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Describe An Occasion When You Lost Your Way: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When and where did it happen?
  • How did you feel when you were lost?
  • How did you find your way out?
Show all 39 answers

Cue 1:When and where did it happen?

  • Begin by describing the location where you got lost, such as a city or a specific place.
  • Mention the time of day and any relevant details about why you were there.

Example

It happened last summer when I was visiting Jaipur with my friends. We decided to explore the old city, and while wandering through the narrow streets, I suddenly realized I had lost track of where we were.

Cue 2:How did you feel when you were lost?

  • Share your emotions during the experience, such as fear, confusion, or anxiety.
  • Explain how the situation affected you, perhaps mentioning any thoughts that crossed your mind.

Example

At first, I felt a wave of panic wash over me. The streets were bustling with tourists, and I felt completely overwhelmed. I was worried about being late for our meeting point and started to doubt my sense of direction.

Cue 3:How did you find your way out?

  • Describe the steps you took to regain your bearings, such as asking for help or using a map.
  • Mention any helpful interactions you had with locals or other tourists.

Example

After a few minutes of wandering, I decided to ask a shopkeeper for directions. He was very friendly and pointed me towards a landmark I recognized. I also used my phone's map to guide me back, and soon I was able to reunite with my friends.

Conclusion

    Example

    This experience taught me the importance of staying calm in unfamiliar situations and not hesitating to ask for help when needed. Now, I always make sure to have a map or a reliable navigation app when exploring new places.

    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 Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your story unclear and uninteresting. Specific details help the examiner understand your experience better and engage with your story.

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    Tip

    Include specific locations, times, and feelings to make your story vivid and relatable.

    2: Ignoring Emotional Impact

    Failing to express your feelings during the experience can make your answer flat. Emotions add depth and help the examiner connect with your narrative.

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    Tip

    Describe how you felt when you were lost, using adjectives to convey your emotions clearly.

    Skipping Key Details

    Omitting important details about how you found your way can leave your answer incomplete. This can lead to a lack of clarity in your response.

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    Tip

    Clearly explain the steps you took to find your way, including any resources or help you received.

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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
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    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

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    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
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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
    anonymous person icon

    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 6-7

    This is one time when I was coming back from school to my home, I was walking towards my home and I met a friend and he told me that we can go by this way, this will make you reach home as soon. So I went with him and I dropped him near his house and from there I started to walk again and somewhere in between I lost the way and I was clueless, so I was seeking for help but I couldn't find anyone. So I really felt nervous and I got panicked and I didn't know what to do, so I tried for various methods or what to say, sorry I tried for numerous methods to find the way for my home but fortunately I couldn't. I was stuck there for very long time and I was looking around and I saw old building which is very far away from where I was standing and I started walking towards that building and when I saw the building in close, I recollected that my house is towards east side of the building so I started to follow the trail and I started to follow walking in east. So eventually I was walking towards the east direction and I reached my home and I felt really happy and my mom was scared because I was late to home, so she scolded me and I told her and I explained her what happened and she said you should not do like this anymore, so follow what mother says.

    Band 6-7

    two years ago when I first joined my job it was my first day and I wanted to go to my office at 7 a.m. which is pretty much earlier than the opening time which is 8 a.m. so I took a cab I went to the office I did not know the exact location but I didn't did know the landmark so I told the landmark to the driver but apparently my luck was not good the driver did not know where to go and he eventually lost his way in other other way in other life so two years ago when I first joined my job I wanted to go early on my first day but due to some reason I was late and I couldn't catch up the office cab eventually I had to take my own bike and ride my way to the office due to my nervousness I eventually took the wrong route and ended up in a very different place which is 30 kilometers away from the actual destination I completely lost my mind because of the situation I never expected something like this would happen to a person like me because I am NOT a person who's introvert I roam around the city I pretty much born and bred here so this was something very new losing the way losing the road but somehow I took a backseat gave myself two minutes to think and eventually found a way out of this due to the technology I could find the correct destination I used Google Maps well thanks to Google for developing something beautiful as this app because of that I could go to my office even though I was late since it was my first day they would not bother me which bother me with much allegations that I was late but somehow things turned out pretty well and

    Band 6-7

    That's an interesting question. Last time when I visited one of my school friend who has been living in a city called Sikandrabad which is nearly 20 kilometers away from my hometown Hyderabad. My friend's name is Jitender Jain. He has been living in that city since last 20 years. He lives with his parents. So I had to visit him to meet his parents because they had undergone a surgery recently and it is tradition in Indians if someone undergoes any health issue people visit them once after they get treated to wish them well. So when I was traveling towards his home I lost my way. I was traveling on my two wheeler bike. Initially I thought that I was going on the correct path but later I noticed that I had missed my path and I was so confused. I was feeling scared and devastated if I could reach on time or not. So I later figured out the right path by looking at the boards. I started using Google Maps and used it in a navigation mode. In addition to that I also took help from the local people who were living in that area by asking step by step or by asking a landmark nearby to his house. So I reached his house on time by using these techniques and along with that I also enquired with the traffic police who held

    Band 6

    So, this is the occasion when I lost my way during my thesis studies, during my thesis studies in the month of March, when I have travelled to my case study, there I was supposed to meet a person for my leather industry. So, we went to a place called as a market, which has two lanes, in that we were in a lost situation because we were supposed to visit a place where there are many factories and houses, but from there we came to a functional point where we could see some auto rickshaws and everything. So, they used to have a tuk-tuk, a three-wheeler zone where a vehicle used to come and pick up the people from there to, we could travel from one place to other. So, then I loved the way how they have helped me out from that place, they took me to the other place where it was a personal experience when I was having that.

