Cue Card # 38: A story you heard when you were a child

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 38

Describe a story you heard when you were a child.

You should say:

• what the story was
• who told you the story
• why you liked/disliked it

and explain why you still remember this story.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer:

Probably, all of us have those funny grandma stories that we love to share with others. While some of those of stories (told by grandmas) are kind, heartwarming, and full of sage wisdom. However, some other stories from them can be totally hilarious and impressive. One such “grandma” hilarious story, that I would like to share with you today, is a story of a newly-married wife who had cooked her meat dish with sugar instead of salt.

The story goes like this: my grandma needed to attend a post-marriage party/ceremony at her sister’s house. It was a big house with a lot of guests who were busy enjoying their greetings and conversation with the newly-married couple. Of course, among many things at the post-marriage ceremony, “the talk of the town” was the newly-married wife was a very good cook, and that the “popular demand” was she would cook one of her favourite dishes with meat with her own hands for the guests.

So, the cooking session began as per the schedule by the designated chefs with the newly-married wife, of course, at the “helm of affairs”. Everything was going fine at the party while many appetizing dishes were being cooked in the kitchen in order to be served for honourable guests. Then, finally, there arrived the much-awaited and much-anticipated “hour of delicatessen” (some would say “hour of inconvenient truth”), and the guests were ready to eat.

First, they were served with appetizer, followed by other complementary dishes. Then, of course, came the “the day’s special” which was “allegedly” cooked by the newly-married wife. But, unfortunately, it turned out to be the “nightmare” for the newly-married wife since her “special dish” was cooked with sugar by mistake instead of salt. Some guests at the dinner table were laughing while the others started to whisper among themselves. Then, there was also another group of people who simply looked confused and chose to keep quiet. But, as for the newly-married wife, the lesser we talk about her, the better she would be served!

Anyway, I still remember the story mainly because it was a “grandma” special. In fact, it is simply an unbeatable and incomparable experience as a child to be able to enjoy a story from your old grandma while enjoying your favourite snacks also at the same. This funny story also taught me of an important lesson that told us not to “boast” about our skills or become “over-confident” about ourselves no matter how good we really are. But, above all, I still remember this story because I literally ‘forced’ my grandma to cook that special food with her own hand so that I could enjoy it as well. Needless to say, that particular dish, made with meat and mushrooms, became one of my most favourite dishes of all time later on.