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Describe an important old thing that your family has kept for a long time: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What it is
  • How/when your family first got this thing
  • How long your family has kept it
  • And explain why this thing is important to your family
Show all 46 answers

Cue 1:What it is

  • Begin by clearly identifying the old item your family has kept.
  • Provide a brief description of its appearance and significance.

Example

The important old thing that my family has kept for a long time is a beautiful brass lamp. It has intricate designs carved on its surface and stands about two feet tall. The lamp has a warm, golden hue that adds a special charm to our home.

Cue 2:How/when your family first got this thing

  • Share the story of how your family acquired the item, including any special circumstances.
  • Mention who brought it into the family and any relevant historical context.

Example

My grandfather bought this lamp during his trip to Varanasi in the 1960s. He was captivated by its craftsmanship and decided to bring it home as a souvenir. It has been in our family ever since, passed down through generations.

Cue 3:How long your family has kept it

  • State the duration for which your family has owned the item.
  • Emphasize its longevity and any changes in its condition over the years.

Example

We have kept this lamp for over 60 years now. Although it has aged and shows some signs of wear, we have always taken great care to preserve it, ensuring it remains a cherished part of our family heritage.

Cue 4:And explain why this thing is important to your family

  • Discuss the sentimental value of the item and its connection to family traditions.
  • Explain how it represents your family's history and values.

Example

This lamp is important to our family because it symbolizes our heritage and the values of craftsmanship and tradition. Every Diwali, we light it to celebrate the festival, reminding us of our roots and the stories of our ancestors. It brings us together and keeps our family history alive.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, this brass lamp is not just an old object; it is a treasured family heirloom that connects us to our past and reinforces our family bonds. Its presence in our home serves as a constant reminder of our history and the love that has been passed down through generations.

    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 Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear and unengaging. It's important to provide specific details about the item to make your response more interesting.

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    Tip

    Include specific characteristics of the item, such as its age, appearance, and any unique features that make it special.

    2: Don't Rush Through Your Answer

    Rushing can lead to missing important details and making your speech sound disorganized. Take your time to think through each part of your answer.

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    Tip

    Practice pacing your speech by pausing briefly after each cue to ensure you cover all points clearly.

    Neglecting Emotional Connection

    Failing to explain why the item is important can make your answer less impactful. Personal stories create a stronger connection with the listener.

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    Tip

    Share a personal story or memory related to the item that highlights its significance to your family.

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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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    Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    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
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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

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    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.
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    Anonymous student Band 7

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    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
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    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    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 mom, during her wedding, wore a saree which was like a very silk saree and a very modernized version when it comes to specifically in the 90s age. So that is something we have preserved even till now. It acts as a memory of that special auspicious day when she got married to my dad and she was welcomed in this heartwarming family. It sounds as a gesture of something that her family, my mom's maternal family gave her as a memory and as a sign of love during her wedding to keep with her even in her in-laws' family. So, that is something we have preserved till now. I remember wearing it during one of the Ganesh festival. I wore it during a puja and I could clearly understand why it feels so important to preserve that. It is something I just devote wearing it. I felt so special wearing my mother's saree that I could understand it in her eyes seeing myself in her saree. She was overwhelmed. She was overjoyed and she remembered her day when she was wearing it for the first time. I think to just keep this legacy of the memories and to remember those good days is something we are preserving this memory, this saree. Thank you.

    Band 6-7

    That one old thing that my family has kept for a long time has to be that silver utensil we have. It belonged to our ancestors and was passed down from generation to generation. I am not very sure for how long we have kept that but I am sure that it is more than 100 years old. The utensil is basically a small bowl with designs on the surface. The design is not on the total surface area but on the circular surface area of the bowl. We have kept it for a long time because it has the love and generosity of our ancestors and has the beauty of our heritage. Secondly, it is important and precious because of the value silver holds in the market. I think having something that belongs to our ancestors are not only just of the value it holds in the market but also the love, the intention and the blessings of our ancestors that was passed down from one person to another in our family. I think this process should continue for our future generations as well.

    Band 6-7

    If I had to describe a very important old thing my family has kept for a long time would be this small box in three different sizes which is made from elephant tusk. It is a very very very long old box and my mom received it from her grandmother and it was passed on from generations and then she had it for a very long time and she still has it and it's a very beautiful box with you know inside it is covered with velvet and there's small carvings in gold on its outside and she received it very long back I don't even remember the time she got it from her grandmother and it's been in our family for a very long time like I guess around 16-20 years oh yeah I feel my mom received it when she got married and as a gift from her grandmother. It is definitely important because her grandmother is no more so it plays a very nostalgic and it has a sentimental value to it and it also acts as a very beautiful showpiece in our home so yeah that's it.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about my grandma's saree. It's one of the important things our dad and mom has kept. Why? Because it reminds us of her because she used to wear that saree very often and she loved the color. It was green in color. And also why our family has kept that saree is because it is 1940s ago saree which comes in a unique design and the fabric back then was really good and the texture and the saree doesn't come like that now. Plus it reminds my dad about her mom how she used to wear the saree and sit on the couch and you know watch TV back then which my dad used to love. And also we have kept that saree because it's one of her favorite and also plus it's an ancient saree.

