Cue Card Sample
Describe a memorable childhood event you can remember - Cue Card # 801
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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.
Describe a memorable childhood event you can remember.
You should say:
- what event it was
- when the event took place
- who was with you
and explain why it is such a memorable childhood event for you.
[Instruction: You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
I think that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest that our entire childhood is full of all kinds of events as we continuously keep exploring the world around us by doing all sorts of things. My life, as a child, was no exception as I also cherish some memorable events as an adult today. Today, I would like to talk about one such event that took place about 15 years ago when I was only a 10-year-old boy.
But, even though, I was just a 10-year-old boy back then, I had a rather enquiring mind as I had a habit of asking many strange (some would call it “weird and stupid”) questions to my parents and other elderly people around me. One such question was, how a train could run so fast and yet it wouldn’t get out of the rail line or track on which the train was running.
By the way, it needs to be mentioned here that I already had travelled by regular trains, running at a regular or moderate speed, on numerous occasions, so I didn’t really have any illusions about them whatsoever. The trains, I was interested in, were those that travelled at a high speed of more or less than 200 kilometres per hour. So, I knew back then what I was exactly talking about, and so did my parents. So, when the opportunity arrived, my parents decided to visit one of my relatives in a major city of my country, which was far away from my own, little home town, in one of those very fast-running trains, and of course, with them also travelling was that 10-year-old boy (i.e. me).
When I finished that high-speed train journey, after a good 5 hours of non-stop, pushing and pulling through gravity, I felt like I was actually flying all those times. Besides, I would never forget the fact that when the train was piercing through the wind at such a high speed, the objects outside looked like they were close to each other like a “row of teeth” in a comb.
Model Answer 2:
Childhood is magical and full of adventure. I have so many childhood memories, and I can literally spend weeks after weeks talking about them! Here, I can not talk about all of these childhood events, but, I would like to share one of the childhood memories that still inspirits me. Before I begin talking about the story, I would like to thank you for this excellent topic.
This unforgettable childhood event is about the first day when I learned how to swim. It happened so unexpectedly and quickly that not only I but my parents were also taken by surprise.
I was barely seven years old back then, and my parents thought that it was time for me to learn how to swim. One summer morning, they took me to a swimming pool in the City Swimming Complex which was just a 35-minute drive from our house. It was a weekend and both my parents accompanied me. After we reached the swimming complex, where many others were learning how to swim with all their effort and devotion, my mother took a seat to watch me learn this important skill with the help of my father while my father got into the swimming pool with me. I had no idea how to swim but I was excited to try this new adventure. I noticed that many other children of all ages were also trying to grasp this skill, and some of them had pretty much learned the art and science of this skill.
Anyway, after teaching me for 30 minutes or so, my father went to buy some snacks for us and my mother came to talk to me for a while near the pool. She asked me if I had learned anything at all, which I guess was a rhetorical question. To prove my progress, I jumped into the water and started swimming. My mother was initially horrified by the idea that I was in the water without anyone's supervision. But when she watched that I was actually swimming without struggling or making any nuisance, she was so thrilled. My father returned in a while and he was utterly surprised as well.
This event of learning to swim so quickly became some kind of legendary story that I have heard my mother tells others at least a thousand times! It is, in fact, a great achievement for me and has become so memorable an event that I still cherish it. It boosted my confidence, and I understood that with effort and dedication nothing is impossible. It has become an important childhood event also because this was the first time I realised that our achievements can make our parents so happy and proud.
Your ability to talk about the cue card topic "Describe a memorable childhood event you can remember" would help you talk about the following cue card topics as well.
1) Describe a happy childhood event.
2) Describe a happy family event from your childhood.
3) Describe a happy event in your life.
4) Describe an exciting experience you have had.
5) Describe a time when you made others proud.
6) Describe a success you have had in your childhood.
7) Describe a memorable event in your life.
So please be confident about talking about any of those topics with a little change to make it more suitable for the topic. Best of luck!
Tips on answering this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card Topic:
[Topic: Describe a memorable childhood event you can remember.]
As the topic suggests, you need to talk about an event from your childhood that you remember clearly. It can be a happy memory, a sad memory, or any kind of memory, but it has to be something related to your childhood.
Before you start describing the event, you should talk a few sentences about how your childhood was, and thank the examiner for this nice topic. In fact, while answering any cue card/candidate task card topic, you should always thank the examiner for the "topic" and "the opportunity" to let you talk about this topic. This part is often called the "Introduction".
After you finish your introduction, focus on answering the supporting questions that came with the topic. In this case, you need to talk about the following-
1) what the memorable childhood event you have in your mind
2) when this event took place
3) who was with you when it happened
and 4) why you believe this is such a memorable childhood event for you.
You will have "1-minute preparation time" before you start speaking about this topic. Use this one-minute preparation time wisely. Now, our suggestion is that you make a few notes about each of these four questions and then think a bit about the story you are going to share with the examiner. Keep in mind that you need to speak for at least 1 to 2 minutes on this topic.
Here is an example of taking notes on the questions that have come with the topic:
what event it was - [the first time I learned to swim]
when the event took place - [I was just 7, and it was during the summer season, I learned it in a swimming complex]
who was with you - [my dad and mom]
and explain why it is such a memorable childhood event for you. - [because: I learned an important skill fairly quickly, my parents were happy and excited, I made them proud, It was unexpected, It was a thrilling experience.]
Idea generation for this cue card topic:
[Topic: Describe a memorable childhood event you can remember.]
A few ideas about the event that you may pick for this topic:
- the first day at my school
- my fifth birthday party
- the day my grandmother/grandfather died
- the day my little brother/sister was born
- when my parents took me to a foreign country
- when I visited a zoo for the first time
- when I changed my school
- when a close family member died
- an accident that I experienced
- the first time I learned to ride a bicycle
- the day when my father bought me a computer
- when I experienced a devastating earthquake
- the day my mother was diagnosed with a deadly disease
- the first time I travelled to a foreign country
- the first time when I travelled on a train
- a time when I was lost
- the first time I was awarded a scholarship in my school
- when I won a prize for the first time in my life
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