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Describe an occasion when someone gave you positive advice or suggestions about your work/study: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who is the person?
  • What he/she said?
  • How the advice/suggestion affected you?
  • And explain how you felt about the advice/suggestions.
Show all 161 answers

Cue 1:Who is the person?

  • Introduce the person who gave you the advice, mentioning their relationship to you, such as a teacher, mentor, or friend.
  • Provide some context about their background or expertise that makes their advice valuable.

Example

The person who gave me positive advice was my college professor, Dr. Sharma. He was not only my mentor but also an expert in the field of environmental science, which is my area of study.

Cue 2:What he/she said?

  • Summarize the key points of the advice or suggestions they provided.
  • Make sure to include specific phrases or ideas that stood out to you.

Example

Dr. Sharma suggested that I focus on practical projects to enhance my understanding of theoretical concepts. He said, 'Real-world experience will make your resume stand out and deepen your knowledge.'

Cue 3:How the advice/suggestion affected you?

  • Explain how you implemented the advice in your work or studies.
  • Discuss any changes in your approach or mindset as a result of the advice.

Example

After his suggestion, I started participating in various environmental projects and internships. This hands-on experience helped me grasp complex theories better and boosted my confidence in my abilities.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about the advice/suggestions.

  • Share your feelings about receiving the advice and how it impacted your relationship with the person.
  • Reflect on the long-term benefits of the advice on your personal and professional growth.

Example

I felt grateful and inspired by Dr. Sharma's advice. It strengthened my respect for him and motivated me to pursue my studies with more passion. I realized that good guidance can truly shape one's career.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, receiving positive advice from Dr. Sharma not only improved my academic performance but also instilled a sense of direction in my career. It reminded me of the importance of seeking guidance and learning from experienced individuals.

    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 Specificity

    Being vague about the advice received can weaken your response. Specific details help illustrate the impact of the advice and make your answer more engaging.

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    Tip

    Include specific examples of what the person said and how it directly influenced your work or study.

    2: Ignoring Personal Feelings

    Failing to express your feelings about the advice can make your response less personal. Sharing your emotions adds depth to your answer.

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    Tip

    Describe how the advice made you feel, whether it was motivated, inspired, or relieved.

    Overly Complex Language

    Using complicated vocabulary or structures can confuse the listener. Clarity is key in speaking tasks, especially for non-native speakers.

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    Tip

    Use simple and clear language to convey your thoughts effectively, ensuring your message is understood.

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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

    I got praised of my maths work, where I calculated the sums problems, where I could do it very quickly, in a fraction of a second, where I was admired by my maths teacher, where he told, you can be a good maths professor in future, if you do it well, and somehow I believe in, and I am still continuing to work on my maths, and one more was my physics teacher, she would suggest me to do the physics problems, as I could find out the easy ways to solve the problems, she taught me some tricky questions, where I could solve it quickly, so she praised me well, and she awarded me some gift for solving those questions, in a span of a time, both this maths and physics were related, so I could solve it quicker and faster, which made me admired by the teachers all over.

    Band 6-7

    I remember that day when I have got a good advice from my elder sister about my career. I have completed my graduation in psychology and completed some graphic designing courses. So I was looking for something which I can achieve, in which I can achieve my goals. But I could not find something which can utilize my all previous knowledge. Then I talked with my sister and she suggested me a beautiful field called user experience design and user interface design. This both fields combine as UI UX design. So she suggested me that field and that was the best advice I have got in my life. Because that utilizes my knowledge of psychology and it also uses my skills of artist background. So I started searching about that course and I have got one agency which provide correct career guidance. And I went to that agency and I have got one counselor. She again told me the details of that course of that career options and that advice helps me a lot. Because I am working as a UI UX designer and I am enjoying my work a lot and now I am going to pursue some like masters in this same field because I think this field gives me a chance to achieve higher goals in future and this utilize my knowledge and skills.

    Band 6-7

    So, I participated in a hackathon from my college and we went as a four person team and we won second place and we got a lot of appreciation for the project and we were like popular kids in the university, a lot of people recognized us and it was a really great moment which also enabled us to go for more and more hackathons and so we participated in more hackathons and got more prizes and it was a positive feedback loop that kept going and going and that is one and also our academics, since we got popular through the hackathons every staff expected us to get the maximum grade possible and so we also became a good studying student because so many expectations were on us.

    Band 6-7

    So, there was this period in my office which was going on during the time of the promotion and I was very keen in having this promotion because I was already running back 6 months than other colleagues of mine who they were all promoted 6 months ago and I was running late for promotion. So, I was very keen on having this promotion, it was very important for me in to have it in this quarter and so, I was you know I was always asking my immediate manager, her name is Preetika to you know recommend my name or push my name about and to give me a good raise or recommend my name for the promotion upcoming cycle and so, during that time as in when the results of the promotion were out, she had called herself personally to me on the on a very professional note and she congratulated me on that note and not only on a not only to congratulate me during that time, she told that I had got the promotion which I was waiting for since a very long time, she told me that and she backed me up with all the you know good things she could tell me and she told me that I was doing very well since the last 6 months I have been in this project, it's a very short period of time you have been here and you have got a promotion, this is the I think this is the first or second time somebody have got you know promoted very early into this project and she also told me that you have been doing really well, she also gave me this very good advice telling that it is really important for me to take up more responsibilities and guide the further coming you know juniors under me or further coming analysts who will be working under me and it is my responsibility to take up to maintain the same you know rapport in the work. So, that is one of the important.

