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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 105 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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    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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    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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

    It happened in the year of 2022. After completing my school, I haven't applied for any colleges because I was waiting for my board result. Usually CBSE board results takes 2-3 months to get published. So I was waiting for that and I haven't applied any colleges till that. But remaining all students and my friends started applying and some of them confirmed their seats in some colleges. But I was waiting, waiting, waiting for long time but I end up in good college in the end. But the waiting time was too long and I was afraid whether I will get a good college, I might get a good college or I might able to score a good marks. I was confused and scared. But then the results have declared. I have somewhat got decent 75% in my wealth. After that I have applied few colleges and I have got the desired seat and group in the college. I feel happy and at the end the waiting time was worth it.

    Band 6-7

    After giving JEE, when I was in class 12th and I was waiting for the results and to make a decision which college I have to choose, particularly my marks were very low so I couldn't make the decision and it was my father who decided a college for me. I was put into an engineering field where my branch was CS, Computer Science, but today I found myself as a grateful one to take this decision of becoming an engineer and not going for something that I was not being interested into. I have got a job into Deloitte and I am very grateful for it and I am now on a decision to make whether I have to go for Masters or not because the job requirements tell us that further studies are very important.

    Band 6-7

    So this was 2 years back when I wanted to get a customized outfit for my 18th birthday. 18th birthday has always been something I was dreaming of. I wanted it to be me. I wanted it to represent what I liked and what I loved. So I had placed for an order for my birthday dress. It was a bright pink dress with a bow in the front. I tried searching for this dress everywhere but I couldn't find the perfect dress which I could call as my 18th birthday dress. So I decided to place an order with my friend's mom's tailor shop. But they said they couldn't see the final product until it was made. So I had to wait for a month long to receive the dress. So the feeling of just the imaginary dress in my mind. Everyday I kept waiting for this dress and I just had thoughts of how it would look on me. And how my parents would react to my dress and how I would wear this dress. And it was just a feeling of full excitement and excitement just waiting to try on that dress. This is the feeling that I will never forget because it was very special to me. And I think this is something that is incorporated with my 18th birthday. So something I will never forget.

    Band 6-7

    So, the decision I made was that once we were looking to buy a new house, we do have a property in Gurugram or Noida but at the same time we were exploring somewhere near, somewhere near around South Delhi as I live in South Delhi and we came, we were looking since 2013 but around January 2024 we came to a location near my house which was quite perfect for us because it was first near to my old house and hence I will not lose touch with my old friends and at the same time the markets which, which came through nearby were quite reachable at the same time and even if there was something to attend around for the neighbors or anything we can, we were easy for to go and go back to the old place and recollect the old memories and in this way we were not losing touch with the old people as well as we were exploring the new place and the new place is quite clean and better overall with the connectivity of Delhi Metro as well as the reachability, anyone can easily reach to the new house rather than the old house, it had quite different difficulties with the old house. Secondly, I'll say this decision was, was worth of it because we were searching the house since past 2 years and we got the house and it's extraordinary because now the connectivity as well as the house is big enough and accommodated 3 people as well as 4 people and as well as it has a better environment, we are more connected to nature comparatively than the old house or anywhere other, other properties we had which is good because nature is quite peaceful and has its own benefits, the clean and fresh air and the environment is way, way better comparatively, I'll say.

    Band 6-7

    Taking a decision at the right time is very important and I think that waiting for something is never make a decision wrong. So today I would like to talk about a time that I made a decision to wait for something. It was during a couple of years ago when I was in my college when I was enjoying my college time. It was my mother's birthday so I decided to buy a gift for my mother. I went for a shopping and I got a beautiful gift that I like very much and I am quite sure that it will be liked by my mother. But unfortunately I don't have much money to purchase that product and it is not affordable for me. So I became very disappointed. But one of the staff in that shop said that there is an offer that will come after one week. You can wait for that. You will have a time for one week and you will get it with affordable price. So I just think that my mother's birthday is after the one week so I have a time. So I just decided to wait for a week and after one week I again went to that shop to update and to buy that product. So that discount system was started on Thursday. So I got that gift for affordable price. I gave it to my mother. She is more happy. She is over the moon after receiving the gift from me. So I am also very happy. So I think it is a good decision to wait for something. It will make a profit for me.

