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Describe your favourite way to relax.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What is it?
  • How effective is it for you?
  • When and how do you relax?
Show all 67 answers

Cue 1:What is it?

  • Begin by clearly stating your favourite way to relax, such as reading, meditating, or watching movies.
  • Provide a brief explanation of why this activity is your preferred method of relaxation.

Example

My favourite way to relax is by reading books. I find that immersing myself in a good story allows me to escape from the stresses of daily life and enter a different world.

Cue 2:How effective is it for you?

  • Discuss the benefits you experience from this activity, such as reduced stress or improved mood.
  • Mention any specific instances where this method of relaxation has helped you cope with challenges.

Example

Reading is incredibly effective for me as it helps me unwind after a long day at work. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, diving into a novel not only distracts me but also lifts my spirits. For instance, after a particularly stressful week, I read a gripping mystery that kept me engaged for hours.

Cue 3:When and how do you relax?

  • Describe the times when you usually engage in this relaxing activity, such as in the evenings or on weekends.
  • Explain your routine or environment when you relax, like a cozy corner at home or a park.

Example

I usually relax by reading in the evenings, right after dinner. I have a cozy nook in my living room with a comfortable chair and a warm lamp, which creates the perfect atmosphere for getting lost in a book. On weekends, I also enjoy reading at a nearby park, surrounded by nature.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the key points about your favourite way to relax.
  • Reiterate why this method is significant to you and how it contributes to your overall well-being.

Example

In conclusion, reading is my favourite way to relax because it transports me to different worlds and helps me manage stress effectively. It is a cherished part of my daily routine that contributes significantly to my mental well-being.

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: Being Too Vague

Candidates often give very general answers without specific details. This can make the response less engaging and informative, leading to a lower score.

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Tip

Provide specific examples of your relaxation method, including details about what you do, where you do it, and why you enjoy it.

2: Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. Failing to address the cues in a logical order may result in a less coherent answer.

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Tip

Follow the cue card prompts in order: start with what it is, then discuss its effectiveness, and finally explain when and how you relax.

Overly Short Responses

Some candidates give very brief answers, which can limit the opportunity to showcase language skills and depth of thought.

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Tip

Expand your answers by including personal anecdotes or feelings related to your relaxation method to create a more engaging narrative.

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Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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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Anonymous student Band 8

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Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

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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 >7

I have three ways, favorite ways to relax. The first one is listening to a meditational sound or music. The second one is listening to songs, various kind of songs and the third one is drawing. So drawing is something which I do when I have free time and it's kind of gives a relaxation and satisfying feeling for me and at the end of the completing my drawing it gives a satisfying feeling for me. The second one is listening to song. Listening to song helps me to calm myself and brings up a fresh feeling within me and it also gives a nostalgic feeling and I love the I love to eat various genre of songs and the third one is listening to meditation and particular meditation sounds or music and I when I want to meditate I play on the music and I start meditating. When I particularly use this method before exams or have something important I want to do and my mind is not calm. It soothes my soul and it gives a fresh feeling within me and motivates me to move on. These three methods have a place an important role in my life moving forward which motivates and energize me to carry on with my daily activities and doing an important important task in my life. Thank you.

Band >7

My favourite way to relax is travelling. Although many people say that travelling would be very hectic because you have to create a very detailed itinerary, but my favourite way to do the travelling is slow travelling. When I travel, it unravels all the peace in the world and it unravels all the stress I've gone through in a whole month. I love it because I live a stressful day to day life where the work is very stressful and I've tried many other ways to relax but I've found comfort in travelling. It gives you a moment of peace. We can slow down our movement when we go into a different world where we travel to new places, we meet new people. It shows how life can be, how others' lives can be. It doesn't have to be stressful. We can meet new people, we can be away from all our problems. It is a very good way, it is a very good form of relaxation. You can do whatever you want, you can do whoever you want to be. Although I can't do it all the time, I do create my schedule in such a way that I give priority for travelling because without travelling I cannot relax and without relaxing I cannot do my work properly. If I ever had a chance to do a remote work, I would definitely give all my time to travelling because it is the best form of relaxation for me. Travelling gives me peace, it's like meditation for me and when you're stressful you have to relax and travelling does that for me.

Band 7

My favorite way to relax is dancing. Dancing is not just my hobby, it is like a passion for me. I have been dancing since my early childhood and I was also very famous as a great dancer in my community. I have participated in lots of dance competitions and I have taught a lot of dancers. I prefer choreographing my own dance. It is such a great stress reliever for me. Whenever I feel bored or feeling a little bit of stress, I prefer to turn on the music and groove to the beats. It is like a stress booster for me. It just makes my mood so much better. I usually dance every day. Whether I am alone or in front of my family, I try to entertain them with me. They really enjoy my dance and they are my motivators. They encouraged me for dancing by seeing how skilled I am in dancing. I have a very flexible body, so I try to dance my stress out. It is one of my best therapies for relieving stress or any kind of tension. Other than that, I also prefer reading books for relaxation.

