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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 122 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

    Having an extra foreign language is very beneficial for us and it's quite a plus point for us to learn a new language. The time when I was talking the first foreign language is the Arabic. I was in Saudi Arabia when I went for the religious pilgrimage. The people of Saudi just was talking Arabic. So when I went for shopping to buy to purchase the return gifts for my family and friends whenever I went and visited shops they were all talking in Arabic. I felt very happy that I learned some basic Arabic in India and then it's very useful there and I just spoke with them in Arabic regarding the regarding to purchase things. I felt very happy that learning a new language was a best for me to communicate with the people where I went and it got it got very happy for my family too.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about the first time I ever used English in my school. During my 10th standard, there is a competition about giving a presentation about a certain scientific topic, anything related to science. So I decided to give a topic about aquatic life and habitats. I mainly talked about fish. When the time came for my presentation, I walked towards the stage and started giving the presentation on the board. During the presentation, I started to talk in English, which was never done before in any presentation. I was the first one to start talking in English while giving a presentation. I felt really nervous and anxious. Furthermore, in my mind, I am thinking what others are thinking about me. Is my speech okay? Am I talking really loud? Is my voice too low? In addition to that, my teachers were surprised by me because I am talking in English and no other student, including my friends, has done that. They all gave their presentation.

    Band 6-7

    When I was in a school and my MSc Chemistry, when I was in my college, I met to my friend, a South Indian friend. He doesn't know about the Hindi language, so we interacted with in English and also we talked each other in English and her name was Arundhati and she was very cute and curious about knowing the, we are very curious about each other, we know each other and we discuss about our syllabus, we discuss about the classes, assignments and I feel very excited when I talk to him in English, it was very interesting. And also, whereas, when I, when there was a holidays, I also learned the Chinese language and from the series and also listen my Chinese songs, Chinese web series in Chinese language, not in dubbed, but there was no other pupils who knows about Chinese, so I talked to myself in Chinese, I listen music in Chinese, but after few times when there was no pupil to talk to me in Chinese or to listen the music with me, the interest become very, the interest slowly gone.

    Band 6-7

    I remember vividly, it was the time when I was in my 12th standard or I just finished 12th. Yes, so it was in the middle of finishing 12th when I started learning English language. English was a subject in my curriculum, but I didn't speak in English that much before that and it was my first time after starting spoken English, when I spoke in English for the first time and I remember it's just because I was about to plan to go to New Zealand on my husband's visa, actually I got married quite early, so it was mandatory for the dependent to give IELTS as well and that's why I have started learning English in my hometown and it was very very natural but different experience because I was used to talk in my native language before that time and it was my first time I completely could be familiar to new language and I first talk in that language with my teachers and also my family members who are aware of English and I just learned it is just because I needed to give IELTS exam to enroll myself in New Zealand and I first in my first attempt I just didn't get much band score it was almost around 5.5 but then I tried to work hard on that especially on reading and writing because my medium was Gujarati and I didn't know anything much in detail about English and that's why I was making mistake in speaking and writing and I thought that I need to work hard on that so I started working hard on that.

    Band 6-7

    According to my perspective, in this contemporary era, a vast majority of individuals are trying to learn foreign languages like German, Spanish, Italy, French, but today I would like to talk about none other than a German language. Well, to be honest, I am planning to move to Germany, and my kith and kin advised me if I want to go to Germany, then I have to learn a German language at least B1. Well, in the beginning, I fell down in the dumps because I thought it was not an easiest thing to, easiest skill to, skill, and it is not easy to learn a language just in a few months. Well, me and my brother went to a tutor who is living near our hometown. On the first day, he understood about the levels and some grammatical things, and on the first day, I learned the counting numbers as well as alphabet words, and I learned some new things like, new sentences like, wie hetzt du, wo wochenen sie, I learned these type of things, and all in all, my experience is very good because I felt over the moon because I learned some new things, and I was feeling jubilant after the class because in the beginning, I thought it was a daunting task for me to learn a language, but when I attended the first day of my class, then I thought it was, it was, it is not a daunting task, it is an easier task for me to learn a German language just with the help of the tutor.

    Band 6-7

    For me, English is one of the foreign languages. Because I am not a native speaker, I am an Indian, so English is a foreign language for Indians as well as for me. And talking about the time when I first learned this language, I started learning this language in class in second grade, when I first introduced to English, core English course. And since then, I have completed my high school. In all classes, in every grade of my high school journey, I have been learning English. I have learned this language under many teachers. In primary schools, I learned this language under another teacher. In high school, I learned this language under two teachers. One such teacher is Khalid Jaffer in my high school, and that is Sunbeam Sun City. And I am very grateful to have this opportunity to learn this language because English is a global language. And I do require it because I will move to another country in the next year. So, like in America and Canada, English is pretty much required to survive and to thrive in campus and in society in those countries. And yeah, I am very grateful. I am very privileged to have the opportunity to learn this language. And I will continue improving my English until and unless I got the upper band, advanced level.

    Band 6-7

    Well, I first talked in a foreign language when I was very young and I used to write journals but I was not perfect in grammar yet I used to write journals and I practiced English more and more because of my school medium which was CVSE. I never got people to talk with but my English was not good at all but then by the time I started practicing I started watching English shows and comedians and youtubers which then made me realize that I can speak even more better and then after a day passed I started speaking more and more better. I started speaking to myself and yeah it was the very first time to speak a foreign language and yeah I am now practicing for IELTS to study even more.

    Band 6-7

    The first time I talked in a foreign language, it was in English. I was in a city named Tehran in Iran with my parents. My parents and spiritual... The first time I talked in a foreign language, it was in English. When I first talked in a foreign language, I was in Tehran, a city of Iran, and I was travelling there for some religious purpose, and I was with my parents, and we were there, out there in the market shopping, so we were having a little bit of trouble conversating with the shopkeeper, because our tour guide went away for something, and so I tried to ask him and talk to him in English, because English is the only foreign language that I could speak at that time. I think I was something around 12 to 14 years old, and I knew basic English, which my parents were not able to speak, so regarding the shopping that we were doing, I asked him some questions like what's the price, what's the quality, what's the difference, type of colours available, and then suddenly I felt like I need to use the restroom, so I also asked him that where could I find the washroom, and I was not very fluent at the time.

    Band 6-7

    I think the first foreign language I learned and I speak even now is English. I have been learning it since my childhood as it was compulsory in my school and college to write the exams in English. And it's become a compulsory language all over the India because English is one of the most recognized language all over the world. Across the globe I mean. So ever since childhood I have been learning it. Initially I struggled to learn the English. It was difficult for me to even spell, write the correct spelling or pronounce the words. But now I have been gradually improving since then and now I think I can communicate well in English. This is because of my education was in English during my school and college days. English has helped me a lot since then. Since many of the newspapers, sports news and the news all over the world is published in English. I am able to read it easily and understand the meaning of it. In the beginning English is very difficult to learn for all the Indians especially our native language is Hindi. So therefore it becomes difficult. But I would like to say that please learn English to all the youths so that it would be helpful for you in the future.

    Band 6-7

    So, I was at my home and the language that I was learning was Korean, a French language. I was always fascinated and wanted to learn this language because of my favorite actresses in the country and the songs produced in this language. I was talking this with a Korean mentor who was helping me teach. And we were having conversation about, you know, grabbing a cup of coffee or to meet at the restaurant or what food I would like to order and how I would order. While practicing this, sentences, vocabulary, I felt happy, a sense of accomplishment that I am finally able to learn my dream language. But due to some reasons, I had to discontinue it, but overall the experience was amazing and felt really great in doing this.
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