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Describe an interesting traditional story: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What the story is about
  • When/how you knew it
  • Who told you the story
  • And explain how you felt when you first heard it
Show all 54 answers

Cue 1:What the story is about

  • Begin by summarizing the main plot of the traditional story, highlighting its key themes and characters.
  • Mention any cultural significance or moral lessons that the story conveys.

Example

The story I want to share is about 'The Ramayana', an epic tale from Indian mythology. It narrates the journey of Lord Rama, who embarks on a quest to rescue his wife, Sita, from the demon king Ravana. The story is rich in themes of duty, honor, and the triumph of good over evil.

Cue 2:When/how you knew it

  • Describe the context in which you first encountered the story, whether it was through reading, storytelling, or media.
  • Mention any specific time or event that made this story memorable for you.

Example

I first heard this story during my childhood, when my grandmother used to narrate it to me every evening. It was a cherished family tradition, and I looked forward to those storytelling sessions, especially during the festive season of Diwali.

Cue 3:Who told you the story

  • Identify the person who shared the story with you and explain their relationship to you.
  • Share any personal anecdotes about how this person made the story come alive.

Example

My grandmother was the one who told me this story. She had a magical way of storytelling, using different voices for each character, which made the tale even more engaging. Her passion for the story made me feel like I was part of the adventure.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt when you first heard it

  • Express your emotions and thoughts during your first experience of hearing the story.
  • Discuss how the story impacted you personally or influenced your beliefs.

Example

When I first heard 'The Ramayana', I felt a mix of excitement and awe. The bravery of Lord Rama and the loyalty of Hanuman inspired me deeply. It instilled in me the values of courage and righteousness, which I carry with me to this day.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, this traditional story not only entertained me as a child but also shaped my understanding of moral values. It remains a significant part of my cultural heritage, reminding me of the importance of good over evil in our lives.

    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 in Story Description

    Failing to provide enough detail about the story can make your answer seem vague and uninteresting. It's important to engage the listener with vivid descriptions.

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    Tip

    Include specific elements of the story, such as key characters, events, and settings, to make your answer more engaging.

    2: Ignoring Personal Connection

    Not sharing your personal feelings or experiences related to the story can make your response less relatable. Personal connections add depth to your answer.

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    Tip

    Explain how the story impacted you emotionally or what it taught you to create a more compelling narrative.

    Rushing Through the Answer

    Speaking too quickly can lead to unclear communication and missed opportunities to elaborate on important points. Take your time to articulate your thoughts.

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    Tip

    Pace your speech and pause briefly between points to allow the listener to absorb your ideas and to give yourself time to think.

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    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

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    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
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    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 6-7

    I would like to talk about a story that my teacher and parents used to tell. It was the story of a crow, a thirsty crow, who was swimming here and there in search of water and he did not find one. Then he suddenly found a pot with little water and he could not reach the level of water with his beak. So he searched some pebbles around him and started pouring the pebbles in the pot and he realized that the level of water rises and he can drink water and through consistency he was able to raise the level of water from the pot and through his beak he drank the water and he was not more thirsty. This story tells how we can do anything with our consistency and through critical thinking and there are many more there are many more traditional stories like Mahabharata, Ramayana and others which are told by our parents to us but this is a common story that every student should know in their childhood and through this we can do anything we can do anything that we want in our in our life through discipline and consistency.

    Band 6-7

    A story which I would talk about is Astrology by Sarojini Naidu. It's a traditional Indian story. In that story what happened was there was an astrologer who used to trick people by showing them their future. He himself had no knowledge about astrology but in fluke most of the times his prediction worked and most of the people started worshipping him. More people started coming to him. He charged more to them and etc. But then one day a man came up to him. He was an astrologer in disguise as a customer. He went to him and saw that the stuff he was doing was very very very incorrect. So therefore he caught him red-handed. He started asking him questions. He asked technical questions to the astrologer which the astrologer could not answer and at last he exposed the astrology to the entire village. That's the reason why the astrologer had to leave the village and start his journey at another place. So this story shows that if you are doing wrong work there is nothing stopping you from. But why to do if you can do the same work with honesty?

    Band 6-7

    Actually it's an interesting question because a tale that was sticking into my mind is about my tradition and my culture denotes it. So I'll tell you the story. It is related to the festival which is celebrated in Kerala. It's known as Onam. The backstory is quite literally fascinating for me. It starts initially like there was a king called Mahabali who was ruling Kerala at one point of time and then he was a devil. It's called as Asura. There is Asuras and Ravanas. So angels and devils literally it is kind of that. So Asura was Mahabali but he was good hearted person and he had his good entertaining knowledge and everyone was living prosperly in that small land but while seeing that and he was ruling properly while seeing that angels or this devas got pissed off and what they did was like they called Vishnu who was the Brahma of all the universe and he asked for three varam and Mahabali went underground just because this Vishnu came in. So I was fascinated of this story is just because it's related to my tradition and every year I celebrate this Onam. So like that it is connected with me with my roots however it is related to.

    Band 6-7

    Just like in other countries, our country also holds so many traditional stories that are mythological based on the historical events that occurs in past. One of these traditional stories that I found too interesting was the story of Mahabharata. It was the story of conflict between two group of brothers. In fact, more precisely, it's a conflict between truth or lie. When I first heard this story from my grandmother, I was a child and at that time, I really found it so inspiring that despite of having a blood relation with someone, if someone is doing wrong, we must have the courage to say that this is wrong and you must don't have to repeat this. Moreover, it was how Arjuna chose Lord Krishna and not the entire force of soldiers and still being able to win. That proves that when God helps you, you don't need swords or weapons. He is enough alone to support you and to lead you to the win. Along with that, there was a part of the story that was when Yudhishthira, the elder brother of the Pandavas who lost her wife there. It was a fact that you must don't have to make your wife as an option or treat her as a thing. So he just lost her, that was the origin of the story of Mahabharata. If Yudhishthira hadn't lost her beautiful wife in the game of chess, then the war must not had happened.

