arrow back icon Top Answers

Describe an ambition that you haven't achieved.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What is it?
  • Why haven't you achieved it?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 28 answers

Cue 1:What is it?

  • Clearly state the ambition you have in mind, making it specific and relatable.
  • Provide some context about why this ambition is important to you.

Example

One of my biggest ambitions is to become a successful author. Ever since I was a child, I have loved storytelling and dreamed of publishing my own novel.

Cue 2:Why haven't you achieved it?

  • Discuss the obstacles or challenges that have prevented you from achieving this ambition.
  • Mention any personal circumstances or external factors that have played a role.

Example

Unfortunately, I haven't achieved this ambition yet due to a lack of time and resources. Balancing my job and family responsibilities has made it difficult to dedicate time to writing. Additionally, I often feel overwhelmed by self-doubt, which holds me back from pursuing this dream.

Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your emotions regarding the unachieved ambition, highlighting both disappointment and hope.
  • Reflect on how this ambition has influenced your life and aspirations.

Example

I often feel a mix of disappointment and frustration about not having achieved my ambition. It can be disheartening to see others succeed in their writing careers. However, I also feel hopeful because I believe that with persistence and effort, I can still make my dream a reality someday.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your ambition and the key reasons for not achieving it.
  • End on a positive note, expressing your determination to pursue it in the future.

Example

In conclusion, while I have not yet achieved my ambition of becoming an author due to time constraints and self-doubt, I remain determined to work towards it. I believe that with dedication, I can eventually fulfill this dream.

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 unclear about your ambition. Vague answers can confuse the examiner and fail to engage them. Specificity helps convey your passion and commitment.

bulb icon

Tip

Clearly define your ambition with specific details. Explain what it is and why it matters to you.

2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

Failing to express how you feel about your unachieved ambition can make your answer less relatable. Emotions add depth to your response.

bulb icon

Tip

Share your feelings about not achieving your ambition. Use phrases like 'I felt disappointed' or 'I was motivated to try harder.'

Overly Negative Focus

Focusing too much on the negative aspects of not achieving your ambition can leave a poor impression. Balance is key.

bulb icon

Tip

While discussing challenges, also mention what you learned or how you plan to pursue your ambition in the future.

calendar icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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

My ambition is to buy an iPhone, but I haven't achieved it because I didn't have enough money to buy. But I didn't feel about that because I can buy it soon, but not now. But my priority is to have a good study and work in a better place and to achieve more. That's not my real ambition, but once I got a great study, after that I'll get my job desire and I'll again buy anything I love, yes.

Band 6-7

I believe that one of the ambition I love would be my passion about dancing. I wanted to learn Bharatnatyam which is a classical form of India, but because my father had a transferable job, we had to move from one place to another and I could not complete my classes with it. So I definitely feel that learning Bharatnatyam was my ambition and I could have made one of the best career out of it. My parents always encouraged me into it, but because of the circumstances I was not able to do it.

Band 6-7

So I am going to talk about an ambition that I haven't achieved yet or cracked yet. So that ambition is clearing common admission test with high percentage. So I started this ambition to clear, to get myself into a good B school so that I can enhance my career prospects. So I have been preparing for CAT for the past one year and I gave my exam in the month of November 2024. But the results, the result of the exam wasn't which I was expecting as I couldn't get a really good score. I was preparing for this exam rigorously from June onwards. So after coming back from work, I used to arrive at my home by 6.30 and I used to take a break from 6.30 to 7 and after 7 I used to sit and prepare for my CAT examination. The CAT examination consists of three parts which is of VARC which is called as reading and the second part is DLR which is to ask questions about logical reasonings and the last part is QUANT which tests our quantitative aptitude. So as I was preparing equally well for all these three sections, I was scoring really good in my marks as well. But on the day of examination, the results that I was expecting was completely different and the questions that I was expecting was also different which led to my admission performance in the exam which also resulted in a very poor percentile. Since I am a very hardworking person and a person who is very tenacious, I won't give up on this exam and I would also like to try up this exam very next year. Additionally, I want to write similar exams like GMAT where I want to excel and prove myself. So, this exam.

Band 6-7

Growing up, I always had an ambition to work in the army. I was really passionate about that idea. The fact of working and putting my talents to my country was really something that I always wanted to achieve in my life. More than just being an army officer, I wanted to be an army doctor. Growing up, seeing all these movies and shows, showing people actually doing something, by being there, by being a part of army was literally a very exciting part for me. However, even though I didn't become an army doctor, I became a doctor, which obviously I am very proud of myself. But the regret always remains, me being not able to achieve that army dream. I think growing up, my preferences changed. For example, I became too busy preparing for my exams, clearing out the medical school because that itself was very tough. I had to give up everything that I had to actually become a doctor, studying, using up all my time and not giving importance to what I really wanted. Thinking about it, I actually have become at peace with it because at least I am happy that I have achieved something in my life. I feel proud of myself but at the same time, in future, if I ever get an opportunity to join the army, engage up in the army activities, I would really jump at that opportunity. I would use everything.

