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?

89 unique answers with expert feedback

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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.

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.

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.

Tip

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

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 6-7

I recently visited my mentor Mr. Kramul Haque and he gave me a piece of advice which was so valuable for me and I eventually listened to the advice and I started doing the thing. The advice was to be humble and to work hard resentlessly no matter you succeed or fail because if you work hard you will have the habit of working hard and eventually you will succeed in your life. The advice really changed my life and it impacted me in a huge way. Since then I have been sharing this advice to my younger brother and to my friends and they are also really impressed by the advice because the advice is so simple and it says such a big deep meaning. So everyone liked the advice.

Band 6-7

So, I would like to describe one specific thing that I learned from outside of my schooling days or some of my college days was having patience. So after my college days, like, it's very obvious that we attend some interviews and we need to get started with the job and with our careers. So I was, like, typically the old routine, I was getting ready and I was heading towards my interview and, like, some of the companies were making us interviewers to wait for more than 5 hours, 6 hours and maybe it's taking a long time and a huge gap. So during these interviews time, like, I gained a skill that we have to wait to achieve something really good. So it's been, like, to be honest, it will be very, very, very tough to achieve patience in our life. So, like, during this modern era, we tend to fall for the things, like, we need the things to be done very quickly, like in the ample of minutes, in the couple of minutes we need to, like, we wish to, the thing must happen. So it was, like, during one of my interview, the interviewer made me to wait for whole 12 hours. So typically, like, half of the day, like, it's from the whole day I have to wait only for, to get the interview at the doorstep, I have to wait for the whole day. So it was, like, I started around the interview at the 9 and I was interviewed on the office about, like, 10 p.m. in the night. So that really helped me to go through the other interviews.

Band 6-7

An important thing that I learned in my life is empathy, being empathetic to others or being kind to others. Empathy has a lot of inner meaning. It is not being just sympathetic to others, but it is feeling their pain or being the world from their perspective. We call it as walking in their shoes. So when we see things in others' perspective, then only we can understand what is happening and what is the state that they are going through and what is their current mental pressure or emotional conflicts that they are going on. And it will help us to provide the maximum support that they need at that time. So being empathetic and kind is really important and I learned it from my grandfather. And my grandfather was so empathetic and an open-minded person and that every people who meet him will remember. And after his death, a lot of people came to our home and shared their experiences with him. And he was such a gentleman and a philanthropist. And I think my grandfather got this quality from his parents and his siblings. And being empathetic or being in life is an important thing that helps not only to provide help to others, but it also helps to improve our own self-confidence.

Band 6-7

The most important thing I learnt is from my surroundings that if you don't have any job or money nobody respects you. Nowadays everybody judge you according to your fame, according to your money or job. If you don't have a big job, if you don't have money, fame, if you are not wealthy nobody respects you. It just depends on other's mindset that how you will, it depends on other's mindset that people's gestures are according to, people's gestures towards you is according to your money. So money is the most important thing in this world. So I just want to, I have learnt that now from onwards I just wanted to earn money, I just wanted to study more and more.

Band 6-7

Well, in everyday life, we have to adapt ourselves to many new and innovating things. That's why I am always interested in acquiring new knowledge. After I finished my secondary school exam, I had about two months of free time. During that period, I became interested in tailoring. I watched a lot of YouTube videos and learned a lot with the help of my cousin. I think tailoring is very important in daily life because clothing is a necessity. If we can make our own clothes, we can save money and time. When we go to other tailors, they sometimes make mistakes and we cannot always express our designs properly. They might design things the wrong way and we won't be satisfied. That's why I think it's important to learn tailoring so we can create our own designs. I feel proud and satisfied because I can customize my clothes according to my own ideas. Moreover, I believe tailoring can be a helpful way to earn money. My future plan is to build a business around tailoring and design clothes, creating new and unique designs. That's it. Thank you.

Band 6-7

In general, I am a very poised and reserved person. I never used to fight with others, but my traumatic marriage had taught me how to lead life with confidence. If you don't want something but you still want to stay in that particular place, then it's lots of stupidity added on, and I also have a child out of that marriage, so I got to be very strong, move forward, make myself a better person, because there is always domestic violence and abuse which can break a person completely, and it can never make a person realize that he or she is doing a particular mistake by hurting others. So I chose the second path by coming out of that marriage and fixing me and my child in a proper position. I had also accounted myself to be responsible for a bad and failed marriage because people were saying not to go for that person. So to rectify this marriage, or to rectify my mistakes which I have made in my past, I am still trying to keep up with my career, and that's why I am giving my IELTS exam so that I can go abroad, study PhD, and find great prospects to my child and myself.

Band 6-7

Well, one thing that I learned not from schooling or college is that being authentic. So this is a skill which I have mastered over time from my childhood where it was taught to me not by anyone but rather through experiences and situations. So there was an instance where one of my relative was caught of cheating but eventually it turned up that it was not necessary for him to cheat yet he did that. So even in that scenario that I felt that cheating wasn't necessary, if at all he had been honest why he would want to steal that thing and if at all he would have requested people would have definitely given it to him. So he did not want to put a black mark on his character. So that is the reason I felt somewhere being authentic or honest is very important and transparency is one thing that we have to learn, maintain and to be a better individual in the society and to also build better relationships it is definitely important. However, otherwise nobody would believe us. So moreover it is important for us to just keep in mind that honesty is the best policy and we have to follow.

Band 6-7

What is wrong with you? It's not relevant. Okay, so I learned French during my COVID. I remember taking French as I was always interested in understanding and exploring languages of different cultures and ethnicities. So for me, taking a European language was a very new experience and a very exciting one. So at the time of COVID, I had a lot of time alone. And that's when I started with understanding and starting with small words related to French vocabulary. Slowly that excitement and that interest grew onto me. And that's what led to me learning French, taking it as seriously. Also, how did I learn French? Then that would be using online websites. Then I can say using Duolingo, there is an app called Duolingo, which helps us to personify another speaker who can talk to you. So that's how I started to communicate with other person who can speak French that helped me improving my communication skills in French.

Band 6

One of the most important thing that I have learnt was to be kind and humble towards everyone, towards our parents, towards our full family and most importantly towards the people we don't know, towards we can say the waiters, waitresses and the poor people roaming around the road. This is what I think I have learnt, I have not learnt it in any, no one teach me that thing. Recently I went to one orphanage where I saw there was a lot of children, like they don't have parents, they don't have parents and they really need someone to be kind towards them and just be humble. So this is something I have learnt and it really helped me in lot of things when I saw that I am, yes I am humble and kind towards people, then I saw that reflection towards me also, when I was kind to anyone that person was also kind with me and it really helped me in growing, yeah, so yeah, thank you.

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