Describe a time when you received money as a gift.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

When it happened?
Who gave you the money?
Why he/she gave you the money?
And explain how he used the money.

28 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 28 answers

Cue 1:When it happened?

Mention the specific occasion or event when you received the money.
Provide a brief context about your life at that time.

Example

It was during my college graduation in June 2022. My family had gathered to celebrate this significant milestone in my life.

Cue 2:Who gave you the money?

Identify the person who gifted you the money and your relationship with them.
Share a little about their significance in your life.

Example

My grandmother gave me the money. She has always been my biggest supporter, attending every important event in my life.

Cue 3:Why he/she gave you the money?

Explain the reason behind the gift, whether it was for a specific purpose or just a gesture of love.
Reflect on the emotions or thoughts expressed by the giver.

Example

She gave me the money as a graduation gift, wishing me success in my future endeavors. She told me to use it wisely for my further studies.

Cue 4:And explain how you used the money.

Describe how you decided to spend or save the money.
Share the impact of this decision on your life or studies.

Example

I used the money to enroll in a professional course that would enhance my skills. This investment has helped me secure a better job opportunity.

Conclusion

Summarize the significance of the gift and its impact on your life.
Express gratitude towards the giver and reflect on the importance of such gestures.

Example

Receiving that money from my grandmother not only helped me financially but also motivated me to pursue my dreams. I am truly grateful for her support and love.

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 About Details

Candidates often give unclear or general answers without specific details. This can make the response less engaging and informative.

Tip

Provide specific details about when the gift was received, who gave it, and the occasion to make your answer more vivid.

2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

Failing to express how the gift made you feel can lead to a flat response. Emotions add depth to your story.

Tip

Share your feelings about receiving the money and how it affected your relationship with the giver to create a more compelling narrative.

Ignoring the Usage of Money

Not explaining how you used the money can leave your answer incomplete. It’s important to show the impact of the gift.

Tip

Clearly describe what you did with the money and why you chose to use it that way to provide a complete picture.

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Reported by

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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

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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

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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

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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

A time when I received money as a gift was a time when I was 14 years old and it is my 14th birthday. My uncle came from United States to celebrate my birthday with me and also my cousins and family members come to join my birthday party. One of my uncle came and forgot the gift in his home but in exchange of gift he gave me around 1000 rupees money as a gift and that was also very happy moment for me because some gifts I really don't like because it is not the gift like I want. So the money I got was very good thing that I could buy anything that I love. So I used that money to buy a Playstation for me. It was around 700 rupees which is connected with TV and I can play games. So that was a very good gift for me. To cut long story short that was a very nice experience.

Band 6

It happened so many times that I have received money as a gift, but as far as I remember, it was a special occasion of the festival in which my elder brother gave me a huge amount as a token of love and affection in the form of money. And that gift is unrememberable because it changed my opinion and I enjoyed that amount for long. In our culture and tradition, the exchange of gifts is a part of that culture. So, we were staying in a large hotel. I went there and booked a resort, enjoyed a holiday as well as I saved some money and deposited in an account. In fact, that was my first experience to open a savings account. There are a lot of fun activities that have taken place.

Band 6

Who doesn't love to receive money as gifts? And this one particular time that I would like to talk about when I received gifts in the form of money is on my birthday two years back. It was my 23rd birthday and we had invited guests from all across the city and family members as well. So we did cut cake, exchange gifts and when it came to these three particular family members of mine three of my aunts, they all gave me money. In total it was around 8,000 rupees, around 2,500 rupees coming from each of my aunts. And that really brought a smile on my face because since I was growing and I had some job in my hand who doesn't love to receive money as gifts, right? So they gave me money because they were out of ideas as to what to give to me because I had changes in my likings and when it came to gifts, so they decided that it would be wise enough to give cash so that I could make choices of my own as to what to buy for myself. And what I did with the money is that I didn't really go up and start buying stuff for me. I decided to save it and used some of that money, a fraction of it to invest in mutual funds so that I could cater my future self when I required money for emergencies.

Band 5-6

This year I reached a milestone age, I turned 35 and it was quite an eventful birthday for me because my husband could not decide what to buy for me and he asked me and I just asked him to give me money because I also could not decide what to buy. He gave me the money and then I decided to buy my first ever designer bag that was a Louis Vuitton and I keep it really close to my heart. I am happy about this decision because I feel that if he gave me something, he would have splurged a lot and still would have gotten something that I might not have used as much as I use my bag now. I feel that money as a gift is a very good idea, whoever invented that, long live that person. I cannot speak more.

Band 5-6

A time when you receive money as a gift, it was when usually in Indian families or any middle class family, there was my 10 year birthday, when I was celebrating there were my friends, relatives and family members and all of them gave a gift and some of them gave money and that was a time when I received money as a gift. Usually even now sometimes on my birthday my relatives give money and also when I go to any relative house my relatives give me a money as like I'm coming first time to their house as a gift, they give me money to buy something else and in childhood that was my happiness when they gave money as a gift of course I can use to my personal things to buy my personal things in the childhood because I didn't had a pocket money enough.

Band 5-6

I received a money as a gift one day when my, during my duty, like I think recently, two days ago, I had my work in the mooringship and I have the patient who is planned for discharge and that time when he about to leave, he gave me some money, like the amount of 50 real or like 100 real, I guess. This money was given by the family actually of my patient. So, I knew that he explained that why they give me this money to tell me their appreciation that they are taking care of their father and also this money is not only a money but it's also a gift or a token to give some respect. Okay, respect and also a gift for me. So, they said that this money is just only a piece of, for them and because they have a lot of businesses and businesses, so it's a reward for me. And at first, I'm reluctant to accept it because I know that it's like something that it's not a proper or it's not really acceptable. But then, the family insist to me and I also was shocked that he put it inside my pocket. So, I don't have any argument that moment because they will.

Band 5-6

So, my name, firstly, it was on my birthday, the special day, I received an envelope on my gift. So, after the birthday got finished, we sat down to check out who gave different kinds of gifts. So, we were seeing and I received an envelope full of money and I like it very much. It was the first gift who gave me money and the one who gave me money was my father and I kept it very carefully when I used it according to my needs, especially, moreover, whenever I want to buy some kind of chocolates or when I am visiting to the school or some kind of friends, when we visited to my home, I used to take that money, bring some kind of broccas, some kind of snacks to my friends, we had a good time together. Yeah, I liked it a lot and especially, I like taking the money from the elder person because it feels a bit of joy and a grateful moment from the one we received, especially from the elder one. I feel very much happy to receive some kinds of special gifts from the elder ones. I like it and till date, I kept some amount of money that my father gave to me and I handle it very carefully. Yeah, I like it.

Band 5-6

It was on my birthday, there is a culture that we used to fall on the feet of the elders, so I first fell on the feet of my parents, they gave me a thousand rupees, then I fell on the feet of my grandparents, they gave me a thousand rupees, not only that, there were many elder people around me in our home, because we live in a joint family, so when you fall on the feet, they used to give you a lot on this occasion, and it was a very good occasion, it was very good for me that, it was money given by them on my birthday, and it was, then spent on eating snacks, and those stuffs, not only that, we friends, we went, and I gave treat for my friends, and we ended up on a good day, and then I spent more things for my friends, we ate as we like, and we went for a road ride, road trip, went for a ride around city, so many places, with the money I bought as a gift, it was a very good moment.

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