Band 6-7

Since my childhood, I want to become a doctor, but due to several reasons, I could not become. Today, I would like to tell you, I would like to tell you about that how I cannot achieve my ambition. I have interest in medical science from 8th standard and I have made my mind that I would become a doctor in future as I was doing well in science. So, it made my interest in science rather than other subjects. So, when I have cleared my 10th standard exams, I scored well in science and I have taken medical stream and I took medical stream in 11th standard, so that I would become a doctor in future and did great. I was doing great till 12th and cleared my 12th with 12th standard.

Band 6-7

well since my childhood to this present day I have achieved many ambitions in my life but what that stand out that I haven't achieved yet is to become a businessman I would like to talk about since my childhood I was interested in to become a businessman and my role model is a Mr. Ratan Tata. Mr. Ratan Tata is a former CEO of Tata group Tata industry he transformed Tata industry into a world global recognition and his major one of his major achievement he is acquiring brand like Land Rover, Jaguar to world recognition to the Indian company despite his immense success what makes stand out is his simplicity and humility through Tata truck he also contributed to healthcare education and rural development which I deeply admire so since my early age I also wanted to become a like him because he is truly inspiring person his journey encouraged me to follow my dream with passion and dedication I always desire to meet him in person but unfortunately I haven't got opportunity to meet him in a person but his impact on society and in on me personally I believe make a very positive impact made a very positive and in future if I in future I will try my best to become a businessman and I will help my country to increase the job opportunities for the youngster and also contribute to the society by doing charity and education for needy people

Band 6-7

One thing that I haven't been able to achieve in the last few years that I've been working was just being physically fit, even mentally, but I would rather concentrate on the physical aspects. So, because I did not have any time at all to spend on myself, I just compromised on my health a lot. And it makes me not giving myself the time or just not making myself a priority. So, I want to invest in myself, give myself the best, be my best self in the future, eat healthy. So, it's not just working out. I want to eat healthy. I want to make these conscious decisions and lifestyle changes that will impact my health in the long term. So, that means eating healthy, being more conscious about what I eat, not just restricting myself. So, that doesn't mean that I eat smaller portions. Eat, but get in your macros, exercising at least an hour a day, three times a week. That's the basic that I want to do for myself. And then feel better, feel healthy, feel like I can run a marathon, be a part of something big. Just not fall sick, have a better immunity.

Band 6-7

Frankly, this is a question that's really personal to me. Starting off, the ambition that I haven't achieved is acting. Since I can remember, I wanted to be an actress, and I think I've really worked hard towards it as well. So I had watched a movie a couple of years back, I think when I was in fifth grade, called Two States, and seeing Alia Bhatt on screen, I knew that I wanted to be there. However, I wasn't able to achieve that dream because of my parents and my family. They were against me pursuing acting and getting into the entertainment industry or the showbiz, mainly because they felt that it's quite an unsafe industry. There are issues like casting couch, a lot of skin show, and erratic working hours. And people in the film industry, as much as they are loved in the society, especially in my community, they are looked down upon. Talking about feeling, I don't feel really great about it, because that's something that I've always wanted to do. I am really good at dancing. I have learned Kuchipudi for around five years. Apart from that, whenever I get some time off, I stand in front of the mirror and enact certain scenes or the difficult scenes to get my expressions right. And I did take up a theatre course and did a great monologue, assignment monologue, that my professors really appreciated. So I do believe that I could have done it and I could have achieved a lot of greatness and I could have reached heights of success in the industry, but I couldn't.

Band 6-7

I can confidently say that I'm an ambitious person and I want to be a rapper, the greatest rapper to ever live and the reason why I haven't achieved it could be because I'm not financially stable and I don't have that financial support or I don't have a huge fan base. I really feel sad for not achieving it. I feel frustrated to a point where I cannot even go to sleep, to a point where I can't even think straight. I cannot focus on anything else because it keeps distracting me.

Band 6-7

The ambition that I haven't achieved yet is to become a successful entrepreneur. The reason that I haven't achieved this ambition because currently I am engaged in a job and I want to gain some knowledge first then to start any business and currently I am also looking to gain some professional experience in the area in which I want to become an entrepreneur because I personally believe starting something without knowledge is not going to help me out. As of now I am thinking to more polish myself.
1 2 3
ielts logo

Get the IELTS Prep App

Star rating icon

4.2

1M+ Installs

 app download banner image

Get the app link on your phone

+91

Or download app from

google play storeapp store
master ielts speaking ad