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Describe a time when you were fascinated with another culture.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Which culture is it?
  • When was this?
  • Why were you fascinated?
Show all 26 answers

Cue 1:Which culture is it?

  • Begin by clearly stating the culture you were fascinated by, such as a specific country or community.
  • Provide a brief context about what aspects of the culture caught your attention, like traditions, food, or festivals.

Example

I was particularly fascinated by Japanese culture, especially their traditional tea ceremonies and the concept of 'Omotenashi', which reflects their hospitality.

Cue 2:When was this?

  • Mention when you first encountered this culture, whether through travel, a festival, or a cultural event.
  • Include details about the location and the circumstances that led to your exposure to this culture.

Example

This fascination began during my college days in 2019 when I attended a cultural festival in my city that showcased various international traditions, including Japan.

Cue 3:Why were you fascinated?

  • Explain the specific elements of the culture that intrigued you, such as their customs, values, or art.
  • Share any personal experiences or interactions that deepened your interest in this culture.

Example

I was fascinated by the meticulous nature of the tea ceremony, which symbolizes peace and harmony. The way the host prepares and serves tea with such grace and respect made me appreciate the depth of their cultural values.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your overall feelings about the experience and how it impacted your view of cultural diversity.
  • Mention any actions you took afterward, like learning more about the culture or trying to incorporate elements of it into your life.

Example

In conclusion, my encounter with Japanese culture not only broadened my understanding of cultural diversity but also inspired me to learn more about their language and traditions, which I continue to explore to this day.

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 of Culture

Avoid being too general when describing the culture. Vague answers can make it hard for the examiner to understand your experience and interest.

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Tip

Provide specific examples of cultural practices, traditions, or events that fascinated you to make your answer more engaging.

2: Ignoring Personal Connection

Failing to explain why you were fascinated can lead to a lack of depth in your response. Personal connections make your story more relatable.

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Tip

Share a personal story or experience that highlights your emotional connection to the culture to enhance your answer.

Rushing Through the Timeline

Skipping details about when the experience happened can confuse the listener. A clear timeline helps structure your response.

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Tip

Clearly state the time frame of your experience and provide context to help the examiner follow your story easily.

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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 6-7

I was fascinated back in my own days with Muslim culture. Since I'm from a colony which has more number of Muslim peoples living in it, I always get fascinated by looking at them, their way of living, their values, their morals. It was for me a new thing. Though in starting I never understood them pretty well, but as I started living in them, I got so involved in them that I started liking their culture, their habits and the way they lead themselves.

Band 6-7

There was a time when I had gone on a trip with my friends to the south as I was from a north area, when I had gone to the south, it was a vastly different experience, they have a different culture, like they eat different things from us, they have different languages in which they spoke and the clothes they wear, the accent they spoke is very different from our northern area, so as in India it has a vast diversity of culture and I was fascinated by the culture, their languages and the difference they have with this, so it was a fascinating time and I was just mind blown by their different cultures and I wanted to experience them and learn their culture and about them, so it was a very different experience for me to experience at that time, as I had just first time, I had gone to the south and they have very different temples in there also, the religion they worship and the very thing that made them is very vastly to our self, so it just fascinated myself and my group of friends also.

Band 6-7

The culture I was fascinated with was the Japanese culture. When I was in 10th standard, probably around 2017, that's when I was introduced to anime. And when I started watching anime, I got very curious about how the Japanese lead their life and what was their history. That's when I started doing a little research, and not too intensive, but slight into their history as to what they do and how they conduct their day-to-day activities. Wherein, I found out that kids around age 3, they are sent to school alone. They walk to the school, they come back. And this is a very normal practice across Japan.

Band 6-7

India is a diverse country and we can show different kind of culture like Gujarati, Punjabi and many more. Today I would like to talk about a Punjabi culture that I firstly saw in the middle of the month. A couple of months ago I went to Punjab with my friend to attend his sister's marriage. So it was a very fascinating for me due to the lots of people and they celebrate as much as possible they can. Apart from that I know some people have a different culture like on marriage they drink alcohol and that was very impressive, I was very surprised to see that kind of, so it was very difficult to survive in this type of fascinating culture but apart from that it was very fascinating for me because in Gujarat we can't see this kind of culture. So it was very important for me and we also enjoy a lot of things like drinking alcohol, different kind of cuisine and mouth-watering foods are available. I also enjoy with my friend and the mesmerizing thing is the dancing, the dancing style is amazing and I was very, I literally taste that kind of culture so that was the culture I saw in my life and I'm fascinated with them.

