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Describe your first day at school.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When & where did you go to?
  • What happened there?
  • How did you feel on that day?
Show all 179 answers

Cue 1:When & where did you go to?

  • Begin by mentioning the name of the school and its location to set the context.
  • Include the date or year to give a sense of time and personal significance.

Example

I started my first day at St. Xavier's School in Mumbai in June 2005. It was a bright sunny morning, and I remember feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness as I stepped into the school premises for the very first time.

Cue 2:What happened there?

  • Describe the activities that took place during your first day, such as meeting teachers and classmates.
  • Mention any memorable events or interactions that stood out to you.

Example

On that day, I was introduced to my class teacher, Mrs. Sharma, who was very welcoming. We had a brief orientation session where I met my classmates. I vividly remember playing games during recess, which helped break the ice and made me feel more comfortable.

Cue 3:How did you feel on that day?

  • Share your emotions and thoughts throughout the day, highlighting any changes in your feelings.
  • Reflect on how the experience shaped your view of school and learning.

Example

Initially, I felt anxious about fitting in, but as the day progressed, I started to feel more at ease. By the end of the day, I was filled with joy and anticipation for what the rest of the school year would bring.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your overall experience and its impact on your life.
  • Mention how that first day influenced your attitude towards school in general.

Example

Looking back, my first day at school was a pivotal moment in my life. It not only marked the beginning of my education but also taught me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone. That day laid the foundation for many wonderful friendships and learning 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 Descriptions

Using vague language can make your response less engaging and informative. Specific details help the examiner understand your experience better.

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Tip

Include specific details about the location, activities, and people you encountered on your first day to create a vivid picture.

2: Don't Rush Your Response

Speaking too quickly can lead to unclear communication and missed details. It's important to pace yourself for better clarity.

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Tip

Take a moment to organize your thoughts before speaking, and practice speaking slowly to ensure your ideas are conveyed clearly.

Neglecting Emotions

Failing to express your feelings can make your answer less relatable. Emotions add depth to your story and engage the listener.

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Tip

Share how you felt during your first day, whether it was excitement, nervousness, or joy, to connect with the examiner on a personal level.

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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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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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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

I still reminisce the first day of my school. My father and mother both came to drop me off at my school since it was my first day. Usually I started crying and was feeling very nervous and awkward to even enter in the premises of school. After staying for parents for about 15-20 minutes, I went in the classroom with my teachers. I sat alone there for a few minutes, not few minutes I would say. I sat there for about half an hour and I got very bored that one friend approached me and I started feeling getting comfortable and I started engaging with the conversations between a few students and among teachers and it started feeling captivating to go to school every day that it was very fun to socialize with friends and with my teachers and it was also a very great time to spend with. Also my school name was Bhosla Military School which is located in Nashik itself.

Band 6-7

My first day of school is a memory I'm never going to forget. Even though the visuals remain hazy, the feeling is embedded into my core. I remember being a very small kid who was attached to her dad a lot, so I would always remain in his arms. But that day, it was the first time he let me on the floor and told me he would be back in some time. I believed him, but after some time I noticed there is no one coming back. Everything felt unfamiliar. The teachers were absolute strangers to me. Nothing felt safe. I was scared. So, not really a good memory. It wasn't really the best experience I would want at the first day of my school. But I think that's how people are. So it's okay.

Band 6-7

my first day at school wasn't particularly interesting I would say I was really young when I had my first day because one of my cousins who came to India from Qatar he actually had to go back to pursue his education over there because his father had a job so in place of him I was admitted into the school so that the seat wouldn't go vacant and I sincerely remember going to the school crying all over the place and I was dragging my feet everywhere in the classroom I cried a lot that day I would say that experience was really particularly intriguing to me because I was just two years old I couldn't remember a lot of the stuff that happened that day but I particularly remember a teacher being very nice to me and trying to take care of me like his or her own son moreover the fact that I made many friends that day they they usually talked mostly about food and culture and weather from for a particularly low age that was a really high bar they set for me and I couldn't speak really well because I was smaller than them but that was a really nice day considering the fact that all of them considered me like a little brother and they were very fond of me they liked me and they were calling me adorable and all these cute names I remember my science teacher from that day she used to teach us EVS environmental science that teacher particularly was a very rude one she didn't like me at all she said I didn't belong and stuff but in addition but she taught me a lot she had a little bit good role to play in my life as looking at her I believe I learned a lot of discipline and I still remember her to this day I know it sounds very confusing that at such a young age people don't remember stuff but I clearly remember the day I went to school my first day it was a very nice day to me