    Band 6-7

    The time I waited for making a decision was a month ago. It was a time when I passed my 12th grade from CBSE board and I passed with flying colors and I was confused that would I study in my home nation or would I go overseas and have a international education. This was the thing that was bothering me as well as my parents as we were pretty much confused how to deal with the situation and I got my advice from my father to wait, have a calm mind and listen to the thought which comes from your heart and then I had waited for at least 15 days and after that I was able to conform to a decision that was to study abroad as studying abroad would help me in getting a vast degree of exposure in context to education about lifestyle as well as different tradition, cuisines etc. Studying abroad was a great decision for me and also for my family as I have moved to Canada two years ago and now I am a software engineer. I had my degree from a well-renowned

    Band 6-7

    So, it was the time back when I was in my 12th grade, when I completed my high school. So it was the time I was applying for my undergraduation where I had to give my CUET exam which was an entrance test. So I could have been selected for the government universities which is Delhi University which is really famous in India for its education. So I think that was the time I waited for a long period to get admission in the government university. It was because it was said that the result will come after a month and it will come in the slots like after each week the student will be given their seats if they have received a place in the college or not. So according to that the result will come and they will get allotted to the seat. So that was the time where I waited a lot and that was the most nervous time I ever had in my life because it was really exhausting waiting for the result, waiting whether I will get a seat or not in that college or do I have to apply to some other college, will I ever get a chance to have an admission there. It was very anxious period not just for me but for my family too. It was a hard time on me to be fairly honest like I always used to be on my toes whenever the result used to come every week that with student have been allotted.

    Band 6-7

    So, I would like to talk about my decision to purchase gaming computer when I was in 12th grade. So initially, I wanted to purchase this computer when I completed my 10th grade and passed my board exams with good marks. But my parents advised me to wait for two more years and purchase it when I reach my college years. So I initially hesitated and told them that I want the computer after 10th and so we had a fair amount of dispute but afterwards I agreed to their decision and let it be. So it was a very long period of two years which I thought was very difficult to pass time and focus on the studies. I was constantly watching all the YouTube videos and people building gaming computers and graphics cards and new launches and everything so now once I finished my 12th and after I got good grades my parents finally agreed to purchase this gaming computer and then afterwards I finally got this gaming computer and I felt very happy at that moment and I felt that the patience finally paid off.

    Band 6-7

    I can remember a time when I waited for my engineering results to come after my entrance exam. It was just after my plus two. I wrote both medical and engineering entrance exam along with my plus two because I was attending the coaching for my entrance exams. But after my medicine results, I got a good result but in order to take an MBBS, take an admission for MBBS in a government college, that rank was not enough and I decided to go for a repeat. And I joined the repeat batch but I decided to wait for my engineering results also. So I joined and I was getting free coaching because I was having the highest rank in that institute because so they desired to give me free coaching. But in my mind, I was waiting for some engineering results to come and that came only after two months and I was like, I was sitting in the class and I was in my mind, I was waiting for the results and the time that I was waiting is I cannot describe it now because my adrenaline released so much cortisol in my body which led to the release of stress hormones and it caused chest pain in my body when I was free in my house studying. I couldn't concentrate on my medicine studies because I couldn't leave the mathematics subject in engineering and come completely to medicine. So I waited patiently until two months and I got very pretty good results and later I decided to join for engineering and I quit medicine coaching.

    Band 6-7

    One time I decided to wait was when I planned to buy a new phone. Last year my old phone started to hanging a lot and I was really tempted to buy a new phone immediately. However, I had heard that Samsung was going to launch the Galaxy S24 in a few months, which had much better features and a faster processor. At first it was difficult because my old phone was frustrating to use and many times I felt just like going to a shop and buying any available model. But I reminded myself that if I wait I could get the latest model with improved battery life, a better camera and more strong storage. Finally after waiting for around 3 months the phone was launched and I bought it. I felt really happy because it was worth the wait. This experience taught me that patience often leads to better result and sometimes delaying gratification can be a smart decision. Thank you
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