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Describe something you received for free.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What was it?
  • When and from whom did you receive it?
  • How did you feel?
Show all 142 answers

Cue 1:What was it?

  • Begin by clearly stating what the item or service was that you received for free.
  • Provide a brief description of its significance or usefulness to you.

Example

I received a beautiful handmade scarf from my grandmother. It was made from soft wool and had intricate patterns that reflected our cultural heritage.


Cue 2:When and from whom did you receive it?

  • Mention the occasion or event during which you received the item.
  • Specify who gave it to you and their relationship to you.

Example

I received the scarf last winter during my birthday celebration. My grandmother, who is very dear to me, gifted it to me as a surprise.


Cue 3:How did you feel?

  • Share your emotional response upon receiving the gift.
  • Explain why this feeling was significant to you.

Example

I felt incredibly touched and grateful when I received the scarf. It reminded me of the love and care my grandmother puts into everything she makes, making it even more special.


Conclusion

  • Summarize the importance of the gift in your life.
  • Reflect on how receiving this free item impacted your relationship with the giver.

Example

In conclusion, receiving the scarf from my grandmother not only warmed me physically during the cold months but also strengthened our bond. It serves as a constant reminder of her love and our family traditions.


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: Giving Vague Answers

Avoid being too general or vague in your response. Specific details make your answer more engaging and memorable. Vague answers can lead to a lack of clarity.

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Tip

Include specific details about the item you received, such as its appearance, purpose, and significance to you.


2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

Failing to express your feelings can make your answer less impactful. Emotions help to connect with the listener and make your story more relatable.

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Tip

Share how receiving the item made you feel at the moment and how it affects you now, using descriptive language.


Ignoring the Context

Not providing context about when and from whom you received the item can leave your answer feeling incomplete. Context adds depth to your story.

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Tip

Clearly explain the situation surrounding the gift, including the occasion and the relationship with the giver.


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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 >7

During the course of my life, I have received many gifts. But today I would like to talk about one such gift which is very close to my heart. The name of the gift is iPhone. There is an interesting story associated with this. A couple of months back, when I cleared my 12th standard with flying colours, my family gave me a surprise party on my birthday at Nishuraj. After that, I went to Nishuraj Headless Greenway with ample space for parking. I entered that and saw a huge chandelier there. After that, my family, my friends and all my relatives were there. There was a huge cake in front of me. I was surprised and shocked. After that, I cut the cake and my father gifted me an iPhone. I was over the moon because I was collecting money for that iPhone. It was very helpful for me because now I can do my online class on that phone. I can click many pictures over there. I clicked many pictures with my family and posted it on their Instagram. My Instagram was flooded with likes and comments. I feel like a pseudo celebrity. After that, we enjoyed many rich varieties of cuisine like Italian, Mexican and others. After that, my friend also gifted me a watch. The watch cost 10,000. My family members also gifted me scenery and other things which helped me a lot. That was the one thing which was really helpful for me.

Band 7

The gift that I received for free recently is a membership of YouTube Premium and I received it last month from my sister. So to add on to that, my sister had a Swiggy coupon which permitted her to provide a gift to any one person of her choice with 6 months of YouTube Premium and since my sister already had her account in Premium section, she decided to give it to me. And the process of it was quite simple, it was basically a coupon and all I had to do was to redeem it by putting in the code in my YouTube app and afterwards I was able to use it. And it's not that much of a big of a gift but I felt quite good receiving it because it saved quite a bit of money for me. Since YouTube Premium is a bit of a costly affair, like it takes around 100 to 200 rupees per month just to reactivate it. So it saved me quite a bit of money in the long run and I don't even have to compromise in my viewing entertainment capability as well. Other than that, as I am an avid social media enjoyer, I use YouTube at quite a very frequent usage and this enabled me to use its Premium features as often as possible.

Band 7

So, the latest gift that I've gotten, and it was free, was the latest iPhone. My grandmother gifted it to me and I am more than thankful for it. I am overwhelmed, extremely happy, but at the same time I'm guilty because it's such an expensive thing and I really do not like spending on expensive stuff, but I've always wanted an iPhone and my grandmother knew it from the past three years. This gift is more of something I've earned because I had a deal with my parents that if I study hard and get all A grades in every subject and also do well in sports and get the best sports athlete award in my school, I will get a good gift. And moreover, my grandmother overheard this topic of ours and ever since she's behind to get me one. She even did some research on her own and it's just so cute for some elderly person, especially if it's your grandparents, to do something, some research on something you are so keen and looking so forward to and I can't just thank her enough.

