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Describe An Occasion When Many People Were Smiling: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did it happen?
  • Who were you with?
  • What is the reason why they were smiling?
Show all 14 answers

Cue 1:When did it happen?

  • Begin by mentioning the specific occasion and date when this event took place.
  • Provide some context about the time of year or any significant events happening around that time.

Example

This occasion happened last year during the Diwali festival, which is celebrated in October. It was a beautiful evening, and the streets were filled with lights and decorations.

Cue 2:Who were you with?

  • Describe the people you were with, such as family, friends, or colleagues.
  • Mention the significance of these people in your life and how their presence contributed to the joy of the occasion.

Example

I was with my family and a few close friends. We had gathered at my uncle's house for a Diwali celebration, which is a tradition in our family. Being surrounded by loved ones made the occasion even more special.

Cue 3:What is the reason why they were smiling?

  • Explain the activities or events that led to everyone smiling.
  • Highlight the emotions and atmosphere of joy that filled the gathering.

Example

Everyone was smiling because we were lighting diyas and bursting crackers together. The laughter and excitement of the children, along with the delicious food and sweets, created a joyful atmosphere. It was heartwarming to see everyone enjoying the festivities and sharing stories.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, this occasion was memorable not just for the celebrations but for the smiles and happiness shared among family and friends. It reminded me of the importance of togetherness and joy during special moments in life.

    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 Specific Details

    Avoid giving vague answers without specific details about the occasion. This can make your response less engaging and informative.

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    Tip

    Include specific details such as the date, location, and the people involved to create a vivid picture for the examiner.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Failing to address the provided cues can lead to an incomplete answer. This may result in a lower score for coherence and relevance.

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    Tip

    Make sure to answer all the cues: when it happened, who was there, and why they were smiling to ensure a comprehensive response.

    Overly Simple Language

    Using overly simple language can make your response sound unprepared. This may not showcase your full range of vocabulary and grammar.

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    Tip

    Try to use varied vocabulary and complex sentences to demonstrate your language skills while still being clear and understandable.

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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

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    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 7

    It was a time when I was in 18 and this was about my sister's marriage, the middle one. At that time she was going to get married and we were celebrating at my home. It was a night when we were all making sweets. Usually in my village we make our marriage sweets because we are not telling anyone and we are not hiring any caretakers. We make everything and our relatives make everything for them. It was a time when we were all making sweets together and immediately the DJ was playing and my sister started dancing. She was doing a funny dance and everyone was laughing. It was the best memory I ever had in my life. Everyone enjoyed a lot and even today we talk about the same things and we laugh today as well. It was a funny moment in my life.

    Band 6-7

    So, on 23rd March 2025, my grandpa had his 90th birthday celebration. We all gathered, my family, my parents, my sibling and my grandpa and even my uncles who live far away in another states, they were connected with us virtually through Google Meet and we all celebrated his birthday together. It was a very rejoicing occasion for us because he had reached a milestone of his life which is very crucial. He was immensely moved and surprised and he was very happy with all the arrangements and celebrations and the wishes. I personally prepared some handmade gifts for him. They included a diary which was for his words of wisdom. I asked him to pass it on to his grandchildren and our future generations.

    Band 6

    yeah we went to a trip on January so with friends and this is situation where we were smiling like this is for one of my friend called Rohan like we will be teasing every day like yeah you know how we tease friends every day right on that day we teased more and he was driving till midnight of to the morning then yeah when teasing he did very he felt very bad and then in the night again we started teasing in the room like we reached the location and we are still teasing and then like one of my friend is drinking like again he started teasing then he woke up like he was sleeping when he go I teased while sleeping he got up and I got angry on him like he ran he ran till like 50 meters like that was very happy moment like everyone were smiling yeah it's not like smiling but laughter, laughter moment

    Band 6

    During my visit to Rajasthan in 2022, we as a family went there to travel, to tour there. It was our first time as a family and as an individual in a different state like Rajasthan. Rajasthan is beautiful, it's big, it has lights, colours, everything in it. It is a more tourism-attracted place and it is where most of the Indians and foreigners like to travel. Because it has such an amazing history and forts and beautiful palaces and places to visit. So we as a family went there and we were having a gala of time. Us laughing and continuously making and cracking jokes on each other or any situation. As we were there in a shop and the shopkeeper got the wrong shoe size. And my dad and my dad thought that it was my mom who told that it was his size. But it was actually miscommunication between my mom, my dad and the shopkeeper. So he gave us the wrong shoe size and etc. And we came back to the hotel and we checked and my mom and my dad were laughing so hard. Because it was a kid's shoe size rather than my dad's shoe size. And we were cracking jokes and we were like, oh how did it get here, where is my shoe, where is everything. And then we checked that the shopkeeper accidentally gave us two pairs, the red one and also my dad. Because my dad also bought it.

