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Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country .: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What it is
  • At which festival/event you eat it
  • How it is made
  • And explain why you like it
Show all 43 answers

Cue 1:What it is

  • Begin by clearly naming the food and giving a brief description of it.
  • Mention any unique characteristics that make this food special.

Example

My favourite food is 'Puran Poli', a sweet flatbread stuffed with a mixture of jaggery and lentils. It's a traditional dish that is not only delicious but also holds a special place in my heart.

Cue 2:At which festival/event you eat it

  • Identify the specific festival or event where this food is commonly enjoyed.
  • Explain the significance of this food during the festival or event.

Example

I usually eat Puran Poli during the festival of 'Gudi Padwa', which marks the Marathi New Year. This festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm, and Puran Poli is a must-have dish that symbolizes prosperity and happiness.

Cue 3:How it is made

  • Describe the basic ingredients and the cooking process involved in making the food.
  • Highlight any special techniques or traditions associated with its preparation.

Example

Puran Poli is made using whole wheat flour, jaggery, and split chickpeas. The lentils are cooked and mashed with jaggery to create a sweet filling, which is then encased in a thin layer of dough and rolled out before being cooked on a hot griddle. The aroma of ghee adds to its irresistible taste.

Cue 4:And explain why you like it

  • Share personal feelings or memories associated with the food.
  • Explain how this food connects you to your culture or family traditions.

Example

I love Puran Poli because it reminds me of my childhood when my grandmother would make it for us during Gudi Padwa. The taste brings back fond memories of family gatherings and celebrations, making it not just a dish, but a cherished part of my heritage.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your feelings about the food and its importance in your life.
  • Reiterate how it enhances the festive experience.

Example

In conclusion, Puran Poli is more than just a delicious treat; it represents my cultural roots and the joy of celebrating festivals with loved ones. It truly enhances the festive spirit of Gudi Padwa.

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

Using vague terms can make your answer unclear. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about the food or the festival.

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Tip

Be specific about the food's ingredients, flavors, and the unique aspects of the festival to create a vivid picture.

2: Lack of Structure

Failing to follow the cue prompts can lead to a disorganized response. This may confuse the listener and weaken your answer.

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Tip

Organize your response by addressing each cue in order: what it is, when you eat it, how it's made, and why you like it.

Overly Short Answers

Providing very brief answers can make your response seem incomplete. This may limit your ability to showcase your language skills.

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Tip

Expand on each point with examples or personal experiences to give a fuller, more engaging answer.

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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
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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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 favorite food is Siddu. Siddu is famous in Himachal Pradesh and Siddu is one of the most important we can say important dish in Himachal Pradesh. We all eat Siddu in every festival like Dussehra, Diwali, Holi and and if I talk about the special event where I ate that it has to be the Saras Mela which was in Chandigarh. Siddu is made from wheat filling with inside dry fruit and so with a purified butter and chutney, plum sauce, plum sauce or with plum sauce and we can we steam Siddu in steamer. Siddu is of two type one of one is sweet and other is salty, savory and I like the Siddu more. Thank you

Band 6-7

My favorite food at a traditional festival is, being a Muslim, our traditional festival is Ramadan. And the special food we prefer is biryani, chicken biryani. In most, in each and every special minute, mostly biryani is prepared. Good food is considered when we have a special occasion or good festival. It is made of chicken, it involves some spices, masalas and etc. I love it. I just like it because of its taste. It tastes very good when it is cooked properly. In most of the people, not only Muslims, but almost all the people like to eat biryani and mostly the Haisapati biryani. Most people say that the way Muslims cook the biryani is very different from the other people who cook biryani. They say that the flavors are completely different compared to the others. So, that's it. I like biryani because of its flavors.

Band 6-7

well my favorite food is biryani it is made in my brother's wedding of course this biryani is made using meat and also few spices biryanis are often made in home and by many people but that I ate on that day the biryani that I ate on that day was something very special because they added few ingredients or few spices which are not known to me and also they preferred different kinds of materials like different oil different ghee which added a taste to it this the process of making the biryani is quite simple but it takes me more time to cook or to boil because the meat is something which need to be boiled more so they used more water content and also the spices are finely grinded few other spices and natural spices are added which added a special taste to that irrespective of that the curry which they provided along with this biryani was something which is awesome because

Band 6-7

Hello, my favorite dish is the traditional festival food biryani, Hyderabadi dum biryani. This is prepared to festivals and functions and it prepared to first of all frying, first of all cutting the onion, onion and fry onion, clean the chicken, clean the chicken and basic masala added into this is chili powder, turmeric powder, biryani masala, salt and ginger garlic paste, chicken masala and some tomatoes.

