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Describe an old person you know who has had an interesting life: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who is this person?
  • Where he/she lives?
  • What he/she has done in his/her life?
  • And explain how you feel about him/her.
Show all 76 answers

Cue 1:Who is this person?

  • Introduce the person by name and relationship to you.
  • Mention their age and a brief description of their personality.

Example

The person I want to talk about is my grandfather, Mr. Sharma. He is 85 years old and has a very warm and cheerful personality. He always has a smile on his face and loves to share stories from his past.

Cue 2:Where he/she lives?

  • Describe the location where this person lives.
  • Mention any interesting aspects of their living situation.

Example

He lives in a small village in Rajasthan, surrounded by beautiful fields and a close-knit community. His house is traditional, with a lovely garden where he grows vegetables and flowers.

Cue 3:What he/she has done in his/her life?

  • Highlight key achievements or experiences in their life.
  • Include any challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

Example

Throughout his life, my grandfather worked as a teacher and later became the headmaster of the local school. He faced many challenges, especially during tough economic times, but he always prioritized education and inspired many children to pursue their dreams.

Cue 4:And explain how you feel about him/her.

  • Share your personal feelings and admiration for this person.
  • Mention any lessons you have learned from them.

Example

I feel incredibly proud to have him as my grandfather. His resilience and dedication to education have taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance. I often seek his advice, and his stories motivate me to strive for my goals.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, my grandfather is not just an old person I know; he is a source of inspiration and wisdom in my life. His interesting life experiences and positive outlook have greatly influenced my values and aspirations.

    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 vague descriptions that do not provide specific information about the person. This can make your answer less engaging and informative.

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    Tip

    Include specific anecdotes or examples from the person's life to illustrate their interesting experiences.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Neglecting to address all the 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 systematically cover each cue in your response to create a well-rounded answer.

    Overly Complex Language

    Using complicated vocabulary or sentence structures can confuse the listener and detract from your message. Clarity is key.

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    Tip

    Use simple and clear language to express your thoughts, ensuring that your ideas are easily understood.

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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
    anonymous person icon

    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
    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
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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

    The person that I would like to speak about is my paternal grandfather. He unfortunately passed away a couple months back, but I truly look up to him and find his life very interesting. Not only would I describe his overall life experience as interesting, but I'd also say it's inspiring and admirable as well. He grew up in a middle class family, but his father had passed away while he and his siblings were at a very young age. He had to take up responsibilities at home and had to look after his younger siblings and his mother while he was still a child. He grew up, got a respectable government job and moved to another state with his very new wife and a small baby, which was my dad. Over there, he built a good life for his family and even had many additional activities and things outside of his government job as well. He also founded a school specifically for Malayali students, because we are Malayalis, in Ranchi, the city that he moved to, and even persevered all the odds that people there and other places threw at him.

    Band 6-7

    One such old and interesting person in my life was my grandmother. My grandmother was the person with whom I bought up and have spent a quality time with her. She used to live in our house and since childhood she used to take care of me and my little brother. As I was the eldest kid in my home, also I was an introvert, so I didn't used to mingle with anyone so easily. That's the reason I used to spend a lot of my time with my grandmother. She used to play with me, she used to feed me and I also used to sleep with her in the night. So the best thing which I used to like about her was the quality of life. The quality of life which they had since their childhood and in their youth was something which is really inspiring. They used to walk a mile when they were young. They also used to have organic food in their diet which is really inspiring and motivating. I think that was the reason why they were healthy and she did not catch any lifestyle disorders. Till she died she was healthy, she was walking without the help of anyone.

    Band 6-7

    In my opinion, the person... No, sorry. The old person who had an amazing, interesting life is, I think, my grandfather. He currently lives with me, with my sweet family. He has done so many things in his young days. He has tried 4-5 businesses. And he has seen many failures also. But at last, he has succeeded. He has also gone to so many places. He loves to travel a lot. To addition to that, he has a lovely wife who is my grandmother. They both have enjoyed their lives so much. I feel very motivated because of him. I also feel quite jealous of him, to be honest.

    Band 6-7

    Well, the old person that I know who have had an interesting life is A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Now, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the former Prime Minister of India before being the head of the Atomic Research Institute for India. Now, he was originally from Madras and he actually passed away back in 2010. Now, the thing that I really liked about his life was he was the man behind the rocket program for India. He was actually called the Rocket Man of India because of his development works in the field of rocket engineering. Now, as a result of his dedicated efforts, India has placed itself in the group of few countries who actually have their own rocket missile program. Now, apart from that, he was also a very simple being, a very down-to-earth person and that is an aspect which I really like about him and also admire about him.