    Band 6

    There are many occasions when people gather together with a friend and family, enjoy themselves, such occasions are typically filled with laughter and joy. One such occasion where I witnessed quite a few people laugh and smiling was the wedding of a close relative of mine. On this auspicious occasion, everyone from a distant cousin to my immediate family member was present. Since weddings are known to be exuberant and lively events, everyone present at this wedding was cheerful and the atmosphere was joyous. The main reason everyone present was smiling was obviously because of the new journey that my cousin was about to embark on and she had all prayers and well wishes for her future. Marriage itself is a moment's step in a person's life and everyone expects their family and relatives to support them in moving forward with such a delicious cause. Fortunately, our entire family was quite elaborate when my cousin decided to tie the knot with her partner as they had childhood friends. Eventually, the bride and groom family became quite close over the years. Thus, both families were delighted with this union and they're feeling very clear their cheerful, smiling faces.

    Band 6

    Few days ago we all went to an amusement park. We were very happy and excited about going there and reaching there we were given bands and that band created a tag like we are in and we were very excited to go there. We were all a group of five members and we went. After a long time I had got into a giant wheel. It was very fun. Standing in a queue it made me very tense and I was anxious that what if I am someone who is scared of heights so what if I am scared there and what if our giant wheel got stuck there. But eventually when we went and the experience as a whole it was very thrilling and happy. All of my friends there were people who got into the giant wheel for the first time also. That was very fun. We all kept laughing, chatting, shouting and no one was there who could hear. Everybody was busy in their own things. Everybody was shouting. Everybody was very excited to get into that. After that we all had food which was very delicious and after that tiring experience the food was a must.

    Band 6

    This is my story when I was in 3rd grade and it was the first time my mother said that I should try competing in some competition for speaking and it was a competition of speaking some Sanskrit slokas and it was something that I didn't knew and I was not aware of them. As it was something very new for me, I was even more stretch frightened for that and as I always was afraid of standing on a stage and talking about anything in front of many people but when I saw my parents smiling from the stage, I got happy. I was not afraid anymore and as soon as I saw that the winner's name was being announced, I was very scared because I knew that I didn't do that good but still I wasn't that bad. So, my mother said that don't get scared, it was the first time competing but as soon as the name PURVADHANGA got called out on the stage, I was so happy that I couldn't even see what was happening. I was completely unconscious, something like in my imaginative world and when I went to the stage, I could see my parents and my siblings smiling the whole time as they called my name and I got to the stage to take the award. It was a really beautiful memory for me.

    Band 6

    I still remember this day like it has happened yesterday. So it was last year, 2024, when I had celebrated my 24th birthday and I was surrounded by my few very close friends and my family members and I remember they were wholeheartedly laughing and smiling and just jiggling around and I was celebrating my 24th birthday in a very cozy environment at a cafe and I decided to invite my close friend as well as my family members so they were all very happy and they were smiling because of the fact that I had turned 24 and I'm adult now and they were all so very happy for the fact that I have now grown up and became an independent woman who has started her own business and they were all really happy with my outcomes and I remember their smile was so genuine, out of heart, full of love. Moreover, they were also smiling over the fact that we all are still very close from high school days and I still remember these days as if it has happened yesterday and I was so happy that I feel like I'm gonna remember this 24th birthday of my, this 24th birthday of myself for the rest of the year because it is such, because it has been such a momentous moment in my life and I think I'm gonna forever carry this in my heart with the gratitude, with the love and with a very warm, kind heart and I was so thankful for the gifts and the letters that I received on my 24th birthday and I hope this tradition to continue forever.

    Band 6

    See, there are many occasions in my life where I smile a lot with my well-beings and my friends. So, recalling such occasions where we laughed is tricky for me. But recently, when I completed my last examination of my college for degree, we friends were gathered at a place and were discussing about the exam, how was the exam. So, one of my friends just cracked the joke that he completed his paper one hour before and he was just helping others by giving them the wrong answer of the MCQs. So, one of my friends really laughed, shouted and laughed a lot. So, hearing him, seeing him laugh, others also started laughing. So, we were continuously laughing for like 2-3 minutes. So, that was a moment where I also laughed a lot. So, recalling such moments where you are laughing is difficult for me because I laugh a lot. I laugh a lot with my friends. I crack jokes with them. I am a joyful person. So, I like smiling and cracking jokes with others. And we do laugh at home also.

    Band 6

    Here I would like to talk about an occasion when many people were smiling is none other than my cousin sister's wedding. Her name is Sarana. She is working as a software engineer in Ernakulam. Last year, I think this September month, September 8th was her wedding day. One week before me and my whole family are gathered here and the wedding party conducted on three days. The first day was Sankirt day, the second day was Haldi and the third day was the wedding day. We celebrated her wedding day. That was her dream because they are in relationship with almost six years. I think six years they are in relationship. Finally, that relationship turned into marriage. That was her dream. So, we and my whole family are very happy. We are over the moon because she married her dream guy.
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