arrow back icon Top Answers

Talk about a time when you helped a friend.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When did it happen?
  • How & why did you help?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 25 answers

Cue 1:When did it happen?

  • Begin by mentioning the specific time frame, such as a recent event or a significant moment in the past.
  • Provide context about your relationship with the friend and the circumstances surrounding the event.

Example

It happened about six months ago when my friend Riya was preparing for her final exams. We had been friends since school, and I knew she was feeling overwhelmed with her studies.

Cue 2:How & why did you help?

  • Describe the specific actions you took to assist your friend, emphasizing your motivation to help.
  • Explain why you felt it was important to support her during this challenging time.

Example

I decided to help her by organizing study sessions together. I knew she struggled with time management, so I created a study schedule for us. I wanted to ensure she felt supported and confident before her exams.

Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your emotions during the experience, focusing on the satisfaction of helping a friend.
  • Reflect on the impact this had on your friendship and your personal growth.

Example

I felt really fulfilled and happy to be there for Riya. Seeing her gradually gain confidence and improve her grades made me proud. It strengthened our friendship, and I realized how rewarding it is to help someone in need.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the key points of your experience and the importance of helping friends.
  • Mention how this experience has influenced your perspective on friendship and support.

Example

In conclusion, helping Riya not only brought us closer but also taught me the value of being there for friends during tough times. It reinforced my belief that support and encouragement can make a significant difference in someone's life.

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 Responses

Giving vague or unclear answers can make it difficult for the examiner to understand your experience. Specific details help create a clearer picture of the situation.

bulb icon

Tip

Use specific examples and details when describing the event, such as the time, place, and actions taken to help your friend.

2: Don't Rush Your Answer

Rushing through your response can lead to incomplete thoughts and a lack of coherence. This may confuse the listener and weaken your overall performance.

bulb icon

Tip

Take a moment to organize your thoughts before speaking. Use the cue prompts to structure your answer clearly.

Neglecting Personal Feelings

Failing to express your feelings about the experience can make your answer less engaging. Sharing emotions helps to connect with the listener.

bulb icon

Tip

Include how you felt during and after helping your friend. This adds depth to your response and makes it more relatable.

calendar icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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 remember a time when I helped my friend. She was my hostel roommate and since I was her roommate so I saw how miserable she was and she was struggling through her studies and her personal issues. That's when I decided to help her out and I first listened to her problems without any judgment and then I tried to help her by managing her study schedule and also ensures that she would get some time to relax. Also it helped her a lot and that's when I felt that helping her gives me more satisfaction. This experience also strengthened our bond and creates a deeper connection in between us. A meaningful moment for us is the value of being there for others.

Band 6-7

Back in 2017, when I was in my 12th standard, I had picked computer science as my major. And I was particularly good at C++, which is a programming language. And in 12th standard, I had helped a friend called Nikhil. He was one of my closest friends, and he was struggling with learning the programming language. He had some difficulty in understanding the syntax. So I started with teaching him some of the rules and regulations that we need to follow. And once I gave him a basic idea, additionally, I also taught him some tips and tricks on how to solve questions quickly. By the end, I taught him some of the general programs which will help him practice and it will help him understand the language better. And I also helped him prepare for our upcoming pre-board examination. I learned all the

Band 6-7

So, I would like to talk about an incident that happened in my life, in my school days. During my school days, I had an opportunity to help my friend in order to help in the studies. I tried to help him a lot because he missed a lot of classes because of his illness. He was admitted in the hospital for two weeks, so he cannot complete the notes and he cannot learn properly because Maths is my favourite subject, so I could help him more. I think that was a remarkable memory for that because I am really proud of myself due to my helping.

Band 6-7

So, I would like to discuss about a time when I have assisted my one of my closest friend. It was during the pandemic time. My friend was in trouble in monetary terms. He called me up in the fine morning and he informed me that his mother is very ill. And she requires immediate treatment to the hospital. So his house was three kilometres away from me. So during that time, during the Covid pandemic period, the travelling was limited. If I have to travel to his house, I have to travel by walking. Since he was urging so much about helping his family, I went there by walking. I met him and then we together took him, his mother, to the nearest hospital. And he also required some monetary help. So I carried around 20,000 cash with me to help her mother admit in the hospital. So we went together in the hospital carrying her mother in a vehicle which we rented. So it was a cab and we reached there around 20 minutes from the start. We reached the hospital and during the hospital, when we reached the hospital, I helped him to speed up the filling the questionnaire form whether her mother has a fever or something else. So all the initial details I have filled up for his family. Then we took her inside. She got admitted into the immediate care ICU, intensive care unit. Then later on, the doctor started her preparation and we found out that

Band 6-7

Okay, so I remember last time one of my friends, she was sick and she also had an accident that time and she is not living with her family, she lives as a bachelor here, so she was not even able to walk that time because of that accident, her legs was injured and she was not able to walk even, so I took leave from my office and I immediately went to her flat and I saw her, she was literally crying and she was in pain, so I took her to the hospital and then after treatment, after bandage and all, we came back to our flat and after that I was taking care of her for, I think I took care of her for whole week, I was giving him, I was giving her bottle of water even on the bed, I was changing her bandage and it really makes me feel so relaxed because I know she was in need, she didn't have anyone here who can help her, so it was like, I felt, I feel so happy whenever I help someone.

