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Describe the time when you first talked in a foreign language: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Where you were
  • Who you were with
  • What you talked about
  • And explain how you felt about it
Show all 104 answers

Cue 1:Where you were

  • Begin by describing the location where you first spoke in a foreign language, making it vivid and relatable.
  • Mention any specific details about the environment that made it memorable.

Example

I was at a language exchange event in my city, held at a local community center. The room was filled with people from different backgrounds, and there was a buzz of excitement in the air as everyone was eager to practice their language skills.

Cue 2:Who you were with

  • Introduce the person or people you were with during this experience.
  • Explain your relationship with them and why they were significant to this moment.

Example

I was paired with a native Spanish speaker named Carlos, who was also learning English. We were both nervous but excited to help each other improve our language skills.

Cue 3:What you talked about

  • Outline the main topics of conversation you had with the person.
  • Include any interesting or funny moments that occurred during your discussion.

Example

We talked about our favorite hobbies, food, and cultural differences. I remember laughing when Carlos tried to explain a traditional Spanish dish, and I struggled to pronounce it correctly.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about it

  • Share your emotions during and after the conversation.
  • Reflect on how this experience impacted your confidence in speaking a foreign language.

Example

At first, I felt anxious and self-conscious about making mistakes. However, as we continued talking, I felt a sense of accomplishment and joy. It was liberating to express myself in a different language, and I left the event feeling more confident in my abilities.

Conclusion

    Example

    Overall, that experience was a turning point for me. It not only improved my language skills but also encouraged me to seek more opportunities to practice speaking in foreign languages. I realized that making mistakes is part of the learning process, and it made me more open to new experiences.

    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: Avoid Vague Responses

    Being vague can make your answer less engaging and informative. It may lead to a lack of detail that is crucial for a good score.

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    Tip

    Provide specific details about the location, people, and conversation to create a vivid picture for the examiner.

    2: Don't Overuse Simple Language

    Relying too much on simple words can limit your expression and fail to showcase your language skills. This may affect your fluency score.

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    Tip

    Incorporate a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures to demonstrate your language proficiency.

    Neglecting Emotional Impact

    Failing to express how you felt can make your answer less personal and relatable. Emotions add depth to your response.

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    Tip

    Share your feelings about the experience, such as excitement or nervousness, to connect better with the examiner.

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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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

    location icon

    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

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

    location icon

    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

    location icon

    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 come from a state called Tamil Nadu in which the primary language spoken is Tamil. The first time which language I spoke in foreign language was in my school days. During my first standard it is that time where we started speaking the language of English which is the primary language for most of the schools present in Tamil Nadu. I spoke it during my first standard and it felt very amazing because it was the first time where I spoke a language which was in my mother tongue Tamil. It really felt great because I thought that I had achieved something. At that time I didn't know that it wasn't a very big deal to know other language but also we had many students who were competing in the language but I think it was a surreal experience for me as well to speak in front of my class. We just talked about general things such as our name, our intro, where we are from. Even though it was a small amount it felt really great to speak in English.

    Band 6-7

    A very good morning. The first time when I spoke in a foreign language was when, was in French during my French class in my university. I had French as a subject in my under-graduation. While attending the class, I was asked by my teacher to speak upon myself for a minute in French. At first, I was a bit hesitant and nervous to speak in French as my knowledge in French was vague, but I was encouraged by my classmates to speak, which boosted my confidence. However, I couldn't speak for a whole minute, but I managed to speak in French for at least 30 seconds.

    Band 6-7

    The time when I first talked in a foreign language is in March of this year. I went to get my German language certification at Goethe-Institut but before attending the exam I have taken some coaching classes for my German language but since it's a recorded session there is no scope for us to speak that language so I speak to myself or I used AI chatbots to practice speaking and when I went to the examination it has it also has four types reading, writing, listening and speaking so I during the speaking session I spoke the language for the first time to an actual person. I am with four of my other colleagues who came to write the exam. We need to ask each other questions in the German language and it felt really overwhelming for the first time.

    Band 6

    Well, I remember when I was in college, my teacher told me to give presentation on the topic of malaria. Before that, I had never given any presentation to teachers. I was very nervous. I tried to manage my teachers to be, I don't want to give that, but they didn't agree that time and after one week, I have to give that presentation in English. From a Hindi medium student, it was very difficult, but my best friend, she helped me and I did a lot of practice, how to speak, how to like command on your voice. On that final day, I was very nervous when I was standing in front of teachers. I forgot many lines, but after that I give my presentation and sometimes like when they ask me question, some question I try to like solve in English, but sometimes I forgot and I spoke Hindi that time. But they, all in all, they encouraged me because they knew that I have not given any kind of presentation in my school days. My HOD, he was motivating me throughout the presentation. He was smiling towards me and like his positive vibes motivate me for like for giving best presentation. I had not given any like certificate or trophy for that presentation, but after that presentation, each of my teacher came to me and said, well done, this was the first time I and you will become pro.

