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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

    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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    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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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

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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.
    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

    From my childhood to this present time, I have encountered so many thick and thin situations. Although sometimes my experience was not as authentic as I wanted, but the majority of the time I felt radiantly because I got an opportunity in order to solve something new. However, here I would like to note about a decision during that time which I had to wait for something new. I still vividly recall, it was a time when I was studying in my 10th standard. During that time, my friend and I made a plan to go to Chandigarh. Since Chandigarh is too far from my accommodation, so we decided to go there by car. Actually, my friend had a car, but owing to being underage and not having a driver's license, we hired our driver and started our journey around 6 am. It was a very long journey and we were hungry since 8 hours. During that time, we went to the Royal Restaurant which was just a stone's throw away from where we were standing. During that time, my friend and I ordered a rice pudding. It was the very first time when I had to wait for 30 to 40 minutes. When I ate the first bite, honestly speaking, it was delicious in my expectations. When it comes to the question what I feel, to be very honest, I have nothing to speak ill about their decision which I did during that time. I can even say that if I had not waited for that time, I would have been deprived of getting their delicious meal. I can even say that their waiting situation was for me like killing two birds with one stone because I not only got good facilities over there, but also I experienced different types of cuisines over there. Overall, it was an experience when I...

    Band 6-7

    The time I chose to wait for something was particularly after 12th grade. I was supposed to pick a college for my bachelor's degree and I was confused between going for architecture or B.Tech in computer science. I was also interested in chemical engineering. There were a large variety of options to choose from and my views didn't often align with what my parents wanted. So at one point I was very frustrated and I decided that I would not fight it anymore and I would just wait. I trusted the plan of the almighty and I thought that maybe waiting could be a good option. Maybe I would end up somewhere which would be good for me after all. That's when I decided to wait. That period of time for which I waited on finally getting to know which college I am going to, it was tedious. I could not stop procrastinating, imagining scenarios of what could happen wrong. But what made me finally choose to wait was that I was tired of fighting. I thought that we have tried and we have already fought and presented our opinion, so why not wait now and see where that takes me. And honestly, it wasn't too bad. Even if I would say I precisely am not very fond of my college right now, it has led me to some amazing people, amazing mentors and I am happy to be here.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, there are several times when I have made a decision, but here I would like shed some light on time when I made a decision and I had to wait for something, it was in the last year and I had to wait for the iPhone to launch in the September so I could buy it for myself. My old phone was hanging up and its storage was always full and I was facing a lot of problems with that because I had to complete my assignments and also had to watch the tutorials and lectures of my teacher and I was facing a lot of obstacles, therefore I needed a new phone with which I can attend my lectures and complete my assignments. Additionally, I started to collect money in a piggy bank and also I advised from my parents that if they will contribute in also and additionally my parents would agree that they will also contribute for me to buy a new iPhone, so it will help me to buy a new phone. But after collecting my money, even after there was a lot of months, there was a few times, it was like two to three months more that the iPhone has to be launched and I was waiting for it and I was so curious for my new phone because I really badly wanted it because so I can complete my assignments and I can talk with my friends on my new iPhone and can even also flex it to my friends that I have an iPhone now. That's it. I know it's not a good thing to flex our things but I just wanted to and additionally I was very happy to

    Band 6-7

    I remember one instance where I waited long for the great Indian sale in Amazon because I can buy a new phone the phone was available even at that time I can just buy it and it will be delivered in seven days but I didn't get that much discount on that and I thought if I wait for some more days like the great Indian sale is near I think a four or five weeks ago and I waited for it and it was a nervous and quite exciting process where I regularly check the price of the phone and if by any chance the amount decreased I was ready to buy it that time but I thought waiting for the great Indian sale to happen is a good idea because actually I bought many things from the last great Indian sale so I waited and it was a pretty good idea because I got the phone for 2,000 rupees less than the actual price and I could save a lot of money through great Indian sale it's not the case of a phone whatever we purchase if it's available in Amazon we should wait for some festival season so we can buy what we thought with a less price and it's quite good for someone like a middle-class man like a student who doesn't have that much money to spend on things and even a 500 rupees or less is valuable for him so that way it was worth it

    Band 6-7

    The last time that I have made decision to wait for something is last week, last Sunday I think. I have waited for my dog because when I reached home, it's not at the home and I think that it's went somewhere. So I waited for it about almost one hour and then it came, it reached the home and well seeing it, I feel like I was over the moon because I love the dog that I have tamed since my childhood. It's about two years old and it's like more than a family member. So while waiting for it, it's not like just wasting time but something more than that.

