Describe members of your family saying what they look like and what they are like

IELTS Cue Card

A website dedicated to IELTS Cue Card Samples, Speaking Samples, and Speaking Preparation Guideline.

Search This Blog

Describe your family

Describe your family.

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

A family is the most important place for any individual and it is considered as the root of people. Without a family, one cannot have a decent and happy life. I also live in a family consisting of several members.

In my family, basically, we are five members altogether. They are – my parents, my younger sister and younger brother and me. We, five people, live in our own apartment. Besides, we have some other relatives who are family members too and they live adjacent to us. If I count them, the number will be more. Most of the members are related to me either from my father or my mother. But the number of my maternal relatives and family member is more from my paternal part. I am too lucky that all of them love me much.

My father is a government worker and serves on the District Council while my mother is a housewife and she takes care of the family. My younger sister is a student of 10th grade while the brother is in his 6th grade, and I am a university student. As a District Council officer, my father remains busy always and even he is to bring some work at home to complete as he cannot execute the massive tasks within the budgeted time of his office. My mother remains busy with her household chores as we do not have any domestic help. My sister and brother remain occupied with their studies while I pass my day in the university and return home at night.

I am lucky to have such a family. All the members of the family are highly intimate with me and I am to them too. The interpersonal relationship with all the family members in my family is fine and we do truly care for each other. When someone is in any sort of trouble or in any difficulty, we try to provide necessary supports immediately so the situation could be solved. Moreover, I always try to help my siblings in their studies and sometimes my father also helps them in completing their school assignments. Besides, my mother takes every form of care for us all. She is the one who is the key member of the family. I have a very good relationship with my father but the relationship is better with my mother and I pass more time with her when I am at home on my off-days.

My family is important to me for different reasons. First of all, it is the place where I belong to. Literally, at the end of the day, I return to my home where my family lives. I cannot think that I am living without my family. When I was younger, my family members provided me with all forms of necessary supports and I am highly grateful to my parents for the unconditional support they provided me and still, they are playing the same roles as they did after my birth. I am happy with my two siblings and cannot imagine my life without them. My family is my life and thus it is most important to me than any other thing.

In many of the modern states, the number of large families is on the decline. But some of the parts in India, they are still prevailing. The families contain a notable number of members. In most of the cases, the family is led by the grandfather. He is the family head while his sons and grandsons live with them. My family has also the similar scenario. In my family, I have my grandfather, grandmother, my parents, my paternal uncles and their families. In fact, we are30 members altogether including the kids and servants.

Most of the members are adults while there are some children and youths of my age. My grandfather is a doctor in the locality and he owns a moderate homoeopathy business in his chamber. On the other side, my father is a businessman and deals in importing raw materials for preparing plastic goods. My uncles are not involved in the business rather they prefer to be service holders. One of my uncles is a government official while another one is an engineer. I have two siblings and they are students like me. I am a student at a local college and completing my twelfth grade. My younger sister is in her ninth grade while the older one has completed the graduation and seeking a job. Most of my cousins are of my age and they are also studying in different educational institutions. My mother is a housewife and she is responsible for taking care of everything of the house. She is a typical housewife who takes care most of the things, even the cooking and cleaning.

I am extremely lucky to born in this family. The family bonding is great here. Everyone comes out to help the others in needs and emergencies. In fact, the entire family backs the other family member. My one thing should be made clear here – my family does not favour any illicit activities. If someone is found guilty of any illegal cause, my grandfather does not support him/ her and the similar issue is for us. We do not favour anything illegitimate and in our early childhood, we were taught to follow the standard rules and laws for everything. The entire family spends quality time when there is an occasion or during the weekly lunch. In fact, this has become a tradition for us to take a weekly meal together on the weekly holiday afternoon. It has been possible only for the strong bond we maintain.

My family is the place where I return at the end of the day. This is the place that takes care of me. It supports me when I am sick, when I am down – it cheers me up to move ahead. The other members also take care of me in various aspects. There is a strong feeling inside me for my family. The feeling is the same to the family members as well. We love to be happy in contact with each other. As a matter of fact, this is the very best family I have ever seen or met where there are no major conflicting issues. I have learnt a lot of real-life things from here. Based on such things, my family is important to me than any other things in the world.

