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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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    Anonymous student Band 8

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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.
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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    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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    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.
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    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    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

    When I was in 10th standard, I didn't know how to use the electronic gadgets like computer, laptops and mobile and all. So, that time when I used that computer, I literally faced a problem. I didn't know how to use, how to start the computer, how to proceed. And then I googled how to use computer. So, after that, I was able to use the computer. That's all. Thank you very much.

    Band 6-7

    So I am a computer science engineer. During my internship, I had to install a program called Python in my computer. And it was an enormous, horrifying task for me. It took me around about 15 days to install it. Everybody in my office were laughing at me because being a computer engineer, I should know these basic things. But I couldn't. So what I did was, I called up my other fellow students who were my classmates and asked them how do I do it. And they helped me through. Although through the calls, I couldn't understand how to set it up. So I took my laptop, I asked my friends to come along and sit down and help me install it. And after 2 hours of rigorous work, it got installed. And I had the most amazing excitement. I was on the top of the world. And later, when I had to start to code, it was a hilarious task, I tell you. When I tell you hilarious, it was hilarious. Because I couldn't type.

    Band 6-7

    Well, computers are a bit friendly to me since I've been using them for over a decade. But recently I faced some issues regarding making the task completing on computer. So the issue was I was not getting an access to a website and then suddenly the screen shut off and what I came to know is that the computer is automatically restarted. So I just contacted one of my friends, the incident took place at my home when I was trying to surf a website which was of my academic use. And then to solve this issue I contacted one of my friend who is a software engineer. So he just took important details from me whether is there any screen or html code lines on the screen or not. I noticed that there were some html codes which were written. I just sent a picture of those codes to my friend and immediately just when he just looked at the codes which were written he just suggested me to reboot my computer just by clicking windows plus F7 and just I did that and I got my computer back and I could easily access the computer as well as the website very frequently from them.

    Band 6-7

    This incident happened three years ago, which was in the year 2021, December. I was at Mysore studying environmental engineering. This was when my parents bought a new laptop for me, purchased a new laptop for my studies that would help for my studies. So this was a very new laptop and I was trying to figure out the working of it. I turned open my laptop and immediately it had an automatic switch on. So if I close the laptop, it had an automatic switch. So open and close was a repetitive process. And what I've heard is that when you have this automatic switch on, off option under working, it drains out a lot of battery. So I wanted this option to be turned off. And I've tried figuring it out in many ways, but it wasn't possible. So I reached out to my friend to help me with it. She helped me. She showed me how it could be done. And I was able to sort this issue out, which end of the day helped in my battery improvement.

    Band 6-7

    Okay, so since I'm a full-time working professional, so I have to use computers on a daily basis. So currently, there is no such problem that I have faced using a computer. But when I was a kid, obviously, I had a lot of problems while using the computer. Because in my home, we got computers very late. I have faced a lot of challenges on how to use it properly. So I took the help of my friend in school if I didn't get to do anything, or if I couldn't understand something properly. Or I could even take the help of teachers as well to understand if I couldn't get it. But most of the problems that I've had is related to Excel only. Like I've struggled a lot with Microsoft Excel. But basic computer features I know, and I haven't had much problem with them. And currently, as I've just mentioned that I'm a working professional, so I haven't had any such problem. Even if I have such problem, I can obviously ask my friends to help me out. And in corporate, there are different age groups, people are working of different age groups. So people who are older than me, they are not that tech-savvy, right? So I could help. I have even helped other people as well to figure out a few things, how to use the computer properly or how to solve that specific problem and move forward with it. So yeah, I've taken a lot of time's help and I've also given back to the people who needed my help. And it was a good experience. So yeah, I really enjoyed it.