Band 6-7

I normally prefer watching movies after a stressful day to unwind and ease up my mind. I'm a huge movie enthusiast and love watching particularly in theaters so whenever I have free time I make sure to visit the theaters with my friends and family to have a company. With popcorns I enter into the theater with the hope of watching a good cinema. I almost enjoy all genre and it normally depends upon my mood to select the movie I watch in a day. I'm also registered to many online platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Hotstar to get access to the new movies and also to re-watch my favorite movies or series. I enjoy it a lot because it helps me deeply connect with the character. The most favorite movie would be The Pursuit of Happiness which was released on 2015 starring Will Smith and Jaden Smith. The movie is a deeply inspiring one. I have each movies

Band 6-7

Relaxation helps to rejuvenate your mind. There are many ways in which I used to relax myself, such as yoga, binge-watching, swimming, write poetry. And I think the best way I used to relax myself is writing poetry. As because I am fond of writing poetry, I used to gather the words and the topic on which I have to write. Then I practiced a lot to make a rhythmic sentence out of it. And that method of struggling with the words helped me to explore the creative area of my own self. As well as writing poetry makes me think on the certain perspective. And pondering upon such things, I come to know about various aspects of life as well as the abstract things which I didn't mulled over before writing it. And I used it very frequent after my exams, the pressure time which I had suffered through the examination hall as well. And after it, I used to relax myself by writing poetry. And that is so beneficial for me and I love doing it. Moreover, practicing the same thing after the hardship which I go through after the failure of my project or such unusual thing that made me dismal, that is the thing I used to follow and loving it.

Band 6-7

In normal days, I was very busy with my daily schedules of attending the meetings and contacting with the students to just solve their projects. But being busy and hectic situation make me burn out for a few days. And after then to come out of that burnout, I will definitely take breaks like twice in a quarter or thrice in a quarter. And other apart from the taking a break, I used to do meditation daily. During that time, I inhale and exhale the breath for around 10 to 15 minutes. And in that time, I never think of what's happening around the world and I'll focus on the breath only so the thoughts won't be coming into my mind. That's how I make peace of my mind and that's it. And other things which I also do is for taking breaks as I said. I used to go for vacation to the other places in India apart from my hometown. I usually go to the devotional places like Tirupati or Rameshwaram where I will look for the divinity in that temples and sarana. Attending those kind of places and looking the God and listening to the chants happening in that area makes me feel so happy such that I will be like recharging myself with good thoughts as well as the spirit of mind to be coming back to reality.

Band 6-7

The most my most preferred way to relax is through breaking a sweat. As I'm a working professional I hardly find the time to relax but whenever I do find the time I try to unwind by doing some sort of a physical activity or exercising. Usually I've tried to perform physical activity in the morning such as doing some yoga or you know even sometimes doing mat Pilates. Mat Pilates is something which I have discovered recently via a friend. I've been practicing mat Pilates since quite a few weeks and it has actually helped me in developing my core strength. There are various forms of mat Pilates such as wall Pilates, using a chair to assist in the exercise. So all these helps in building overall strength of the body and whenever I or sometimes I try to try to do my physical activity in the night as well. I try to exercise before going to sleep.

Band 6-7

Since my graduation, I stay back at home and because I spend a lot of time preparing for my studies abroad, there are times where I am extremely stressed and I like to cool down using, I like to cool down by exercising and meditating. I usually do this in the evenings when I have some time. I exercise for about 30 minutes, I jog on a treadmill and then I meditate for about 10 minutes. It pumps my blood and at the same time, I calm down my thoughts and it helps me to focus on the present rather than stressing about what I have to do or things that are pending or anything. So, in that way, it really helps me to relax and have a clearer head.

Band 6-7

My favorite way of relaxing is definitely got to be spending quality time with my friends after work or mostly during the weekends. So when we go out with friends, for example, we have routinized, three of my friends have routinized going out to play badminton. We book a court nearby and we have equipped ourselves with a lot of badminton, for example, racket, shuttle, shoes and even a few other gadgets that we've been using to play shuttle. We spent a lot of money on it but I think that time we spend together during playing badminton has helped me relax from my work time which is definitely got to be hectic. The energy that we spend during playing badminton, the competitiveness, the rivalry or the intentions we play with is definitely what relaxes me the most.

Band 6-7

My favorite way to relax was, mainly it was the music only. When I get frustrated or when I am tensed, I used to listen to the music. It's the main part, main thing which relax my mind and relax my body. Apart from that, I watch sports or any other movie to get out of some uncomfortable situation or from the tensed moment. So, these are the things that get me relaxed. But mainly, it's music. I am a huge music lover. Beyond the language, beyond the country, I listen to several languages of music. Hindi, Tamil. Actually, my native language is Tamil. So, I used to hear more Tamil music. Apart from that, I used to hear Hindi music, English music. And some, 2-3 Spanish songs also I love to hear. Spanish means some despacito, something like that. According to my mood, I change the music. So, these things used to get to relax my body. Many times, I am hanging out with the airpods in my hand only. In the travelling time or whenever it's boredom, when the boredom hits also, I just plug in my earbuds from my airpods and just putting on my ears and just going into the way the music goes. Like that. My favourite song was Kunfaya, which is a Hindi song. It's related to the songs. The meaning was how God created the world and what life is about. Be it is. The meaning of the song was be it is. The thing was alive in the song. So, I like the song very much, Kunfaya. It's a better relaxation for me.
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