Idea Generating for this Cue Card:

To talk about this cue card you should focus on the questions listed below the Cue card topic. Then answer each of these questions and focus more on the fourth question which is ‘and explain why your family is important to you.’

Question 1: How many members your family has?: Before answering this question, give a brief introduction. A sample introduction is given below:

I have a lovely family and my family is the most important aspect of my life. I am very close to my family members and they are my best friends, mentors and supporters.

Now say, how many family members you family has and who are they. Give their name and occupation if possible and then your personal relationship with them.

Question 2: What they do: This question should include your family members personal characteristics and professions. Also, mention what they do with you.

Question 3: How close you are: As you have already said what you do together, give some examples in this section to express your close relationship with your family members. Mention how they interact with you, what interesting things you do together and how they help you.

Question 4: And explain why your family is important to you: To show the importance of your family to you, give one or two examples or events when your family members supported you in a way that no one else would do. Then mention how a family is important to a person and how this is even more true for you.

We would love to hear about your own family. Describe them in the comment section and let people know how much your family means to you.

IELTS Speaking – Describe your family member

The following recording is from Collins Speaking for IELTS. Listen to three people talking about their relatives and answer the questions below.

Speaker 1
Who is her closest family member?
What are the positive characteristics of her mother?
What are the examples of those characteristics?
What are the negative characteristics of her mother?
What are the examples of those characteristics?

Speaker 2
How was the relationship between the speaker and his cousin?
Why did they grow apart?

Speaker 3
How is the relationship between the speaker and her mother-in-law?
What are the positive characteristics of her mother-in-law?
What are the examples of those characteristics?
What are the negative characteristics of her mother-in-law?
What are the examples of those characteristics?

4 replies on “IELTS Speaking – Describe your family member”

Can I have the description of recordings?

Hi Huyen, here is the transcript of the recording:

1. The person I’m closest to in my family is definitely my mum, Kate. We’ve always got on and we hardly ever fall out. I know that’s unusual! She’s really outgoing and sociable – she’s always going out with friends and colleagues. Everyone thinks she’s good fun. I look up to her because she’s so hard-working – she never sits still and she works long hours. She can a bit impatient, though – she gets annoyed when her colleagues aren’t as efficient as her. I take after her in that – I’m impatient, too. And she’s over-sensitive, often getting offended for seemingly no reason.

2. My cousin Kieron and I grew up together. We were inseparable. He was so creative – he’d always think of new games we could play and make up these stories to make me laugh. I was constantly amazed by his open-mindedness as well – he was never judgemental. I wish I could be like that. Unfortunately, we grew apart, slowly but surely, and by the time we went to uni we weren’t in touch any more. I haven’t seen him for years. It’s really sad. I would blame it partly on the fact that he’s not very reliable, so for example, if I email him he won’t respond. I’m not sure what’s he up to these days.

3. I know this is a cliché, but I don’t get on with my in-laws, especially my mother-in-law, Jane. She’s so nosy, always wanting to know what we’re doing and who we’re with, and she’s terribly blunt, which means she quite often upsets us with things she comes out with. And then she can be quite stingy. When we go out for a meal with her and my father-in-law, she never offers to pay, even though they’re much better off than us. I must say, though, she’s extremely clever and I do respect her for that. She set up her own business five years ago and it’s gone from strength to strength. She’s so self-assured and ambitious too, which I suppose is why she’s so successful in business.

Cue Card # 129: Describe someone in your family

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 129

Describe someone in your family who you like.

and explain why you like this person.

[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:

I am blessed to have a nice family where all of our members share a very strong bond with each other. But, mothers are always special, so I will go ahead and talk about my mother here as someone I like.

Anyway, not sure when I exactly started to call her “Mum”, but I sure remember missing her or looking for her every time she used to go away from me, either because she was going out for some important works, or just doing her house choirs. But, as I grew a little older, I started to realize that my loving mum was never going away from me. In fact, as I grew older, I felt her presence around me, no matter how far away she would go from me. After all, she is such a towering figure in my family, who never shy away from doing the right thing, no matter how “unpopular” they may sound.

