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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

    During my childhood time, there was an incident that took place. We were going out on a family trip. It was a family event which was held in a park. It was a huge park. Generally often these kind of meetings happen. At that time I was a child, maybe somewhere in between age of 9 to 10 years. In that picnic, what happened is, the family gathering is happening in a certain place. While I was playing and all, I got myself diverted to another site. It was a huge park, maybe somewhere close to 2-3 acres, I think so. There are several meetings happening at that place. I completely lost my way. I thought I can find back my way. Unfortunately, I couldn't. During that time, I got panicked too much as I was scared of not finding my parents. Also, I was very small at that time. After almost like half an hour or one hour, my family kept searching for me. As I was an active kid, I found some uncle. I told him that I have lost my parents. There was a meeting going on. He told, can you just say me your parents' name and all, so that I can just call them. I just said my parents' name.

    Band 6

    I think it's been a long time since I've lost in an occasion. I think it's been about 5 to 6 years. I've been studying in 5th or 6th standard, I'm not sure. But I was lost in a marriage hall and I was searching for my mother for past 15 minutes. And I couldn't find her because it was too crowded. And I went to the dining hall and I couldn't find her. And somehow I went to the mandap stage and I was so confused because people didn't know me. And I was very frustrated and very tensed. But somehow my mother found me so I went to take a little bit gulab jamun and I de-stressed myself. So finally I was with my cousins and I relieved a lot and we started playing again and talking. So I forgot about the incident as it was such a long time ago.

    Band 6

    okay an occasion when I lost my way is it was in Bangalore when I was staying with my cousin we went outside at night 12 a.m. or something and we went through a path it's very dark and there is no street lights but my cousin told like here she knows the way and follow me and we all her friends over there we followed through the dark area the place was like a haunted place but we walk more than one kilometer and we we heard something sounds nearby so and we were scared and we went straight but the but the path was a dead end and we don't know where where to escape and we went back and saw a road then we walked through there and we ran from there and we went to that hostel it was a it it was somehow a lost thing and this was my experience

    Band 6

    In 2023, after COVID ended, a group of 10 friends from our college, we had been on a trip to Rajasthan. During this occasion, we were in Udaipur. Two of us decided to have our dinner somewhere else and the rest of the people went to a different part of the city to have dinner. We were supposed to meet at Fatehpur Sagar Lake after we had done with our dinner. When we arrived at Fatehpur Sagar Lake, we found no vehicles around because it was a restrictive zone at that time as it had already crossed 11pm and we were not aware of it. So, we walked around the lake. We were trying to find our friends. We had lost our way but it was a full moon and the rays of the moon were shimmering the water and the lake. It was beautiful. Even though we were lost, we just wanted to be there. The breeze was cool. It was the month of December and one of my most favourite memories of all time. I wish I could go back to that time again.

    Band 6

    Apparently, I had visited a club with my close friends and in the club we were enjoying and having a good time, having drinks and a couple of finger licking food. Later on, when we exited the club, as I was quite high because we were having alcohol in the party, because I was new at the place which was in Abu Dhabi, I did not know the exact location of the club and accidentally I got separated from my friends and I lost the way. I found myself somewhere between the roads where I did not really recognize anything around. I tried to contact my friends as I could not find a way to guess which way should I take. I tried to walk around and look around for a way to get myself out from the place. All around the place there was only darkness, perhaps there was no street lights as well that made it more difficult for me to guess the place and to guess the way out of the place where I had been. Luckily, after roaming around and searching for the way out of the place, I had seen

    Band 6

    I once wanted to go for shopping with my mom to Charminar which is in Hyderabad. I used map to navigate through the route till the way I remembered I was going easily and but when we reached the Siri Bur bridge I lost my way because my mom doesn't know how to see the map in the Google Maps and tell me the directions. So I was completely lost it where I was in middle of the traffic and thinking how to get over there. Later I just seeing the map on each and every lane and finally we got through that phase where I first took a wrong turn and got into some other lane which we should not and which was a one way but later again I need to check the directions and find the route proper ways and identified some landmarks and accordingly taking the help from the people who are on the roads and finally reached the destination. After that I have learned that knowing the places is much important but it was very helpful with the Google Maps in initials but the person who is navigating, who is using it and telling you the directions should also know how to use the technology as well but it's something

    Band 6

    Recently I had visited the Jai Mahal Palace for in order to attend the Navratri night. Due to the large crowd I lost track of where my friends were and this frightened me because I was supposed to head with my friends to have a sleepover. Amidst so many people it was very hard to find my way back to them. Even though I tried reaching out to them via calls and messages, there was absolutely no network in that place. So I had to use Google Maps in order to get to my friend's place and this again misled me and took me on the longer route and then finally one of my friends decided to call me back and then when finally my friends decided to call me back

    Band 6

    I usually don't forget the road, but here I would like to talk about one particular occasion, that time me and my friends were lost a road. In last year me and my friends went for the one trip, we went to the Manali and in the mid of the road we forgot one turn and we went to the another road. We don't know the particular route and don't know that road. So, me and my friends drive there straightly and at one time we saw a jungle and it's scary and at that time rain coming and wind also coming. We feel like very scary and the weather and place was very horror. At that time one person coming and we spoke with him and he navigate us and we going to the...

    Band 6

    I lost my way on the occasion of Poleramma Jatara at Vengadagiri. Back then, when I was a kid, I think I am 5 years old. During the time, my mom and my family went to a temple. They were close to the God, like they were close to the monument or statue of God. That time, I went to buy some toys. They attracted my eyes. I went there to buy those things. In that way, I lost my way. At that time, I felt alone. I don't know what to do. I was in a blank way. That time, I complained to my police officer who was taking charge there. By complaining to him, my parents were missing. Please take care of my parents. Then, the police officer announced my missing in a mic. They found my parents. My parents came to me. In that way, I met my parents. I lost my way. This is what happened in that situation. This is the last thing that I want to say.

    Band 6

    The maps, GPS and the latest advancement in the technology have made it quite convenient for people to travel across different regions of the world. Earlier times, it was not very convenient because they had to make use of a physical map and it was necessary to ask the local people around. So it was not quite convenient but these days with the advancement in technology, this has been a very easy task and it is quite feasible for everyone to use. But however, I would like to recollect one of the incidents which I faced nearly about 5-6 months ago when I had been to Rajasthan. I was going to a new place which was being recently started that was Chowki Dhani in Jaipur. It was a very huge place and which was known for its culture and tradition and also known as the Mini Rajasthan. It was newly opened so I believe the map was not aware of the exact location. Along with that, it was situated quite far and on the outskirts of the city. So it was quite difficult for me to get over there and the map completely took me on a wrong path and I was lost and there were no shops and nothing. It was quite horrifying experience for me because on top of it, the driver was not aware of this place as I mentioned that it was newly opened. So people were not aware of this place. I had found it through Instagram reel. So it was very much terrifying experience because there was no one. I tried to remain calm. I was with my mother and my father. Along with that, I tried to ask people but they were not aware but finally by asking some of the other people and using some direction, I made a way out of there and then
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