    Band 6-7

    There is a story which is quite famous in my regions of native. I am not very sure if it is famous nationally or globally. This story was told to me by my grandmother and the name of the story is Greedy Grandson. So in this story, the story consists of two characters, a grandson and a grandmother. The grandson's parents would be dead so the grandmother will be taking care of the grandson. However, the grandson will be very lethargic and greedy. On the other hand, the grandmother is very hard working and merciful. So she will be working day and night to bring food and pay money to the shelter for both the grandson and herself. But she is very old and eventually she dies. When she dies, all her assets, her real estate, every bit of money that she had collected is used by the grandson. He spends many days spending the money earned by his grandmother. But eventually the money runs out and the grandson is left with no money to spend. He couldn't earn money because he is very lethargic and he doesn't have any skills. So what he does is, he remembers the grandmother had a ring on her finger. So this person being as creepy as he is, he digs the grave of the grandmother, tries to pull out the ring and when it doesn't come, he cuts her finger. And after a few days, one night when it was very stormy and raining heavily, a very spooky sound comes and somebody starts banging the door and a grandmother is standing outside. When he says that there is no finger on her, he asks who is it and she shouts, you only.

    Band 6-7

    Yet the story is mostly about a ghost or a spirit, I can say a negative spirit that is a female. Well, this story was told by my grandfather when I was at a very small age that as he is a farmer, he used to go to the fields at midnight to see that the crops have not been destroyed by any of the wild animals such as foxes or wild oxes. So one or the other day, he along with some group of people went to the fields at midnight where he saw a high flame of fire at the middle of the field. But it was not in our field, it was in the next field that was there. We got scared, my grandfather got scared that the crops, the fire, the flame will destroy the cultivated crops. So when he went there, he saw a lady sitting and putting her legs into the fire. When my grandfather tried to call that, she suddenly turned her head in the opposite direction without moving her body. Which was really horrific situation and when I first listened to this story, it gave me goosebumps. Gave me goosebumps and still it had created a trauma into my mind and I never go into that area or into that field at night. And even I avoid going there in the daytime too.

    Band 6-7

    To be very honest, listening to the traditional and the historical stories is always my favorite activity. I vividly remember that I listen to the traditional story of the greedy dog. And it was the story of a dog who was searching for food for the whole day and at the end of day, he found a piece of bread and he took that piece and grabbed it by his mouth and he went to the nearby pond and when he saw a reflection of himself in the water, he thinks that there is another dog in the water who had a piece of bread but he cannot realize that it is his reflection and he starts barking at him to grab the piece of bread from another dog but luckily he dropped his piece of bread and thus, it is concluded from the story that sometimes greediness or over-smartness can kill the people and I vividly remember that I heard this story from my grandmother and she used to tell me the stories at the time of night and it always seemed to be very interesting.

    Band 6-7

    One traditional story I find truly interesting is the story of a thirsty crow. My grandma used to dictate me this story when I was a kid and growing up I got to know the importance of the story. The story starts something as a crow was very very thirsty and he looked for water here and there. He found a pot of water but the water was at the very bottom of the pot. So instead of giving up what the crow did, he picked up the pebbles one by one and threw them into the pot. The water level grew up steadily and he was able to drink the water and then he flew away happily. What I found interesting was his positive attitude of never giving up. This is what the story is trying to convince us that when you don't give up and when you take one step at a time, you would easily or gradually reach to your level or you can get the results. So instead of giving up, if you act wisely and with patience, you might be able to achieve whatever you are dreaming of, whatever you are looking for. So this Indian folklore taught me a lot even though I was a kid. I found it fascinating and when I grew up, I knew the importance of not giving up on the tasks easily just because the task is hard or difficult to do. This doesn't mean that you should just procrastinate or deny or delay the task. So this is what I learned and I found that story very inspiring and relatable to life.

    Band 6-7

    There were different cultures going on since from decades in India. Nowadays people don't have any type of beliefs in previous cultures. But what I got to know about the culture is about marriages which used to happen in ancient times. They were like different type of exchange of dowries and money among the bride and groom which makes me feel so disgusting. I got to know about this by my mother and also my grandmother. They always used to elaborate different type of situations where always the groom families demands for the different type of dowries and whatever they are needful for. I used to feel so petrified whenever I got to know about the situations. I always used to admire the beauty of marriage but when I got to know about the situations and the scenarios where always the bride families needs to suffer from different type of difficulties during the marriage to give them different types of dowries, money and even accessories, digital equipments which makes me feel so disgusting and as well as I felt like it is quite discriminating towards building a new relationship among the society. However, I prefer marrying someone who is more understandable, respectable towards me. He should be trustworthy, overwhelming. Moreover, I got to know that marriages are not just a culture. It is also a thing which people do to settle down for a particular reason. I felt so nostalgic when I got to know about this.

    Band 6-7

    The story is about a festival which is most popular in Muslims, that is Eid or Eid-ul-Fitr. On that day, we make a sweet porridge which is called Kheer and some vermicelli which is called Semiya or Shirkarma. On that day, the younger ones got money from the elder ones. When I was in 4th grade, I went to my grandparents' house. It was my first meeting to my uncles, aunts and so many other relatives. So, we went for Eid-ul-Fitr festival. On that day, we get ready for Eid-ul-Fitr. After eating Shirkarma and greeting everyone, we got money from our elders. At that time, I was like, why are they giving money to us? Although, I was feeling very happy inside but it was my stress.
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