Band 6-7

Very recently, my friends and I had gone to a party wherein one of my friend ate something that did not suit her well and she somehow got food poisoning. She felt really sick and wanted to puke. I was there with her throughout. I made sure that she did not feel alone. I got her water, I got her lemonade but she happened to have gotten food poisoning. I stayed with her for as much time as I could even though I was getting late and I was getting continuous calls from back home because I had gotten late. But I still felt like it was my duty and moral responsibility to stay there with her in the time when she needed me the most because after all, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I, to be very honest, wasn't very comfortable initially because in situations like these, I tend to panic because I am not somebody who has been in such situations that often but at that particular moment, I felt like it was my chance to show her that I was there with her and I'd always remain by her side no matter what. Besides that, her parents had put a lot of faith in me and they had instilled a lot of trust in me with her so it was my duty to make sure that she reaches back home safe. So I fed her well and we took a cab and went back home as soon as we could. I made sure that I tugged her in her bed well and informed her parents about her. Moreover, it was late so I also offered her my jacket so that she could stay warm and cozy and she did not feel like she had nobody around her.

Band 6-7

So, recently a friend reached out to me for a career transition advice. He was planning to transition to cyber security field from the development field and I tried to help him as much as I could. He reached me about a year back and then I guided him on the fundamentals of cyber security. I guided him with preparation on how he could secure a good job in a cyber security profile. Thereafter he reached out to me for multiple doubts. I hesitantly answered all of those doubts. I always encouraged him to take risks and solve problems which would help him in the interviews. After helping him I feel a bit satisfied and I remember my college days when I used to be a student and I needed guidance. At that time there was hardly anyone who would help. Therefore I feel guiding someone to achieve their goals and dreams can be very important and it helps me achieve a sense of satisfaction when I help someone. It happened in Bangalore where he came in to my office. I was sitting there and then he asked me about it. So, usually people would...

Band 6-7

Generally, I am a very helpful person, so if I see anyone in need, I will be the first one to go and help them out. Remembering about an event where I helped my friend was when she planned a solo trip to go to Rishikesh. She was so spectacle about the decision that she made. It was her first time going on a solo trip, so she was not very sure about it and it was a new city for her. And that is when I came to help her out. As I have been to Rishikesh quite a few times, she called me and she asked me if I will be available to help her. I immediately went to her place. We both sat down, I gave her a list of ideas, I prepared a beautiful itinerary for her, I told her some beautiful places where she is able to visit, some delicious delicacies that she can try while she is in Rishikesh. I told her about my experience about river rafting as it was my first experience for an adventurous activity that I did. It was amazing, full of adventures. I told her about that and I think at the end she was quite confident that she will be able to make that trip. And that feeling of satisfaction that I got after helping her out is really indescribable.

Band 6-7

I would like to talk about a time when I helped my friend. It was in my secondary school. I helped my friend Nihal. Nihal is a fat boy with dark color. He was poor in biology. He was unable to understand the terms and topics in the subject. So I helped him in understanding these projects and lab activities in the subject. Moreover, I shared a lot of information with him regarding the subject and about the discoveries and inventions of many things in biology. I appreciate myself for doing that because sharing knowledge to someone can increase our knowledge as well as knowledge of other people. So definitely that would be a great experience for me to share my knowledge with someone and improve their knowledge as well as my knowledge. I think one should always be helpful to their friends and others because sharing and helping is a very good habit to have. More often, I help many of my friends in doing their things. Recently, a couple of days back, I helped one of my friends in riding a bike because he was unable to ride a bike initially.

Band 6-7

Well, I'd like to talk about one of the incident when I helped my friend before the 12th standard exam, because in 12th, this is a board exam. We have to attend the board exam and before the exam, my friend was so petrified about the exam because he had not enough preparation time due to his illness. Before the night, he called me and told me to give some tips and I gave him a lots of tips and he was so dedicated throughout our conversation. He took some notes so that he can apply on the exam and it's a great privilege to me that I could motivate someone. After giving the exam, he was extremely happy because he got his desired score in the English exam. He was motivated by me. He was thankful to me because he thought because of me he got that marks. Otherwise, he had failed on the exam. Personally, it is over the moon to me because whenever I am helping someone and if he did a good result, then definitely it's a good achievement. Nowadays, he is now in a good position in the English Coursing Center as an instructor, which is making me so proud because one day he was so petrified about English. Now, he is teaching others how to read, how to write and how to do well in English. I think it's a full of beans for me.
1 2 3
ielts logo

Get the IELTS Prep App

Star rating icon

4.2

1M+ Installs

 app download banner image

Get the app link on your phone

+91

Or download app from

google play storeapp store
master ielts speaking ad