Yes, she is a tough, tough lady who has worked really hard to raise three of her children by weathering all kinds of tough situations. By the way, I have very seldom seen this lady, with a medium built figure and about 5’4” height, laughing out loud, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she doesn’t smile to make others around her feel happy. Having a rather distinctive tan complexion, I have always seen my mother wearing light colour clothes which look really good on her. My mother doesn’t really talk much, but she certainly knows how to convey her messages, especially, to her children.

Anyway, I really like my mother, obviously because she is my mother who has brought me into this world. I like her also because she is a very genuine person with very straight way of thinking. Finally, I like her also because she has taught me a lot of important lessons about life which I really treasure each and every minute of my life. So I often thank my mum in silence.

IELTS Mentor «IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer»

Nav view search

Navigation

Search

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

Describe your family.

And explain your relationship with them.

Model Answer 1:
Thank you for the opportunity you gave me to talk about my family. To begin with, my family has got 6 members including me. My father, mother, elder brother and two younger sisters are the roots of my existence and I love them very much.

To start with my mother, she is the sweetest person and the kindest hearted woman I have ever seen. She is creative, helpful and loving in nature. She used to work as a teacher in a college but left it when my elder brother came to this world. She still runs a small boutique business besides taking great care of her family.

My father is the cornerstone of our family and works hard to win the bread for our family. He is a great mentor for all of us. He works in a large private company as a Vice President and he is a super dad, our inspiration and guide. He cares and loves all of us and holds himself responsible for our family’s well-being. He loves travelling and that’s why we have travelled a lot with him. He is our hero, friend and mentor.

My elder brother (John) is an exemplary young person and a son every parent would dream to have. He is very talented and works in a Bank as a System Analyst. He has a creative soul and art is his passion despite his academic background in computer engineering. He is one of the best friends I have and he is my protector.

My younger sister (Kathy) is two years junior to me and she is my soul mate. She often rivals me but more often inspires me. She is my co-worker in everything unusual or out-of-the-routine thing I do. Sibling rivalry is something I have learned from her in a positive way. She would sometimes act as if she is my mother!

The little angel and the only mischievous family member is my youngest sister Poly. She is only 9 years old and she fills our home with her angelic smile. She is sometimes annoying and argues a lot but I can’t live without her. Toys, computer games and her pot plants hold her attention for the major part of the entire day. She loves to grab attention and complains about everyone just to grab some extra attention and affection.

The famous saying ‘Blood’s thicker than water’ is quite true as I feel most comfortable and blessed being with my family members. I am sure I am lucky to have such a happy family where everyone has great contributions to help me become the person I am.

Sample Answer 2:
Living without a family is really difficult. On the other sides, if there are more family members, it is also irritating as well, at least in my opinion. Hence, people often develop the idea that having a moderate family member is the best way to live happily in a family. They are correct in some senses. The family is the most fundamental concept of the human race and we are very closely connected with our family members.

I live with my parents in Naples in Italy. I have four other family members. My dad, mum and two younger brothers and a sister. We are six altogether. This is a recent trend in Italy. But earlier, the trend of a family was completely different. People used to live in a joint family. At the same time, they had strong bonding with the other family members. A similar thing is also found in the present days, but not frequently. My paternal and maternal uncles also share a solid bond with my family and often they visit us regardless of occasions.

My dad has his own business of clothing. He owns a store in the local market. This is a moderate size shop and five employees work with him. On the other side, my mum is a school teacher. She is a teacher of Social Science in the school. She is one of the most popular teachers in her school and spends half of the day at the school. In fact, my mum is busier than my dad is. She is to take care of her school duties and at the same time, she is to care for the domestic chores. I am a university student and a graduating in History while my younger sister is in her secondary level and my brothers are in his ninth and seventh grade. We are a happy family but sometimes I have trouble with the youngers on some petty issues. Then my mum resolves them and has words with us all.

My family members look like similar but they are a bit different in nature. My dad is a sincere person. He loves to take care for each of the family members. My mum is also similar to dad. She takes care of all the family members even in her busiest time of the day. I have seen that my dad does not respond to my emergencies always and remain busy with his works. While it is my mum who is always there for me whatever the emergencies are. My younger sister is careful about everything except her studies. She loves to spend time with her friends and continue chatting with them using the social media platforms. This is also the case for my brothers. But they are a bit addicted to video games. So, they mostly spend the time of the day with the Xbox.