    Band 6-7

    In everyone's life, the study or the work is more important. So when I was in diploma, I had to choose the career path... ...in the different engineering field like computer science or civil engineering. So there was an incorrect idea in my mind. So my father's friend Ganesh gave me an idea about civil engineering... ...and he suggested me what are the advantages or disadvantages about civil engineering. And those ideas made a huge impact in my life to select civil engineering. So I selected civil engineering because of him. He thought the ideas in a clear and responsible way. It affected me to make an important decision in my life. Moreover, the suggestions are the best solutions for the adult age persons. So I usually take the suggestions from the elders in a specific way. But in this case, I took the advice from my father's friend Ganesh. So it is very beneficial for me and he is a good talkative person.

    Band 6-7

    In my previous workplace there was this one person my favorite person my role model I used to like them a lot I used to like what they taught how they moved what they stood for they were literal literally a role model for me I would look up to them so much so that I would almost try to replicate them once I asked them for advice about my work and they gave me so much of good advice they listened to me so patiently and advised me about my personal issues my work issues and all of it they sat with me through it all and gave me such beautiful pieces of information that changed my life and I still apply them in on my life in my life to this day I am really grateful of them I look up to them a lot they are like a teacher a friend a colleague all-in-one they are such a great force of energy to be around they exude such positive vibration they are a great person to be in touch with

    Band 6-7

    When I was in my last organization, I was given a task which was quite impossible to achieve and people tried implementing it for months but they were not successful doing so. When I joined in, that was the first task that was handed over to me and I was able to crack it within few weeks. Later on, the CEO of my company appreciated the effort and the hard work that I put to it. He said that he was surprised to see the fearlessness and the attitude to take on the impossible task that he had given me and how I was able to achieve the entire thing within time and deliver a high quality result. This compliment pushed me more to deliver even better high quality works and furthermore I was awarded later in that quarter. The award mentioned the Superstar Award. He handed over that award to me. He also had given a speech about me saying that within 6 months nobody has ever left a huge impact on the organization and I was one of them to do so.

    Band 6-7

    I'm going to talk about one comment, one detail, which I received after my completion of 10th from my school principal. My school principal's name is Karthik. He is a very good person and very knowledgeable as well as very experienced. So, he can able to give speech on any topic and give advice related to the topic. And he has an ability to identify what the student can do and their interest. So, as per our ability and interest, they analyze our ability and can research on it and give the advice. So, in 2016, I had completed my 10th exam and I was very confused what to do next for the studies. Either I should sign or I should go for diploma. So, these are the very big confusion which I had at that time. To mitigate this situation, I have asked many people including my parents, friends and so on. But one of the biggest advice and explanation was given by my principal. Why? Because they not only gave the advice but also explained why this option is there for me. With the point out and what the scope is in the future and what this field can achieve. They suggested me to choose diploma in Information Technology because during 11th and 12th, they are not enough. Because in Information Technology, you need practical and as well as theoretical knowledge.

    Band 6-7

    So, quite recently I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about my work and after having told him about my daily routine and what my work involves, he was quite impressed with it. He was amazed by the technology that we were working on and the kind of impact that it will have on the environment and also on the way people use that product to make their lives a lot easier. So, my work revolves around designing things that are related to electric vehicles like batteries and their controllers and how crucial and important role they play in the overall design of the product. It has a great impact on the eco-friendly goal of our government and it helps us achieve that by making sure that we don't use any greenhouse gases during our production or in our product deployment itself. And having said that, when I told him everything about it, he was very happy with the work that we were doing and he told me to keep going and he was really happy that I was working on something that actually brings a very meaningful and physical impact on people's life. You know, when the product comes to the market, people won't have to worry about petrols or diesel prices, they won't have to worry about the environmental impact since they will be using electric vehicles that will barely have any consequences on the environment. So, he was really happy watching me do all this work and he wished me good luck and wanted me to excel in my field. Thank you.

    Band 6-7

    Well, today I'm going to describe an occasion when someone gave me positive advice or suggestion about study. Well, she's none other but my psychology teacher. She has been a very important person in my life. She's always been encouraging me, no matter what. First of all, after my 10th, like my study schedule was being so messed up. I wasn't able to focus on any subjects and the only subject I was doing well was psychology. But she advised me, she had a conversation with me. Not only she's a psychology teacher, but also she's our counselor. She has helped me ways to cope up with other subjects as well. She said that not only one subject, but all subjects should be treated well so that your academics result would be fantastic. Apart from them, she also counseled me that why studies are important. And she said that if you also want to become a counselor, so you don't only need to know or gain knowledge about your own subject, but it's very necessary to know the knowledge about different subjects as well. And as being a student, it's very important to focus on each and every subject because all different subjects play an immense role in the development of child. And till 12th, like for me, it was very difficult to pass in the 11th grade, but my 12th result was excellent and I give all the credits to my psychology teacher. She's also my counselor, as I mentioned before. She had counseled me really well. She told me that how to, like she gave me steps to improve in studies.
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