Describe something that you did with someone/a group of people IELTS Cue Card

IELTS CUE CARD TOPIC

Describe something that you did with someone/a group of people

You should say:

What it was?
Who you did do it with?
How long it took you to do this?
And explain why you did it together.

NOTE – The examiner gives you one minute to plan your answer, and to help you prepare for the topic, the examiner provides you with a pencil and a notepad. You’ll have to answer the questions given on the topic for one-to-two minutes.

Sample 1

Introduction

Although I have done many activities in groups, one of them is worth mentioning.

What was it?

It provided free meals to the poor people who lost their jobs due to the lockdown during the corona pandemic.

Who did you do it with?

As we had to prepare meals for about 1,000 people, we needed a big team to manage the kitchen and distribution.

To make an energetic team consisting of people with the determination, dedication and discipline to work for a noble cause, I launched a campaign on Instagram.

To my surprise, more than 100 people contacted me to be volunteers. In the end, I finalised a team of 80 people.

How long it took you to do this?

Serving meals to 1,000 people takes a lot of work, and it took us three days to plan. And on the fourth day, we had the meal service for the whole day.

And explain why you did it together.

We worked as a team because many tasks required teamwork. As for buying the groceries and vegetables, we had a different set of team players.

As we were short on budget, we decided to assign the cooking task to those volunteers who were good at culinary skills.

And we gave the task of distribution to those volunteers who were teenagers. As they have a boatload of energy at their disposal at such an age, they delivered the food items with tremendous ease.

With the unabated support of the team, our initiative was successful, and we provided free meals to the needy. Our team got on swimmingly to achieve the goal, and all members were happy as a clam.

Sample 2

Introduction

Although I have participated in many group activities in my life, one is unique and worth mentioning.

What was it?

It was during my school days when our maths teacher retired. The whole class was in tears on his leaving the school. He joined the school in his last year of employment because he wanted to settle in his hometown post-retirement, which was just 2 km away from our school.

Before he joined our school, most of my classmates, including me, struggled at maths, and getting a decent score in this subject was daunting. Our maths teacher taught us from the basics and advised us to understand the logic by studying with determination, dedication and discipline.

Under his guidance, there was a remarkable improvement in the maths score of most of the students. As we were thankful to him for bringing a paradigm shift in our understanding of maths, we all classmates decided to give him a farewell from our side outside the school premises.

Who did you do it with?

I played a critical role in organising the farewell, and all of my classmates became team members, and they provided me with unabated support.

How long it took you to do this?

It took me just three days. Firstly I took permission from the school principal to organise the party. After that, I finalised the menu for the party, which was in a restaurant adjoining our school. After that, I decided on the performances students wanted to give in front of our maths teacher to make him feel special.

The farewell party was a success, and our maths teacher had tears in his eyes for the treatment he received from his students.

And explain why you did it together.

I did it with my classmates by forming a group because our maths teacher always taught us to work in groups. And by organising his party involving all his classmates, we gave him the feeling we would follow his teachings.

Sample 3

Introduction

Being a social butterfly, I love to work in a team because I feel tired and monotonous when I perform solo. Although I have done many activities in the group, one is unique and worth mentioning.

What was it?

It was a college reunion.

Who did you do it with?

I did it by making a team of five people. We all were classmates, and we were the ones who stayed in India. Rest settled abroad

How long it took you to do this?

Initially, it looked like an easy task, but as we started, we realised it was herculean. As all our classmates were meeting after a long hiatus, we wanted to make this reunion special.

It took us almost one week to plan, and due to the unabated support of all the team members, we had a rocking get-together.

And explain why you did it together.

I did it with my friends for many reasons. Firstly, it was a daunting task for a single person because I had to do everything from soups to nuts. Moreover, I had other work at my disposal, so the company of others for organizing the function made my job easier.

Secondly, as most of our friends were coming from overseas, we had to take care of numerous things like travel and stay arrangements. We divided all the tasks among ourselves to avoid conflicts.

Apart from this, our friends did not meet much after completing our education. Having the company of friends while planning for the function allowed us to spend time with each other. Moreover, it made us feel nostalgic because we used to work in groups for many pursuits during school days.

Sample 4

Introduction

Although there are many pursuits which I have done in a team, one of them is worth mentioning.

What was it?

It was an awareness campaign to minimise plastic usage.

Who did you do it with?

