arrow back icon Top Answers

Describe an exciting activity you have tried for the first time: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What the activity was
  • When/where you tried it
  • Who you were with / how it happened
  • And explain why it was exciting
Show all 51 answers

Cue 1:What the activity was

  • Clearly state the activity you tried for the first time, making it engaging.
  • Provide a brief description of what the activity involves.

Example

The exciting activity I tried for the first time was paragliding. It involves flying through the air while being harnessed to a parachute-like wing, and it gives you a bird's-eye view of the landscape below.

Cue 2:When/where you tried it

  • Mention the specific location and time when you experienced this activity.
  • Describe the environment to set the scene for your listener.

Example

I tried paragliding last summer during a trip to Manali, a beautiful hill station in India. The weather was perfect, with clear skies and a gentle breeze, making it an ideal day for flying.

Cue 3:Who you were with / how it happened

  • Talk about who accompanied you and how you decided to try this activity.
  • Share any interesting details about the experience leading up to the activity.

Example

I was with my friends, and we had planned this adventure together. We had seen videos of paragliding online and decided to book a session after hearing great reviews from other travelers.

Cue 4:And explain why it was exciting

  • Discuss the feelings you experienced during the activity.
  • Explain what made this experience memorable and thrilling for you.

Example

The moment I took off, I felt an adrenaline rush like never before. The sensation of soaring high above the mountains was exhilarating, and the breathtaking views made it even more special. It was a mix of fear and joy that I will never forget.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, trying paragliding for the first time was an unforgettable experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone. It not only gave me a sense of adventure but also created lasting memories with my friends.

    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: Lack of Detail

    Failing to provide enough details can make your answer sound vague and uninteresting. It's important to paint a clear picture of the activity to engage the listener.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Include specific details about the activity, such as the location, the people involved, and your feelings during the experience.

    2: Ignoring the Excitement Factor

    Not explaining why the activity was exciting can leave your answer flat. The excitement is a key part of the cue card prompt.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Share personal feelings and reactions to the activity, highlighting what made it thrilling or memorable for you.

    Poor Structure

    A disorganized response can confuse the listener and make it hard to follow your story. Structure is essential for clarity.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Follow a clear structure: start with what the activity was, then when and where it happened, who you were with, and finally, why it was exciting.

    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 7

    On my recent visit to Dubai, I tried the most thrilling activity of my life. I visited Dubai with my husband for our honeymoon and this was the first time I challenged myself to try an activity like skydiving. I am a person who is extremely afraid of heights and doing an activity like skydiving has always been on my bucket list. I had to overcome my fear of heights and I pushed myself, I challenged myself, I went inside, registered for the skydiving activity. It was a one hour session where we had to practice with our trainers. The trainers made me feel very comfortable and at leisure. They also gave me the safety instructions and the important ideas on how to be, how to dive. So until the moment we got into the flight for skydiving, I was extremely anxious and nervous. I even thought of coming back but it is only after getting into the flight, seeing another five people who are going to dive with me and a cameraman who is also going to dive with me and take videos of my experience, it gave me a little bit of confidence. The moment of jumping down from the flight, it gave me super anxiety and extreme nervousness. I thought I would faint, however, I was able to attempt it with the help of my trainer who was super approachable and very optimistic. So we jumped together, seeing the beautiful Burj Khalifa view from a height and it felt like as if I was a bird flying in the sky without wings, just hands and a trainer and a cameraman who was videographer who was motivating me. It was the best activity. The moment I landed, I felt, oh my God, I've made this and this is a dream come true. I've achieved it. I felt very confident about myself.

    Band 7

    An activity that I have experienced most recently was river rafting. I've never done river rafting before in my life and I got to do it three weeks before when my family visited a place known as Stashi of Unity. This is located in Gujarat and we went to do river rafting near a river called the Kalmani river in Gujarat. It was a super cool experience because I went with my husband and we had a really good time together. It was adventurous because of the risk factor. At the same time, all the safety precautions were followed and the weather was great and we had a good time. I've always been a big fan of adventure spots so trying out river rafting was exciting and I will definitely want to try out river rafting in other places where I go as well. The river rafting which we tried out was located in a man-made river but there were quite a few rapids and one of our teammates in the raft which we rode actually fell into the water. But he was alright. The coach came down and he picked him up, he pulled him out of the water and he was okay. That caught me on guard and I was a little bit careful to stay glued to the seat and to be careful not to fall off the raft during the rest of the experience.

    Band 7

    A few months ago I tried scuba diving for the first time during a short vacation in Goa and it turned out to be one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. I have always been fascinated by marine life, but until then I had only seen it on television. When I finally got the opportunity to explore it myself, I didn't think twice. Before diving in, our instructor gave us a short training session.

    Band 7

    The most exciting activity I tried for the first time was paragliding. I did it about a year ago during my trip to Manali, a popular hill station in northern India. I went there with a group of close friends from college. We had planned the trip mainly for sightseeing, but one of my friends suggested paragliding and all of us decided to give it a try. It was exciting mainly because it was something I had never experienced before. The moment I took off, I felt a strong rush of adrenaline and the feeling of floating above the mountains was both thrilling and breathtaking. I had always dreamed of flying like a bird and paragliding gave me that exact sensation. What made it even more exciting was that I managed to overcome my fear of heights and actually enjoyed the view instead of being scared. The combination of fear, thrill and achievement made the activity truly unforgettable. Looking back, I would say paragliding was one of the most memorable and exciting activities

