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Describe a time you made a decision to wait for something: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did it happen?
  • What are you waiting for?
  • Why did you make the decision?
  • Explain how you felt while waiting.
Show all 113 answers

Cue 1:When did it happen?

  • Begin by mentioning the specific time and context when you made the decision to wait.
  • Provide details about the situation that led to your decision.

Example

This happened last year during the festive season in India. I had been eagerly waiting for the launch of a new smartphone that was set to be released just before Diwali. I decided to wait instead of buying an older model.

Cue 2:What are you waiting for?

  • Clearly state what you were waiting for and why it was significant to you.
  • Mention any specific features or reasons that made you want to wait for this particular item.

Example

I was waiting for the latest smartphone model because it promised advanced features like a better camera and longer battery life. As a tech enthusiast, I wanted to ensure I had the best device for photography during the festive celebrations.

Cue 3:Why did you make the decision?

  • Explain your reasoning behind the decision to wait rather than settle for something available immediately.
  • Discuss any influences, such as friends or reviews, that contributed to your decision.

Example

I made the decision to wait because I had read positive reviews about the new model, and my friends who had similar interests encouraged me to hold off. I believed that the wait would be worth it for the enhanced features.

Cue 4:Explain how you felt while waiting.

  • Share your emotions during the waiting period, whether it was excitement, anxiety, or impatience.
  • Reflect on how the anticipation affected your daily life.

Example

While waiting, I felt a mix of excitement and impatience. Every day, I would check for updates and countdown the days until the launch. It was thrilling to think about how much I would enjoy using the new phone, especially during the festive season.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, waiting for the new smartphone was a significant decision for me. It taught me the value of patience and the joy of anticipation. When I finally got the phone, it felt even more rewarding, and I was glad I chose to wait.

    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: Rushing Through Your Answer

    Candidates often rush their responses, missing important details. This can lead to a lack of clarity and depth in their answers, making it hard for the examiner to follow.

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    Tip

    Take a moment to think before speaking. Structure your answer by addressing each cue clearly and providing relevant details.

    2: Being Vague or General

    Using vague language or general statements can weaken your response. It makes it difficult for the examiner to understand your experience and feelings.

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    Tip

    Use specific examples and descriptive language to illustrate your experience. This will make your answer more engaging and memorable.

    Neglecting Emotional Aspects

    Failing to express your feelings during the waiting period can make your answer less relatable. Emotions add depth and connection to your story.

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    Tip

    Reflect on your emotions during the waiting period. Share how you felt and why those feelings were significant to your experience.

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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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    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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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    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.
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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

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    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.
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    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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    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

    The decision which made me wait is my choosing for undergraduate study in Agricultural University because after finishing my higher school, higher schooling in my school, the agricultural counselling was started very later because of the COVID times and I waited for this without applying any other colleges. After sometimes I gave up and I applied to another university counselling also where I got a placement in engineering college called Rajalakshmi Engineering College in food technology course. But after sometime, after one to two weeks, the Agricultural College also opened their counselling portal and I didn't give up and I applied to that also. After getting an offer letter from the Rajalakshmi Engineering College, I waited for the Agricultural University results. It was about one and half to two months, the Agricultural University College list was opened and I got a seat in Agribusiness Management and I was very happy to hearing that it is worth the wait for not going and joining in the Rajalakshmi Engineering College. It is also a reputed college among Chennai. But I always dreamed of doing or making a degree in Agriculture and Business Management. So it is worth the wait, I would say.

    Band 6-7

    so I would like to describe a time when I took a decision to wait for something and the thing was a holiday vacation so I waited it for the holiday vacation because my exams were going on and after the exams in the free time I decided to go on a vacation so because my exams were going on so I was not able to join join a vacation group who was going to Ladakh so I waited till my exam get over and then I then I'll go to a vacation in Ladakh so I was too much excited about about the vacation I prepared everything in advance I like the equipments we need for hiking camping as well as which kind of transport I will use for the vacation so yeah it was very interesting to wait for something and as the days come near you get your excitement to a next level and it is a very amazing experience when the last exam got over and the next day my bus was there for the Ladakh and it was an amazing experience after waiting so much for about a month I got the opportunity to make my dream vacation true and I enjoyed it so well and yeah when you wait for something for so long the pleasure it gives increasing so much and it was a great time there in Ladakh I spent about two to three weeks

    Band 6-7

    so if I talk about a time when I had to wait for something and so here I would like to talk about to talk about a time it was around seven months back when I just completed my senior secondary education after that my parents will parents allowed me to to bought a new phone but that time the sales of phone are very were very expensive so I thought that if I that if I thought that if I bought a phone then it cost me an arm and a leg so I decided to wait for it after two weeks two weeks I found a advertisement in which I found a new launch of oneplus note CE 4 and it look very different as compared to others and the quality and the companions of that phone is increased that phone was increased my expectation to buy it so because of that I had to choose I had to choose wait over bought a new phone instant so moreover I also shared it with my brother and asked for his advice he also suggests me the same as I decided decided before so I decided to go with my decision apart from that there are many reasons why I choose to wait because the look and the camera of phone is very great and provide me a great experience so at the end of the day I think my wait

