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?

39 unique answers with expert feedback

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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.

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.

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.

Tip

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

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

Something about the occasion, last year all our society members are managing the event to celebrate Holi on the party plot because the water shortage in our area. So on that day I go to the party plot but I lost my way on the road. So I feel exhausted and very sad when I was stuck on that road because I don't know which way I can go to the party plot. And my mobile network has also been finished so I cannot help with that so I think that was the problem I faced on the occasion. But some local people helped me to find the party plot so I think then I reached the party plot.

Band 6

When I was 10 years old, me, my father and my mom were on the track to explore the exhibition that was happening at our hometown, Satur. So exhibition was really very big and I couldn't imagine how big it was and I couldn't say how big it was. While we were riding games and playing adventurous rides, my father and my mom usually fight over small issues. At that time, they were arguing with something that I really don't know, but the argument got bigger and bigger and they fought with each other. This made them to move separately to move others on the opposite direction and in the between of the argument, they just forget me and they just left me at the exhibition. I really don't know whether they have searched for me or not, but I was crying all the way walking to people asking about my parents, have you ever seen my parents or something. So how did I just cope up with the situation, like I just ran over to a police officer and explained about my situation and he just kept the ball rolling to get my parents to give.

Band 5-6

So let me introduce myself and my occupation , my name is Aqeel Ahmed , I am from Nohom but currently I live in Gurgaon sector 14 , I have 2.3 years of experience as a network engineer in syndrome technologies and if I talk about my roles and responsibilities , we are mainly focused on L1 and L2 issues and we work on troubleshooting network issues and connectivity of devices and IP addressing also along with configuration of router and switches and I have good knowledge of networking tools like TCP , IP , OSPF , IJP , BGP and switching tools like VLAN , VTP , HTTP , Etherchannel and Pranking tools also and we work on tools like PuTTY , Wireshark and ServiceNow like TicTing tool like ServiceNow and we are mainly focused on maintain the health of the network and escalate the ticket while needed and we are work on tools like tickets , if there any ticket occurs on the priority basis then we have to troubleshoot that issue on the priority level like if the ticket priority is 1 then issue can be critical then we have to check that issue can be the router or switches or whole site can be down and apart from that on L2 priority ticket if the whole branch is down then we have to resolve that ticket within 3 or 4 hours and in the first we check tickets and on the priority basis we call our engineers and check that ports and router and switches physically if there is no issue found then we have to check from layer 2 like we ping that IP and apart from that we check RTABLE and MACTABLE also if the issue is not found on that layer 2 then we check on layer 3 like IP address

Band 5-6

In my school days, me and my family went to a trip to Tirupati which is located in south part of India and the state it belongs to is Andhra Pradesh. We went to Tirupati. Tirupati is only for the people. Tirupati is where the Lord Venkateshwar Swami was there and most of the people like to go there and spend time with the God as much as possible because for the darshan time it takes nearly 12 hours. So when we are in the line of darshan, me and my family, I just spotted right at the end of the line. During the festival of Dasara, the people of Telangana celebrate it as one of the biggest festival in India. We fire crackers as a significance of killing Ravana. During this occasion, lots of people will gather at one ground called Velapati ground where the political parties and leaders will come and organize this event. Many of the MLAs and MPs will gather and give their speeches for the occasion to start. So I went with my family and during that time I lost in that crowd and I went somewhere backward and my parents had searched me a lot. So I thought the good way is to get them is to announce in the mic. So I tried to find the police guy who can help me. So I went near to that help center and I asked them. I lost my parents so they helped me by announcing it. My parents came within 5 to 10 minutes and I got my way back. In those 5 to 10 minutes I felt very nervous and I don't know how to think and how to analyze the situation but even though in the nervous situation I caught an idea and went straight back to the police and he helped me a lot. Here by this I understood how to navigate with the people and how to become more brainly during the time of nervousness and how to handle the situation by being nervous.