    Band 6-7

    So the problem that I'm going to discuss now is the issue that I had while using a computer. So back in 2014 when I was quite young and new to technology, I had a very difficult and a tough time while dealing with computers and I didn't know how to use it. Moreover, I felt like you know it is not my game of play to use computers and I will definitely will not be able to cope up with the technological advancement. The problem basically started at home where I couldn't use it for small or simple procedures like just to use the word document or the excel spreadsheet. Finally, I felt like I should take a step and do something about this issue. So I came up with YouTube videos wherein I watched them and tried to learn certain skills and improve my computer knowledge. Currently, I feel like I'm in a better position to use computers and though I might be lacking in certain technological advances, at least I have the basic knowledge to deal with computers and I'm able to use it for some of the common basic procedures. I am still learning to improve and advance with the new technological advances that are happening. Though I do not have much of interest in the advanced technological computer knowledge, but I feel that computers are a part of our generation this time around.

    Band 6-7

    I'd like to talk about a time when I had a problem while using the computer. Last year, I joined a new organization as a software intern. I was very happy because it was my first job and there was a time when I needed to search for something. When I was working on a coding assignment, I found out that my internet was not working properly. So when I go through and look it up on internet, I found out that there could be various reasons. So I looked it up and I tried to troubleshoot the issue with the reasons that were specified on the internet. I go through each of them. So I started troubleshooting. Moreover, I asked a colleague of mine to help me out. He was very generous and he gave me some valuable insights on how to solve the issue or address the issue. I was really fascinated by his ideas because I never thought it off that way. After spending some time and contemplating on the issue, I found out that my network was not properly configured. So I changed my IP address and the DNS host server, which really I found a good way because I wasn't aware of such things as I was a software intern, but I never had any idea of the network configuration. So I learned it the hard way and this was the time when I learned some valuable things from that experience.

    Band 6-7

    When I joined the company first time in the IT field, there was a computer system given to me to use my daily work for my daily work. So when I started the computer, it was unable to load the screens. So system getting started but I was unable to see the screens properly. So I had to call the IT management team and I have raised the ticket to look into the issues. So IT management team solved the issues. So they had to exchange the monitor. After that I was enabled, I was able to start the computer and I was able to work without any issues. Thank you.

    Band 6-7

    so when I had time using the computer it was in the initial days when we like recently bought a computer when my dad bought a computer so it was very new for all of us and neither we did we used it in our schools because I was very young like I was in my first standard maybe it was eight years old so it was very difficult for me to use the computer as it was something very new for me and had I've used mobile phones before but computer itself was a big thing to use and it had various other instruments as well with it like the keyboard like the mouse which was really tough for me to process because I was an 8 year old with time I learned how to I learned about different parts of the computer like the computer like the monitor like the CPU, UPS, mouse, keyboards and the uses and the functions and with time I got like used to using the computer and it became very easy for me to use it. It required continuous practice and continuous evolution of the things that are there in the computer. I used to practice for like about 30 minutes to an hour I used to open various apps in there like the PowerPoint presentation like document app like the paint app and then I used to look at each and every feature and I just kept this thing to me that I'll have to learn every a new thing every single day. That built a confidence in me and helped me ace that thing and now I'm very very pro with the computers and I can do anything that you'll ask me to do. I can make very good presentations I know how to use Docs very well I know every single thing that you can operate through the computers you can easily mail through them can easily watch anything that you want you can search on it on that and after that after learning it after having that thing in me that I'll have to do it I have now done it and it feels really good to overcome something that I was not able to do earlier in my life and I feel very grateful for that opportunity that I did that

    Band 6-7

    So, the time when I had a problem in using computer was when I was studying grade 4. It happened in my house when I was doing the task given by my faculties. It was to create a word document about the plants and photosynthesis systems. So I was just collecting a few pictures and composing my own content through typing. I just failed to save the document. I just don't know that I have to save the document when I was studying in grade 4. I just thought it will be automatically saved and then I realized it was a power cut and the system was shut down and that assignment got deleted when the current was returning back and when I saw it, it was just blank. No document was saved and all my whole assignment was vanished and I was in a situation to redo it and I have to do it again and I sat for the whole night persisting to do it and it was very pathetic. It was very detrimental for me that the file got deleted.
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