Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

When was it?
What were you doing there?
How did you manage?

27 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 27 answers

Cue 1:When was it?

Start by mentioning the specific location and the time of your visit.
Include any relevant details about the trip, such as the purpose or occasion.

Example

It was last summer when I traveled to Spain for a vacation. I had always wanted to explore the beautiful architecture and vibrant culture of Barcelona.

Cue 2:What were you doing there?

Describe the activities you were involved in during your stay.
Mention any specific places you visited or experiences you had.

Example

During my time there, I visited famous landmarks like the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell. I also tried to immerse myself in the local cuisine by dining at various tapas bars.

Cue 3:How did you manage?

Explain the challenges you faced due to the language barrier.
Share the strategies you used to communicate and navigate the situation.

Example

I faced difficulties when ordering food and asking for directions since I didn’t speak Spanish. However, I used translation apps on my phone and relied on gestures to communicate. The locals were very friendly and often helped me out.

Conclusion

Summarize your overall experience and what you learned from it.
Reflect on how this experience impacted your view on language and travel.

Example

Overall, my trip to Spain was an enriching experience despite the language barrier. It taught me the importance of being adaptable and open-minded while traveling, and I now appreciate the value of learning new languages.

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: Avoid Vague Responses

Giving vague or general answers can make your response less engaging. It may leave the examiner with unanswered questions about your experience.

Tip

Provide specific details about the place and your activities to create a vivid picture for the examiner.

2: Don't Overlook Emotions

Failing to express your feelings during the experience can make your answer less relatable. Emotions help to connect with the listener.

Tip

Share how you felt during the experience, whether it was frustration, excitement, or curiosity, to add depth to your answer.

Neglecting Problem-Solving

Ignoring how you managed the language barrier can weaken your response. It’s important to show your problem-solving skills.

Tip

Explain the strategies you used to communicate, such as gestures or translation apps, to demonstrate your adaptability.

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

a few months ago me and one of my friend we visited the city of Hyderabad which is a state in India for a internship which is part of the university as part of the curriculum we visited an industry which is within Hyderabad we had to stay there for a period of almost two months and we stayed at my friends a known friend a known friend's house which which they were belonging to the native of Hyderabad and the caretaker who stayed there she knew only this language which is spoken and we had no idea of regarding this language so it was pretty difficult in the early stage the moment we reached there they don't nobody knew this language nobody knew basic English either we had to use Google Translator and everything and it is very difficult for a while but yes sooner we realized it and we tried communicating we tried using the same words and everything and we did really cope up with it and I'm so proud of it there was a while when we couldn't even survive with this basic language but yes definitely after a while it really helped us

Band 5-6

I faced many problems over there. After that he told me they were saying to you as a welcome in Kashmir. So after that I got the relief because even I know that so many terrorist persons living in Kashmir. Even at that time hardly I managed these conditions with the help of my local guide. Even I went various places over there. But I couldn't understand about them.

Band 5-6

Nowadays there are many languages that people are using. Here I would like to talk about a situation where I used other languages but I am not familiar with that language. I asked her, it is really a risk to manage but I searched applications called Jajjibiti and asked my friends. I asked her, it is really a risk to manage but I searched applications called Jajjibiti and asked my friends. I asked her, it is really a risk to manage but I am not familiar with that language. Two months back I went to Hyderabad. Hyderabad is a popular place in India. Moreover, I reached that location for searching jobs. There are plethora of job opportunities available in that location. That's why I went that location with my friend but I am not fluent in their local language. I am very tensed at that time but I managed easily with these days plethora of job searching. There are many languages that people are using. There are many languages that people are using. Learning other languages is difficult to me. Learning other languages is difficult to me. Every country has different languages. Nowadays there are many languages are using and every countries have their own languages such as English, Hindi, Malayalam and French many more. Here I would like to talk about a situation where I used another language but I am not fluent in that language. I heard about language in my life but I didn't speak that language. Moreover, I went that location two months back with my friend for searching job. Major reason for that the place provides numerous job opportunities. This is the location called Hyderabad. Hyderabad is situated in India. This is the biggest place in India. There are many companies are situated in this place. The more and more people are using their local language called Telugu. But I am not aware about that language. I searched an abundance of apps with my phone. Especially the ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a popular app in the phone. I asked the application for the doubts. They provided me a clear idea how to speak to others. Furthermore, I asked so many firms for the doubts. They also explained in my language.

Band 5-6

okay so it's about 2019 and I was doing my master's in Pune and there were the most people out there in Marathi like they speak Marathi and it was difficult to understand what they are actually saying and so it was a little bit difficult for me but yeah it was the best two years that happens to me and I think I'm very grateful for that so yeah it was very difficult to understand their local language and their people are not that you know kind or something because they're very rude when if you are not from Pune or if you're not a Pune girl so yeah it was something which I would say yeah so that's it I don't think so there are

Band 5-6

Though I have been to many variety of the places here today, I'm gonna talk about a time when I was in a place where I didn't know the local language of that particular place. Actually what happened a month ago, I and my friends decided to go to Shimla in order to unwind ourselves. And so we packed all our clothes and did some kind of planning ahead of the time. And having reached there, I was really fascinated by the breathtaking view of the nature. Well, in the evening we came across some persons who were speaking their local language of Shimla. But we were not really very known to that language, so we were not able to understand. But then we came across a person who was knowing both the languages and due to him we were able to talk to them. And so they told us the variety of picture perfect places where one can go and explore the rich culture of the Shimla. So I enjoyed a lot there as I have clicked many shots and I have been to the many places. And one month also I ate there traditional meal which was really delicious. Well, this was the time when I have been to the place where I haven't known such regional language. Well, I think so.

Band 5-6

So, today I would like to talk about the most famous place where I visited with my friend is none other than but Bali which is very famous for their greenery and for their food. So me and my friend we both went there and at that time we did not do not know the language the local language of that country so we both suffered a lot because the language of that country is Indonesian and we both from India we both from Gujarat so we do not know the language so we both prefer to use a Google translator to connect with them easily and whenever we both want to purchase something we usually we usually check price from the mobile calculator and we also calculate that price in the mobile moreover we we spend our time we spend our time we spend our time to learn the language because they know somehow somehow little bit English so some in that some area we usually connect with them then after we suffered a lot behind it happens for of it happens once in a blue moon because we never suffer that much and go through from that situation so it is a good thing to learn language whenever we go out

Band 5

Well, I am talking about the languages I learned in my childhood or you can say in teenager. So I was in my school on that time or there is one language which is Punjabi I am talking about. My mom, she is the one who taught me Punjabi language because she is very well knowing languages, very well know Punjabi language like how to speak, how to write and how to understand these things like Punjabi is a basic language of Punjab, Punjabi people just spoke very well. No doubt India have a native language which is Hindi and as well as Punjabi for a city or state. So my mom is a teacher that time, she taught me that language or I start from school to home and why is necessary, why I learn this language because of, it's necessary because I am staying, I am living in Punjab, so everybody, every single people, individuals are speak Punjabi language as well, no doubt. Hindi is also going through but Punjabi is like part of life in Punjab. So I decide to learn and apply in my daily life, daily basis so I can understand what they are saying, what they are talking and I can feel if I develop the Punjabi learning skills so my friend zone will be good because my school friends are more strong.

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