In this tutorial, we will be looking at recent Speaking Cue Cards 

seen around the internet

sent in by students and 

sent in by our students as well who are on the IELTS Online course and taking exams. 

First, we look at a cue card and then apply a framework that will be very useful. It’s almost like a cheat sheet and after that, we are going to look at some of the follow-on questions for part 3.

Tip: Listen to the audio, write down the phrases, and try to use them in your everyday conversations. Eventually they will stick and sound more natural.

FRAMEWORK (BASIC VERSION)

I would like to tell you about RELATIVE CLAUSE  + SUPERLATIVE + CONJUNCTION

I would like to tell you about one of my teachers who taught me in middle school. He was probably the most interesting teacher I’ve ever had, although he did set a lot of homework.

I suppose you could say…  to be honest….

I suppose you could say he was strict but fair, to be honest I think he was a real nice guy.

If I remember correctly… OR    If my memory serves me well…

If I remember correctly he taught us maths and sometimes geography…

If my memory serves me well it was back in 1992…

As I was saying

I liked it because of TWO REASONS firstly…    secondly … FOR EXAMPLE…

(As  I was saying) I liked this teacher for two reasons, firstly he always came to the class prepared and worked with an amazing efficiency. Secondly he had a mean sense of humour, which was frankly awe inspiring when you’re a ten year old.

It’s hard to explain why ….

t’s hard to explain why or how, but I was honestly impressed by this teacher, Mr Sykes.

And that’s my talk about ….

And that’s my talk about one of my favourite school teachers.

* Cue Card (Part 2)

Describe an interesting conversation you had.

          You should say:

* when and where you had it

I would like to tell you about one of my older friends who sat down with me and answered all my questions about settling down and family life…he was about ten years ahead of me….    I suppose you could say he’s probably one of the wisest friends I’ve ever had…. although he did set a lot of homework.

whom you were with 

If I remember correctly… it was just me and him, however, there were a lot of people at the dinner table but it was late and we kind of ignored everyone else …

* why it was interesting

It was interesting for TWO REASONS firstly…    secondly … FOR EXAMPLE…

And explain how you felt after that.

It’s hard to explain why …..

Now, let’s move on to the follow-on questions. These follow-on questions will be slightly different to the cue card we’ve just covered.

These were specifically chosen for two reasons:

These are quite popular current events and issues that are going on in the world. 

You’ve got a good opportunity for vocabulary that you can not only use in your Speaking but in your Writing as well.

These were quite interesting and more likely to be relevant to our situation about what we are doing.

PART 3 (A)

Where is the most crowded place in your city?

Why are cities becoming overcrowded day by day?

People behave differently in crowded places, why do you think this happens?

How do you think people should deal with traffic congestion?

PART 3 (B)

Do you think University should be compulsory? 

Describe a situation when you helped someone.