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Describe a time you used your cellphone/smartphone to do something important: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What happened?
  • When it happened?
  • How important the cellphone/smartphone was?
  • And explain how you felt about the experience.
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21 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 21 answers

Cue 1:What happened?

  • Begin by describing the situation where you needed to use your cellphone or smartphone.
  • Mention the specific task or action you took that was important.

Example

I remember a time when I had to book a last-minute train ticket to attend my cousin's wedding. My family was already on their way, and I realized I had forgotten to book my ticket.


Cue 2:When it happened?

  • Provide a clear timeframe for when this event took place.
  • Include any relevant details about the day or occasion.

Example

This happened just two days before the wedding, on a Friday evening. I was at home, feeling anxious because I didn’t want to miss the celebrations.


Cue 3:How important the cellphone/smartphone was?

  • Explain the role of your cellphone in this situation.
  • Discuss how it made the process easier or more efficient.

Example

My smartphone was crucial in this situation. I quickly opened the railway app, which allowed me to compare train schedules and book my ticket in just a few minutes. Without it, I would have had to go to the station, which would have taken much longer.


Cue 4:And explain how you felt about the experience.

  • Share your emotions during and after the experience.
  • Reflect on the importance of technology in your life.

Example

I felt a wave of relief wash over me once I successfully booked the ticket. It was a reminder of how technology can save us in critical moments. I was grateful for my smartphone, as it allowed me to be part of my family’s special day.


Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, using my smartphone to book that train ticket was a significant experience for me. It highlighted the importance of technology in our daily lives and how it can help us stay connected with our loved ones, especially during important events.


    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

    Avoid being too general when describing your experience. Vague answers can make it hard for the examiner to understand the significance of your story.

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    Tip

    Provide specific details about what happened, including the context and the actions you took with your cellphone.


    2: Ignoring Emotional Impact

    Neglecting to explain how you felt can make your answer less engaging. Emotions add depth to your story and connect with the listener.

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    Tip

    Share your feelings during the experience, such as excitement, stress, or relief, to make your response more relatable.


    Lack of Structure

    A disorganized response can confuse the examiner. It’s important to present your thoughts in a clear and logical order.

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    Tip

    Follow the cue card prompts in order, ensuring you address each point systematically to create a coherent narrative.


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    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band 6

    Yes, actually I use my cell phone or a smartphone for one important thing because I love editing. I love editing and post on Instagram. It gives an amazing experience for me because I have 5,000 followers since it started from two years before. I am very happy but sometimes it feels like more stress because we not get that much of likes and supports from that Instagram. For some issues that time we face lot of stress and if you want to prepare or interested in editing or posting a video or a post in Instagram, you have to prepare it before but that's quite a beautiful experience and very amazing thing because I develop my editing skills for use of that. It's very useful. I like to very much editing more and more to posting for posting and in Instagram.

    Band 6

    So, in our company, we'll have a period of two weeks which is known as a sprint. In that given amount of time, we have to work and complete a set of features for the product or any other work. So, this sprint ends on Friday. So, Friday around 6 p.m. I had concluded my work and I went home and then I had to go to a stand-up comedy show for which I had booked tickets earlier. So, I had been to the show. Midway to the show, I started getting calls from my manager. So, he told that I had to do a bit of coding and add a couple of features into the production. But I didn't have anything else to do. So, using my mobile, luckily which I had at that point of time, I was able to contact another freelancer who was able to do this job for me on time. And this is one of the experiences where I felt mobile was very important to solve this issue.

    Band 6

    This so happened that I went to Sringeri Shardha Temple. Shardha Devi is my favorite devotee and I consider her my mother. So, I wanted to take her picture with my smartphone. Incidentally, I took my smartphone and went near the temple and just peeked around a bit so that if there is any signature or if there is any board which says you should not take a photo of a devotee. So, I just said okay let's go inside and see if anybody stops me because I really wanted to take a photo of Devi so that I can see her everyday in my phone. So, I went inside, took my phone and I just wanted to sort of take the photo of Devi but a priest came and stopped me and I went out. That's it. So, I just took the photo of Devi and I went back to my home and I just took the photo of Devi and I just took the photo of Devi and I just took the photo of Devi. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, that's it. So, I went inside the temple. I wanted to take a photo of Devi but I couldn't because a priest came and stopped me. So, I just went back to my home. So, I just went back to my home. So, I just went back to my home. So, today I came out. So, I came out to have a darshan of Sri Shringiri and I just went back to my home. It so happened that once I went to Shringiri to take a darshan of Shardamatha who is my favourite devotee. And I wanted to take a photo of her so that everyday I can see her and everyday I can make my day special by seeing her. And I just went in and checked inside the temple if there is any sign board which says you should not take a photo of the devotee. Actually, to confess the truth, there were symbols there which said directly that we should not take the photos of the deity. But yet I couldn't resist. I took the smartphone and I went ahead and tried to click the photo of the deity. But again, the head priest came out and said you shouldn't take it and he said, you know, please don't do that and take darshan and go out. After this, I was very upset because I want to see Devi everyday and feel special about her. Once I take the darshan of the Devi in my phone, I thought I could feel special. So, I felt very bad but once again what happened was the Devi herself, the Utsava Murthi came out for the darshan of the general public. Then I took my phone and started to click the photos and videos of the Devi. Without smartphone, I could never see my Devi everyday and take darshan of her and make my day very good. So, smartphone became very important for me at that particular moment. Thank you.

