The IELTS speaking section evaluates your ability to maintain fluency, use appropriate vocabulary, and present topics in a clear, well-structured way. While preparing for this section, one intriguing cue card topic you might encounter is “Describe a Time When You Were Late”. This topic is asked in part 2 of the IELTS exam, but what is most important is how you explain and impress the examiner. Thus, read our blog to navigate samples, tips, follow-up questions, and more that will help you ace the IELTS exam.
Table of Contents
The IELTS speaking section encompasses three parts, and the most popular is the second part, which is known as the cue card. This is the most important question in the IELTS speaking module. In this, candidates get a card consisting of a topic based on any situation, people, place, personal experience, event, or anything else. You have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes in the IELTS speaking part 2. Also, students get another minute to prepare a response. Afterwards, the examiner asks follow-up questions that you have to answer.
This is the overview of the IELTS cue card. Now, let’s explore how to answer this correctly.
It is important to employ the right approach to answer the IELTS cue cards. It asses your fluency, ability to plan, prepare and present your ideas and view. Also, remember that your answer is being evaluated on four bases: fluency, grammar, coherence, and pronunciation. Additionally, don’t show the examiner that you are struggling to answer the topics. Thus, first, introduce the topic, describe a time when you were late and provide answers by keeping these questions in mind.
Here is the first sample of the cue card. You can use this example to answer this topic in a correct tone and structure to score a high band in the IELTS exam.
I usually strive to get to my destination early since I know how important it is to be on time on a specific occasion. However, an unforeseen situation occurred that delayed my arrival at my dentist's appointment for my braces checkup.
Prior to 2023, I had an appointment with my dentist related to monthly checkups for my braces. I underestimated the traffic during the heavy rush hour and ended up taking the wrong route.
I thought I had sufficient time when I left my house. However, I did not account for the road construction that resulted in a severe traffic bottleneck. Moreover, it was too late to change my way by the time I realized this.
I was tensed and anxious. Also, I attempted to notify the dentist's office of my predicament over the phone. Additionally, my phone's battery was dead before I could finish explaining my kettle of fish situation since the battery was low. Knowing that they might not wait for me made me more conscious and feel worse.
Finally, I went to the dentist's clinic and apologized for my belatedness. The receptionist was kind and understanding but also said I might have to wait for my turn or reschedule my slot. I decided to wait, and I was fortunate enough that the doctor took me to the room quickly.
This little miss happening of being late taught me a lesson to always set a deadline and be ready for being delayed for any cause. Also, check the routes to take shortcuts and save time.
Here is a second sample that you can refer to answer this topic during your IELTS cue card session. So, let’s have a read.
As a Mumbai girl, I always give precedence to time as I believe that you have to leave before a certain time to reach a place in this busy city. But due to my unmanageable time, I missed out on the astonishing sunset at Marine Drive with my sister.
Last year, my beloved sister came to Mumbai to meet me after a prolonged time at Marine Drive to watch the sunset and enjoy quality time. However, my tardiness and the substantial traffic in Mumbai prevented me from enjoying the sunset with her.
It was Saturday, and I estimated that I would have sufficient time to reach the marine drive. I left my home two hours prior, keeping in mind the rush of heavy traffic. Inline, I preferred to take the metro rather than take a taxi. However, maybe I wasn’t privileged enough on that day as the metro was 1 hour delayed. Still, I somehow managed to reach the station. A taxi was required to reach the main place, but the dense traffic made me miss the sunset and get stuck in the gridlock.
I was feeling very guilty, irritated due to traffic, and stressed about not meeting my sister on time and not relishing the sunset.
By the time I arrived at sundown, it had already passed. I apologised for being late, but she was incredibly kind and understanding. She recognised my situation and showed empathy despite the delay.
Set your priorities and time, especially when it comes to meeting your loved ones. Check the routes preceding so that you can make the right decision about choosing the right conveyance mode.
Here is the third example of this cue card that will help you answer it professionally if you are using any instance associated with any employment purpose. So, let’s understand this.
Time is valuable to everyone. In fact, I persistently strive to be on time because I respect arriving on time. However, there are instances when we are unaware that something could become the reason for being delayed. Thus, I experienced this situation during one of my job interviews.
Last year, I underwent a significant delay in an important job interview. A mix of ineffective time management and unanticipated traffic jams brought on by a huge accident on my regular route where I got late.
I departed from my home, assuming, consisting of plenty of time, forestalling a smooth journey to go for an interview. Unfortunately, I was unaware of the collision, and the gridlock was around for 2 hours. Also, I neglected to check the road updates and thought of taking another route, but according to the scheduled interview, I opted for my regular route to reach the time.
Panic and annoyance swept over me as I sat in the crippling traffic congestion. When I realized how serious the situation was, I immediately called the company’s HR department to inform them about the unforeseen circumstances. I apologize for being late to the interview and request to schedule another interview after 3 hours if it’s possible. The tension of the bottleneck, combined with the stress about giving a bad impression in the first meetup, felt like having too many irons in the fire (or juggling too many things).
