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Describe a time you enjoyed a free day off work or school: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When the day was?
  • What you did during the day?
  • Who you spent it with?
  • And explain why it was enjoyable.
Show all 116 answers

Cue 1:When the day was?

  • Mention a specific date or time frame to give context to your story.
  • Explain why this day was significant for you, such as a holiday or a personal reason.

Example

The day I enjoyed my free day off was on the 15th of August, which is India's Independence Day. I had planned this day off in advance to celebrate the occasion with my family.

Cue 2:What you did during the day?

  • Describe the activities you engaged in throughout the day.
  • Include a mix of relaxing and engaging activities to show how you made the most of your time.

Example

I started my day with a leisurely breakfast at home, followed by watching the flag hoisting ceremony on television. Later, I took a walk in the nearby park, enjoying the fresh air and the festive atmosphere. In the afternoon, I prepared a special lunch with my family, and we even watched a patriotic movie together.

Cue 3:Who you spent it with?

  • Mention the people you shared this day with, highlighting their importance to you.
  • Explain how their presence contributed to the enjoyment of the day.

Example

I spent this day with my parents and younger sister. Being together as a family made the day even more special, as we shared stories about our country's history and enjoyed each other's company.

Cue 4:And explain why it was enjoyable.

  • Reflect on the feelings and emotions you experienced during the day.
  • Discuss the significance of taking a break from work or school and how it impacted your well-being.

Example

This day was enjoyable because it allowed me to relax and reconnect with my family. After a hectic work schedule, having a day off to celebrate our independence and bond with loved ones was refreshing. I felt grateful and happy, which made the day memorable.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, my free day off on Independence Day was a perfect blend of relaxation and celebration. It reminded me of the importance of family and taking time for myself, making it a truly enjoyable experience.

    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 Too Vague

    Candidates often give very general answers without specific details. This makes the response less engaging and informative.

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    Tip

    Include specific details about the day, such as activities, locations, and feelings to make your answer more vivid and interesting.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Some candidates forget to address all the cues provided, leading to incomplete answers that may not fully satisfy the examiner's expectations.

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    Tip

    Make sure to answer all the cues: when the day was, what you did, who you were with, and why it was enjoyable.

    Overly Complicated Language

    Using complex vocabulary or sentence structures can confuse the listener and detract from the clarity of your message.

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    Tip

    Use clear and simple language to express your ideas. Focus on being understandable rather than using difficult words.

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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

    Okay, so I remember during my childhood, when I was in my 6th standard, we all went to school, we all went for a picnic, it was a school picnic, so we had a day off from the school the following day, so basically we had the full day to enjoy the picnic. I went to a lot of picnics after that, but that is the most memorable picnic and the day off that we enjoyed from school, because that was my first picnic, and I still remember the picnic was, where we went, it was Dream Valley, and my group of friends, we always used to think that whenever we go together, we'll enjoy a lot, and that exactly happened, the same. We had a great time together, we enjoyed swimming, we enjoyed playing all the sports and activities and whatever was there, we had great food, mostly I think I enjoyed in the bus, and obviously I also enjoyed the other part of the picnic, so we stayed there till night, it was a wonderful wonderful experience for me, because that picnic was something that I actually, at that moment, I understood that what enjoyment is actually about, and what you need to enjoy yourself more often in life, that before then I was not very much aware of enjoyment and picnics and all, that was a turning point when I thought that yes, this is what I need, this is like a therapy to me, having friends, picnic and everything else, so I think yes, that was a very memorable moment for me, and I still remember it the first time, that I actually did something with my friends, and after that, I always think of skipping college or school days and going for a day out with my friends, and I enjoy myself like this during any of the weekends or whenever I don't have to work, so yes, this was a memorable experience that I liked.

    Band 6-7

    okay this happened two years ago when I was studying in 10th standard actually I didn't study for the test the previous day so I woke up at around 5 o'clock and started learning for the test which was given on the school after I finished studying everything I checked my message inbox and saw the message like you don't have schools today because of heavy rain I was so shocked and happy because yeah I didn't slept well the previous night and hearing the news that school is closed everyone will enjoy it like that I also enjoyed so as soon as I saw the message I go in front of my parents and went back to sleep and then I woke up at around 10 a.m. and then had breakfast and I spent the day with my mom because the next week is Diwali so we need to buy a lot of things so we went to the shop to purchase we bought crackers I love bursting crackers on Diwali yeah that's what Diwali is this is it was my favorite time and then I studied for two hours I guess and then completed my next day's homework and I felt so relaxed that day because I didn't stress over anything I just got a free day off and I did the shopping and did all the things I know I need to do for tomorrow's classes and after a long time I talked with my best friend she's the one who makes me feel like I'm valued to be lived yes she's a gem for me that's it I enjoyed it and relaxed, studied, spent time with my family

    Band 6-7

    Personally, I'm not someone who takes a lot of leaves from work. Even when I was in school, my dad made sure that my brother and I used to go to school each and every day until it was very important for us to take a holiday. Either one of us was sick or we were traveling. That was the only exception that he made for us to take a leave from school. That kind of carried on even with college and at work. I think I've developed a mentality of completing my tasks and work and then only take leave when assigned. However, one specific day when I'd taken a leave was when my brother, who's currently studying in Germany, had come back to India to spend time with my mother and I. He was leaving on the weekend and I still remember I'd taken an off on Friday and I was at home. It was just my brother, my mom and I and we were at home. There's nothing that we did out of the blue. We didn't go out for a movie or lunch. It was just the three of us sitting at home, playing games, having home-cooked food and lying in bed, not even conversing with each other. I think that's the kind of comfort I share with my brother and that's exactly how I wanted to spend the day. That day, it's been a while since that day, almost a year now and I still cherish that last day I got to spend with him before he left for Germany again. Personally, I'd like to believe that I'm someone who's a workaholic, so taking leaves does not give me a lot of pleasure. It gives me more anxiety, but that was one day that I'd really cherish forever.