    Band 6-7

    The precious old thing my family kept for a long time is my parents' wedding album. That's a really old thing that was kept in my family for almost 25 years from their wedding and still it's there. It's actually, it's made up of paper that's not like our modern album which is made up of fully printed papers and which is long lasting that the album was made up of paper and the photos were sticked to the album like it is easily, what you say, easily going thing and in that there are many memories of my parents, beautiful moments in their wedding and photos of the people who attended their wedding and in that those photos, many peoples are now no more so by looking at that we can cherish the moment they had during their wedding time and they always keep that album very protectively and they always loved that.

    Band 6-7

    A very important thing that my family has kept at our house for many years is a hand watch. It's a very unique kind of watch from the company Titan. It's a well-known company. Even now I wear Titan watches and it's a very unique watch which was, I think, a really old model as it has been here at my house for a very long time. It actually works on your pulse. So when you wear it, it starts working and when you take it off, it stops working. So it's a very unique and very different design from the watches that we see nowadays. The watch belongs to my mother's father, my Nana ji, and I think the watch is with my mom for at least more than 60 years. My Nana ji used to love collecting watches and this one is the only one that is untouchable and he gave it to my mother as a gift on her wedding. It's a unisex watch so that she can also wear it and in future her daughter or son can also wear it. That's the thought he kept while giving it to my mother. And even now at very special occasions, my mom wears it as well as she gives it to me or my sister whenever we want for special occasions only because it's a very sacred thing that belongs to my Nana ji and it is very important for us. The watch is very important as it belongs to someone who is not an ordinary man.

    Band 6-7

    So the thing that is very important for my family that they have kept from a long time that is a scooter which is of Bajaj company and it is also known as Chetak scooter which is of my grandfather who lives with our family. The scooter is very old and it is of model 1990. My family buys it in a new condition in 1999 year and they have kept this scooter for more than 27 years. It is very important for my family to keep this scooter from a long time because they have very emotional attachment to this scooter because there are many reasons. So the first reason is this is the first ever bike of my family and it is also very important for my family because at that time the money was very important for every person but my grandfather have saved a lot of money to buy his first bike and he gets very emotional at the time of taking the delivery so it is very good for my family that they have saved the very old and modern thing of my grandfather and it is also very energetic and it is very looks luxurious and it looks very old and also very fancy type so this is also with our family and we cleans it everyday and make sure that it will remain in a good and working condition.

    Band 6-7

    So, one of the important old thing that my family got for me and has been giving for very long time is my home actually. In the sense that me and my home are of same age, like they bought it when I was born, when I was born into this world and they still keep it up till date now. And I think, I personally think that I am very much attached to this thing because in the sense it is my home and it's still our family's home. But I think the main important thing is that the home, in the sense the house has much more memories. It is a long term memories than say a simple object such as a laptop or a TV. I don't know. I think an house holds all those memories together. And in the sense I know that families are home and all that. But I personally feel like a home, like I would never, even if I have my family with me in some other place, like if I go travel to some other place, I wouldn't feel as I feel when I'm in my home, in my house and with my family. And I feel like personally for me, even if my family is not with me at my home, I would still feel like the place where I'm residing will be home because we in my home, we have a, what to say, we have a very much strong connection. So yeah.

    Band 6-7

    My father always means my family were always very open-minded and they never kept any secrets with us. They used to discuss and we used to have an open discussion on table like there is nothing like anything to hide or anything not to disclose in front of children. So the environment of our family is very open. But there was one thing which my father kept as a secret for a long duration and the thing was related to my grandfather. So when my grandfather died he wrote every letter for me and for my younger brother. But he promised to my father that my father promised to my grandfather that he'll not share this letter until they're 18 years old. So it's quite interesting like we never imagined that such letter exist in our home and my father have been hiding this letter since 18 years because when my grandfather died he will means we were only one year or three years old. So it was kind of very surprising to us when we came to know about this letter and and when we read it we got so emotional and overwhelming that tears came out and additionally we thought that it was a brilliant idea of my father not to share with us because at that moment if we would have read that letter then we wouldn't have given the importance of this. But now after means when we became adult

    Band 6-7

    An important old thing that my family has kept for a long time is probably the coconut grinder. The coconut grinder is from Sri Lanka and my family had got it way before from when I was born. It is a traditional device unlike the many devices that are available today. It has been in my family for several years and they still use it. What is different about this grinder is how convenient it is to use. It only takes 5 minutes to grind the entire coconut. My dad recently purchased the modern device that is currently in use and it wasn't as convenient as the traditional device that we use. It was very hard to use and also not a really safe option because it is machine operated and it could easily injure us. So my mom always opts to use the traditional device that is the coconut grinder from Sri Lanka. So my family is really used to using this because of how their grandparents or their ancestors always used them. So I have also gotten used to being able to use the device. So this coconut grinder is essential for us because in the Sri Lankan cuisine there are many dishes that are coconut based and we enjoy a lot of these dishes and frequently consume them. Therefore it is a really good device and that's why it's been in my family for so many ages even though there's been so many developments in it.
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