Describe an important decision made with the help of other people: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What the decision was
Who helped you / how they helped
Why you needed help
And explain the result of the decision

55 unique answers with expert feedback

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Cue 1:What the decision was

Clearly state the important decision you made, ensuring it is specific and relevant.
Provide context about why this decision was significant to you.

Example

The important decision I made was to pursue a master's degree in business administration. This was a significant step for me as I wanted to enhance my career prospects and gain deeper knowledge in my field.

Cue 2:Who helped you / how they helped

Mention the people who assisted you in making this decision, such as family, friends, or mentors.
Explain the specific ways they contributed, whether through advice, encouragement, or sharing their experiences.

Example

My parents played a crucial role in this decision. They encouraged me to pursue higher education and shared their own experiences of how it helped them in their careers. Additionally, my friend, who had already completed his MBA, provided insights into the program and its benefits.

Cue 3:Why you needed help

Discuss the reasons you felt you needed assistance in making this decision.
Highlight any uncertainties or challenges you faced that prompted you to seek guidance.

Example

I needed help because I was unsure about the right course and institution to choose. With so many options available, I felt overwhelmed and wanted to ensure that I made the best choice for my future.

Cue 4:And explain the result of the decision

Describe the outcome of your decision and how it impacted your life.
Reflect on any lessons learned or changes that occurred as a result.

Example

As a result of this decision, I successfully enrolled in a reputable MBA program. It has opened up numerous opportunities for me, including internships and job offers. I learned the importance of seeking advice and support from others when making significant life choices.

Conclusion

Example

In conclusion, making the decision to pursue my MBA with the help of my family and friends was a transformative experience. It taught me the value of collaboration and the importance of seeking guidance when faced with important choices.

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 the decision. Vague answers can make it hard for the examiner to understand the significance of the decision and the role of others.

Tip

Provide specific details about the decision, including what it was and the exact contributions of those who helped you.

2: Neglecting Personal Impact

Don't forget to explain how the decision affected you personally. Failing to do so can make your response less engaging and meaningful.

Tip

Include your feelings and thoughts about the decision and how it changed your perspective or situation.

Ignoring the Result

Avoid omitting the outcome of the decision. Not discussing the result can leave your answer incomplete and less impactful.

Tip

Clearly explain the result of the decision and how it influenced your life or the lives of others involved.

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 5-6

Nowadays, we need different types of people to motivate us, especially we need books also. Sometimes we get motivated by mobiles, TV channels. For example, I want to go to the gym because I see there are people around me, all of them, they are very fit and lean body, but I got some stomach affect, so that is why when I see them, to wear nice t-shirt, nice clothes, so I also feel like motivated to go to the gym and make my body, lose my weight and you know. So I think in our life, in every field we need a person who can motivate us, who can give us a hope and who always tell us that we can do this. So that is why we always need, like I learned from my father kindness, from my mother caring, my grandmother, she always teach me how to be humble. So different type of people in our life teaching us different type of blessings, so that is why it is very important also for us.

Band 5-6

So I think decision making is one of the most important skill a person needs to develop and that skill will help you achieve a lot more things in your life than you can ever imagine. When I was in plus two standard, I casted a game and she told that there's a project that I want to assign to you guys. We were a group of six people and we were that we need to decorate the board that was outside our biology lab and the project was about millets and nobody from the six of us knew what millets were. Actually millets are a kind of grain that is an alternative of wheat. So when we search it up and we get to know and the decision was to actually come up with an idea that what we are trying to do here. So our teacher helped us with what the things that everyone needs to bring. So she helped us with a lot of things like bringing and all the accounting whatever help we needed. She gave us the money but I came up with an idea that we won't bother her with a lot of money. We will help ourselves only and give her half the amount.

Band 5-6

I am delighted to share my thought provoke on the topic personality development. The moment I hear this topic it reminds me to speak about the Socrates so called ancient western philosopher. He clearly mentions the idea that knowing thyself. I paused here saying that knowing thyself it gives me to reflect ourselves sometime. Whenever we were asked this question we pause ourselves and then reflect what are my strengths weaknesses. In that way when I animate this session to the boys, young people and elders then same idea will be applicable to these peer groups. Here I need to specialize some of the personal developments of the individuals like gestures, hand movements, body language and tone of the individual. I also just animate with different ideas depending on their interest. Sometimes we prepare one thing but their moods will change to modify our demo and our classes with that intention only. When I was taking this session one of my friends suggested me why don't you just twist these areas and help the students to understand the philosophical level. That means just come down to their level need to focus on the vocabulary that used for the children just in order to bombard your words your ideas just to simplify. And these areas I improved a lot just thinking of them.

Band 5-6

So, today I am going to talk about the important decision which one I made earlier to helping to do charity, to help the poor people. It's really a social work and it's really few years ago I have a plan to do that one, but suddenly I get opportunity to help to poor people. And during that time, my friends also they support me. They come and try to help financially and mentally. Because that one is not in a one day charity. I was planned for at least 30 days. So, almost 15 days when I was done, I feel shortage of the financially. And during that time, my friends really they come and they say, don't worry about anything. We are come to here to support you. And that one makes me really little bit more relief and comfortable because now I am not alone. There is a front of me and there is my friends are there which one they are ready to support about this one. And even they support my decision what I take to do as a social work. And I really I help for many people and that decision really it's not, it's from my heart I take that decision. And I am really happy for that decision which one is helping to others who cannot afford to buy even food and very bad situations. They struggle in a daily life even a simple things they they are difficulty to get because they don't have any income sources and they are survivors. They survive very bad situation.

Band 5

make actually a decision with the help of others. Honestly, I don't have such situation I don't remember that and I never seek wish, I never seek people or others for making decisions for me and I test before and when I test that, I actually flop out with lots of errors and fault and I understand that the things need to get changed that is your decision make you stronger than others so I stop seeking decision with stop seeking making decision with people and I find out myself to make decision and achieve a particular goal so I think this is my personal experience which I think that like for every decision you have to make you don't want to seek others favor you have to do do it by yourself and with hard determination and with confidence and power.

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