Band 6-7

I'm happy to speak about this. I'm going to tell you about my first day at school. However, I vividly remember that day. It was 24th April 2009. I guess my first day at nursery. Even I remember my class teacher's name. Her name was Ms. Bint and she was very nice and humble. First lecture we had was to learn how to draw standing and sleeping lines and then we had an art class. We were given a pages and that there was a cute cartoon drawn and the big heading written welcome. We have to color that page and I still have that page preserved with me as my memory of my first day. Moreover, I made many new friends on my first day because I was very interactive during my childhood. So my first friend was just Noor. We both sat together with each other. She became my very good friend and we are in touch with each other still now. Moreover, I remember my first day very much. So to conclude, I will say that it was very fantastic and experience for me although we all were nervous because it was our first day in our primary education and being a child, staying away from home for too long time was very difficult but it was very great day and I always cherish upon the beautiful

Band 6-7

There are many things we cannot forget in our life, today I would like to talk about my first day at school, it was around 22 years back and I am not clearly remembered all the event in my first day at school but I still remember some part of my school day, first of all I went with my father and elder brother to the school, it was a memorable day because I am very happy, I was so sad because they sent me to a class where my parents and my brother was not there, my brother went to another class and I was sitting alone in my class and I started crying and then I saw one of my neighbor child, then I stopped crying and then I started talking to her, it was really interesting day because I got sweets and some gift from my teachers and also in first day itself they taught a new song as a welcome song to the school and moreover I really enjoyed the day even if I cried first and also some pictures and books the teachers introduced to us and teachers asked my name

Band 6-7

So, my first day at school, I don't remember much because I was maybe 5 or 6 years old, but I heard my mother telling me that my first day of school wasn't like other students. I didn't cry on my first day of school. I was actually the one who went alone without my parents' help, and I enjoyed my first day of school. I made quite two friends on my first day and had shared my lunch and had a very good communication with my teacher, and my parents were really proud of me that day. And school is never that easy for me, but the first day I did was enjoyment.

Band 6-7

My first day at school was absolutely unplanned. I was around six years old. We used to stay in a small town. And just across the road, there was a primary school where my elder sister used to study. Now my elder sister was two and a half years older than me. When she used to go to school, for the whole duration, I was super bored because I had no one to play with. I clearly remember she was studying in class three. So she would go to school for six hours. And then after coming back, she would do the homework as well. So my playtime with my sister got reduced by a lot. So I started nagging to my parents that I also want to go to school. I don't, as I was not able to find anything to do during the daytime. Even if it was long time ago, I clearly remember the time was around March when the sessions had already been started. But I was so adamant that my father got me dressed up in one of the uniforms of my sister and sent me to school.

Band 6-7

I still remember the day when I went to the school for the first time. The school was a pre-school which was 10 minute drive from the house where I used to live. I still remember that day when I got up and I wore my new uniform. My mother dressed me up, she combed my hair, packed my lunch and then my father dropped me at the school. Initially I was hesitant and maybe anxious at that time that I cried and didn't want to enter the school leaving my father behind. But then a teacher was there to receive me and she took me to the class. From what I remember, I got really comfortable when I entered the classroom. I saw a lot of children of my age dressed similarly. The first day was really fun. We started with interaction session where our principal and the respective class teachers introduced themselves to us. Then we had a running activity and a clay modeling session followed by a really good meal which was served by the school. When I was leaving, my teacher also gave me a chocolate muffin for my good behavior on that day. Initially I was hesitant and didn't want to go to the school that's why I cried. But when I left the school the first day, I came back with a lot of memories, new friends and I was really happy.

Band 6-7

The first day of my school, it was at West Bengal. It was a summer morning. The name of the school is Kante Bablu School in West Bengal. The environment was very calm when I first entered the gate. What really overwhelmed me was the infrastructure of that very kind. I haven't seen it ever. The atmosphere made me calm and it gave me a sense of learning, growth and exposure towards me which will remain intact forever. Apart from that, the faculties and the staffs came in and held with every possible scenario. That kind of gave me something homely which boosted my communication, my confidence as well.

Band 6-7

I would like to share an experience with you about my first day at school. So when I was in middle school, I've changed my school due to my dad because his job is transferred. So we have to move into other city. So the day when I went to school, I felt very scared. I don't know why but I was feeling very nervous going to school. But when I entered into a classroom, it was very loud. Loudly the students are fighting. Some students are eating. Some students are like... They were so clumsy. So I have taken a seat and when first class began, the English teacher came and asked me to come here and introduce myself. So with feeling some nervous and confidence, I went there and introduced myself confidently. And I have made friends. At lunch, we went to canteen to eat. So I have given them a treat because it was my first day. So I have made so many friends on my first day of school. And it was a memorable day in my life.
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