Band 7

Usually, I get a lot of free things from my loved ones and from my parents, but today I'm going to talk about a free thing that's close to my heart. About a year ago, on my birthday, my mom gifted me a MacBook Pro. I wanted it from like six to seven months, but my parents were not allowing me because of the high budget, high value of the item. It was a very tight-lipped surprise, so when I received it, I was galvanized. And when I started it, I installed a lot of educational apps like Physicswala and also some elite games like Forza and Call of Duty. The laptop provides an elite graphic card, by the help of which I am able to play top-notch games and I can also watch my educational-based videos. Basically, I watch chemistry and physics lectures on it. It has an 8K wide display with 1TB storage and 28GB RAM, so basically I can do anything on the laptop. When my mother saw me, that I was so excited and I was so stunned after getting the gift, she got a bit emotional, but afterward, she also got happy and we all celebrated it. Till today, I use that gift and it is a part of my daily life to own the laptop and watch some educational-based videos as well as play some elite games.

Band 7

The gift that was very special to me was provided by my grandparents. I received a makeup box as I was so into makeup when I was like 13 or 14 years old. It was very special because that was the first time I received something from a grandparent. So, it is still memorable and I still have the box alone like the makeup is finished but I still have the box alone with me till today because it's a really good memory for me to be reminded of my grandparents. And moreover, I could see their dedication to get something up to my liking. So, it's very heartwarming and kind of them.

Band 7

Few months ago, my father gifted me a new laptop. It is the MacBook from the Apple company. And I received it from him because my old laptop was not working properly. I was facing many issues and it was affecting my academics because a lot of my assignments I had to do on my laptop and submitted them. It was hard to submit them. Because of those reasons, my father decided to give me a new laptop instead of repairing the old one. He has always been very generous with gifts. Whenever I face any issue, he will always give me a new item instead of repairing it. And I love this about him. About this laptop, I have mixed feelings. Somewhere I feel that the old one could have been repaired and I could have used it. Because that was not very old. It was I think 2 years old and I could have easily used that. But then again, the new laptop has better features and using that makes my life much more easier. So yes, I have mixed feelings. But at the end of the day, I am always grateful to my father. I love the fact that he is always looking after me, always gifting me. I am just really grateful and I hope that I could do the same for him when I start earning.

Band 7

Today, I would like to share one of the most indelible moments of my life. It was the time when I turned 25 and decided to throw a grand celebration for my family and my friends. I had booked this 5 star hotel which was situated in the central most part of New Delhi. I just knew this fact that day I was going to break the bank. Little did I know that God had completely different plans for me. I just went there, had the whole party together. All of my friends painted the town red. We in fact had this scrumptious cake from one of the renowned bakeries of Delhi and it was completely decadent and flavourful. I could never imagine to celebrate such a day with great zeal and enthusiasm. But this doesn't stop here. Once the bill arrived, I was on top of the world because the bill was only zero rupees. I was utterly shocked because I was expecting more than 20,000 for that kind of celebration and it was negligible. After enquiry from the manager, I had got to know the fact that I was their 100th customer and to celebrate that they had just nullified my entire bill. I was literally on cloud 9 because it was one of the most exhilarating gifts I could ever have asked for. I not only got one of the greatest parties of my life but didn't pay a single penny for that. So I think it was a win and win situation.

Band 7

For my last birthday, I received a car as a gift, a six-seater, air-conditioned, trunk-based auto-geared Innova car. It was presented by my uncle. I really felt happy about that car because I always wanted a car. So having a private car is a dream for most of the peoples, I believe. Even I also had that same kind of a wish. The car I received, I took a ride in that day itself. It was amazing, that just ride was amazing. I felt satisfied while driving that car. It felt like a ship moving on water.

Band 7

Recently I received a scented candle as a gift from my brother. It was an occasion of friendship day. Moreover he always wanted to get me a gift which I will enjoy while studying and whenever I have free time. It is really special gift for me. Presence like this will always make you feel better because you can put it into use. Moreover I love the thought behind gifting a candle. It holds so much values when you sit around and you are thought driven. It makes you calm and composed. I feel amazing when I light up the candle and sit with my books and study. Overall the idea of gifting resonates deeply with me.

Band 7

So I recently received a mug for my birthday. It was a coffee mug which contained, which was blue in color. It also has a picture of an astronaut on the outside and the mug has a lid on top of it also with an attached spoon. The spoon actually has a figurine of an astronaut at the end of it. So whenever you are mixing your coffee or your hot chocolate, it actually looks like the astronaut is revolving around the cup. So this cup was gifted to me by my group of friends on my birthday. So we have been friends for nearly 9 years now and we have a gifting ritual every single year wherein for each one's birthday we make sure that we gift them something special so that they can remember it. And this year, of course, it was a mug that I received for my birthday. This gift is really special to me because it is my 25th birthday gift and I really love coffee mugs. I enjoy making hot chocolate with a topping of marshmallows on them and having it on a cold winter day. And them understanding how much I love mugs, gifting me a mug means a lot. I was quite ecstatic and surprised when I received the gift because I had no idea that they were gifting a mug to me. I will always cherish and remember this mug because we don't keep in touch as much as we used to.

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