    Band 6

    Recently, I used my smartphone for a better thing is like to prepare for my IELTS exam. When I decided to go abroad for studies, I was known that I should prepare for IELTS and in order of that, as I don't have time to go for offline courses, I thought of learning it online from home and then I searched for some websites and online playlists, online classes where I can get some knowledge about IELTS and from that I have practiced and it has been very helpful for me to give and try for my IELTS exam and also... Salaam. Salaam.

    Band 6

    Good morning, describe a time you used your cell phone or smart phone to do something important. The first time I ever used a cell phone was during my early 2000 period, when I was in a high school. That was the first time I had to see a cell phone and that was the first time I used a cell phone and it was something so unique and different the number of times we used to do an SMS or call a person was completely different and the era where it changed completely from a landline or a telephone to a cell phone was actually a good upgrade. And during those times it was so cute we were so curious to use it as it was the new to us and as a child we always have an curiosity to use what is new. And when I get upgraded to smartphone it was around my college days and it was the first time I used the internet. Internet was actually the source of first like how we have to interact with people. We got to know a lot of people who are away from us and video calls which was like tap away from us which is essential for every living being as of now because staying away from other places other countries or other states even apart like a 50 kilometer 100 kilometer video call has been an essential product for now. Apart from that the AI which has been used for smartphone is also a key to living today as we get to know things in a tap which is actually great thing to do. So the future generation is more towards the internet area and AI intelligence. Okay, thank you.

    Band 5-6

    The time I used cell phone for important purpose was to apply for colleges like giving entrance exam, applications etc. It was a week before. Now I am in 12th grade. I just used it for applying colleges outside my comfort area. I applied for Christ University located in Bangalore and I am going to try for MCC college. Smartphone was the only option which I can apply for colleges outside my area. It happened a week before. My family was forcing me to apply for colleges.

    Band 5-6

    Yeah, using a cell phone or smart phone is something important for me. To share my experience, in today afternoon I was very hungry and I didn't found any food in my house because my mom was sick. So she didn't cook anything. So I was exploring in the food delivery apps for ordering the food. While my experience in the cell phone ordering the food is not a new thing for me. But I feel the technology which revolutionize the needs of the people. They can afford that from anywhere with their cell phones. In my experience today, I don't have a bike to travel to the shop and get the food. But being idle in the one place I can order my food and I can eat. So this is my experience I was recently. And I felt that technology was improved and that cost cutted the money. Actually to be honest it was assisting the people in many more ways. So this is my recent experience in the cell phone technology.

    Band 5-6

    Nowadays the cell phone is one of the important part of our life because all this information all this technology help a lot to make a life easier such a use of internet browser where we get a lot of knowledge, information that we want to get easily through the help of smart phone, internet. It make the people life easier than the past. However the smart phone have some bad side because it take a lot of time, we can't easily use it.

    Band 5-6

    The time I used my smartphone, it's a very interesting story, you know, when I used my smartphone, I used to check my EMIs in the grid app every day and I used and I like to use and I like to read Quora every day and my sister usually has my phone and she is a bum scratcher and of course, I used my phone, my smartphone to check the latest balance in my bank. My bank balance is the only time I check my phone and I also use to see the Divya Chak show, see my and my only, my and my only chart and nobody else's because I'm a selfish person and my sister, she also checks my phone. And the Zomato Radio.

    Band 5

    Smartphone is the passion of the nowadays and all the people like to take the cell phone on pocket and sometimes some people use for it and I am to talk about the cell phone which is I have its name is Samsung Galaxy S24 and its made by 10 GHz processor with 256 GB RAM its a too much faster phone and its camera is the 50 MP and I like phone because sometime I would like to take the pictures that time I taking the pictures sometime I feel like I am a photographer but its a nice phone and the moreover this phone I use sometime using internet for the some chatting and sometime some blog reading a blog using reading a magazine and sometime you read a newspaper and I like the another thing is in one of the best feature is the gaming is the too much fast playing gaming features so I like when get the leisure time that time I am playing in the game and its a new feature added in right now is the smart view smart viewer technology its you your phone check in the your computer and also in your TV and broadcasting all things in the computer and TV so I am excited sometime I watch my photos in the TV and another future features is this phone is the so much slim and reliable so and faster so sometime I work like my office.
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