I did it with the residents of my township. We were a group of ten. In the meeting, we told the public about the disastrous repercussion of the persistent use of plastic. And to aware the audience, we made a PowerPoint presentation.

Firstly we depicted how plastic is polluting our water bodies. Then, through an audio-visual, we showed them that the plastic waste we throw first enters the drains and it clogs them affecting the sanitation system of the cities. After that, it pollutes the rivers and oceans. Moreover, it severely threatens marine species as they lose their lives after consuming it.

Apart from this, we told them how plastic waste is reducing soil fertility by contaminating it. Due to this, the nutritional value of our food is declining considerably.

Lastly, we showed them how this world could be better if we stopped using plastic. We showed them pictures of those cities which had experienced a paradigm shift in their looks after the plastic ban.

How long it took you to do this?

It took us one week to plan it as we needed to arrange a few things like placards, sound and pamphlets.

And explain why you did it together.

I did it in a group to manage the show effectively. The teamwork empowered me to give a well-researched presentation to an audience. Lastly, due to the event’s success, all team members were in the seventh heaven, and their attitude towards the work made my day.

Sample 5

Introduction

Since my childhood, I am a firm admirer of teamwork, and I sincerely believe that when people join hands to do a task success is inevitable. Although I have done many activities in a team, one of them is special and hence worth mentioning.

What it was?

It was a show to raise funds for underprivileged people. I stay in the heart of the city and adjoining my township, there is a slum area. Due to Corona pandemic, many people lost their jobs and did not have money to buy food.

During that challenging time, I decided to help them. As providing meals to around 500 people require a lot of money, I looked for ways to arrange funds. One legitimate way to procure was to conduct a musical night.

I contacted the renowned singers of my hometown and asked them to join hands for this noble cause. Most said no, but two of them consented on humanitarian grounds.

After that, I formed a team to make the necessary arrangements. There were tickets for the show which we sold online. We hired the local stadium for free after negotiating with the concerned officials.

To our joy, the show was a roaring success. We sold all tickets and collected massive revenue that pampered the appetite of the poor people for fifteen days.

Who you did do it with?

I did it with my neighbours.

How long it took you to do this?

It took me one month to plan and execute.

And explain why you did it together.

I did it in a team because there were many things to do, and doing them alone was daunting. Moreover, I wanted people who know the meat and potatoes of organising a show efficiently.

Sample 6

Introduction

Doing activities in unison is an excellent way to strengthen the bond with others. Recently I did a group activity that is worth mentioning.

What was it?

It was a potluck dinner at one of my neighbor’s places. Instead of ordering food from outside, each family brought one home-cooked delicacy.

Who did you do it with?

I did it with my neighbor’s families. There was a total of ten families who participated in it.

How long it took you to do this?

It took me three days to plan. Firstly I made the menu for dinner. After that, I sent it to all the participants and told them to select the one they would cook. The next day I received the response. Based on the feedback, I assigned duties to everyone. We had three snacks, four main course delicacies, and two desserts.

And explain why you did it together.

I did it together for many reasons. Firstly we planned the dinner during monsoon, and at that time, the chances of getting infected with a waterborne disease were higher. Due to this reason, we decided to have dinner together in our township.

Secondly, the reason for doing it together was to lift the lockdown imposed due to the corona pandemic. We all stayed indoors for three months at a stretch, so we felt social isolation. To celebrate our freedom due to the lifting of the lockdown, we decided to have dinner together to have a gala time together.

Lastly, I knew that my neighbours had excellent culinary skills, and I wanted to bring out their hidden talents through potluck.

Follow ups

Here are some examples of follow-up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to the cue card “Describe something that you did with someone/a group of people”.

1. How do you get along with your neighbours?

I share a cordial relationship with my neighbours. Although I have a hectic schedule, I meet my neighbours once a week. We talk about pressing societal problems when we encounter, and sometimes we play cricket together. On Sundays, we usually have picnics together, and occasionally we organise parties where we have enormous fun.

2. How do neighbours help each other?

The neighbours can help each other in numerous ways. Firstly, those who go to the same place can engage in the carpool; this way, they can save time and money and protect the environment.

They can also share their problems with each other and look for possible solutions. There is no denying this conviction that our neighbours are immediately available to us in case of unforeseen contingencies, whereas our relatives take time to reach.

Hence, all neighbours should share cordial relationships and keep differences at bay.

