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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

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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
    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

    For the first time, I talk in foreign language in my school time and me and my friends practice English language as a third language there and we studied very carefully and me and my friends have a good teacher who teaches us English and make us fluent in this language and English is my one of the favorite language and there I always try to speak in English but so that's why I can do IELTS now. I feel very proud when I am speaking in English and feel very confident because English is that kind of language we can use everywhere in our country or outside the country so that's why I feel like very responsible to communicate with others and it also attracts people when we speak very fluent and very clear and in different accents while learning English exam English language I feel very enjoyable to learn it and so that's why nowadays I can prepare for IELTS because I learned this language during my school time so that's why thank you

    Band 6-7

    The first foreign language which I tried to speak was German. I was in my home when I tried to speak it. I tried to speak it because I was planning to move to Germany for my higher studies so my sister suggested me that I should be fluent in German language and that I should install the app Duolingo and learn German from it. So I started learning German from Duolingo and at first I started learning only small small words and simpler sentences but I found it very interesting and funny studying with Duolingo actually. So I felt more and more drawn towards the language.

    Band 6-7

    The time when I first learnt a foreign language was when I was in grade 4 and the language that I learnt was French. Initially it was very tough for me because of all the vowel placements and the prepositions but as I kept on practicing I got better. The first time I openly spoke French was when I was in my class and as a homework we had to prepare an introduction and talk about it in front of the class. My classmates and my teachers were very supportive and even though I was not very good at French at the start, they always encouraged me, motivated me to do better. Gradually I started liking French and even when I joined college as a third language I took French. Because of this continuous learning of the language and because I was encouraged by people to express myself and to learn a foreign language, I am at this point very comfortable to converse in French. I have also started watching French movies without subtitles and I try to decode whatever they are saying.

    Band 6-7

    The first time I talked in a foreign language was when I was in France and I had to buy a few things from the local grocery store and I, you know, had to of course speak to the shopkeeper and I spoke in French even if it was not the best. I think like obviously my proficiency level isn't as good as a French person but I think I did well because the lady was able to understand what I was speaking, I mean what I was saying so yeah I think I did pretty well.

    Band 6-7

    So this is the time I guess I was in school and maybe in 2nd or 3rd grade when I tried to speak in maybe in Punjabi language because I belong to Himachal. I have born in Himachal and after 6 months my mother and I came to our father's house in Ludhiana that is in Punjab and we have to speak like Punjabi. We have to speak Punjabi because in Punjab it's compulsory to read and write Punjabi and Punjabi is a subject so basically it's a foreign language for our family because my mother and father did not know any knowledge about the Punjabi language like spoken Punjabi they can understand, they can talk like in broken Punjabi but it's like a very alien language for them to write and to understand from paper so I have to prepare I think one essay or something and I perform in front of class in Punjabi language and I guess I have done a very good job being a person which do not have that background in which

    Band 6-7

    The first time I spoke a foreign language was in Africa, so my dad had some work there and I lived for about 2-3 years and I started speaking a language named Chichewa, which is a local language of the Central African people in Malawi and it was completely different which cannot be understood by a third person. So when I spoke, I was with my father, my dad, and he taught me how to speak and even he gave me acknowledge to a few topics in their language. So I felt very happy when I spoke with them because it was a different thing where I can learn more and I was able to communicate with people of their place. And I was really happy when they responded for my language and I evened... So the first time I spoke a foreign language was in Africa, my dad worked there for around 5 years and I was with him by that time and I was around 8 years old or just starting my 3rd standard, like 3rd grade and I was really interested to learn their language. So the language I spoke was Chichewa, it's a local language of the Central African people in Malawi and I kind of felt different when I spoke. So I started it when I was around 7 years old and I just learned it from my dad and he taught me a few words which are the basics I could just learn and speak with them. So I used to speak that language with my homemakers and I really felt happy when I was speaking that language because I felt happy that I'm able to connect with people from their place and I even learned from them and I even taught my native Tamil to them. So the experience I gained from this was really interesting and gradually when I grew up I just wanted to learn many more languages and I started learning German and I even learned Malayalam even though I don't have any important thing to just learn Malayalam, I just had a friend and she taught me Malayalam. So I always like to explore languages so that it might be helpful and as a foreign language I would say that German is now, I'm just in my basics of German and I would also like to learn either Dutch or French.

    Band 6-7

    I am Syed Sufian. I was in America few days back with my friend. So, we are talking about a thing that I enjoyed doing it. We are talking about an educational field which we are going to study our further studies. I have talked to a principal there in English for the first time. So, English is a foreign language for me. I enjoyed talking about the college, the species in the college and the specialty and subject which teaches in the college. First, I was so afraid of talking in the foreign language because it's my first time talking in this. I have developed talking in English regularly while talking. So, while I am talking, with this professor, I came to know that English is a language which we can speak regularly so that we can improve by that. Speaking regularly is only the way we can improve our English language and the fluency of this language. Every language takes a particular time to speak and do it constantly. So, English is a certain language which makes human easy to understand and communicate to each other across the world. So, moreover, English is a language where everyone can speak and understand easily all over the country.

    Band 6-7

    And first of all, I started speaking English language in my childhood during the school period. There I studied my childhood period in a CBSE school, so there is English language is must be used to speak, to interact each other, it is a compulsory order from principal. If anyone violating that, they want to pay a fine, that is a rules and regulation in the school. So, we especially students want to speak in English to teachers and to friends. So, I started speaking English language during my childhood period in school life. And I usually use the English language during for my studies and for any doubts to teachers and many lots of things about family and the siblings, so that is one of the major things we do.

    Band 6-7

    Right, so being an Indian, English is definitely a foreign language for me and I got to use this as a foreign language when I went on my first international trip to Ireland, to its capital city of Dublin. So, I went to Ireland along with my mom, my brother and my dad and we, I mainly, I was 10 years old at that time and I mainly used the language of English to converse in supermarkets or restaurants to fulfil my needs and also I had conversation with a few of my dad's friends and their children and I felt like it was a bit difficult in the beginning because it is pretty much difficult to understand their accent and give an apt, aptful reply so that even they won't get confused by the way we pronounce some things. So, it was a bit difficult in the beginning but as I got to know that some words are pronounced in such a way, I just made up my mind and I just got to, you know, I just got used to it and how I felt, I felt really amazing and I felt kinda, you know, I felt like I've achieved something at that age just speaking a foreign language as an Indian and that too at a very young age, as 10 years old, I felt something great and I felt like I've achieved something at that age. Yeah, that's it.

    Band 6-7

    My native language is English. My native language is Hindi. So the first time I ever spoke a foreign language was way back in 1947 when I was a young child in class 2nd. So the foreign language was none other than English. And it was in my classrooms when I first learned some words of English. I said I love you to one of my girlfriends that I had in class 2nd. My girlfriend's name was Shweta. So I proposed to her saying I love you. And these were the first three words that I had ever spoken in a foreign language. And of course these words are way too high level for someone saying when starting learning a foreign language. But yeah, I did it. Thank you for this.
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