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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tip

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


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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

It is a little difficult to answer this question because it is rather very brief and it requires a lot of elucidation. I have helped many of my friends but if I should think of one instance it would be the help that I did for Manasa. She is one of my closest friends from college. She was stuck in a very toxic relationship and I offered her a lot of support by listening to her problems and trying to offer viable solutions to her issues of the day. Her boyfriend would be extremely inconsiderate and would not understand any of her perspective which will lead to her being very upset. Therefore, I will always offer her my shoulder to cry on and always try to cheer her up into a better mood. I have been doing this for the past 15 months now. They have been dating for almost 2 years and this has been one of my biggest helps for a friend. Especially when things escalated between them, I offered her my house. I asked her to stay with me just so that her mood can elevate. We did a movie marathon and I hope she felt better after spending that time with me.

Band 6-7

So this happened 2 years before when I was studying in grade 10. At the time my friend was sitting next to me and was writing notes which was written in the board. She was just copying and suddenly she felt something weird. She woke up and was about to go to the restroom when I saw a stain at her dress. She was really worried and the stain occurred in the bench which we were sitting. She got really worried and I helped her to clean the bench and helped her to cover up the stain and wash it. So I think that's a memorable event which is really weird and I never thought it would happen. Me and her really learnt a lesson to sit in a bench by taking off the skirt.

Band 6-7

It happened around last week when my friend's sister is about to be married this month. So she needed my help with wedding chores. As you know a wedding house is just full of chaos and relatives. So my friend wanted to buy a few jewelry and she had no one to do it with. So she asked me for a shopping help to pick out her jewelry, to know what goes well on a dress, just somebody to help her give my opinion on. I felt great about it because it feels good to be included in the wedding as such. Also there's a saying in our language you should help people in the wedding. It's a good blessing and I get to experience the whole wedding atmosphere and we had fun going to the market to pick jewelry and to help with the sweets. So yeah in total I really love helping her.

Band 6

Well, on 9th June this year, my best friend's mom passed away and ever since then, for a while, he had been really distant and he would not talk about her and I think for three months he was not able to talk about her or talk to us openly. So I was always there for him and I, you know, kept asking him if he was okay, I kept checking in on him and then recently he, I think he's gotten better mentally and he's starting to open up about his mother, he's starting to talk about her, remembering her in good ways and I've just been there for him for like the past eight months, supporting him every step of the way, accompanying him to his therapy sessions and accompanying him home, staying at his place whenever he feels lonely or whenever he needs just someone to talk to, it's like a no-judgement zone and I love to hear about his mom and I love to see how it makes him so happy and I just really want to help my friend get better and overcome his grief and

Band 6

It occurred during the month of July of this year. My friend met with an accident in his hometown. While he was driving a bike, an auto came in between and they both collided. He got fractured on his leg. At that time he was out of money. When I came to know about this news, I went to visit him at the hospital.
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