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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.
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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    Tip

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

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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
    anonymous person icon

    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
    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

    I recently got a chance to participate in a white water rafting event held in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. This was a two day event where all the participants were given a chance to perform river rafting in the river Ganges. I really loved on how enthusiastic I was throughout the two day event where I met a lot of different folks of the same mindset. The overall event included 21 km rafting in the white waters. Post that we were taken to a cliff jump which was equally interesting but my preference were more towards the white water rafting. The reason being I loved the overall experience was the adrenaline that I had while going into the white water rafting event since it's an adventure sport so this definitely triggers good hormones in me. On the other hand how it has changed me in different aspect of life is that it has showed me on how to be courageous and how to be brave under pressure situations since you would face them throughout your life.

    Band 6-7

    An unforgettable experience that I had recently is when I went to a therapist in my college and I told my therapist that I have difficulty in studying my books and subjects and without even listening to me she said that I am too lazy to do anything. I was so frustrated and sad by her response. It was so embarrassing that I went to her for advice and I feel guilty that I don't do anything. She made me feel like I am really lazy.

    Band 6-7

    Life teaches us lessons through different experiences, good or bad. Every experience help us grow, build confidence or even change the way we look at life. They stay with us forever. I would like to share an experience where we planned a southern trip to Mahabaleshwar. My family and our extended family members like maternal aunts and uncles with their kids planned a southern trip to Mahabaleshwar where we climbed the mountain and saw the beauty of the nature which was breathtaking. The chill and peace atmosphere at the top of the hill made us know how the nature can change our mood and make us feel. It was delightful. We took some snacks with us which we enjoyed at the top of the hill. There we sat and had some cup noodles which were really amazing. We also took lot of pictures and made the day memorable by having so much fun, clicking photos together, teasing each other, being back of each other, always saying that we will cherish such moments. We loved being with each other and that was really memorable. Our parents were very happy with such southern trip and we cherished all the moments.

    Band 6-7

    This unforgettable experience that I had dates back to February 2024 when I got the opportunity to work in Hamburg, Germany as a Silicon Validation Engineer. Why it was memorable is because it was a hard decision which I took, leaving my family behind in India going to Europe was a next level decision which I need to take, but I would say it has really helped me to improve both technically and also on a personal level. Like I was just thrown into a new country where I was all alone, I need to manage everything, I got the city registration done, opened my bank accounts, linked to the company and I got salary through it. So it didn't only make me courageous, it also helped me to adapt to new environments easily.

    Band 6-7

    An unforgettable experience that I had is I recently travelled to Europe and I travelled to many countries. One of the countries that really stood out for me was Switzerland. We stayed there for two to three days and we basically travelled to two major cities, Luzern and Zurich. Luzern was my favourite amongst the two and when I travelled to Luzern I saw some of the scenic beauties, beautiful mountains and that was covered with greenery, less pollution, less crowded place. And we went to this particular place in Luzern, I am not able to recall the name, but it was so beautiful that for sometime I just forget my all tensions and all the pressures I have in my life and for that very moment I think that whatever is wrong, whatever wrong is happening to me is gonna be okay. So, the nature had that kind of effect on me and in that really moment I understood that when you go to some place that is peaceful, that will also bring peace to you, to your inner soul and I think more than the physical relaxation, it really affected my mental sanity and in the best way possible. I really want to go there, I really wish to go there.

    Band 6-7

    My Dubai experience was a very memorable experience which I ever had because of its international trip when I was given by my company because of I have been hired for an international domain at the international location. This happened on 2024 on 16th of April. That trip was very memorable for me and I learnt a lot from that trip. I got the opportunity to interact with many peoples and I love to being with them and I love to explore with them and I learnt a lot. That was my first international trip I have been there.

    Band 6-7

    So, I vividly remember it was during my college day, so we had a camp, so usually during the college days, we, they take us to the excursion, so during one excursion, I had a very good memorable day, so it, so it was in Mysore, they took us to a camp which was scheduled for 10 days, so we were taken in a school bus, I mean the bus which was used for travelling purpose and then we reached there and the main thing that made this camp memorable is the, during night, where we, the group of 5 people sneaked out of the camp and we went out for a night walk, so this walk made me over the moon, I was extremely happy and this was during the camp which we made this memory and the memory was shared with my friends because they are the one who accompanied me during this memorable event that we created during a camp that was, like that was planned very unexpectedly, however, it was a mixed feeling where we was a bit nervous in the beginning, but then we all became more bold and strong after we sneaked out of the camp and then we went out and came back safely to the place without any issues that have been created by us.

    Band 6-7

    As I am a girl, I had so many unforgettable experiences in my life, but the most unforgettable and what I remember is when I am 18 years old, I am alone at my home and there is no one at home and I am sleeping in my room around 11 p.m. and there is an unknown voice coming from another room that is literally horrible and I was very scared at that time, then instantly I called my parents and tell the incident which has happened and one of the neighbors came to help me and then he get into the room and check what was that voice and then we just see that a cat is stuck under the bed and we just rescue that cat and this was the most horrible and memorable experience for me and I never forget him because it is so horrible and scary.

    Band 6-7

    Well, I think everyone have some unforgettable experiences in their life. Here in this talk, I would like to talk about a time when I went to Chandigarh. Actually before a month ago, I planned a trip with my friends to go to Chandigarh to explore the city in a well manner. Moreover, we all friends visit there different places such as Sukhna Lake, Elante Mall, Rose Garden, Rogue Garden and so many. But the one experience that I can never forget is the scenery view in the evening of Sukhna Lake. We actually visit the Sukhna Lake around 6 p.m. in the evening and we were there and around 7 o'clock, the sun started to set as we all friends saw that in the sky that there were vibrant colors like pink and orange which enhance the beauty and also there was a lot of people who were doing boating and children were playing and vendors selling their products there. It was a magic, I believe that. Apart from it, I also explored the Rogue Garden which is made out of waste material. If I talk about the Rose Garden, there were about 50,000 plus species of roses. After that, I felt rejuvenated because it was a wonderful place to explore and it was the first time. All in all, I feel over the moon or I feel head over heels whenever I remember that experience.

    Band 6-7

    Well, the most unforgettable experience I had was my trekking trip to Dharamshala. So, I went on a trekking trip to Dharamshala with my best friend, Jiya. We have been best friends since we were little kids, since nursery. We were shocked that our parents allowed, we were surprised that our parents allowed, that our parents gave us permission to go on a trekking trip, that too to another state altogether. So, in this trekking trip, our whole group went. But the most favorite, my most favorite part was me spending time with my best friend. We started our, it was a 7-day trip. We enjoyed to the fullest. We went on trekking trips. So, there was one incident where we went for a trek and while coming back, we were coming back through a pine forest. Now, usually the pine, the brine twigs are very slippery. So, both of us kept on slipping and there was a time when we gave up and we were like we don't want to do this trek anymore. But since both of us were together, we encouraged each other and then we just went sliding down that slope of the hill. It was the most enjoyable part of the trip. The best thing that I learned from this experience was to have fun in all those little moments that we get and to be just grateful for the time we spend with our loved ones.
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