Band 5-6

In the year of 2015, which is in 12th standard, I have been lost the way of coming home from a certain place. I have been lost the way of coming home from a certain place. I have been lost the way of coming home from a certain place. I have been lost the way of coming home from a certain place. I have been lost the way of coming home from a certain place. On 2016, I went with my family to a place called Tirupati for a temple which is located at Andhra Pradesh. When we went inside the temple, there is a rush where I have been lost and I followed the people who are elders to me. They showed me the way where they can contract to my parents or where I can wait for my parents to come and pick me up. It is a wonderful experience for me because I never lost anything from my parents. It is a wonderful experience for me because I never lost anything from my parents. It is a wonderful experience for me because I never lost anything from my parents. It is a wonderful experience for me because I never lost anything from my parents. It is a wonderful experience for me because I never lost anything from my parents. On 2016, I went with my family to a place called Tirupati for a temple which is located at Andhra Pradesh. On 2016, I went with my family to a place called Tirupati for a temple which is located at Andhra Pradesh. I was very anxious to find my parents. It felt like I lost my parents and I cannot find them. I was very anxious to find my parents. It felt like I lost my parents and I cannot find them. When I gathered my courage and asked the elder people, I lost track of my parents and how to find them. When I gathered my courage and asked the elder people, I lost track of my parents and how to find them. When I gathered my courage and asked the elder people, I lost track of my parents and how to find them. When I gathered my courage and asked the elder people, I lost track of my parents and how to find them. It took me some time to wait for my parents to come. After they came, I feel very happy as I reunited with my parents.

Band 5-6

Okay, so this incident happened when I was in my 9th standard, I was going back to my home after the dance class and I didn't have my personal phone then, so whatever I had at that time was there, I used to have a handbag with a bottle of water and then the correct amount of money that I required to board that bus to reach my home. I had to board only one bus to reach my home from my grandparent's house, my dance class was near to my grandparent's house, so I always visit my grandparent's house before going to the dance class, after the dance class I go there, I get freshened up and then I come back to my home, that is what usually happens on every weekend and my grandfather used to always accompany me to the bus stop and then he always make sure that I boarded the right bus and then he will call my mother because he has this calculation in his mind that if I board the bus at this time, I will reach my home approximately at this time, so he will call my mother and confirm if I have reached my home, this is what usually happens but on that particular day, that bus which I usually board to go to my house was not going to my place, the last stop was somewhere before that, so after boarding the bus when I was taking the ticket then only I came to know that this bus was not going to my place where I really want to go and I told him that I didn't know about this because if that I boarded this bus, if I knew this already I would have boarded another bus and the bus conductor was like we are very sorry because he knew me, because he know that I board this bus on every weekend, he was like sorry we forgot to inform you that before you do one thing you can get down at this particular bus stop and then you can contact your parents or grandparents whoever it is and then you can board the next bus or you can board the other bus and he gave me back the money that I gave to him and I got down

Band 5-6

So, I lost my way for that, I can tell you an experience in my life, which was, it was first day of my internship. I don't have my own vehicle, so I was going to commute with a public transport there. So, I opt for public transport, sorry, opt for public bus transport and I googled on Google Maps, they said take this number bus, which was 276, get on that bus and you will get to your destination. And after that, I took the correct bus number, I asked the conductor, give me the ticket, he said, he gave me the ticket and I told him to tell me when the stop comes. He was like, yes, surely. And then, he forgot to tell me the stop. I genuinely, I genuinely forget when I have to get off the bus and I was listening to music. So, all over, I came for two to three stops forward, which was very, very difficult for me to come back again and then I get off on the third stop and I asked conductor, now what should I do? He said, cross the road, go on the other side and get back on the same bus, same number bus and you will get to your destination. I was like, okay. I got off on the third stop, I started to go there, go there, went there, crossed the road and went there, but bus didn't came. So eventually, I had to book a cab and go to my office, which was a waste of extra money. So, in total, I get to know, I learned a lesson of knowing your, knowing the directions and where you have to go beforehand only, instead of asking any or instead of relying on any other person for directions or for going or forgetting to know the Google Maps. Thank you.

Band <5

you you you you you

Band 6.5

One occasion when I lost my way was when I was returning from college. I remember it was a scorching summer on that day. It was a time when I had to return from college early. I always travelled by bus and the bus usually dropped me at the location. As I had to return early, I used metro. My drop location was Chadar Ghat. It had two ways to get down. And to my bad, I went on the wrong side. Then I was totally drenched in sweat. I found it really difficult to find the way to my location. I was an introvert person so I couldn't even ask any person around me to say where the hotel Savera exists. I started running here and there but had no clue where exact my place was. I tried in another way finding in maps about Hotel Savera but truly I could not understand anything. Finally I called my brother and he said that you say me the pillar number and I will come over there. At that time I felt relieved.

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