Describe an old tree that you have seen.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What tree is it & where?
How old is the tree? What is it used for?
What do you like about it?

36 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 36 answers

Cue 1:What tree is it & where?

Begin by identifying the type of tree and its location. Mention if it’s in a park, near your home, or at a historical site.
Provide some context about why you were there and what made you notice the tree.

Example

The old tree I want to describe is a magnificent Banyan tree located in the heart of my hometown, near the local temple. I often visit this place for peace and reflection, and the tree has always caught my attention with its sprawling branches and thick roots.

Cue 2:How old is the tree? What is it used for?

Estimate the age of the tree based on local knowledge or personal experience. You can also mention any historical significance.
Discuss what the tree is used for, whether it provides shade, is part of a local tradition, or serves as a habitat for wildlife.

Example

I believe this Banyan tree is over a hundred years old. It is not only a beautiful sight but also serves as a gathering spot for locals, especially during festivals when people come to seek blessings and enjoy the shade it provides.

Cue 3:What do you like about it?

Share your personal feelings about the tree. What emotions does it evoke in you?
Mention any specific features of the tree that you find particularly appealing, such as its size, shape, or the atmosphere it creates.

Example

What I love most about this tree is its grandeur and the sense of history it embodies. The way its branches stretch out creates a serene atmosphere, making it a perfect spot for meditation. I often sit under it to read or simply enjoy the tranquility it offers.

Conclusion

Summarize your thoughts about the tree and its importance in your life or community.
You can also reflect on the broader significance of trees in nature and their role in our environment.

Example

In conclusion, this old Banyan tree is not just a part of my hometown; it symbolizes the connection between nature and our community. It reminds me of the importance of preserving such natural wonders for future generations.

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 answer unclear. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about the tree, its location, or its characteristics.

Tip

Be specific about the tree's location, age, and unique features. Use descriptive language to paint a clear picture for the examiner.

2: Ignoring Personal Connection

Failing to express your personal feelings or experiences related to the tree can make your answer less engaging. Personal connections add depth to your response.

Tip

Share a personal story or memory associated with the tree. Explain why it is meaningful to you and what you appreciate about it.

Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. Avoid jumping between points without a clear structure, as it can make your answer hard to follow.

Tip

Organize your answer by addressing each cue in order. Start with the tree's location, then its age and use, and finally your personal feelings about it.

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

I reside in Bangalore and Bangalore has a very famous botanical garden known as the Lal Bagh Botanical Garden. It has four entrance namely North, South, East and West. If you take the north side entrance and walk up to around about 500 meters you would find a place to rest. There's a huge banyan tree and there's a short description about this particular tree just below it. If my memory serves me right this tree is about 150 years old. It is quite impressive that it's so old and just worn out but it just supports, it provides shade to people although it is just worn out. There another thing that I found quite fascinating that it is so widely spread. It might be about 50 meters and it provides shade to so many people. So people whoever comes to jaw could just lay down under the tree to just look above and enjoy the serene beauty of the nature. Moreover I would love to add that I used to spend my entire childhood to climb in it's one of its arms and just swing around. I just had a very memorable moment with the tree. It felt like he was my best friend. I could just sit down and talk

Band 5-6

India is a diverse country there are a plethora of trees which are available and also planting in my area now here I would like to talk about that old tree which I have seen recently now recently my friend and I went to the Shimla at that time I faced lot of tree which are planted around the Shimla but after that my friend and I reached our destination point and after that we made a plan to go to advanced study moreover here we see a plethora of old tree like mango but apple one of the most famous tree which is apple is the famous tree in the Shimla and every individual bought apple because and I see this tree and they also just like all tree but the trees gave several fruit leaves and the structure of the apple is only odd but all the things are very well and good design according to this scenario more of moreover my friend and I also enjoy little doing little bit things with that old tree as well as I felt over the moon to watch this old tree because this tree is also related to our fruit and they and also also added in several disease making medicine like

Band 5-6

Firstly, I am the person who is not very enthusiastic about trees. But yeah, I am a little bit fascinating about mango trees. So today I am going to give a small story when I was very small, very younger. At that time I used to play cricket in my backyard. So basically when I was very younger, like you can say my age was approximately 14-15 years, at that time we used to have a mango tree near my backyard. So me and my 4-5 friends, we enjoyed eating mango during summer season. And the main thing was, it was a very huge tree and very old tree. I generally don't know the age of the tree, but yeah, in my neighbor there was an aunt, so she has informed me that her granny has inserted the tree. So you can say, it was approximately more than 70-80 years and now it is very good and it's giving a properly very...

Band 5-6

so today I want to talking about a tree a tree is a very old tree that we call mango tree it's a very huge tree and it's very near to the river so since in my childhood time we go there and we play there with the mango tree we eat some mango and we always hanging up with my friends there always climb the tree and we we took some mangoes and we eat it that I really I really want to I really want to say about that tree because since in my childhood and presently I mean a 40 year old so I'm looking that tree since in my childhood I heard from my grandmother she's saying that the tree that mango tree is I think older than 100 years and that's the reason I really love to go because I always remember whenever I go there I always remember my childhood time and then in presently now I go there and then I'm sitting under the tree I'm taking some fresh air from there sometime I'm taking some mango and then I eat I bring it in my home and then I eat it that in a home and then I just remember my and so the tree makes me always happy because I always feel that I am still in my childhood and I'm still feeling the same feeling the one I have in my childhood so yeah I really love that mango tree thank you

Band 5-6

There is an old tree and it is actually a neem tree. It was since from my childhood actually. And it is used for many reasons in the Ayurvedic ways. And my grandmother and my late grandmother, everyone used this tree for when they are having chicken pox or some other diseases to cure it. Because neem tree helps as an antioxidant. It helps to reduce pimples and it helps to reduce dandruff which is in your head. And the serum which comes from that neem tree, from the neem leaves, it helps to reduce so many diseases that occur. And it gives us so much share to our home and it is in the front of my house so it helps in so many ways. And it is a very big one and which is in our neighborhood and which is very important to us because that tree helps us in every useful way. And it is a very beautiful one and there are some fruits in it and every bird come and places their nets there. And it is useful for them also, for the birds also. And it gives shade for our, it acts like a shade for our vehicles. And the shadows falls on our home because of this, it helps us from the sun. And this, oh my god, sorry.

Band 5-6

yeah good morning so myself Shivraj yeah I will go to 10 years back about myself okay when I was 10 years old near to my home there is a tree called name so it is a very sentiment tree for me when I was in six years old like I and my friends we used to go there it is actually near to my home okay name tree and it is my favorite tree as well we used to go and play their hide-and-seek games okay like my friends used to get all day on Sunday and usually you and I too used to get holiday on Sunday so at the time like we used to go there and make some fun out of it tree and actually the tree will good and it used to give lot of benefits from that tree means it used to protect like from the natural disasters like heavy rain fall on over the our home it will protect and also some sunlight during sometimes so actually this tree helped us a lot okay so when usually in the some occasional times when we used to go to there with family gatherings at the time this tree helped us a lot what I think about this tree in my future is like it has to be good we have to grow a lot and lot such trees and near to every home okay which will benefit for each and every person and this tree is really nice and we have to

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