches such as my supervising teacher was not able to hear me properly, neither my camera was not operating. I thought that this may be a hardware issue, but when I changed my laptop, I faced the same issue. Due to this, my interview got a lot of delays, nearly for 4 to 5 months. And I was able to overcome this situation with the help of my supervising teacher after various attempts by using some VPNs and changing some software in my device. To say in a nutshell, that was a tricky situation for me at that time, but however, I was able to overcome that particular situation with proper guidance and help of my supervisor.
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