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Describe a time when you saw something in the sky: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What you saw in the sky
  • When/where you saw it
  • What it looked like / any details
  • And explain why it was memorable
Show all 72 answers

Cue 1:What you saw in the sky

  • Begin by clearly stating what you saw in the sky, such as a rainbow, a shooting star, or a unique cloud formation.
  • Use descriptive language to create a vivid image of the sight.

Example

I saw a beautiful rainbow stretching across the sky after a light rain shower. The colors were vibrant, with shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet blending seamlessly into one another.

Cue 2:When/where you saw it

  • Mention the specific time and location where you witnessed this sight.
  • Provide context about the weather or the situation at that time.

Example

This happened last summer while I was visiting my grandparents' village in Kerala. It was late afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to set, creating a perfect backdrop for the rainbow.

Cue 3:What it looked like / any details

  • Describe the appearance of the sight in detail, including colors, shapes, and any other notable features.
  • Share any personal feelings or thoughts you had while observing it.

Example

The rainbow was a full arc, and it seemed to touch the ground at both ends. The colors were so bright and clear, almost like they were painted in the sky. I felt a sense of joy and wonder as I watched it, reminding me of my childhood when I used to chase rainbows.

Cue 4:And explain why it was memorable

  • Reflect on why this experience stood out to you and what it meant personally.
  • Connect it to any emotions or memories that it evoked.

Example

This moment was memorable because it reminded me of my childhood and the simple joys of life. It also symbolized hope and beauty after a storm, which resonated with me deeply during a challenging time in my life.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, seeing that rainbow was not just a visual treat but also a meaningful experience that brought back fond memories and a sense of hope. It taught me to appreciate the beauty around us, even in difficult times.

    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 answer less engaging and informative. Candidates often fail to provide specific details about what they saw, which can lead to a lack of clarity.

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    Tip

    Include specific details about the object in the sky, such as its color, shape, and size, to create a vivid image for the listener.

    2: Ignoring the Cue Card Structure

    Not following the cue card prompts can result in an unorganized response. Candidates may miss important aspects of the question, leading to incomplete answers.

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    Tip

    Address each cue in order: describe what you saw, when and where, details about it, and why it was memorable to ensure a structured response.

    Overly Short Answers

    Providing overly brief answers can make it seem like you are not engaged or knowledgeable. Candidates often give one-sentence responses that lack depth.

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    Tip

    Expand your answers by adding personal feelings, thoughts, or stories related to the experience to make your response more engaging.

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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 >7

    It was once upon a time, it was middle of the night, around 12 a.m. or 1 a.m. Between that, me and my sister went to the terrace. And there we look up on the sky. At that time we suddenly see a shining bright light like dot moving from one side to another side. We were amazed, what is that? So, then we confused that why, what's that going from this side to another side? And it's not a airplane, but it looks like a star. It looked like a star, but it's not a star. We could confirm that it's not a star. It's moving around from one side to another side. And then we confused and another day we again went to the terrace to see that. And again the next day we saw the same thing, same mystery there. So, then we decide to search about it on the mobile phone internet. So, some of them have answered like it was satellite. So, that you are seeing it moving like from one side to another side. And we then confirmed that it's satellite. And yeah, that was it.

    Band >7

    The most memorable instance of me seeing something interesting in the sky was when I saw, a few years back, when I saw the red moon in the sky, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for me because it happens only in like 600 or 500 years, as such the moon happens to be in the red color that you don't see in most of your everyday life and it was very memorable to me as I am a very science fanatic so I do hear much more interesting stuff like that and it's a once-in-a-lifetime for any of us alive today, we would not be able to witness that in any other time in our lifetime and it was very intriguing to me. And it was a very gradual process once the moon was the normal color, white color, and it slowly turned into the red color as such and it was a full moon that day.

    Band 6-7

    I saw an eagle in the sky when I was sitting on the terrace last night. At first of all, I thought it may be one of these parrots or owls. Once it came near to me then I realized it was an eagle, though at that particular period of time I just ran away from there, but it became a memorable moment for me because I got so scared because it came so near to me. Here in sky, simply I was sitting, last night simply I was sitting on the terrace and I was just looking at the moon as it was a full moon day and I was watching all the stars, all the shiny stars. Once I saw that something was moving in the sky, I thought it could be a normal bird. And by the time I heard voice, some voices, then that made me so scared and hurdled and I came back to my home, to my room. Then I realized that I should not go on terrace during night time, that's why it was so horrible for me, horrible moment for me, that's why it became so memorable for me too.

    Band 6-7

    When I was four years old, I saw a white globe-like ball, which was little bit shiny, in the sky. It was around 11 p.m. and I was on a walk with my family. I was wondering what exactly that thing is. I asked my parents, what is it? They told me, it is the moon. That was the first time when I discovered there is something called as moon in this world. They told me, in this universe, there are many other things like moon, stars, sun, these all are natural phenomenon. I liked watching moon. I liked stargazing. Eventually, I gained interest in space study. That is how I became an astronaut.