    Band 6-7

    An old person who I know who has had an interesting life, I would say is my grandma. She grew up in a very large family with five siblings and her parents, but she lived with a joint family, so it was a huge one. Then she was one of those people who had very less resources, like she came from a background where she had minimum amount of resources and her school, her village had schooling up till 8th standard only, but then she moved to another village. She did pursue her higher studies and then she ended up being a teacher. So she has taught children since her 18th year till she was 59, 60, something like that and after that she has worked with many social groups to improve the social life of people, like she has created such an impact on society. She is part of Andhra Shraddha Nirmalan Samiti, which in English means she works against superstitious communities, like people who believe in superstitions. She is the person who is also part of the Marathi Sahitya Sambhelan, which is the Marathi reading and writing community, where they share books and their own work in terms of poetry and any form of literature, so she is very interesting in that term and she has been my constant support since I was a kid. I grew up around her, she has been staying with us since forever, as long as I remember. Right now she is 75 years old.

    Band 6-7

    15 years and she's quite, she's very interesting. She's a very interesting person. She tells the story of the Wachipta. The only person I know who had an interesting life is my maid named Aunt Jenny. She has a very interesting life because she's been working in my house as a maid for the past 15 years. Yet she's been living in a slum for her whole life. She's very attractive and a productive person as well. She comes up with very many ideas and she just makes things to be an overall perfect to be looking. She lives in the slum yet she has went to Dubai, Abu Dhabi for work. She worked there for the past two years and yet she came back and still lives in the same slum area. She tells about the stories of her life, the experience she has gained every time, the places she has visited, the people she has known. It just makes everything to be a wonder for me whenever I get to hear all those stories about her. She's a very good person as well.

    Band 6-7

    Well, there are a lot of old person I have met in my life, but I would like to talk about one of the old person I met during my travel to Manali via train. So there was an old man who I met and he was basically from Manali itself, while talking I got to know that he has served in the Indian army for a long period and he has won many wars against Pakistan and different countries. He talking about his life, he is full of discipline and believes in meditation, yoga and physical exercise which is inspiring for me because at this age he focus on fitness. So while speaking to him I got to know that he has also done some of the charities, have helped poor people to educate them and probably he is a kind of guy who kind of good heart people. He is a motivation for the youngsters because at this age too he is more into fitness and has special knowledge around the world. So I like that person because that motivates me to focus.

    Band 6-7

    I would really like to say that one person with a young soul would be Mr. Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, who got the freedom for India, our country, my country. I'm very proud of him for getting us the freedom, the freedom that can be seen these days in India. People are around roaming around just like they want, having the food they want and especially they have the food security and availability of nutritious food. These days clean food is a big motive to achieve by every person and Mahatma Gandhi has helped many people find their nutritious clean food and secured the food security well. I'm very proud of this old young soul, Mahatma Gandhi. He was one of the most known freedom fighters but I really think after reading his autographs some perspective might change, but he had lived in Delhi and he had introduced Indian clothing called Chak Charkha which was very interesting and got us the freedom that we needed. Thank you so much Mahatma Gandhi.

    Band 6-7

    I would say the person who has inspired me a lot is Mother Teresa, the way she has worked really hard for the betterment and to give a better life to leprotic patients was really inspiring. Her noteworthy contribution to the society and to young and infant children was something that shook me and inspired me to work for the betterment of the society. We as a part of educated and knowledgeable people of the society should take a stand and should decide to contribute for the betterment of the society. It's our moral duty and our responsibility to make the society a better person. I have always watched the work and I have always been inspired by the way she has dedicated her life for the betterment of the society which was a thing that very few people could take and work on. Likewise, the Marathi activist Dr. Prakash Baba Amde has also inspired me a lot who has worked for the growth and development of Adivasis, the tribal people in our state. He provided medical help to them and worked for the betterment of the people.

    Band 6-7

    One of the old person that I don't know but I admire a lot is A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He was the president of India and throughout his life he has done a lot of thing that has played an important role in making India a stronger country and I really get inspired from his life. He come from a very low middle class family. He wanted to pursue aeronautical engineering but he couldn't get into the college. Later on he prepared for NDA and he tried to get into the National Defence Academy. He was very passionate about being a pilot which later on after becoming the president he fulfilled his dream of flying an aircraft. He was also one of the founding members of ISRO. He is also known as the missile man of India. He has a major contribution in launching spacecraft into the orbit for India. He also helped in developing the initial phase of the nuclear test that India did. I really get inspired a lot from him. He always encourage people to learn and to dream big.
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