Band 6-7

My favorite food at a traditional festival is very plain rice with dal, it is more like ritual food in India because I live in India, it is very famous for me and I like very much, it is very plain and very flavorful for me and it is very yummy I think so, also in special event I like biryani very much because it is very famous in India or Hyderabadi, that's it.

Band 6-7

So my favourite food is kheer. It is made out of primarily milk and it is also called as the milk sweet. It is usually made during Diwali or any happy occasion in India. So if I am getting into university or for a past 10 exam, till date kheer is always made at my house. It is made out of milk, curd, sugar, various other ingredients are included in this food item. It is served cold or hot, however you prefer to have it. I usually prefer to have it cold because it's really hot in Mumbai and it's a cooling element to your brain and to your whole body in general. Moreover, kheer is not only a dish, it is an emotion cause. It sparks the element of joy in someone's heart. It elevates your happiness levels. It encourages you to do even more. That's why kheer is a very special dish made for very special occasions. Moreover, there is also gajar ka halwa and the laddoos which are also meant for that occasion.

Band 6-7

The traditional and the most inherited food that we eat in our country for the festivities or for auspicious beginnings is sweet pongal. We used to prepare it on every Sankranti, the festival which is celebrated in the month of January. It's the festival that we celebrate in order to encourage the farmers who act as a backbone to our country as they grow a large number of food for the country. In the month of January, many of the farmers can get the crop home. In that way, we used to celebrate the festival, that's Sankranti. We used to cook sweet pongal with the new rice that was cultivated from the farm and it was prepared by adding some milk into the hot pot and then adding jaggery to it and then after the milk is well boiled and then we used to add a little amount of rice as well as some elaichi in order to enhance the flavor and then we used to cook it for a bit of time so that the rice would cook well and after that we used to serve it to our deities with a little amount of ghee on top of it and then we used to take that, the food which is offered to our god as a type of prasad and then we used to enjoy it a lot because it has the flavors of sweetness in it and I liked it very much.

Band 6-7

My favourite food is biryani and especially chicken biryani and it is usually prepared every Sunday in my home by myself but it is very very special in occasion as Christmas. As Christmas is celebrated globally and it is a very joyful event, we make biryani and celebrate ourselves by distributing to our neighbours and friends. The biryani is really delicious and yummy with juicy and tender chicken pieces that is made with big Anda. Biryani it is an emotion, it describes a South Indian emotion. Also it is made with lot of spices from India that are very good for our health which is also makes the food more delicious and the aroma is always phenomenal. Biryani always makes me happy even when I am depressed. So it is an emotion and it is always a great food that I always go to whenever I am in need of happiness and it is a favourite food to many of my people in my country and there are lot of varieties in biryani from Lucknow biryani, Hyderabad biryani, Chennai biryani and the famous Ambu biryani. So yum.

Band 6-7

So, I would be saying my favorite food is chicken biryani. So, I love Indian cuisine, especially, particularly the South Indian cuisine. I love very, very much to eat South Indian cuisines because I like the spices more. And the taste, it flavors very, very highly. South Indian food actually named as a flavored cuisine. So, biryani, chicken biryani especially, which is fully loaded with the most spices, and the chicken, and the rice especially, they added the ghee. So, it's a flavorful dish. I ate it in my friend's birthday party. So, the chicken biryani, which is made by the, my friend, Muslim friend, they used some special ingredients to make the biryani taste more flavorful. So, obviously, it's such an astonishing biryani I ate, I had actually. So, that is the thing.

Band 6-7

My favorite food item is Sadya which we are serving on our traditional festival or a special event in our state Kerala. We Keralites love Sadya especially we are serving this Sadya on Onam. Onam is our national celebration that we Keralites are celebrating together without a caste or religion basis. All are celebrating Onam as their national festival and I love Sadya because of the Sadya is having a lot of varieties of curries, cushions and the aroma and the taste of that cushions make me hungry and yeah very very lovable feeling that is and I really like to enjoy eating Sadya very calm very calmly and peaceful and Sadya is the one thing or the main important part is that we are serving Sadya on a banana leaf and that's part of our culture and we are serving rice different different different curries. Curries are on different colors and all the curries are having different tastes and now also I am feeling so hungry and eagerly waiting to eat Sadya and basically basically all Keralites love Sadya. Sadya is the main part of our tradition and culture and we are serving especially on our
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