Describe Your Favourite Book: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What book is it?
Who wrote this book?
What is it about?
Explain why this is your favourite book.

16 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 16 answers

Cue 1:What book is it?

Start by clearly stating the title of your favorite book.
Mention any notable features of the book, such as its genre or publication year.

Example

My favorite book is 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho, published in 1988. It's a philosophical novel that falls under the genre of adventure and self-discovery.

Cue 2:Who wrote this book?

Provide a brief background about the author, including their nationality and other famous works.
Mention why the author's writing style appeals to you.

Example

The book was written by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author known for his spiritual and philosophical themes. His other famous works include 'Brida' and 'Veronika Decides to Die'. I admire his simple yet profound writing style that resonates deeply with readers.

Cue 3:What is it about?

Summarize the main plot of the book without giving away spoilers.
Highlight the central themes or messages conveyed in the story.

Example

The story follows a young shepherd named Santiago who dreams of finding treasure in Egypt. Throughout his journey, he learns valuable lessons about following one's dreams and listening to one's heart. The central theme revolves around the idea that the journey is just as important as the destination.

Cue 4:Explain why this is your favourite book.

Share personal reasons for your attachment to the book, such as its impact on your life.
Discuss any specific moments or quotes from the book that resonate with you.

Example

This book is my favorite because it inspired me to pursue my own dreams, no matter how impossible they seemed. One quote that particularly resonates with me is, 'When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.' This has motivated me during challenging times.

Conclusion

Example

In conclusion, 'The Alchemist' is not just a book for me; it’s a source of inspiration and guidance. Its powerful messages about dreams and destiny continue to influence my life choices, making it my all-time favorite.

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: Vague Descriptions

Avoid giving vague or general answers about the book. This can make your response less engaging and informative, leading to a lower score.

Tip

Provide specific details about the book's plot, characters, and themes to create a vivid picture for the examiner.

2: Neglecting Author Information

Failing to mention the author's name or background can weaken your response. It shows a lack of depth in your knowledge of the book.

Tip

Always include the author's name and a brief background to add credibility and context to your answer.

Ignoring Personal Connection

Not explaining why the book is your favorite can make your answer seem impersonal and less passionate.

Tip

Share personal anecdotes or feelings related to the book to convey your genuine connection and enthusiasm.

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 6

My favorite book is It Ends With Us which is written by Colin Hoover who is a famous author in America and this book is my most favorite because I do read a lot of rom-com books and yeah of course I read other books like self-help books and a lot of other books which helps me to grow in my life personally and then this book is my most favorite because I love romance and dramatic scenes however it is but then it is the most favorite of mine according to me the book should be like it should has all the emotions like from happiness to the extreme sadness so I personally this book has related to me a lot because the book is about two person who falls in love with each other and then there comes a guy who fell in love with the heroine so the heroine was once loved him so it was totally about a toxic relationship and how the heroine gets up on the toxic get out of the toxic relationship and how she will be leading the life and then every scene every bit of it like the portions the dialogues everything

Band 6

I would like to talk about my favorite book, The Secret, it was a wonderful book written by Rhonda Byrne and also it was the book which made me inspired and gives an opportunity to manifest the things and make them occur in my real world. Whatever I had learned from the book is, I would like to start, implement and likewise the things are going to occur in the same manner. The book describes all about the social well-being of the person and also wealth, health and everything what we can achieve. Moreover, the mastery of reading this book had gained an expertise in manifestation and visualization and also describing of events that need to be occurred in future likewise by planning and also doing the things in consistency. The secret is in everything like what we think we will become. The motto of this book tells us an opportunity to take rather than the opportunity will comes. The visualization also plays a major role predominantly in human beings' lives. For instance, if a man is expecting to become rich, the thoughts he need to make in a positive manner instead of ignoring the beliefs and also that occur in negative manner.

Band 6

We all love some books, right? For me, one of my favorite book is The Alchemist. It is written by Paolo Coelho and it is one of his best-selling books. It is about life's journey, like how we grow and how we overcome all these hurdles in life. Moreover, in his book, Paolo Coelho included very interesting aspects about how journeys can be interesting. It is really motivating. It gives us thoughts or we can say food for thought. It engages us till the very end and we feel like we are traveling with the main character. It is actually something related to magical realism, we can say. And everyone who read this book should like it. That's just my opinion, but there may be people who doesn't like so. Anyway, The Alchemist is one of my favorite book that I have ever read. And its writer, Paolo Coelho, made a really, really great thing by writing this book.

Band 6

My favorite book is Gulliver the Traveler. The book is written by Mr. William Wordsworth. It is a very beautiful story. A man who has an unexpected journey with unexpected destinations. When he reached after some thunderstorm in the sea. Unexpected islands where he can see small people like an ant around him and talking with him. So he was totally shocked to see that a new world, new island, new people like people whose height like an ant, like a small ant. So it is a very wonderful story. The story is very awesome and authentic.

Band 6

So, a book that I like, it's not really a book, or rather a comic book, or a manga as they say in Japanese, is Attack on Titan, also which, in Japanese it is known as Shingeki no Kyojin, but translated to Attack on Titan, so, written by Hajime Isayama, who's a writer a Japanese comic writer, or a manga as they say, and, so, the reason I like this book is because it is a story about a boy who fights the oppression, the oppressive world he's in, fights for freedom basically, and I really sympathize with the boy because I kind of see myself in a similar situation, and there are many great characters in the story, from which I have learned many things, and there's, like, and even from other characters, I can learn many things that can be put into the book.

Band 5-6

I am going from airport to airport. It seems interesting. While I am sitting there, there is a book which has got my eye on that book. But it seems like good and I cover the index page of the book. It looks like interesting. I went to there and I take the book and it spent a lot of time to read the book. It was really amazing. At that time, when I was going through my journey, I read that book entirely. Later, I fell in love with that book which was an author, Chetan Bajaj. I like to more interesting on it. I am going from airport to airport. One of my favorite books in recent time was Hopculture. I saw this book in an airport while I am going from Hyderabad to Delhi. I was in the airport. There was a book which got my eye on it. Index page was interesting. I went to there and I bought a book. It makes me around 200 rupees. I think this is a book worth for it. After that, my journey was interesting with that book. While I am traveling, I suppose to read that book. The book was already amazing when I started reading. The first page of the book was interesting. After that, the book was written by Chetan Bajaj. He is one of the famous author in the recent times. I started reading the book. The topic was really interesting. The book tells about a girl and a boy while they were traveling in a particular place. The boy fell in love with that girl. After a long back, they found that girl again. At that time, they met and unfortunately, they broke up with each other. The girl also fell in love with the boy. The main interesting point I like in this book is the way the author describes the person and the way of understanding the love and affection with her. I like more in this book interesting facts that are near to my heart. Like, suppose something happens in my life, I like that the most important fact. One of the most important thing I also like in this book. There was something like that. However, the book was very very interesting to me. It is one of the biggest book.

1 2