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Describe an important thing you learned (not at school or college): IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did you learn it?
  • How did you learn it?
  • Why did you think it was important to learn it?
  • How you felt when you learnt it?
Show all 89 answers

Cue 1:When did you learn it?

  • Mention a specific time frame when you learned this important thing, such as a few months ago or during a particular event.
  • Provide context about what was happening in your life at that time to make it more relatable.

Example

I learned this important lesson about financial management about six months ago when I started my first job. It was a significant transition for me as I was moving from being a student to a working professional.

Cue 2:How did you learn it?

  • Explain the method or source through which you learned this lesson, such as through a book, a workshop, or advice from someone.
  • Share any specific experiences or activities that helped you grasp this knowledge.

Example

I learned about financial management by attending a workshop organized by my company. The workshop was conducted by a financial expert who shared practical tips on budgeting and saving.

Cue 3:Why did you think it was important to learn it?

  • Discuss the reasons that made this lesson significant for you, such as future goals or personal circumstances.
  • Connect the importance of this lesson to your life or career aspirations.

Example

I thought it was crucial to learn about financial management because I wanted to ensure that I could save for my future and manage my expenses wisely. As I was starting my career, I realized that understanding finances would help me achieve my long-term goals.

Cue 4:How you felt when you learnt it?

  • Describe your emotions when you grasped this lesson, whether it was excitement, relief, or empowerment.
  • Reflect on how this knowledge has impacted your confidence or mindset.

Example

When I learned about financial management, I felt empowered and relieved. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders because I now had the tools to take control of my finances, which made me feel more confident about my future.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, learning about financial management was a pivotal moment in my life. It not only equipped me with essential skills but also changed my perspective on money and savings, setting a solid foundation for my future.

    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 Responses

    Avoid giving vague or general answers. Specific details make your response more engaging and memorable. Candidates often lose points for not elaborating on their experiences.

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    Tip

    Use specific examples and details to illustrate your learning experience. Mention exact moments or feelings to make your answer more vivid.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Not addressing all the cues can lead to an incomplete answer. Candidates may miss important aspects of their learning experience, which can affect their score.

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    Tip

    Make sure to answer all the cues provided. Structure your response to cover when, how, why, and how you felt about your learning.

    Overly Complex Language

    Using overly complex vocabulary or grammar can confuse the listener. It's important to communicate clearly and effectively, especially in a speaking test.

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    Tip

    Use simple and clear language. Focus on expressing your ideas clearly rather than trying to impress with difficult words.

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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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    Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

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    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
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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

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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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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    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
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

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    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
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    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 8

    One of the most important things I have learned outside the school is how to communicate effectively with people, especially patients, through my work in a pharmacy. At first I thought pharmacy was only about medicine and prescriptions, but I quickly realized that clear communication is just as essential as medical knowledge. For example, many customers come in and with very little understanding of how to take their medication and sometimes they are quite anxious about side effects. By learning to listen patiently, explain instruction in simple terms and show empathy, I have been able to build trust with them. This not only helps them follow their treatment properly, but also makes them feel reassured. What makes this lesson important is that it goes beyond my profession. Good communication skills have improved my relationship with friends and family as well. I have learned that speaking clearly and listening carefully can prevent a misunderstanding and strengthen connection. Overall, this experience has taught me that knowledge alone is not enough. The way we share it and connect with others can have an even greater impact. I believe this skill will continue to benefit me in both my personal and professional life.

    Band 7

    One thing that I believe I learned and is quite essential in my personal growth is how to be accommodating of others and how to collaborate with individuals. I learned this thing while working with my team. In my company, we are expected to work in a team of at least 10 to 12 people and in this scenario, it is essential for us to always be mindful of others' time and be considerate of any help that they do provide and be considerate of their circumstances. I learned this while interacting daily with at least 2 to 3 people from the team and in evolving myself to be mindful of their personal time too. Additionally, I believe it's a great development because in society, we are also expected to live our life with different people, interact with multiple individuals whose circumstances we have no idea about. So it is good for us to be mindful of our actions and take others into consideration and be open-minded to all.

    Band 7

    Something that I've learnt in my present life and not in school and college is the endurance and the stability that I've learnt after marriage. Earlier also I was hardworking but not to that extent which I have developed now. Being a mother of two kids and managing all my household chores efficiently, I look forward to my continuous professional development and I make efforts to learn everyday, keep growing everyday and acquire the most of the knowledge that I can in my free time rather than wasting the time on petty and unimportant things. With developing more of understanding, interpersonal skills, empathy and different time management, I have relatively grown as a better human being. I respect the feelings of others. I also respect the time that I am giving to my studies, to my development as well as the time that I should devote to my family. I just take care that none of the important things that actually matter in my life should be neglected, focusing on my professional development only. I take care of all the aspects equally and try to be more efficient, more stable and more eligible to all the works assigned.