    Band 6

    The first time I was engaged in a conversation involving a foreign language was in April 2024 during one of our annual celebrations in our locality. A person who happened to be a neighbor of one of my friends had come down all the way from Italy and was an Italian by nationality to visit and explore our traditional celebrations. I got the chance to interact with him by coming down to his house and I was greeted with a merry smile. Since I had gained a bit of a grip of the Italian language by courtesy of my classes in school, I was able to engage in a meaningful conversation about exchanging cultural values about our integrating religious and traditional beliefs and how both of our countries, even though geographically distant by a huge margin, have shared values, opinions, and choices and a part of history which we call our own. We also talked about random topics of the current situations in the world going on at that moment and food habits of both Italian and Indian sorts and cuisines which we both like. The person who went by the name of Mr. Henry expressed his great desire to try out Bengali cuisines and also gifted me a packet of authentic French pasta for me to try out later on. I thanked him and I look forward to his experience as being a great learning move and I look forward to such experiences in the future. Thank you.

    Band 6

    Back when I was in 12th standard, we had a school trip to Goa. That was the first time I was going outside Kerala. And I was with my friends and we were in a market trying to bargain with the shopkeepers. I really liked the dress and I was trying to bargain with the shopkeeper. And that was in Hindi. My Hindi was really pathetic, although I have learnt some Hindi in school. While speaking, I was really, really bad. So I spoke to her in the little bit Hindi that I know. And she was replying back to me in a mix of Hindi and Konkani languages. Both of which I was not an expert. So somehow she agreed to the price that I have asked and I got the product. After that, when I examined the dress, I found out that there were some tears here and there. And she actually kind of fooled me by giving me a damaged item. I went back to her to return the product, but she wouldn't let it go. She said something like Boney, which meant in their language that I was the first customer. And if I return the product, their sale for the whole day will be affected. So she didn't take my return request and I had to come back with that product. That was the first time I was speaking in a different language, which I didn't even know and I was influenced. Thank you.

    Band 6

    It was at my school's speech competition when I first, when I spoke for the first time in a foreign language, I spoke about Dr. Kamarajar, the ex-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu district and this event took place on his birthday memorial and I was on a stage, I was about to give a speech about Dr. Kamarajar. I was very nervous on the stage and I still didn't know how I made that speech on that day. About, about 500 people were sitting in front of me and my heartbeat was also rising but still I held on to it and I also received second prize in that competition. I spoke about the lifestyle of Dr. Kamarajar, how he was brought up, how he became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, what are all the struggles he faced in his life. I spoke about these things. I was studying like, I was studying 6th standard when this incident happened. That was the first time when I spoke in a foreign language that is in English. Before that, I haven't spoken on a stage before 500 people. That's it about my experience when I first spoke in a foreign language. Thank you for listening to me.

    Band 5-6

    I would like to share an experience when I had to know about the uses of different languages in my day-to-day life. Fortunately, there is one instance which I had in my past, which has happened recently. I worked as a hospital pharmacist. In that case, one of the patients is a foreigner. He is unable to understand the language which we speak, called English, and we are unable to communicate. My colleagues are unable to communicate with his languages. He belongs to the German-Deutsch language. He used to communicate with the Deutsch language, but my colleagues don't know about the...

    Band 5-6

    Yes, indeed. I have been living in Saudi before the COVID pandemic started. That time we lived in one small city, Fajr city. So that near my house, they have one women fellowship group. They invited me to talk in a message, give message in foreign language. I accepted that invited and I prepared some materials and I started to speak there because at that time I lived in with my family. My family members are there, my friends are there and everyone, every fellowship members are there, only women fellowship members. Women fellowship members gave me the topic to speak some words, give message some words, give worship message. It's a kind of worship message and that time firstly I conveyed that message topic and I additionally, I wanted to add my personal experience also because that time I felt very sick and that time I believe God and I live with the prayer that I believe my prayer will cure that time. So that I additionally convey that my personal experience also. Firstly, I convey that clearly about that message and then started to spoke my personal experience. Everyone accept my words and everyone felt proud. My fellowship leader who she gave my topic, she also proud that moment and everyone were clapped to me because my pronunciation and my way of speaking, my way of

    Band 5-6

    First, I would begin with the topic of the foreign language which I am used in first time, that is, that is in the language proficiency test. I prepared a lot, but I didn't, I didn't start the topic and I didn't practice nothing. So one day my test was done, that day the trainer asked many lot questions together with English proficiency language, that is IELTS test. But it was a very common questions she asked to me, such a very much proud moment was that she was asking nicely and she explained everything to me and before it was I don't know how to speak and how I will teach. So many people are talking nicely and mingle with some others also. So that it was a very special time to me, such a very moment of that.
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