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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

    So, my first experience when I first talked in a foreign language was when I went to learn German at Goethe-Institut New Delhi, so in the first day of my class we were told about certain expressions and phrases and we introduced ourselves in German and I also learnt about some phrases and like I talked about my background in German language and amongst my batch mates and I was really happy about it and very proud to learn a language directly through speaking and I love the way that how the speaking in a language is immersed very much in the teaching pedagogy and this is the best part of learning a language from an institute like Goethe-Institut and I was very fortunate to make that choice and to learn German.

    Band 6-7

    The first time that I had spoken in a foreign language was during my high school days. That day I won't forget for the rest of my life because it was a very special moment for me that erased my stage fear and other misconceptions that included in my mind. It was for the function of teacher's day. That day someone has to take classes for the rest of the class. On that day I had the opportunity and that day the responsibility was mine. So it was a compulsory schedule done by the management for that particular day. So I can't quit that even. So it is a most challenging acceptable thing. That day I had taken a class about the motions. It's a physics class but I have to take the class in English because my C mark also depends upon that. That day my friends were present in the class and they are trying to mock me and makes me laugh. But for the first 15 minutes I had been very tense. But after some time I got used to it and I started the classes very smoothly and thanks to the God's grace I ended the class very smoothly and the teacher also appreciated me. My friends also got convinced and they stopped to mock me. That's all I have to say.

    Band 6-7

    I've always had this aim of pursuing a career in a foreign country, especially in Germany. My brother, who's already there and is working as a consultant in Germany since the past 4 or 5 years, always motivated me to take up the German language courses so that I am proficient while I'm speaking and putting forward my thoughts to the localites there. I very well remember the first time that I had hands-on experience proving my German proficiency in the country was when I took a trip to Germany in the last year with my family, when we had gone to make a visit to my brother's place. I remember everyone else was sleeping in the morning but the pleasant atmosphere just couldn't help but get me out of the bed and go explore the city with my brother. That's when we came across a few native people who were really good in the talent that they were showcasing and they were singing really amazing songs and dancing to it. That's when I wanted to complement the piece of art that they were showcasing and I used a few of the phrases in German that really kept my brother in awe and I was very proud of myself that I was able to apply the concept of Germany that I had learnt practically.

    Band 6-7

    The first time I talked in a foreign language probably was English during my formative years of schooling, especially during my class one. This was a time when I was introduced with the language by my teachers and I was really fascinated with the choice of words, vowels and syllables. It made me really intrigued into learning about English literature and the language especially. Over the years when I grew up, this has turned to be my primary means of communication and I use that regularly in my workplace, interacting with my colleagues, also with my friends and family. It's a global means of communication and really expanding at the moment. The English language has been really my go-to language and I love watching English movies. It has provided me a lot of insights into that.

    Band 6-7

    I had very less opportunity to speak in foreign languages, although my only experience in this was during my interview in Hungarian embassy. During my interview in this Hungarian embassy, I prepared some sentences, some words that I wanted to express during this interview and I had said it fluently. I prepared myself in Hungarian language to speak in this interview. I was alone, I was completely alone while I was in this interview. There was only a Hungarian employee who was taking my interview and there was me who was there to express the employee in the visa office. Also, I had a very good experience with this language because I was preparing for a long time, I knew what to say and it was a very good experience. They were thoroughly impressed that I am using some foreign language because it's very rare that a person who is interviewed is speaking in their own dialect. But they were thoroughly impressed with it and I loved the way I presented myself there, that effort that I put in to learning the words and phrases, the letters in this interview and I also learned it from Duolingo.

    Band 6-7

    A time when I first talked in a foreign language is during a few months ago when I was working in my hospital, one of my patient is from Germany and he is not able to understand English very well since I have a little knowledge about German and I had attended a training for the German classes during my first year training period and it was very helpful for me since he is not able to understand English, I decided to talk to him in his own language and at first I was a little nervous because I was not more confident enough with my German and I wished him Guten Morgen which means good morning in German and I also, I was very nervous about his response but he answered me very politely and also smiled at me which gives a confidence to me, then I talked to him for a short while, we discussed about his health habits and daily routine and was a memorable experience for me, even it is a short time conversation but it gives, it made me proud and happy because I can, I got a chance to explore this language and I can use it, then this incident motivated me to learn the language far better and it was one of the most memorable moments.

    Band 6-7

    Actually, I know several languages like Tamil, Malayalam, English, even Hindi, but recently I conducted a seminar that related to how to learn foreign languages very easily, and that foreign language is German, because I never expect that I will learn or I will speak a German language very fluently, and my three best friends are also involved in this seminar, because they also like to learn new foreign languages, especially German. And initially we talked about simple questions like, how are you, what is your favorite color, and the main topic is related to cars, and also our favorite topic is also speaking about cars and their engine specs. And we talked about 15 minutes about cars, which is your favorite car, which is your favorite brand, like we spoke about cars for 15 minutes. And after this I felt very happy, because now I am very confident to speak German very fluently, because I never expect that I will speak German to a German people, and now I have a lot of friends, they are from Germany, so I think I am good at German.

    Band 6-7

    I remember I've talked a foreign language during school days so because you know right like we have English I have studied I mean I have studied in English middle school so we have a subject called English so it is my first time where I studied English and I've talked in foreign language that is English language so and I love the English language because compared to other languages it is like one of the favorite subject and I love teachers too so over the period whoever comes to the English lecturing I like the teachers who are taught me the English and I think English language is very passion for me because I love learning all the grammars vocabularies and all but still I am in a process of learning I cannot say I'm perfect in that language but I am in a process of learning and over the period you know we don't have a specific subject called English but we all do it in the English only right so I think it's the best subject we all choose to learn and it is a worldwide language where we can communicate anywhere in the world so it is an international language so I think it is very important to know this language in the proper way so that we can without hesitation we can just communicate to people and yeah so this is what my first language where I talked to people and all my

    Band 6-7

    When I was given three options, French, German and Marathi, my professor insisted me to take French. I learned French in my school in my academic years. However, it was very difficult at the beginning. Even pronouncing basic words were difficult. We started with alphabets and slowly slowly started forming sentences and words. However, though it was kind of hard for me at the start, well initially I felt very privileged that I knew another new language. Well, I always had a dream of being bilingual, but being in Bombay, Hindi was my actual mother tongue. But then, as I learnt French, speaking French was in front of my friends and family made me felt different, made me felt a joy within. Also there were other experiences that I had after learning this language. Well, my conversation skills with tourists became good. I was able to converse with people in French. That was one of my best ability till date. Also I started reading different books that was written in French. I also helped my friends around to understand French, teaching them basic basic alphabets.

    Band 6-7

    The first time I ever talked in a foreign language was when I was small at around 5 or 6 years of age. We were at my home sitting on a dining table. I was with my cousins who were from Sweden. And they were talking to each other in Swedish. And by that time I was able to grasp some words of Swedish and able to understand them and use them in my language. So while we were talking about the food, I just complimented the food and told them that the food was very delicious in Swedish. Everybody around me was shocked by seeing how perfectly I used the phrases and how great it sounded. And I was also very proud of myself and I was very happy on finally trying to learn a new language and being able to speak it properly. And since then I have been trying to learn Swedish a little bit more word by word, sentence by sentence. So now I am a little bit fluent in that language and while my cousins are having conversations about other things such as finance, politics, sports. I am able to get engaged with them in those conversations and I even try to make my comments or my ideas in the conversation. And it feels great to be able to talk in another language and be able to have a good talk with our cousins throughout their time.
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