    Band 6-7

    The time when I was waiting for something was when I purchased my mobile phone. It was a bigger financial decision on my part as I was going to purchase this phone on my own with my own savings. So I took my time to research about it and make comparisons. Not only was I waiting for a good phone to come up so that I can wait and compare but also I was waiting for a good offer so that I can make proper decision based on facts and comparison. Eventually I think that the wait was worth it and I was able to get a good worth of my money. The phone that I took was actually worth the wait and eventually I was really happy about my decision and it gave me as much of satisfaction throughout the waiting even though I waited for about 8-9 months. At the end of it, the outcome was satisfactory which made the waiting time even more like a journey.

    Band 6-7

    the time that made it that I have to wait for a decision because it was during my job period that it was very difficult for me to adjust to fit in this particular world and their criterias so I planned for a higher studies option and it I was waiting for the further procedures which have to be done for the college protocols and also I have to know about the hospital protocols what I have to be done while leaving the particular hospital before completing the noticeable period and I felt like I made the right decision of leaving that hospital and stepping to a new higher education because it can mainly help in my future career and also it gives me several promotions and it's like I have made a very good decision for for higher studies because it it only can make benefits for me and in my thought there is no drawbacks for taking higher studies that it only gives advantages that is of new new new or latest advanced teachers or latest procedures and to do major procedures by my own so this was a time I have to wait for the some further procedures and also from the approval of my parents thank you

    Band 6-7

    The last time I made a decision to wait for something was when I took a decision to wait for the results of my college admissions. College admissions is a very stressful time for me because I am quite an impatient person and I need to see the results immediately. The wait is actually quite long because it has been more than a month that I've been waiting for a decision and I actually am feeling not good while waiting because it is not my forte to be patient and to be calm during these situations.

    Band 6-7

    After the completion of my 12th grade, I put a halt on my bachelor's degree and decided to pursue gap year. This was my choice to do so because I wanted to pursue my higher studies in South Korea. And there was a reason behind this because being a child who always admired a country, I could no longer without this. So I decided and right now I am still on a halt but my wait will be over on 23rd of September as the application will be opened and I will be applying for that. It really feels both happy and intense fear because I felt like either I could pass or I could fail. So I thought that I should give it all of my energy. So I am still preparing and I am still so excited for the results.

    Band 6-7

    At the time I waited was in the year 2023 for my dance performance in the biggest event of the college. The event was Sargam. At that time, we didn't have any dance club from our college and I was, I badly wanted to participate in Sargam. But since we didn't have any team or club from the college, so I had to wait. I proposed the idea for my college to create the dance team and it was in 2023 December and the procedure took for almost an year and that 10 months time phase where I waited for the event to occur again, event to take place, where I waited the New Horizons College to organize the Sargam event again. I formed the team, the dance team, I took auditions of all the juniors, seniors and all of the people who gave auditions. I auditioned them, I prepared the dance team and finally when it was time for me to perform on the stage, it was all I wanted, it was totally worth it. The wait was 100% worth it and I felt like patience is the key and if I worry too much, nothing's gonna work out and if I keep working on the thing that I want and patiently wait for that thing, I think it's definitely gonna work out.

    Band 6-7

    It was a time when I was in a relationship with my partner and there was a situation that I've occurred in my life about relationships with my partner. My partner decided to broke up with me. After that, I met a person named Julien. After I met Julien, there were a lot of situations that I had to wait for a certain period of time. And it was really painful also because during that period, there was no communication, there was nothing. So, it was really a hard time for me. But after the date had passed, she came back and loved me so much that I can't ever explain to anyone that much care she gave me. And we understand that she is very loyal and caring about me a lot. Loyalty allows you to be loyal and this situation showed me that loyalty is the most important thing that a relationship should have. And I'm really grateful for that moment in my life. And that's the greatest decision I've ever taken in these past years of my life.

    Band 6-7

    A time when I made a decision to wait for something was when I took a break from my second attempt of a paper. That time was a very difficult time for me. This is because ever since I have been into college, I have always achieved things that I wanted to and I have never let my parents down academically. And when I could not pass my paper in the first attempt, it broke my heart. It shattered me into pieces and it is something that really had a negative impact on my body. I have had anxiety issues ever since I failed in my first attempt of a paper and that's something that has a toll on my mind even now. And when I went on to second attempt, I waited for a long time. I practiced again. I studied again. I studied for 9-8 hours a day, giving my best, trying to absorb more and more new knowledge and trying to face the time management problems that I had faced earlier in my first attempt. And when I waited for such a long time to give my second attempt, it was all worth it in the end because I was able to achieve my goals. I was able to make myself and my parents proud and this showed me the importance of not hurrying.
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