    Band 6-7

    I always wanted to have my own personal bike, not in the way that others obtain. I wanted it by earning it, by proving to my parents that I deserve to ride a bike. So I started preparing for it, but how I will make it a point that I am worthy of getting the bike that I want. When I turned 18, first I passed my driving license test and then I told my wish of obtaining this bike to my parents and they were willing to buy me for my 19th birthday. But I told them, I don't need it right now, I would like to wait for it, I would like to first complete my college degree and in my last semester, if my grades are good, then you will have to buy it for me because then I will believe that I have earned it. And that's how, in my last semester, right now, I just landed a spot in the top 5 of my batch, in addition to various job opportunities, placement offers. I am qualified enough and I feel really proud right now. The bike that I am going to get is something that I have managed to earn despite the challenges. I had to go by the subway every time, by the train, metro system, public transport system to my college and I could have had in my first year itself, I choose not to. And that's what has made all the difference in my personality for very good.

    Band 6-7

    Yeah, so one time I made a decision to wait was in early 2025 when I decided to wait until January 26 to go to the university in the US. I had completed just my 10th grade and although I could have tried to join a local college immediately, I made the good decisions to wait and prepare properly for my GED, IELTS and SAT to be eligible for a better education abroad. I was waiting for my university admission, especially for business analytics program in Los Angeles or Orange country, which is my dream location. I knew that rushing into a lower ranked college wouldn't give me the global opportunity I'm aiming for. I wanted to study in a place where the education system, job opportunities and the quality of life were much better, so I chose to wait and work on my skills.

    Band 6-7

    This story will take us back to 2024, which was our first time as a family visiting the United States of America. We had planned everything way back in October 2023. We had already booked our flights, we had all our passports ready, we had all our visas ready. But the destiny had some other plans. What happened is that my passport had wrong name. The correct way to spell my name is B-H-A-V-Y-A, but my passport stated it as B-H-Y-V-A, which we did not spot until it was way too late. We spotted our mistake a couple of months before our flight, which kept us in a very panicking sort of a situation where we were just trying to call up every other agent and see if we could get a new passport within a month or so. So after all the panics, all the heated arguments between me and the family and everything, nobody spotted the mistake. What we did was we finally made some contacts and we went through for the passport thing. It took one month for my passport to come back, which usually has to come back by 15 or 20 days after police verification and stuff, but it took around one month, so the time that I waited was the most slowest time that has passed in my life. Every day that used to pass by seemed like years. Every day that used to pass by, the hopes of me going to United States were reducing day by day. But finally, my passport came back right before four days of my flight, which made it a pretty relaxing sight from me.

    Band 6-7

    The best example of waiting was when I waited for doing the MS just after my graduation. But not for me as I had applied for the placements and was trying for getting a job in India. But I got a job in TCS i.e. Tata Consultancy Services as a Ninja Role of Associate Engineer Grade-Y and I had to wait to do my MS as you know that I am applying now after a year of experience at TCS infrastructure services and now

    Band 6-7

    The last time I decided to wait for something was when I decided not to continue at Zydus Research Centre after my apprenticeship. As difficult as that choice was for me, I really do think that it was the best decision for my career. Thinking forward, I feel that working over there would not have benefited me as much as I would have expected it to as the laboratory that I was working on was focused on something highly specific. They were mastering only one skill and a sense of monotony had set in for me. I'd rather specialize in different techniques to make me a more holistic scientist, a more accomplished researcher rather than be an expert in only and only one field. So right now I am waiting for my PhD admission to happen so that I can become a fully funded PhD scholar where I have the liberty of exploring my research interest. That is what academia provides, freedom to understand new concepts and to come up with something so cutting edge and unique that you can make a difference in the world. So perhaps that is the best decision that I have taken for my life and that is what I have been waiting for, for quite some time now.
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