Describe an unforgettable experience that you had: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What the experience was?
When and where it happened?
What made it memorable?
And explain how it changed you.

117 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 117 answers

Cue 1:What the experience was?

Begin by clearly stating the unforgettable experience you had.
Make sure to include specific details that highlight why this experience stands out to you.

Example

One unforgettable experience I had was when I went on a solo trip to the beautiful hill station of Manali in Himachal Pradesh. It was my first time traveling alone, and I was both excited and nervous.

Cue 2:When and where it happened?

Provide the time frame of your experience, including the month and year.
Describe the location in a way that helps the listener visualize it.

Example

This trip took place in June 2022, during the summer holidays. Manali is a stunning place surrounded by snow-capped mountains and lush green valleys, which made it the perfect getaway from the heat of the plains.

Cue 3:What made it memorable?

Share specific moments or events that made this experience special.
Explain your feelings during these moments to convey the significance of the experience.

Example

What made this trip memorable was the sense of freedom I felt while exploring the local culture, trying adventure sports like paragliding, and meeting new friends from different parts of India. One evening, I sat by the river, watching the sunset, and I felt a deep sense of peace and happiness.

Cue 4:And explain how it changed you.

Reflect on the personal growth or insights you gained from this experience.
Discuss how this experience has influenced your perspective or future decisions.

Example

This experience changed me by boosting my confidence and independence. I learned that stepping out of my comfort zone can lead to wonderful experiences. It inspired me to travel more and embrace new challenges in life.

Conclusion

Example

In conclusion, my solo trip to Manali was not just a vacation; it was a transformative experience that taught me valuable life lessons and helped me grow as a person. I will always cherish the memories I made during that trip.

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 less engaging and informative. It's important to provide specific details about your experience to capture the listener's interest.

Tip

Include specific names, places, and emotions to create a vivid picture of your unforgettable experience.

2: Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. It's essential to follow a clear structure to ensure your answer flows logically and covers all cues.

Tip

Use the provided cues as a guide to structure your answer: start with the experience, then the time and place, followed by what made it memorable, and finally how it changed you.

Overly Short Answers

Providing overly brief answers can make it seem like you have nothing to say. This can lead to a lower score as it may not demonstrate your speaking ability.

Tip

Expand on each cue with detailed explanations and personal reflections to showcase your language skills and depth of thought.

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

Yeah, I think the most memorable thing was a trip to Wunderla with my school friends. It was quite memorable due to it being the last trip we had at the end of our 10th grade. It was quite an experience playing and enjoying around the park, water park actually, yeah. It's quite good when you feel it's the moment of time when you are alone with your friends and you'll never meet in the future. You may think it's quite good, but I do love the time I spend with my friends. I have changed a lot by that experience. I think it's a water park, cum dry park. It has both the sides, yeah. I played with my friends, mainly my best friend called Srinivas and other Kashyap. We played a lot in the water park and teased my other friends and went on a rampage throughout the week where we have spent in the Wunderla.

Band 5-6

Life teaches you a lot of experiences. Some are forgettable and some are, mostly some are forgettable. We don't even think about them or we just forget about them. But some are really unforgettable as today I'm going to talk about one unforgettable experience I had in my life which was in the last year as I was riding the bike and then I got a phone call from my friend. I was normally, do not pick his call, but on that day I picked his call up and he was in an accident. He told me to get there quickly and I got there very, as soon as possible and after getting there I helped him and to the hospital, I rushed him to the hospital. Then doctor told me everything about him and what can be, if there is something serious or not. I got to, I was very overwhelmed and I was about to cry, but his father was there. Then he got good in some time. Then he told me about how he got that accident. I was very, I was very sad after hearing that. As he said, he told me that he was bleeding and a truck came in front of him and then he got an accident. After that, I was like, I also did a lot. Then that experience made me speed, go slower to the traffic and which helped and if someone drives faster, I told him about her too, so as well. That was it for my interview.

Band 5-6

Well, I believe everyone have their own unforgettable experience and memory in their life. Once in their life, at least once in their life. I believe everyone have unforgettable experience and memory in their life. Well, I believe everyone have their own unforgettable experience and memory in their life. Well, I believe everyone have their own unforgettable experience and memory in their life. Well, I believe everyone have their own unforgettable experience and memory in their life. Well, I believe everyone have their own unforgettable experience and memory in their life. Even I had, sorry even I have. Actually, it was during my college days. Once after we completed our final examination, our college group, there was a group, our colleagues were planned to go to a trip to Goa. And we met with an accident on the way. It was an unforgettable experience for me, I would say. Because initially we were just, what to say, so excited by planning the entire trip. Because for me it was my first trip outside my state. I never travelled outside Kerala. So it was my first trip to visit a place outside Kerala. But unfortunately our bus just met with an accident at the border, at Kerala-Karnataka border. And what it was quite, especially it was, we all were safe even after that accident. But on that day I recognised one thing that during that, on the day of that accident, we see many people to help us to get out from their bus and all. But on that day I just observed that none of any people just helped us. So I realised that.

Band 5-6

There are many unforgettable experiences in my life. Here I would like to talk about the most unforgettable experience that was happened in the last December. It was on Friday, my friend's friend's birthday and actually he celebrates birthday on evenings. So, I think he is going to celebrate it in the evening by 7 p.m. We are childhood friends and we are neighbors in the childhood. So, I plan to go by 7 p.m. He already sent me a e-invitation card through mail. I just checked the card roughly and I plan to go by evening. But at 1 p.m. I got a call from him. Is there everything is ok? Then I told, everything is ok. Why? Then he told, why you are not coming for the party? Actually the party was at 12 p.m. It was mentioned in the e-card but I did not check that. However, I suddenly get ready and went to the party. From that time I started to check emails and the timing of the parties two times. Moreover, it became a bad experience for me, late for the party. I am a punctual person. I am not allowed to allow anyone to wait for me.

Band 5-6

Are you hearing me? Okay. The unforgettable experience that I had is that when I met a boy who become my boyfriend. So I met him on 17th of December 2024. There was very majestic movement for me because when I saw him my stomach is full of butterflies and everything is magical. I was very nervous at that time especially when he start talking to me. I am speechless. I am not in my senses. I don't know what to say, how to say and what to do. We just walk together. Just he was saying something and I was listening and there was so awesome that I can't forget that day and that was so special for me. That boy helps me a lot, supports me a lot and care and love me a lot. Half and just that's it.

Band 5-6

The most unforgettable experience that I had was last year when me and my sister went to my uncle's house on scooty and when we were going the road was so dusty and slippery and we felt from scooty and that was a memorable moment as I was not in the way I was, we felt we feel very bad and when I was when I called my mom my mom was so much angry on me she slapped me when I came home and my sister she felt tired and she laid there only and I was unable to drive scooty from that time. My parents not allow me now scooty to drive on the roads and but my most beautiful hobby is to drive scooty so after 12th I will start learning scooty drives as my hobby is driving so that was the most memorable moment till today my parents say and laugh on me on that unforgettable experience that I had once time.

Band <5

you you you you you

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