arrow back icon Top Answers

Describe A Time When You Used A Map: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When was it?
  • Why you used it?
  • Was it challenging to use?
  • Explain how you felt about it.
Show all 36 answers

Cue 1:When was it?

  • Begin by mentioning the specific time and place you used the map.
  • Provide context about why you needed to navigate at that moment.

Example

It was last summer, during my trip to the hill station of Manali. I had just arrived and wanted to explore the local attractions, but I was unfamiliar with the area.

Cue 2:Why you used it?

  • Explain the reason for using the map, such as finding a specific location or navigating unfamiliar terrain.
  • Mention any particular places you were trying to reach.

Example

I used the map because I wanted to visit the famous Hadimba Temple and the Manu Temple. I had heard so much about them, but I didn’t know how to get there from my hotel.

Cue 3:Was it challenging to use?

  • Discuss any difficulties you faced while using the map, such as understanding directions or finding your way.
  • Share how you overcame these challenges.

Example

At first, it was a bit challenging because the streets were narrow and winding. I found it hard to match the map with the actual roads. However, I took my time and asked a local for help, which made it easier to understand.

Cue 4:Explain how you felt about it.

  • Share your feelings during the experience, whether it was stressful, exciting, or rewarding.
  • Reflect on what you learned from using the map.

Example

I felt a mix of excitement and anxiety. It was thrilling to explore a new place, but I was worried about getting lost. In the end, I felt accomplished when I found the temples, and it made the experience even more memorable.

Conclusion

    Example

    Using a map during my trip to Manali was a valuable experience. It taught me the importance of navigation skills and boosted my confidence in exploring new places. Overall, it was a rewarding adventure that I will always remember.

    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: Avoid Vague Responses

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear. It's important to provide specific details about your experience with the map to engage the listener.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Include specific dates, locations, and reasons for using the map to create a vivid picture of your experience.

    2: Don't Neglect Emotions

    Failing to express your feelings can make your response less engaging. Sharing your emotions adds depth to your story and connects with the examiner.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Describe how you felt during the experience, whether it was frustration, excitement, or relief, to make your answer more relatable.

    Overlook Challenges Faced

    Ignoring the challenges you faced while using the map can lead to a one-dimensional answer. Discussing difficulties shows problem-solving skills and resilience.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Mention any specific challenges you encountered and how you overcame them to demonstrate your ability to navigate obstacles.

    calendar icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    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 5-6

    Whenever I go for traveling and I do not know about that place so much and where it was, then I sometime use map and it was so relevant for me and it is very helpful for me. And it is also that in map we can see which was easier road and which way was not find out any traffic and also it is very relevant for me and also if we do not know about that place where it was, then map make easier for us. And also whenever we used map it was very relevant and also people friendly interfaces of that map.

    Band 5-6

    People now a days use map regularly because they don't need any help from anybody who knows the location exactly. Well, I did not, I did not use it very often but I am very scared to use because in a hurry I will forget which is right, which is left. Well, I know the directions very well, what is north, what is south and all the directions but then in a hurry we are going with my friends or something. I am not the one who is using a map to tell the route or directions because I often make it very bad. And the thing when I used a map was, I went for an interview and I wanted to come back from there. I did not know the exact route. I went by auto and I thought I will come by walk because I love walking whenever I am depressed or whenever I am not feeling very good. In that circumstance, I just opened the route map, I put the directions to my phone, I started walking. However, I did not reach the destination properly, I took help from an auto uncle and also someone who guided me to the way and then I reached home properly. So I don't use it very apparently, but whenever I use, I mess it up and ask routes from someone else, which is a better way to go to the location I wanted to go. I travel alone without my father nowadays.

    Band 5-6

    So yesterday I used the traveling map when I was going to the Amritsar it had given me a very worst experience as it let us go to the indirect direction which which was very challenging for me which wasted my half of the time and I was very late to go to my the final destination and I request everyone I request the Google Maps to please correct my maps, so I'm not able to speak two minutes, can you please prefer me to speak only 40 seconds, I can't, yeah

    Band 5-6

    Recently I have visited to the temple which is located on Kumbakonam. To reach the place I am not aware in which route I have to be. There is a three way path is there and based upon the traffic and the time to reach everything has been calculated with the help of the Google map and Google map guided us and with the help of Google map there are three routes are visible and we have picked the Kumbakonam route and we have reached the prayer to 20 minutes to the exact place and I have to be very caution while I am travelling alone then I have to take a map and map is used to perform my work more faster comparing to another and this is why I have to test and I have to go with the place without the prayer knowledge I can use Google map and map is used for that purpose and with the help of map I have achieved my work more frequently and that too I would like to share this to everyone those who are getting guidance from me I will suggest them to use the map. Map is the one which is providing us complete history of where I am going to locate and where I am going to reach and through which route I have to go and I can able to see the visualization of that place with the help of satellite view and with the satellite view I can exactly comes to know that before entering into the place how the place looks with the help of that map I can able to take my things and trials without the trial I can visit the place on time and it will lead me to get into the new location and to experience a lot of things over there that's why map is the one which is required for the technological world and the world is full of technology the technology I use the map and I visited places like multiple temples.

