Describe an interesting story you heard when you were a child

IELTS Cue Card Sample 68 – Interesting story you heard when you were a child

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Last Updated: Thursday, 20 February 2020 12:08

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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe an interesting story you heard when you were a child.

You should say:

• who told you the story
• what was the story
• why you think it was an interesting story

and explain why you still remember this story.

Model Answer 1:

I heard a lot of stories from my parents and grandparents when I was growing up as a child. Some of those stories were funny, exciting and fairy tales while the others were sad or thought-provoking. However, today I would like to share a story here, told to me by my old grandfather, which is about the sheer bravery of a person.

The story goes like this – back in the days of my grandfather in the early 1920s, they used to live in a village which was surrounded by many forests. However, having forests around the village of my grandparents was not exactly an issue for them if some tigers also hadn’t lived in those forests and preyed on their cattle and goats at will. But, unfortunately, none of the villagers, where my grandparents had lived, was brave enough to take the challenge to kill their forest enemies. So, they decided to seek help from one of the strongest (a bodybuilder) and bravest persons, they knew, from another village, who had the experience of killing a few tigers by using a rifle.

This mystery person came to the village of my grandfather and set up a tent at a strategic location to kill the tiger. After waiting for a couple of nights, the brave hunter finally saw a tiger in the village on the third night.  Seeing this, the tiger hunter immediately came out with his rifle and tried to pull his trigger but, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do so in time. So, the tiger attacked him and injured him, even though it was eventually killed by the bullet from his rifle. Anyway, it was indeed an interesting story because the brave hunter actually overpowered the tiger, even though he lost one of his ears in the process.

Anyway, I still remember this story because it actually gave me a live image of the difficult life that people lived a century ago when they had to constantly struggle with nature to survive. Besides, it also taught me to be strong and brave if I really needed to face any challenge in my life.

Sample Answer 2:

Childhood stories were fascinating and in my childhood, I had been very fond of those short of stories. My grandmother used to tell me stories before going to sleep. One such childhood story that I can remember is about a prince who fought and defeated a mighty giant to rescue his princess.

He was a good prince who helped his countrymen and was a very good fighter. He was happily married to the prince he falls in love with. They were benevolent kings and queens for the country and people of the country loved them very much. One day a giant ghost came from other territory and tried to abduct a small kid. The prince was out of the country at that moment for business purpose and the queen tried to force the giant to leave. That irritated the giant and it finally abducted the queen. The prince returned to the country a few days back and learned the stories. He became very gloomy and decided to search for his queen. Everybody tried to convince him but he finally remained steady in his decision. He started a long and struggle-some journey to find the giant and rescue the queen. The journey was much surprising and full of different puzzles and obstacles. He finally reached to the abyss and found the queen. He had to fight with the giant and finally kill it to get his princess back.

As a child, this was one of my very favourite stories. My grandma told me the story multiple times and I used to insist her to tell me this very story. As a child, the story opened a new horizon to me. I believed that every word of this story was true and that’s why it made a special place in my mind. Most probably I have thought a lot about the things happened in this story and as a result, I have still remembered the story.

Sample Answer 3:

My mother used to tell me bedtime stories during my childhood and I have heard some of those stories so many times they have been permanently depicted in my memory.

One such story was the story of a boy who was 10 years old and got lost one day. The boy tried to get back home but since a bad magician used his black magic on the boy, he could not get back home. The boy would be totally lost once the magic engulfs him totally and the magician would then use the boy to do bad things. But in the boy’s memory was his mother and father and that’s why he was not totally lost. The boy continued his search for the way back to his home and on this journey, he met an old man, a wounded tiger, a candy man, a king and a nomad with gold coins. Each time the boy met someone many exciting things happened. In fact, those were the tests for him. If he passes those tests would be able to get back home and if he fails the tests, he would never be able to get back home. His confront with the king was most exciting as he had to go to different places and collect different things from challenging places to prove that he was innocent. Each time the boy faced a new challenge and amazing circumstances, the story gets more exciting.

After the boy won the last challenge he was given, the impact of the magic was no longer applicable and he found that he was standing nearby his home. As a child, I really enjoyed the story. I was almost the same age the boy in the story was and every time he faced a new challenge, the story took a turn and revealed another challenge. The story was intelligently made and I loved to hear it.

Tips for answering this Cue card topic:

Remember any story suitable for a child or maybe a real story you heard from your childhood and prepare for the quick notes that you should take before you start talking about this cue card. Adhere to the questions asked in the cue card question and take quick notes on that. After you are done taking short notes to each question, try to elaborate on each answer with additional information. For instance, the following is an approach of note-taking for the questions and later on the elaborate method is shown.

— My grandmother.
— It was about a boy who was taken to the underworld by a witch.
— The story was great; I was amazed by the underworld, my grandmother made it interesting for me.
—  I heard it several times, I told it to my younger kids, I dreamed about this story and that was a story I will never forget.

After you have taken short notes for each question, it is time to elaborate this. Following is an example of how to elaborate on each point taken earlier. 

—  My grandmother used to tell me stories to help me sleep and this was the story I heard from her more than hundred times. She had a great way of telling a story, especially the fairy stories and her tones and expressions made the story more interesting. She told it so convincingly that sometimes I believed that the characters and story were true. I was only 6-7 years old when I heard it and then it became my favourite bedtime story.

— It was a story about a boy who was barely 8-9 years old and who was abducted by a witch one day while he was playing in the field. The witch took the boy to complete one of her very wicked ambition to become immortal and the boy was meant to be killed by her. But the boy was so brave and he loved his mother very much. The father was a warrior and started his voyage to rescue his son. In the meantime, a lovely fairy found the plot of the witch and she was determined to rescue the boy. The boy with his bravery, with the help of the good fairy and finally for the unforgettable battle between the father and the witch, the boy was rescued and the witch and the evil spirit was killed.

— I liked it because of the storyline and the way my grandmother told me the story. I was touched by the bravery or the boy and his father and at the same time, this was my first imagination about the world placed underground. There were lots of materials in the story, imaginary materials actually, and those helped me to imagine the world that I never knew. I started dreaming about the underworld and the evil spirit and good spirit of the story and I was also very inspired by the bravery of the young child of the story. For all those reasons I liked the story very much and I always required my grandma to tell this very story. Because I have heard this story several times, naturally it became the part of my memory. It was one of my very favourite stories in my childhood and later on, I have told this story to some of my younger cousins. Most importantly, in my childhood, I have made lots of imaginary things regarding this story and that made a strong impression on me. Because of that I still remember this story.

After you have told the story and answered the question, give a finishing line to your speaking and that would make your speaking answer a very good one.

Similar cue card topics:

1.    Describe a story you remember.
2.    Describe a story suitable for children.
3.    Describe a story you heard from your grandmother.
4.    Describe a story you read in your childhood.
5.    Describe a bedtime story you remember.