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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
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43 unique answers with expert feedback

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

so my favorite food is Puran Puri it's a Maharashtrian dish which is made from wheat flour and gur which is chagri it's a sweet dish and it's it is a very authentic dish in Marathi also I like chaklis which are circular crisps or crackers which are made from dal and we cherish it on our special days my mother makes them very good also our elders always tell us to consume it on our special festivals

Band 5-6

As I live in Kashmir, there is a food which is known as Wazwan and Wazwan is a famous food for Kashmir especially Wazwan is like we made Wazwan on weddings like special festivals and there are different dishes which is included in Wazwan like Rista, Gustab, Kabab, Mehtmaz, Tabakmaz and these all are the dishes which is included in Wazwan so Wazwan is the Kashmir's famous food which everybody prefer to have Wazwan and it made the Wazwan made on weddings like festivals, Eid, celebrations like that type of festivals so yeah this is the reason I like the Wazwan and my favorite dish is Rista, Chicken, Kabab I think so all are my favorite dish which is included in Wazwan all dishes are my favorite dishes so talking about my Kashmiri culture this is our cultural food which people prefer to eat as we made as we make Wazwan on Eid, Wazwan on engagements, Wazwan on weddings most of the time we made Wazwan on weddings so yeah this is the this is the food which I like the most and this is the traditional festival food traditional food in our state which is Wazwan so this is all about the Kashmiri cultural food Wazwan and Wazwan is the most famous food in India

Band 5-6

I like payasam that is my favorite food and it is mostly prepared during any festival, any southern festival, in addition to payasam we prepare laddus, pongal and some other sweets particularly we use to do this on festival named sankranti that festival is very admiring in southern part of India
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