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

104 unique answers with expert feedback

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.

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.

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.

Tip

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

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 5-6

Last year I went to Delhi for my conference and that day I met a French man that he speak a French language and I am talking with him and we spend more time with each other and I really like to talk with him and he taught me some French language and of course he share some information in French language that I like the most and I usually try to speak with him in his language and I learned a lot of things from him that day and he is a really intelligent man and he taught me a lot of words in French language and that day was too memorable for me and very exciting for me.

Band 5-6

I started talking foreign languages from early childhood itself. English is the medium of my communication in school. The school offers English classes from I think KG classes onwards. So I started speaking English from my 4th year. So I can't remember exactly how I started like whom do I talk most probably to my English teacher or my classmates who sat next to me. And I don't know exactly what topic did I speak and that time you know English was little bit complicated for an average Indian girl studying in an English medium school and family all speaking Malayalam. So it was difficult but somehow I managed to talk English and from higher classes I started speaking English that school makes English mandatory for all students to speak in communicate with and teachers also encourages us to speak foreign language as it's very important for our further studies and as you know for further international educations and communication. So I don't know the experience that how I felt while speaking because that was the age which we all we all.

Band 5

I tried a French language for the first time in my life when I was in home in my semester holidays I used to register at a French online course classes and I got one month course I guess I got one month course and I have paid it for 3k I think so and on the first day after the introduction part my mentor I didn't remember her name she taught us the greetings of greetings in the French languages the first word I used in French language is bonjour which means have a good day so if that word was so special for me that rather than my mother tongue Tamil and other than English which I used in my schools and colleges the first international language I used this French and it was quite different feeling I had after later later the classes I got many words I came to know about many how to form a sentence structures in French how to learn words and how to describe foods in French etc and my mentor also taught me how to read the names when you visit France everything she used to be kind and whenever we asked out she can she used to tell it for a several times without hesitating and yeah after bonjour I learned that

Band 6.5

So, the first time when I talked in a foreign language was when I was vacationing in Italy. Before the vacation, I had decided to take some Italian classes and thinking that I had become fluent and mastered the language in the first few weeks of my classes, I was confident that I would be able to speak like a commoner, someone who is a native. So, we were vacationing on the Amalfi Coast, I was with my family, having fun. On the last day of my trip, the keeper of the inn that we were staying in questioned us about our stay. How was it and did we like it or would we come again? And I decided to reply in Italian. I went on and on about how I loved the stay, how accommodative was she and how lovely the food was, the view so scenic. At first, she made a confounded expression but later on she smiled. And after I was done, she very politely replied in English and said, Is this your first time speaking Italian? I was embarrassed. I replied, Why? Is it so obvious? And she said, No, I suspected it because you just called my food bad and that my cat was ugly. And I was so embarrassed and shell-shocked. I decided to quit those classes immediately. I thanked the lady for her service and I went on about my stay.

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