The Time You Learned A Difficult Word: IELTS Cue Card

The Time You Learned A Difficult Word 

Last Updated on August 29, 2024

As we all know that there are three portions of the IELTS Speaking Test, and the Cue Card section is one of them. You must speak in this portion about a topic that is provided to you right away. A Cue Card gives you two minutes to talk about a topic or task, and then you have a minute-long conversation with the examiner.

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The Speaking Cue Card component of the IELTS evaluates your ability to talk clearly, order your ideas, and employ a variety of vocabulary and grammatical constructions. Once you have the Cue Card, you have one minute to get ready. Cue Card topics range widely, from abstract ideas to personal experiences and in this article, we will be discussing about one such topic, that is 

‘The time you learned a difficult word’. The following are the 3 samples for the given topic with the follow up questions to help you ace the cue card section in the best way possible ! 

What Can You Say? 

  • What is the word? 
  • Where did you initially read it?
  • How do you determine a word’s meaning?
  • Why did you find learning challenging? 

Model Answer 1: The Time You Learned A Difficult Word 

Introduction

In my opinion, it is too significant to stop being educated as it helps you grow your knowledge. new words to increase our vocabulary and create your own unique voice!

Like every time we consume any written media like magazines or internet articles, some new words capture our attention and this is the word that I would like to discuss.  

What was this word? And Who was it that you shared it with? 

So a couple of months back, I was given the list of “ielts” essays from one of my friends. This was the only review the given sample essay had, and I would suggest that I go through it before the test. I thought that the one essay I was facing was the biggest obstacle. The essay was totally a keyword-focused essay, which includes a discussion on “The causes and solutions of anorexia nervosa”. I had no idea at all of this word and I got nervous that what if I had this essay in exam: 

How do you determine a word’s meaning?

Immediately, I drew my dictionary to discover the definition of this term, but I could not make most of their words. I rushed to pick up the phone and phoned my friends who had just successfully completed the ielts test. What I also had was the case when it was unknown to me but I did not worry because he gave me a website address about it and I could find the details there. 

 I tapped the link he gave to me and it was so overwhelming seeing how well-written and easy to understand the essays here were with sample answers provided. I typed in Anorexia and it told me that it was an obsessive compulsive food disorder. 

Conclusion:

It made me aware about the causes and solutions and now I am much confident to deal with the essay! From that moment onwards I am teaching my friends that new word as well. It was a time when I got a new term, which I was not aware of, previously. 

Model Answer 2: The Time You Learned A Difficult Word 

Introduction:

Acquiring new knowledge, language, literacy among others is what people call learning. 

The word that I will be talking about is a difficult word from the list of new pronunciations that I had memorized. 

What is this word?

When it came to Idyllic, it was the word I had trouble pronouncing. 

It is the very meaning of the adjective that can create this picture. 

At what place did you have the opportunity to read it?

I remember hearing it for the first time when I was having a conversation with one of my colleagues. . 

This was the beautiful time of the day and we had a casual and informal conversation. He  wrote this at that time in that sentence “ I have an idyllic view of the sea from this cabin’s balcony” . 

What is the meaning of the word?

With the phrase echoing in my mind, I failed to clearly understand the word the man had said. 

 “What does that mean?” I stopped his words and wanted to learn something that the word meant. 

It is the palaces that the king thinks of when he speaks of the word as peaceful, extremely pleasant and beautiful. 

How did you find the learning process tough?

For me, it was very challenging to substitute the sounds correctly. Because it was the first time ever when I heard the word but I was not successful in pronouncing it right. 

Conclusion:

I get to learn many new terms by him, like albeit, belie, jejune etc that can be applied in many other ways, such as, in a conversation with someone or with higher officials. 

Model Answer 3: The Time You Learned A Difficult Word 

I am a person who wants to be always ready to learn anything, either it relates to study or to other matters of life. Speaking of vocabulary, I’ve met with a great number of the words so far, and, partially, I learned them. Nevertheless, I want to discuss here one word I have had to learn the meaning of and I struggled with it, which was “phenomenon”.  It was some years ago that I was in 8th standard. School management gave students a two week break. 

