IELTS Speaking Part 2

Describe a colour that has a special meaning in your culture: IELTS cue card with sample answer

An IELTS cue card for Speaking Part 2 with a Band 8 sample answer, the one-minute plan behind it, the vocabulary that lifts it and the Part 3 follow-up questions the examiner can ask next.
  • 263 words
  • Other topics
  • 1 minute to prepare
  • 2 minutes to speak

The cue card

Describe a colour that has a special meaning in your culture.

You should say:

  • →What the colour is
  • →When people use or wear it
  • →What it represents
  • →And explain how you feel about this colour

One minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes. Prefer to practise without recording? Run the clock on any card with the IELTS speaking timer.

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One minute to prepare, then up to two minutes to speak. Cover every point on the card, then compare with the Band 8 answer below.

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Other topics

How to answer this cue card: a one-minute plan

  1. 1

    Choose a colour with clear cultural uses, such as red, white, yellow or green, so you can link it to festivals, clothes or rituals.

  2. 2

    Use the passive ('it's believed', 'gifts are wrapped') to describe cultural practices naturally.

  3. 3

    Add a cross-cultural comparison in the last part; it shows wider thinking and leads well into Part 3.

Model answer

Band 8 sample answer

Band 8263 words, about two minutes at a natural pace. Details are invented; use your own.

In Vietnamese culture, the colour I'd pick is red. I'm a twenty-two-year-old university student in Da Nang studying tourism, and red is everywhere in my life, especially around Tet, our Lunar New Year.

People use it most during Tet and weddings. Before the New Year, families hang red decorations, put up red banners with lucky phrases and give children little red envelopes with money inside, which we call li xi. At weddings, the bride often wears a red ao dai for the traditional ceremony, and gifts are wrapped in red paper. Even shops paint their signs red when they open, because they hope it'll bring them customers.

Red represents luck, happiness and success. It's also believed to scare away bad spirits, which is why it's used at the start of something new, like a year, a marriage or a business. Interestingly, it's one of the colours of our national flag too, so it carries a sense of pride as well.

Personally, I have very warm feelings about it. When I see red lanterns going up in the streets in January, I immediately feel excited, because it means I'll soon go home to my grandparents' village. I associate the colour with family, food and noise, in a good way. That said, I've noticed foreign visitors sometimes find it a bit overwhelming, because in some cultures red means danger or anger. When I worked as a volunteer guide last summer, I enjoyed explaining that to tourists. I think understanding what a colour means in another country tells you a lot about what people there value.

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7 words

Useful vocabulary for this cue card

  • banners

    long pieces of cloth with writing on them

  • envelopes

    paper covers for letters or money

  • represents

    stands for or is a sign of

  • scare away

    frighten something so that it leaves

  • lanterns

    lamps with a cover, often made of paper

  • associate

    connect in your mind

  • overwhelming

    too strong or too much to deal with easily

5 questions

Part 3 follow-up questions

  1. 1Why do colours have different meanings in different cultures?
  2. 2Do companies choose colours carefully for their products?
  3. 3Can colours affect people's moods?
  4. 4Should schools and offices use brighter colours?
  5. 5Are traditional colour meanings changing among young people?

Answer each in three to five sentences: position, reason, example, limit. See how to answer IELTS Speaking Part 3.

Frequently asked questions

How should I start the cue card "Describe a colour that has a special meaning in your culture."?+

Choose a colour with clear cultural uses, such as red, white, yellow or green, so you can link it to festivals, clothes or rituals.

How long should I speak on an IELTS cue card?+

You get one minute to prepare, then speak for the full two minutes, about 220 to 280 words at a natural pace. The examiner will stop you at two minutes, which is a good sign, not a problem.

How is the cue card scored?+

Part 2 is not scored on its own. Your whole Speaking test gets one band from four criteria: fluency and coherence, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The cue card is where the examiner hears whether you can keep going for two minutes.

Can I use this sample answer in the exam?+

Use its structure and vocabulary, not its sentences. Examiners recognise memorised answers and mark fluency down; a shorter answer from your own memory scores higher than a recited one.

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