    Band 6-7

    Hi everyone, my name is Srishti and now here I am going to tell the exciting activity which I recently tried and I just feel an amazing experience. So, as I am working as a teacher in a world class school which is located in Sikar and the name is Delhi Public World International School. Here we all teachers together organized in a fast level grand annual function day. Annual function day was celebrated on 16th of November. It is not just a function, it is a preparation which we all were doing from last, since last one month and here I am holding many responsibilities for example, I am a main speaker of the function so I learned how to speak and how to organize all the programs. I also instructed students for different different programs for example, I am the instructor of the drama which is the drama King Lear and Air. I instructed the students how to do acting, how to perform, how to wear the dresses and how to speak their dialogues and overall the preparation of annual function is really fantastic. We got lot of chance to prepare, we got lot of chance to present new things and at last I am also the part of musical chair dance of second class. I did the make up, I learned so many skills for example, doing make up, arranging the class, arranging the dress, arranging the props for the function, preparing the pooja thali, preparing the seats and also the part of the lunch and the dinner and it is totally fantastic and a wonderful day in my life and that's how I celebrated the annual function.

    Band 6-7

    Since a very long time I always had a dream of doing a scuba diving and a year ago luckily a family had planned a very beautiful trip to one of the beach places in India which is very famous for its scuba diving also. It was an unplanned activity that I did. I was not sure whether I would do it but I always wanted to do it. And it really felt very much overwhelming as looking at the blue waters and just experiencing the beautiful marine life with marine plants, there are so many different types of fishes that I was able to see, there were different plants that I witnessed, variety of very small and minute creatures, the life beneath the ground is something very very different. I think everybody should experience it. It was an overwhelming very much joyous experience for me and I would really definitely try that I experience this more and more.

    Band 6-7

    Recently I have started playing footballs a few months back. Before my masters, I had less opportunity to play games. I was not encouraged to, but I had no time to play games because of all the exam stress and academics. But now, given some free time, I thought I would just start a new activity. And at the same time, my friend Govind said, why don't I play this game? And the funny part is I played for the first time against his team. So it was a very friendly sport which needs a lot of team spirit and team coordination, which I think also improves our leadership qualities. The place where I played it for the first time is in our college lawn. It's a beautiful small garden patch where it was well maintained and fenced properly so that we will not throw the ball away. There are really good players in both the teams. And I got to know another side of them, like the way they play, apart from their good academics. And I also met new friends in the sport. As always, Govind says, it's better to play a game than doing an exercise alone, which benefits us in many more ways. I do agree with him. Yeah, it excites me a lot because it's a good physical exercise. It's a group game, as I already mentioned, it improves our team spirit and it gives a good vibe among friends when we meet again.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about my first experience as a psychologist. Psychology was always my favourite subject. I loved it very much. I got this interest, I got passionate about psychology when I was studying in a seminary to become a priest. There I got a few books which introduced me to the world of psychology and how mind works. So it was that interest that motivated me to study psychology later in my graduation. And after that I completed my post-graduation psychology. Once I completed my psychology masters, I started working as a counsellor and psychologist. One of the best experiences I ever had with humans, it was in my counselling couch. I had a number of people who shared their experience with me. I always liked the way they expressed their feelings, their experiences. I also wonder how human mind works, its intricacies, how our emotions are pulling us, how it is affecting our decisions. I also like sometimes to realise how false or erroneous our assumptions and beliefs are, and how it affects our mental peace, and how mindfulness can help us, and how cognitive restructuring can help us, and how our relationships are working, and how our childhoods are influencing us.

    Band 6-7

    One exciting activity that I had tried for the first time is going to a trampoline park. I had visited it in my third year of engineering. Additionally, it wasn't just me, I went with my hostel friends of that time. Though we are not in contact anymore, it was our first ever trip together. Our hostel is quite far from the city, so it was quite a struggle to reach there. We were 10 people and we had reached there by using a single auto rickshaw. It was quite a memorable experience. But that is not the reason that I remember this memory quite vividly. The main reason that I am really excited of this memory is that the trampoline park had provided various options for us. And there wasn't anyone else other than our friend group in the park at that time due to the early timings. There were few things that I remember doing. First being the constant jumping on different options that had given me a quick adrenal rush. Along with it, we were also playing the music of our own kind, that was K-pop. In India, it is not often that you get to hear K-pop in a public space. Listening to that and jumping freely gave me a sense of freedom.

    Band 6-7

    So, um, in today's world, I feel like people have more accessibility to try new things than ever before. And me existing, luckily, fortunately, in this era of accessibility, I combined with my urge to, with my urge and desire and passion for trying new different things, because I'm a huge adrenaline junkie. I think the various activities that have been laid down before me are all exciting in their own way, but something that was personally memorable for me would be horse riding. So horse riding is basically a sport specially reserved for people in the high class in my country back in the days. It involves just getting on a horse with supervision, getting your equipment, safety equipment, and riding the horse around two laps in a grass field. So this happened when I was around fifth grade, I had been having the desire to do it since I was in third grade. And when I got the opportunity from my father in fifth grade, when he dropped me off and supervised me the whole time while I was riding my horse. It was extremely exciting because I feel like horses are one of the cutest, most sweetest animals I have ever met. And I've always had this fantasy of riding a unicorn when I was a kid. I think that really correlates because horses are the closest thing that would be to a unicorn, which is why I basically imagined that I was riding a unicorn and went two laps around it with supervision from my dad. I came to, I happened to try it because I was just strolling on, near a park and there was an offer, a stable nearby, and there was an offer where we were allowed to try it for free for around 15 minutes. And so that kind of is what influenced me to get there.
    1 2 3 4 5 6
    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