    Band 6

    So, an moment when I forgot about my path. This thing happened last summer when I was going for a site visit. It was conducted by our college where we have to go to the site and we have to make a case study. I was alone. My other friends and peers were already arrived there. Furthermore, I reached properly but when I was coming back from the site to my home, unknowingly I chose a wrong path which leads me to a very surreal area. When I realized that I'm going for a wrong way, then at that time I got deterred and got anxious, but I took help from Google Maps and it helps me to direct me to come back.

    Band 6

    I remember one time when I was in Dubai on a holiday with my family we went out of a hotel and took subway to reach to a mall we did all the shopping and that we needed we required and on our way back we took subway again but this time we didn't realize and took the wrong exit from the subway and after we took the exit we were finding our way back to the hotel but we were not able to find our hotel and on top of that we were not able to even remember the name of the hotel so even if you wanted to ask someone else for the help we were not able to because we could not explain where we wanted to go so in that case we were lost in an unknown country and we were not able to go back to our hotel find a way to our hotel so we went back to subway and then we tried to make a mental map of from which gate we entered the subway which gate we exited the subway and in doing so we realized that the gate that we took to exit after we had come back from the mall was wrong so we changed our exit and went to the correct exit when we went out we were able to see the monuments of the buildings that we had seen earlier while we were going to the mall so instantly we recognized that it's the right exit and previously it was the wrong one so after a few steps of walking into one direction we were able to locate our hotel and we reached our hotel safely but overall this experience was not very pleasant it was very

    Band 6

    There has been an incident when I was a little kid of 5 years, we went to a one day trip at a park, I believe it was Kanyakumari and we had a lot of fun watching the sunset and playing at the park to a much great extent, when it was time to return back, I with my best friend hid up in some place in hope of the teachers finding us, I know this was not realistic, but we did it and to our surprise our teachers did find us and took us back to the bus where we have to be present while leaving, when I look back at what happened, I am really very much happy that we didn't get lost at that time, because as kids you don't know how to behave in some places and how adults are really working hard to not make any mistakes, so when I remember it, if we were lost as those small kids of 5 year old in an unknown place and unknown language, what could have become the circumstances that the teachers and the principal and other faculties will be facing when they return back to the school will be a mess, I cannot imagine that, as kids we don't think about all these situations and just like to play and have fun, I really appreciate my teacher of that time who found

    Band 6

    The time when I lost my way was in my childhood when I was around 8 or 9 years old. I still remember the day we went to a zoo with my family and we were, we were looking around the place. I was so amazed looking at all the animals and their babies, the way they were living over there and on the contrary, I was so breath taken by the entire scenario that I really wanted to touch one of those birds, one of the birds that I can't remember the bird yet but I was so amazed by that bird that I really wanted to go close to her and I requested my mother that I really want to touch the bird but she wouldn't allow me of course because the bird was dangerous. That was the reason she was in the cage and my mother wouldn't let me and I was so furious, so angry that I left my mother and I went the other way from my family where they were standing and I kept on going and after 20 to 30 minutes, I realized that I have gone far from my family and I have lost my way and I was so terrified, all of a sudden I completely shattered at one point. I took a corner, was crying, I felt so detached and all of a sudden, suddenly I saw my sister looking around for me, she was shouting my name, I ran to her and

    Band 6

    So, there is one time when I lost my way, so it happened when from Amritsar I was going to Bangalore and then I had to go to Mysore further. I went from Amritsar to Bangalore through plane, by plane and then after going from Bangalore to Mysore I had to take a bus, while I knew that I need to take this particular bus and that was the number 37. But to reach to the bus stand also from Bangalore airport, it was a journey of half an hour and I was not aware that which bus I have to take and which not. Then I preferred taxi over a bus to reach there, although the fare was much higher than what I could pay to the bus, but to reach earlier and in time to save my time, I took the taxi and I went there and at the bus stand I got to know that I still have to take one more bus to reach a particular bus stand that was the magistrate bus stand and from there I would take, I would get the bus that I want to take. And from there the particular bus stand, the magistrate bus stand was half an hour away. From there I took the bus and I had to ask many people out there that which bus will lead to that bus stand. It was a moment of nervousness and chaos as well because then I had to find out that which exactly bus goes, what is the time for that bus to go, that was a kind of loss case in my system. But then I got the bus, I asked the people around that which is the particular bus to go around and how much time it would take. The people around helped me a lot and I got my journey, I completed my journey.

    Band 6

    This is a very thoughtful question and I would like to answer by saying this happened when I was in grade 11 and 12, especially when it was a COVID-19 pandemic. I was in a really bad situation back then due to the fact that we were having online classes and no physical classes to attend. Due to this reason, there was a shift in the total mode of education and everybody were used to attending the classes online and it was completely fine to attend in any place possible. So, students usually attended in their own way possible and this happened with me as well. I used to attend to the classes sitting on the bed, sitting on sofa, lying down, relaxing, taking a nap and everything. This was the main reason why the problem arised in the first place and gradually without me even realizing it, I got addicted to a comfort zone which was the core reason of this happening. Due to this fact that I got addicted to the comfort zone, I was reluctant to learn new language, new skills, new information. My brain was addicted completely to the comfort, to relaxing, to refreshing and everything. It was reluctant to learn new skill. It was reluctant to get out of the lazy zone and I realized this was happening because I felt myself lacking the skill, lacking the curiosity I had earlier and the way I coped out of this was I pushed myself out of the comfort zone by doing uncomfortable things. I forced myself to do things that I felt really uncomfortable to do. I placed myself in situations. So, I came out of this gradually but yes.
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