    Band 6-7

    That day when I went to the market like my hometown city and I went with my friend, she is my best friend and we did a lot of shopping and explored new things, we tried great food and I bought pair of jeans and earrings and shirts. This day was so enjoyable because I was with my friend and she really thinks same as I think.

    Band 6-7

    I think it was Feb 15, 2025. It was my first solitary experience. As I am an introvert, I find it really difficult to go talk to other people or to order food from waiters, to ask money from the cashier. I used to be like really scared to talk to them or get nervous. But I wanted to break it. So I chose to go on a solo date on that day and I chose to go watch a movie alone in a theatre because that was on my bucket list. I watched an Indy movie. I am not fluent in Indy and the movie didn't have any subtitles. But I could understand the way the movie was portrayed. When everyone had people together with them, I was sitting there alone and I never felt uncomfortable at all. I was really enjoying my company so much that I started to do it more often. Then after completing the movie, I went for a solo lunch date I guess. I went to my favourite cafe known as the Writer's Cafe. I ordered one of my favourite dishes which is alfredo pasta and the taste was so good there. I enjoyed eating in that place. The place was so calm, so serene and it had a lot of activities such as jengo, puzzles, sudoku. So I could sit there for a long time. I always have a book with me. I sat there and read a book for a really long time and I also ordered my favourite matcha drink. It was the best day.

    Band 6-7

    5 years back in the month of August when I was in school, I remember it was raining cats and dogs one day in the month of August. I woke up and my mother gave me a good news that school have declared the holiday and my mother told me to have a sleep, you can sleep again. Then I slept for more 3 hours, when I wake up my mother served me the breakfast. The breakfast was very appetizing and I loved it. I was eating poha and upma with enjoying the view from my balcony. Afterwards I met my friends and we played football in rain for around 2-2.5 hours and after coming to home I changed my clothes because I was full wet and my mom told me and my mom advised me to take a bath with warm water and in the evening I watched some cartoon and enjoyed snacks with it and at the late night, not late night I would say at the night I studied for an hour then I slept. I enjoyed my day because it was very fun and memorable. I enjoyed a lot at that day and one of my friends was came by and one of my friends and more interestingly one of my friends was left for the school, he came and he went school and he got to know that he...

    Band 6-7

    There was this one time back when I was in school that day it was raining like very heavily and hence my father refused to let me go to the school since it was quite dangerous for a small kid at that time. So my school started really early at 6 am so I had to get up like 4.30 5 a.m. So that day I was finally able to sleep in and get up at about 9 a.m. and I had a chance to have a hot cook breakfast and tea because since I had to get up early the appetite at that time was really low and I didn't have breakfast most days of school so I had I had the time to have breakfast and tea and then I later got a chance to cozy up in my bed since it was raining and read a good book and then watch a movie. I spent a lot of time with my mother because and of course my father because my father was a really busy man at that time and I rarely got to see him during the day. So as a child it was really exciting to cozy up in a spot at home and the three of us just sat down and played different games like Monopoly. So for me that experience was memorable because it was one of those exceptions in school days that I got to stay home and enjoy time with my parents.

    Band 6-7

    For the past 2 years, I have been working and only after start of this work, I realized how important it is to have free days and each week I would long for the weekends to just refresh and give some mental and good quality time for myself. Recently, during one of my free day, I visited a kayaking center. One of my friend also accompanied me. It was his idea that we would go for kayaking on some free day. It was a Sunday and we had to pre-book the kayaking as because of Sunday, many people would be going there and we started by 3.30 from our residence. At first, we got confused with the route and reached a distant location but later we managed to reach back to the exact location of start of kayaking. When we reached there, the coordinators welcomed us and gave us instructions on how it has to be done and what precautions to be considered while performing the sport. It started around 4.30 in the evening, till 5.30 it was a bit hectic and as because of the setting sun imposed us with a lot of sunlight as well as hot, thereafter everything changed. The vibrant colors of evening made it a colorful experience for me. I still have to go back there one more time.

    Band 6-7

    On a particular day, when our tutor was not well, he had given us a day off. So as we had reached the college already, we planned to carry on with some activities to spend the day. When we decided what to do, we just wanted to play games reminiscing the childhoods. So we thought of playing Ringa Ringa Roses and some sort of children's game to enjoy ourselves. Further, when we split into groups, it was more of a random order, not in a particular order. During the games, we felt like we were already in our childhood and we were just enjoying our times. We didn't even get bored for a minute. Further, we had a break in lunch together. After lunch, we had some talkative sessions. After talkative session, we just had to disperse and we had to leave to our homes at the earliest. It was a memorable day with our friends because every day doesn't get to be the same as this. And we also had a quality time considering a tightly packed schedule in our day-to-day life. So I think this was the best day in a long time and it was in the month of June.

    Band 6-7

    A time when I enjoyed a free day of work or school was during my summer vacations. I vividly remember that it was a Saturday. I called all my friends and we had a great time. We started the day by cooking some meals like stuffed mushrooms and bread. Additionally, in the evening, we also went down for swimming. After swimming, after we felt hungry, we went out and had street food like panpuri. At night, I spent time with my family. My sister and I tried to journal.
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