One day, especially during a holiday due to this magazine’s situation, I accidentally found this word out. All of a sudden, I could see this word and it drew my attention. Immediately, I went to my room and searched the dictionary for details. However, I could not remember its pronunciation, and was unable to make sense of its meaning. It was a very difficult language for me to learn because I had never known or seen the word before. Not only that I had a problem with the English language, but that time I wasn’t good at that part. As a result ,I found the process of acquiring it. 

One day, I discussed this with my sister, but she confessed that she had no idea about it as well. Following, I made a call to my tuition teacher urging him if there was some time available. Lucky as I was, my teacher was not engaged anywhere, so I went straight to his house. 

His inputs are crucial for me to get a clear picture of this word. Now I am able to pronounce it better. My teacher used special markup to indicate to me what part of the word should be stressed more and what part should be less stressed. 

Also, besides gaining more vocabulary, I know how to make this word into a sentence. I thanked my teacher a lot as he helped me a lot. Besides, the fact that I was also very content with myself as another new fantastic term of vocabulary had been successfully memorized. 

Other Cue card:

Describe A Tourist Place No One Visits: IELTS Cue card

Describe a time when you were sleepy but had to stay awake: IELTS Cue card

Describe a time when you were in a public place and you overhead a stranger talking on the phone

Describe Some Technology That You Decided To Stop Using: IELTS Cue Card

Describe a Library you have Visited Cue Card

Follow Up Questions: The Time You Learned A Difficult Word 

Are there any methods that students can employ to help them recall new material more quickly?

I believe that using new tactics that you learn online is the most effective way to get familiar with them. For instance, it would be quite beneficial for schoolchildren to practice dancing and repeat new vocabulary words in their daily lives, as this would facilitate learning.

How crucial do you think it is to instill in young pupils the ability to independently locate and verify information?

Knowing more about oneself, in my opinion, is beneficial for kids because it will help them understand the qualities they possess and wish to embrace in their lives. Some of these qualities are very important to us in the modern world, so by understanding this, kids can easily adapt from others. 

Why do you think most young children find learning words enjoyable?

Children find it a little strange when they hear a different word than the usual one which they can hear in their daily lives, thus they quickly describe what the word means. 

Do you consider the situation when you can remember the WORDS better as a child and find it hard to do the same as adults?

I’m sure it is not age-related, it depends on the person and the brain level instead. Secondly, I should say that it depends on a person on his/her opinion of what words they want to learn, so it’s unrelated to gender, age or something like that. 

Do you think studying poetry and songs is a waste of time?

To be candid, once in a while, I do not think so, because English songs and poems sometimes really benefit us to calm down and be in a good mood. Since many people have to deal with the hectic schedule, it is pretty much they are tired.  But if they get to know some songs and poems, it is like a cool down for them. 

Is it rational to teach the younger students facts about the world to the older students in their first school years? Eg. , dates in history)?

I would like to pinpoint that seminal dates are critical in our everyday activities. If we know the fundamental dates, we will understand where that period is in the history of the world. In this way, our curiosity about the stone pyramids of Egypt leads to some facts that relate to the particular period. 

Conclusion 

‘Talk about the difficult words that you learned to pronounce” is the topic of this IELTS speaking cue card article. with sample follow-up questions and model responses. However, be sure to speak on your own terms during the interview. We really hope that this blog post was helpful and that it will enable you to solve the IELTS cue card part on this subject. 

Article Categories:
Speaking

Neha Sharma is an IELTS faculty with a decade of experience in teaching IELTS. She holds a PhD in English from Stanford University, USA. Excelling in tailoring her teaching to individual student needs, she has helped over 50,000 students achieve their target scores. Actively involved in research, she ensures that her methods remain effective and innovative.

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