HR understood the situation and rescheduled my job interview. The interviewer understood the condition when I arrived and valued my proactive communication skills and flexibility in responding to what happened. Thus, despite the rough beginning, they consented to continue the interview, which went surprisingly smoothly.
This instance profoundly accentuated the importance of forecasting and planning for any astonishing and tranquilly situation under pressure. Thus, this lesson has substituted two approaches associated with time management and good communication skills.
These are the three IELTS cue card samples to “Describe a time when you were late”. We hope that from these samples you get influenced on how to answer this. Now in the next section, look at the lexical resources used in this.
In the IELTS speaking skill test, you need to focus more on the words you are using. Thus, a robust vocabulary for IELTS is a vital factor in preparing for the cue card. Thus, here is the list of the vocabulary used in the above sample that will help you to enhance your answers.
| Words | Menaing |
|---|---|
| Itinerary | Route or journey that will be visited |
| Bottleneck | A section of road that causes traffic |
| Predicament | A difficult or unpleasant situation that is hard to get out from. |
| Kettle of fish | A difficult or challenging situation |
| Inwards | To come inside a place |
| Belatedness | The state of being late or delay |
| Quantified | Describe something as a number, amount, or time. |
| Precedence | Give priority to someone or something. |
| Astonishing | Very surprising or amazing |
| Beloved | Much loved |
| Prolonged | Continuing something for a long time. |
| Tardiness | Quality of being delay or late. Another form of belatedness |
| Substantial | Large in number, amount or size |
| Dense | Difficult to penetrate |
| Relish | To enjoy something |
| Intelligible | Someone who can easily or possibly understand |
| Preceding | To happen, check or update something prior |
| Persistently | Determined to continuing something |
| Forestalling | Take action to prevent something from happening |
| Gridlock | Synonym of bottleneck |
| Annoyance swept | A quick feeling of irritation or being bothered |
| Consented | To agree or allow something |
| Accentuated | To emphasize something. |
| Forecasting | Making predication |
| Tranquilly | Being calm in any situation |
These are some of the advanced vocabulary utilized in the samples. Besides, you can use these words in your answer to make it more engaging and positive.
After completing the IELTS speaking part 2 that describes the cue card, you have to answer the follow-up questions. The examiner asked a few follow-up questions based on the topic. However, you must know what you have said in your answer. So here are some of the questions that the examiner may ask you.
1. Are you ever late for anything?
Answer: I always attempt to be on time for any gathering I have to attend. Although it has not happened often, there have been times when unforeseen events have made me late.
2. What excuses do you use when you are late?
Answer: One of my core values is taking accountability for my actions. I always endeavour to be truthful and transparent about being delayed for any reason and avoid using any excuses. However, in case of heavy traffic, any transportation issue, or unforeseeable circumstances, I assert the situation personally and professionally.
3. Why do some people find it hard to follow their plans?
Answer: In my vision, there could be numerous reasons why people struggle to stick to their plans. These factors include a lack of clear steps, low tendency, not setting priorities, perfectionism, overestimation of the future, and more. This leads people to not outline their plans and get late to attend anything. These are some of the issues that make it difficult for them to stick to their plans.
4. Are you good at organizing time?
Answer: I unceasingly work on enhancing my time management skills. Also, I set my deadlines, priorities tasks and use various tools like to-do lists and calendars to organize my time effectively.
5. Is it important for children to learn to manage time?
Answer: Yes, I wholeheartedly deem that teaching time is important for children to manage their time, which is essential nowadays. Moreover, learning time management skills can help them develop exceptional habits to manage time will provide many benefits to them throughout their life. Also, when they grow up, it will help them to learn skills like self-discipline.
Now that you fully understand the cue card and how to answer it. Also, you can use the IELTS speaking mock test to explore your weaknesses and strengths. Now, let’s evaluate some of the valuable strategies that can help you respond to this cue card more effectively. So have a look.
Here are some tips and tricks that will help you to answer the cue card in IELTS speaking part 2. It makes your responsemore impressive and makes the examiner more engaging to know your answer. So have a look at it.
1. Try to add real-life incidents while preparing for the answer to make it more realistic and interesting.
2. Use impressive vocabulary for IELTS in your answer. To do this, you can read the dictionary daily to learn new words and create a word bank consisting of hard words.
3. Maintain clarity rather than managing speed.
4. Time management is important, so set a 2-minute limit and practice speaking without hesitating regarding the topic.
5. Use necessary phrases or synonyms in your answer if the same word is repeated.
6. Use ideas that sound more engaging and interesting.
7. Note down the keywords and ideas along with their synonyms.
Also read –
1. Describe A Traditional Product In Your Country Ielts Cue Card
2. Describe A Development In Your Country
3. Describe An Advertisement That You Don't Like
4. Describe A Toy You Liked In Your Childhood
5. Describe A Time When You Received Money As A Gift
Here we come to the end of this blog. The IELTS speaking section assesses your ability to understand and communicate accurately in English, with the cue card being one of its key components. In this blog, we focused on the topic "Describe a time when you were late" and shared three sample answers to guide your preparation. Thus, if you want any guidance or assistance in solving cue cards or require more topics and answers like this, then you can enrol in online IELTS Classes. Experts here would help you to achieve high scores.
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