    Band 6-7

    A time when I saw something in the sky was last month, when I noticed something weird or out of place in the sky, where I noticed a cloud shaped differently, not the usual one where it sometimes it used to look like small objects like say heart or like a proper round or like a rudimentary figure of a cat with a round and two pointed ears, but this time it was something different, I noticed clear details and like it looked like a face, I couldn't make what the face was or what it really meant, but it was so lifelike and real and it was as if the face had freckles and like fine lines and I'm not sure if it was wrinkles or fine lines really, but you know the lines on the face and also some hair, a rough thing of the hair, outline of the hair and I was so surprised, taken aback rather, I've never seen this kind of detail on cloud, clouds earlier I'm used to like I said I'm used to noting shapes and figures and probably streak marks from jets moving about, but this was very memorable and it stayed on for a long time now, I think I saw this about a year back if I am right and the level to which it was detailed was something that's, it was very shocking, it was as if somebody had tried to do that on purpose.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about a time when I was a child. I am returning from my tuition class in the night with my brother and my friends. When we walk in the night, when I look at the sky, I see a star was descending from the sky. It feels like the star decreased its distance from the sky to the earth. I felt like that. First, I think that's just my imagination or something. Then later on, my friend also witnessed that the star lowered the distance between the earth and the sky. We took a picture of it, but it wasn't clear enough to capture that. That's really a fascinating thing. Everyone witnessed that miracle with their own eyes. We were amazed and asked our parents why that happened. Unfortunately, they also don't know the reason behind it. Still, in my mind, I need to know why the reason I see that in the sky. Moreover, I really like to watch the sky in the night. Sometimes, on special occasions, Jupiter is witnessed in the sky, so I watch that also.

    Band 6-7

    I'm someone who loves to click pictures of the sky. I get mesmerized by the shades of the sky during different times of the day. Recently I was clicking the picture of the sky during an evening time and I I was mesmerized to find a shooting star. I have heard that the sights of a shooting star is recognized as a very prosperous situation. The shooting star looked as if it was traveling from one place to another spreading its light across. It was so beautiful to see such a sight and it was my first time to have seen some to have experienced such a great evening. The star not only traveled from one place to another but it gleamed in the night sky. One of my friends who was with me told me that if you see a shooting star you need to make a wish. So I closed my eyes and made a wish. This moment I felt like I felt that the nature and earth has a lot of things beyond its beauty and beyond and a lot of secrets that it holds and I am very grateful to have witnessed it.

    Band 6-7

    During the time when I visited Vaishno Devi, which is in Jammu-Katra, it requires one to climb a hill and there are different modes of transport available there, which would range from horses to auto rickshaws to helicopters. I was 6 years old when I first saw a helicopter in the sky, it was so memorable or it was something new for me as in Mumbai it is difficult to spot a helicopter. Secondly, I got a chance to sit in the helicopter to go to Lord Vaishno Devi, as the climb was difficult to, it is difficult to climb the hill in some time and being a child, my family thought of going with a helicopter, a lot of people choose helicopters for that purpose. During my time, it was too windy, so the operations of helicopter had stopped. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to go towards the end with the helicopter, but we got an option to come down in a helicopter, so it was memorable for me as it was the first time I saw one and got a chance to sit as well.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about a time when I saw something in the sky. Recently I had the opportunity to experience the blood moon through a telescope. I am a person who is fascinated by the things related to space and astronomy. Basically I am a space enthusiast. So I read a news article regarding that blood moon will be visible on this date and I immediately rushed to my friend who has a telescope on his own. I told him that I really wanted to witness this scenic beauty of the blood moon. And on the date we prepared eagerly. I shifted to his home and at night we prepared the telescope ready to watch the amazing experience. It was wonderful and quite an experience to see the blood moon through the telescope. It was quite reddish in colour and a beauty to the naked eye to watch. It was a memorable one because this was my first time experiencing something in the sky through a telescope. It was closely, I could watch it very closely through the telescope. So yeah, it was a memorable incident in my life that I would cherish forever.

    Band 6-7

    Normally, I don't look at the sky very closely or to observe some new things but here I would like to talk about a specific time when I saw something interesting in the sky. I vividly remember that two months ago I went to Jalandhar at my maternal uncle's place. So I was on the roof of their home and I saw a lot of kites in the sky or and I can say that there was a flood of kites in the sky. So normally, we don't see such a lot that much kites in the sky. That's why I was astonished and I asked my uncle about the all these kites. He said to me that a kite flying competition is going on. So that's why there are so many kites. I was again I was astonished because a kite competition was quite unusual thing for me. So then I said to him that how they can find a winner of that competition. He said to me that to announce a winner, they wait until late evening because the person who keep his kite in the sky till the late evening that can be a winner. It was quite an interesting thing for me. Even I looked at the sky for approximately for three hours without taking any pause. Even I also recorded that moment in my phone, uploaded on social media to sharing with my friends and getting a lot of positive compliments from others. So that was a time when I saw something in the sky and that was unforgettable thing for me because it was first time when I see some that kind of things in the sky.
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