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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 84 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
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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
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    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

    So, an old person that had an interesting life. I would like to describe about my grandmother. She is my father's mother. She lives with my father's brother at the moment. To me, she is like a superhero. Something impressive that she did was raising 5 children on her own. As my grandfather passed away at a young age, my grandmother raised 5 children by working on her own and doing her job perfectly as a single mother. Yet, after raising their own children, she continued her work by raising her grandchildren and yet perfectly. She always taught me that life is very optional. You can choose to live happily or you can choose to go down the road of the surface. But, you will always have the choice. So, choose wisely with whatever is coming your way and then you can live a good life. So, that really left an impact on me. Hence, my grandmother had a very interesting life in that sense.

    Band 6-7

    So the oldest person I know and am close to is my grandmother. I don't know how many people will find her story interesting, but for me, it's very special. So the person I am talking about is my mother's mother, that is my maternal grandmother. She lived in a very small village in Kerala, Trishul. And her life was like a very normal life, just like any other girls will have. While she was studying in her 10th standard, my grandfather married her, they got married, they moved to Singapore. She never knew English, but my grandfather was an English lecturer. And they had a college in Singapore. I don't know how she managed, but she did it so well. They had four kids, youngest as my mother, and they came back. But my grandfather died when my grandmother was maybe around 45. And after that, she was so alone. And she is the one who took care of us, everyone, like my granddaughters, grandsons, my grandkids actually.

    Band 6-7

    I'd say this person is my grandmother and I've known her for my whole life and she's my mom's mom. She lives nearby around a kilometer away or something and I'm very grateful for that fact because she's always there and then whenever I need to meet her I can just go by. I think there's been a lot of things in her life that has happened which has inspired me. She's the main reason why I'm always striving to study harder because she was not provided enough education during her time and then she always looks forward to telling me that I need to study and stand on my own legs to be independent and thriving. I feel like she is very important and she's very motivating. I really like her and I feel like without her I'd be very different and probably that would be a bad thing too but because of her I feel like I'm good today just because of her.

    Band 6-7

    so I am a therapist physiotherapist basically I and I have seen I have been seeing this old lady who comes to me she is a retired teacher now but when she was I mean when she was younger she stayed at a very posh area in Baikala and after her husband passed away she shifted here to Santa Cruz I wouldn't say she downgraded herself but then I think you have to just move on after life gives you a big shock anyways after after the talk we had the last time I remember she was very excited about the house she bought in Santa Cruz itself and she is just so excited about it I could say excited because the way she was animatedly talking about the house was just too exceptional I mean you're just so happy with her purchase and she has been I think this would be her first purchase after her husband passed away but she is just so happy about her purchase and so and what happened is she bought this studio apartment she told me and properties in Santa Cruz are just too expensive you should say but she is really very pleasant about it and I wish to have a life like that when I grow old or after I retire obviously I would prefer having my husband around but still I really envy her but I am really very very happy with whatever she's achieved in her life and I would say

    Band 6-7

    I am currently surrounded with a lot of geriatric population. Unfortunately, currently, I don't live with my parents. I don't live with my grandparents. But there are people whom I find very interesting. One person I find interesting is my mother's elder brother. He is an inspiration to me because he motivates me and tries to help me in every situation out there. What I like about him is he is very punctual. He is very passionate about his work. As well as he is always one who tries to inculcate good values in you. At the same time, he is into business of steel, metal as well as aluminium. He runs his business on his own. But in the start, he went through ups and downs and faced many obstacles. But after trying many attempts, he was in financial crisis as well.

    Band 6-7

    The old person which I know is my granny, in the sense, my grandmother. She lives in my hometown, Adilabad, which is located in India, and more precisely we can say it's in India, Telangana State. The reason which I most like about my grandmother is, she is the most successful business woman among all my family members, because from the very young age she started doing the business of supermarket. She has initially started with a single shop, eventually with her persistence, with her knowledge and with her ability to take decisions, which are very strong and very visionary, she started with a shop and she expanded a single shop into four different supermarket chains. By this we can say how successful my grandmother is. So, the quality which I like in my grandmother is her persistence towards her work, she never compromises in the work she does, and even though she is a successful business woman, she always has time for her children. Even due to her hectic schedules, she used to take care of her children, basically she has three children, a boy and two girls. Even though, irrespective of the circumstances, she always stood strong, she always fought back, and she always delivered the best for her children. She has done that to her grandchildren also, which means to myself. To me, she has done and she has contributed to me immensely in my life. I like my grandmother very much.

    Band 6-7

    An old person I know is my grandfather who is 70 years old right now. He has been carrying a lot of experience throughout his journey of life and I have learned a lot of values, qualities and numerous things to apply in my day-to-day life and grow ahead. Moreover, he is a very talented person. He knows a lot of terms and study related things related to finance and commerce. He has been teaching me a lot of good stuff about it. So he lives in a village named Kopargaon and works as a farmer.

    Band 6-7

    I don't have many old friends but one old person in particular is the old man who lives opposite my house. One day I got to talking to him and he told me the experiences in his life, he told me what he has studied, he told me where he worked and how he came to live here. I also found out a lot about his daily routine. So after he is done with his morning chores, he takes a walk around the neighborhood and he visits the local karate class which I think is because he was a martial arts instructor when he was younger. He spends an hour in the class, he observes the children, he talks to the instructor and then he continues on his walk. He goes to a local dog shelter, he really enjoys spending time with the puppies and feeding the dogs. He takes some time to rejuvenate in the dog shelter and next he goes to the supermarket and he buys the daily groceries, fruits and vegetables for his house. He then returns to his house and sits on his patio with a tall glass of lemonade and a storybook.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about my friend Aslan. During 2001, I had to shift to a main branch, which we call it. From there, I met Aslan. He was coming and talking to every staff with a smile most of the times. Initially, I thought he was a patient because he was in wheelchair. His upper limbs, his lower limbs were paralyzed. Later, I came to know that he was a management member and he was a shareholder of a rehab center. Then, I had a meeting with him. From that meeting, I got a chance to ask some questions to him. Then, I asked about how he became a part of rehab center. Then, he said that after becoming a paralyzed person, he decided to work for other patients like him. From that, I started to admire him.

    Band 6-7

    One of the most important personalities from my childhood was a seller of groundnuts. She would come to my place every day and sell groundnuts and my entire family would be very cheerful to get stuff from her because she was the sole breadwinner of her family. She was 79 years old and she had a grandchild to take care of. It was just the two of them and she was very particular about not taking donations and she would only do everything in a way that was hardworking. She was extremely hardworking at that and she stayed in an apartment which was very tiny with her grandchild and she motivated her grandchild to ensure that she is in the right direction and the grandchild ended up becoming a doctor in the future. The grandma not only set up as a good example for her family but as an example for her entire town. The things that she did even came and made it as a topic on the news and it was something that every one of us looked into. In fact, my brother and I were constantly told to take it as an example to ensure that you don't focus on the shortcomings but rather make advantage of what there is. And I would for sure connect whatever learnings that I had through her experience as a way which would proceed in my life. She was very motivating in the sense that even at the crisp of danger she would still keep a happy face even through the hardships and make sure that there is positivity around. That's something to look forward to.
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