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.

36 unique answers with expert feedback

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.

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.

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.

Tip

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

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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

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

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

that map was actually a savior to me and you know because of that map I actually really reached back to the hotel you know I really thank the hotel receptionist actually for you know giving me that map because if it was not that map you know I really would not know if I would reach the hotel back on time or not and so the real the exact time when I actually used the map was when I was actually lost and I and my as I mentioned my Google Maps was not working so I pulled out the map out of my pocket and I was like oh wow savior and I started going through having a quick glance of trying and trying to figure out where exactly I am and how do I do what do I do next what should I do in order to you know get out of the situation and it took me a little time but slowly and eventually I did understand I try to figure out and locate where exactly I was standing and what I have to do next and after asking a few of the locals around me I surprisingly did find one and with the with the map he exactly explained what I should do next where I should go and and what route should I take and how do I travel and surprisingly you know it was a really big help that local and I did reach the hotel back in the evening all tired and drenched then I did take a shower after that and I just conked off to bed I was so tired that day trust me I did not know what to do and yeah that's how exactly what's my personal experience towards how you know I was using the map if that receptionist would not have not given me the map that day trust me I would have been lost I would not know if I would be here also to be very honest but okay

Band 5-6

so we generally use the question is a time when you use a map so in Delhi we generally use maps I believe and as a Gen Z also I would want to say that map is kind of very essential part of our lives because whenever we want to go out and just we have something and we do have some kind of time limits so we prefer using maps so that we can just find some kind of shortcuts or there may be some kind of routes we do not know and map just like tracks everything for example I have planned something for like 5 p.m. in the evening so I can check for like I can check around to like how much time it is going to take me to reach at the point I want to reach at 5 so I can plan my things accordingly and it's not very challenging because as a Gen Z we use phones almost every time our work cannot be done without phone so like when we visit our office we have to log in using our phone we have to do everything using our phone and in Delhi like I used to go to Gurgaon for my first job and it was in Saiwara but sometimes it took like two hours or more than that and now I go like I have to visit Noida campus for like my this current role so it sometimes get very hectic knowing the route but still you are stuck in a jam or some kind of traffic so it's better to like search

Band 5

So, I have traveled from Pune to Andaman a couple of years ago and that time Andaman is an island where you can go for vacations and it has beach and it's an island so it's kind of beach so what happened at that day I was lost in a market and that time I was quite confused what to do so I asked locals due to some communication problem with the locals I forgot where to go and then I opened my mobile phone and I

Band 5

It was a one year ago when we me and my family were on a trip to Punjab and we have used map to get the route of Punjab as it is challenging because it does not require us that how traffic can certainly stuck us in that situation and make make waste our time more as no more shortcuts are like most worst one and we try to use it and it makes it our trip more worse

Band <5

මමිමි පසක දින නාවාන නාවාන කිරින් කිරි කිරින් පහස්මින් ප්පර මෙරහස්රයක් අමුණුන කිරින් සිය නිස්සතිය, ප්ප්රමුණුන ස්පාන ගැනීම් තෝ්ට් රාත්තෝයක් කිරි වලින්ද තබා සාල්පාන් සුණුන නාවාන දින 400 ස්පාන් තබා දී ත්තිට් ඔබ අවශ්ය සදාන සදාන තබා ත� ස්වාභානයි සියගීම සිබින් කුදුනේ සංසලක් මට සිරිත්තෝයක් සින්දද ස්පානය සහ සින්දද සින්දද කරනයකට තේව, ස්පානය සින්දද ස� සින්දදද කරන්දද සින්දද සින්දද කිරිතගනකනන් කරන්දදේන්නේ සින්දදදකන්නේ

Band 6.5

So, the time when I used map is the time when I was searching for my college location once I went to Jharadun for my bachelor's program like how to take admission in the Ayurvedic medicine. So, I went there for that and I have not found the college and that's why I used Google Map at that time and it was very difficult for me to use the map because I don't know that at that time that how people use Google Maps usually. So, I took help of one of the person and he explained me that how we should use the maps in searching the locations. So, I understood the main concepts of using the Google Maps and after that I went to my college through that Google Map and it was a nice experience because it helped me a lot in finding the location and in future when I will have to go somewhere where I cannot find the location then I will take the help of the map, the help of the Google Map and I will find it easily. So, that's why the experience was very good and also like once I went to a temple in Jharadun so to find the temple I used that map and I was in the car that time and I used the Google Maps locations for helping me at that time and it was very wonderful experience for me and it saved my time and that's all about it. Thank you so much.

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