    Band 5-6

    so we traveled time ago it was like 10 years ago yes with my friends we were so excited that we don't know the location and we needed to use a map and that's how we got our travel messed up because we tried to use the Google map which did not really help with our problem and it only did a wrong direction give us not correct way and also it navigates us to a direction in which we had to go to a narrow area and that it was unnecessary we felt really horrible about that during that night we had to stay in a place like we don't know the real location it was like an abandoned place so we had to blame the Google map and we had to just be silent about it because everyone has and did the problem about that also so I think yeah everyone contributed to it probably because we didn't really or we wasn't really ready

    Band 5-6

    I think it lost witness day because I don't know the route map So that's why I am using my route map on my phone The experience is too good for that On that time I was so nervous So after that I was feeling whenever I go I have to use my mobile phone So that is the best thing to have in that So that is my personal thing So that's it Thank you for watching!

    Band 5-6

    In the modern era, due to the advancement of technology, everyone has their own mobile phone, especially smart phone. So smart phone provide a variety of apps including Google Maps for locating the location where you want to know. First of all, I would like to talk about a time when I used to map, online map, not the paper map. A couple of months ago, me and my friend Abhinav were planning to go visit Anakambol, a beautiful high range area in our city, but we didn't know the exact location. We go with the flow and finally at a moment, we didn't realize the way of the destination. So I told him to use the Google Map because it's more convenient and also provide the exact location, time, distance, how we cover, something etc like that. So he opened his Google Map and search the location where we want to go. It's almost 12 km from where we starting going to.

    Band 5-6

    The time when I used map was when I went to Vijayawada. I didn't have any kind of informations about the the knowledge about the streets where it led to. So I tried Google Maps and it was very challenging because I was riding a bike and using a phone was so hectic and I felt so monotonous at that time. I could initially felt Moreover I usually feel that these Google Maps are very False and not accurate however, I tried to manage it easily and Try to get up and cope up the problem Easy

    Band 5-6

    Recently, my birthday is March 26th and I am on a trip. I am going to Vattavada. Then we use map for finding some hidden spots. There was an issue with it. But the map gives me wrong routes and we become trouble in that. Because sometimes maps are always making people in wrong way and making them trouble. Because we are in Vattavada and there was no network. So map gives wrong ways and we followed the map and we finally get in another destination. We can't explain how was it experience but always it was a very special experience. I always explore how it looks more. I believe sometimes we have to make troubles. Because it is an experience what we always in not normal way. I don't think so. But I love to be in trouble. But sometimes maps make me trouble. It is really weird because it is sometimes so returning and makes our time consuming etc. I don't think but I love that trip. But of course it is weird. You think also. But it is normal. Maps are always use map. Excellent. Ok. I don't think. Recently that I use map. After that I didn't never use map. Because I always talk to people and find the way. That's the exact way to find any route map.

    Band 5-6

    The time when I used Google map is to visit a temple named Thirumantankunnu which is near to Malappuram district. Actually it was a bit challenging. Why I used the map is because I don't know the exact route to reach the temple. So to know how to reach the temple I used the map. It was bit challenging one. Since the map is showing a route that takes a longer time than the one we have at a shorter distance. While reaching certain points the map gets redirected us into a different way. So actually we got confused with it whether to go or take the right or move forward and then take right. So there was bit confusing things that was going with the map. So it was bit challenging one but rather I actually using a map it was helpful for me to reach the place on time. Even though it was bit challenging with the redirecting and the time it shows is not exactly the same the time we had. So we had to travel a bit more we took a bit more time to reach the destination rather than the time shown by the Google map. So it was a little challenging one but it was okay.
    1 2 3 4
    ielts logo

    Get the IELTS Prep App

    Star rating icon

    4.2

    1M+ Installs

     app download banner image

    Get the app link on your phone

    +91

    Or download app from

    google play storeapp store
    master ielts speaking ad