    Band 7

    There is this one time where I went to shop in a flower market to a florist and I bought a few flowers. When I paid for the flowers, I did not have the change and I asked the florist to keep the rest of the money with her because she did not have the change either. So rather than keeping the money with her, she offered me with more flowers. This made me realize that she was such a hardworking woman who did not want to keep her money for free. What I learned that day is even if your job is big or small, it's important for us to be humble, for us to be hardworking and dedicated to what we do and be truthful to ourselves because I think in the long run, that is what helps us a lot in our life. The importance that held into me that day was that it taught me a big lesson of how to be humble and down to earth and also be dedicated to what I do. What I felt after that was very, um...

    Band 7

    One of the most important things I have ever learned outside formal education is the art of event management, especially during my time as a general convener of Festu Present Sanskriti 2025, the annual cultural fest of Jadavpur University. Firstly, the role taught me far more than textbooks ever could. Coordinating a fest of such scale required meticulous planning, negotiation skills and the ability to lead diverse teams. From arranging sponsorships to managing logistics and ensuring smooth performances, every detail demanded attention. Secondly, I have learned how to stay composed under pressure. Eventually, problems arise, last-minute cancellations, technical glitches, event budget constraints. Instead of panicking, I have learned to think critically, delegate efficiently and find quick solutions. Moreover, this experience strengthened my interpersonal skills. I had to interact with faculty, artists, sponsors, and students, all with different expectations. Balancing these interests and still delivering a successful event gave me even more confidence. To conclude, event management became a life lesson in leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving. Even now, as a mechanical engineer preparing for higher studies in Germany, I find these skills invaluable because they shape not just my professional approach but also my personality.

    Band 7

    Back when I was a fresher in a company, I was expected to attend quite a few meetings. So, when the day came, I went to a meeting and I responded quite poorly due to my body language. So, that was a turning point because it made me curious and wanted to learn the body language so that I can be more confident in my own meetings. So, I started looking up online how to maintain proper posture and how to talk confidently. And when I did learn, I did apply those principles in my other meetings. So, the results were quite good and I think I might want to do it some more in the near future.

    Band 7

    One of the most important things that I have learned is how to deal with things that do not go your way. Everybody wants things to go their way. Having said that, more often than not, we find ourselves in situations where we did not intend to be in. This lesson was taught to me by the great sport of basketball. I am a passionate basketball player and more often than not, I find myself in teams that are not good or my teammates are not up to what level of basketball I like to play at. That is why I tend to get very furious on them and I become pompous. Basketball has taught me that I cannot make everyone follow according to me or control everything. Everybody has their own way of doing things and everybody is on a learning path. I have been there where they are at right now and it is only a good teammate that can lead them to get better at the sport. Also, basketball has taught me one thing that is one of the most important things in life and that is unity. Unity and teamwork supersedes everything. Individual skill can only get you somewhere, but it is teamwork and unity that can get you all the way through. So these are the most important things that I have learned in basketball which are going to help me throughout my life.

    Band 7

    I was facing issues in making decisions like career choices or the right subject to choose and I just came across this field called design thinking which is all about asking why. Why you are supposed to take a certain decision, how it will impact and probing into the reason behind solution rather than just assuming that hey this solution is required and then I just need to do the solution implementation properly. The design thinking course was introduced through a lot of different ways in my life. There was a 30-day summit which was by MIT D-Lab which had me working with health workers in Tamil Nadu asking questions about reproductive health and best practices and how can we improve the adoption of those best practices, understanding why people behave in a certain way and then addressing the issue from the root cause. Design thinking has been life-changing for me. I was exhilarated by the fact that oh there is this problem solving technique which just doesn't focus on solving a problem properly but solving the right problem and it's a really important aspect in things like life, entrepreneurship, career. You can apply it anywhere and you will get results for sure. I was able to create my own startup using this particular methodology and was able to consult several large organizations.

    Band 7

    One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is the power of resilience, the ability to recover from setbacks. I first understood this during my final year of university when I failed a crucial exam, which initially felt like the end of my dreams. I'd studied intensely but still scored poorly for weeks. I blamed myself and even considered changing majors. It was a low point, but my mentor advised me failure is feedback, not final. I realized success isn't about avoiding failure, but resisting despite it. I analyzed my mistakes, adjusted my study methods, and retook the exam. This time scoring top marks. That experience taught me resilience isn't initiate, but it's built through patience and self-reflection. Now, in my job, when projects go wrong, I focus on solutions, not stress. This mindset helped me lead a team through a tight deadline last month. We failed at first, but eventually succeeded. That exam failure became a turning point. It showed me that setbacks are temporary, but the resilience we gain is permanent. Today I am grateful for that lesson more than any grade.

    Band 7

    In my current job, there is a need for cross-functional and cross-regional collaboration. And there were several projects I did last year which required me to collaborate with various team members across the globe. And one of the things I needed to learn was to work with people from different cultures, understand their ways of working and collaborate with them. It was important for the success of the project as well as for my professional growth to be able to contribute and learn from people who are not only your colleagues but are from different regions. So it was a great learning and it still helps me a lot as a person because I still get to work with them on different initiatives and it's great to be able to connect with them.
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