3. Do you think neighbours help each other more often in the countryside than in the city?

In the cities, people have a hectic lifestyle. Plus, they experience fierce competition and have to deal more with spiralling inflation. Due to this, they have less time at their disposal to help their neighbours. Plus, in the city, people give less importance to relationships, and the central focus of the people is towards earning money and show-off.

4. How do children learn to cooperate?

Children learn to cooperate with society. If the people around them have this habit of helping their near and dear ones, the offsprings know to do the same.

On the other hand, when they stay in a self-centred society where people are concerned about themselves, they learn the same and do not provide support to others.

Hence it is the elders’ duty to set the right precedent for the children by helping the people around them.

5. Do you think parents should teach children to cooperate with others? How?

Yes, the parent’s responsibility is to teach their children to cooperate with others. Because in their budding years, children stay with their parents, which is when they acquire good habits.

By seeing their parents helping others, they, too, acquire the trait of helping the people around them.

6. Do you think it’s essential for children to learn about cooperation?

Yes, children must learn about cooperation because this trait helps them lead their lives towards an impressive growth trajectory.

In this modern is, a person’s success thrives primarily on his relationships with others. Good habits acquired in childhood get hardwired into children’s brains and foster their cognitive development.

7. How does not cooperating with others affect the children?

Those children who do not cooperate with the people around them face disastrous aftermaths in the long run. In the short period, they do not realise the harm they are doing to themselves. It is a slow process in which their friend circle shrinks. Moreover, the persons they deal with start calling them egoist and self-centred.

The real problem starts with the children who did not cooperate with others in the past, start doing job or business after passing their education. They find it challenging to deal with people, and they cannot handle their conflicts adroitly at their workplace.

8. What are the benefits of group learning for the students?

Group learning provides numerous benefits to students. Firstly it helps them find different answers to the same question because each student has a different way of replying.

Moreover, it develops a competitive spirit in the students because when they study alone, they need to get information on how their classmates prepare. On the contrary, during group classes, they get to know the strengths and weaknesses of others and design their schedules accordingly.

Apart from this, group learning enhances students’ confidence by making them more social. It removes the fears they have while interacting with others. Moreover, it encourages them to present their view in front of others.

9. How can technology help in group learning?

In this modern era, group learning has grown by leaps and bounds due to the unabated support of burgeoning technology. People need to be physically present to participate in a group: they can do so from the comfort of their homes.

Apart from this, for sharing information, there are plenty of ways like text, audio, video, pictures etc. Hence, it is worthwhile to say that technology strengthens group learning.

10. How to handle conflicts in group learning?

Handling conflicts adroitly is a skill that everyone must have. It is worthwhile to speak according to the situation. It is vital to refrain from friendship with everyone in the group.

Moreover, there can be differences in the ideology of different group members, and we should acknowledge them. Lastly, all group members should leave no stone unturned to maintain a pleasant environment inside the class to foster learning.

Vocab:

1. Worth mentioning

Meaning: Important enough to require a comment.

Sentence: The contribution of animals in scientific research is worth mentioning. Humans are leaving no stone unturned to use animals for their vested interests.

2. At your disposal

Meaning: Available for you to use at any time

Sentence: Due to overconsumption we have limited fossil fuels at our disposal. Hence, the higher authorities must make some informed decisions to tap alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind power.

3. Monotonous

Meaning: Doing the same tasks, again and again, makes us feel monotonous, hence we need to inculcate small changes in our routine to maintain freshness.

4. Get on swimmingly

Meaning: To get on well

Sentence: After initial hiccups, we reworked our strategy to get on swimmingly for achieving our goal.

5. Legitimate

Meaning: Legal

Sentence: In the modern era there are numerous legitimate ways to earn a substantial amount of money. Hence finding illegal ways to become rich is an imprudent approach.

6. Happy as a clam

Meaning: Happy One

Sentence: Yuvraj Singh was happy as a clam after hitting six sixers in an over. He said due to an altercation with Andrew Flintoff, he went nuclear and performed well to give a befitting reply.

7. Everything from soups to nuts

Meaning: A variety of things.

Sentence: Launching a startup is a daunting task because you need to do everything from soups to nuts.

8. Meat and potatoes

Meaning: The essential aspects of something

Sentence: The gospel truth is that seeking perfecting is the first hurdle to success. People assume that they need to know the meat and potatoes of a skill to earn from it, and due to this, they refrain from indulging in new tasks.

9. Seventh heaven

Meaning: A state of extreme joy

Sentence: After passing my 10th standard with flying colours I was in seventh heaven.