Band 6-7

So the culture that I am going to talk about is the Spanish Tomatini culture. I saw this when I was watching a movie, I guess it was Zindagi Na Milegi Dubhara wherein I saw the culture where the Spanish people like they throw tomatoes at each other and celebrate this festival. It was very fascinating for me as it closely

Band 6-7

I was fascinated with the African culture. It was the time when I was 11 years old, on my trip to Africa, I went to this place called South Africa. In that, I've seen tribal people enjoying in a festival. I've asked people what is that festival, they've told it's the cultural festival of Africa, which is spent around this year. So, I was very fascinated with this African culture, the way they are true to their culture, the way they are always celebrating it, being proud about their ancestors, about the culture their ancestors brought up. I've never seen anywhere in the world, because comparing to it, in my country, we are adapting to this modern generation, modern world, modern era. But in Africa, I've seen, even if they are adapting to this modern era, they've at least preserved their African culture by indicating these festivals, by performing it very correctly, very nicely.

Band 6-7

One thing I have noticed which is very different among other cultures is the personal space. If we actually consider personal space as a bubble, I feel that we Indians have less of a bubble size, as in we have less of a personal space, while Americans etc. they have a larger bubble, as in larger personal space. If I want to list out a culture which I am very fascinated about, it would be Japanese culture I guess. I have long since been fascinated with their culture and the introduction to their culture actually happened through anime and the light novels which they publish. To deal with the pressure and the current situation where I am studying in B.Tech, I actually tend to escape from reality by going through novels, mangas. That is how I got introduced to their culture. What fascinates me the most is they do everything precisely. They are up to the point. They maintain everything neat. They keep everything clean. For example, I have seen a baseball match where all the Japanese people after the match got completed, they started cleaning the stadium, even though it was not necessary and even though nowhere in the world it was mentioned that it had to be done like that. And even the diet they follow fascinates me. It is somewhat similar to Chinese diet, but still I am curious about the food they eat and sometimes I will definitely say that even I want to taste the food there. And the games they play, I noticed that baseball seems to be very popular in Japan. I have played a few matches of baseball and I have watched a few matches of it on YouTube. Although it has fascinated me, I have never tried it out. So I hope that when I go to Japan, I can actually try it out.

Band 6-7

My Q card topic is fascinating with another culture. Let me elaborate this topic with my experience. First of all, I would like to mention here that I came across with another culture of Christians. It is when I was celebrating 25th of December in the church. When I visited Thailand in the last year, the Thailand trip taught me how to light candles on 25th December in the church. I usually respect all of the cultures of various religions. Now I have planned for Dubai to get to know what culture they are following. I would love to explore their food habitats, their living style, their lifestyles, everything. I would love to find out how people are celebrating their festivals by following different cultures. I would love to know the rituals they are following on special occasions. I am fond of celebrating festivals of different religious traditions. I am always accepting all religious traditions.

Band 6-7

Cultures are the representations of a community, a city or maybe even a country. They are important parts of society itself. One time I was very fascinated with the culture of Icelanders, people who live in Iceland. So they basically have to survive long harsh periods of winter and during these periods there is an absence of food, light, shelter, heat etc. So to adapt to these conditions they have to really put themselves outside for hunting, gathering of wood to build their shelter or firewood for their homes, to heat their homes. It is really fascinating to see how humans can survive such extreme conditions and really put on a brave face and face mother nature.

Band 6-7

So the culture which made me fascinated about it was the Korean culture. I got to know about the culture in 2014. I really like the traditional, the house, especially the sliding doors, the way they sit on the floor like Indian culture, and the way they remove their shoes when entering the house. It is similar to our Indian culture. Not only that, but the way they greet each other while doing bow represent how much they respect one another. Korean culture, I found about it as I said in 2014, and until now I follow it.
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