The overall relationship with my family members is excellent. I love my family than any other thing in the world. My dad takes care of the entire family and bears almost all the expenses. In fact, he is the key wage earner for the family. My mum also earns but the amount is insignificant comparing to dad’s income. But both of them tries to keep us happy. I am trying to support to the family income and working as a part-timer at my dad’s business. Often my youngers demand some of their stuff to me and I try to buy the things for them with my earnings. As a result, the relations have become deeper with my youngers and me. I am proud of my happy family.

Cue Card Answer 2:

Describe your family.

and explain how important your family is to you.

Answer:
Thank you a lot for this wonderful topic. I would be very much delighted to talk about my family. We have got a nuclear family and this is quite common for the people in the city areas to have the nuclear family. Rural areas still have many joint families but unfortunately, the tradition is changing rapidly.

Our family has five members including me. My father works as a production manager (PM) in a car manufacturing company and my mum teaches English literature in a girl’s school in our area. Both of them are very caring and sincere and they are quite friendly to us. I am the eldest son (. say, daughter, if you are a girl. ) of my parents and I have got a sister who is 19 years old and a brother who has turned to 12 recently.

My sister’s name is Jill and she is a very talented and inventive individual. She is the top scorer in her class and a creative artist. She can also dance and have won many local and national prizes for her outstanding performance in dance, debate, and art competitions. I love her very much and she is very fond of me. My younger brother, Kyle, is a very good soccer player and he likes to spend time with me. He often says that I am his best buddy and this is something I am really proud of. Since my parents had always been caring and friendly to us, I also wanted to be like them to my siblings. When Kyle is not at his school, he either plays soccer or hand out with his friends. At home, he mostly watches TV programmes, which we often do together, plays computer games or read books.

I am 27 and I work in a private company for the last 3 years and a junior executive. I have now planned to continue my higher studies in a renowned foreign university.

We live in (. say the city and area name. ). We have got a duplex villa and we love our house. We often have guests at our home and my mother cooks special menu whenever we have guests at our home. We eat our dinner together as a family and share our stories and events with our parents. My father often takes us outside to enjoy movies or to eat at a good restaurant. We enjoy this outing a lot and we look forward to going outside together. Usually, we do it twice in a month. I must say that I am very lucky and happy to have such a great family. I wish we live happily forever and our family tie always remains as intact as it is now.

To answer the question ‘how important my family is to me’- I would say my family is the whole world to me. I love my parents and my siblings more than anything in this world. They have done (and still doing) a lot for me. My mother is the kindest person I have ever met and her sacrifices for us are unparalleled. As I have grown up now, I know how much it means to a father or a mother to have a child. As the firstborn among our siblings, I was my parent’s whole world and the centre of their universe. Similarly, my family is the root of my very existence. I love them and would be ready to do anything and everything for them.

Part 3 – Two-way discussion:

Attitudes to family:

Q. In what ways have families in your country changed in recent years?

Q. Should husbands and wives have different roles within the family? Why / why not?

Family or friends:

Q. What conflicts can arise between a person’s family and a person’s friends?

Family responsibilities:

Q. What responsibilities do parents have towards their children?

Q. What responsibilities do children have towards their parents?

Similar Cue Card Topics

Cambly Content

Pick topics for your lesson today!

IELTS Topic: Family

Vocab & Idioms

Go over the following vocabulary and expressions with your tutor. Read the word/expression and definition out loud, and your tutor will go over anything you do not understand. Practice creating a sentence or two to make sure you know how to use the word/expression properly.

Vocabulary/ Expressions

Part 1 Questions

Here are possible questions that might come up during the test. Go over them with your tutor.

Family

Part 2&3 Questions

Here are possible questions that might come up during the test. Go over them with your tutor.

Sample A

Part 2 Questions

Part 3 Questions

Sample B

Part 2 Questions

Part 3 Questions

Sample C

Part 2 Questions

Part 3 Questions

Sample Answers

Here are some sample answers. Go over them with your tutor.

Part 1 Questions

Part 2&3 Answers

Here are some sample answers. Go over them with your tutor.

Sample A

Part 2 Questions

I have so many joyful memories of me growing up, but sometimes I can’t think of them? Hmmm, let me see? This is not exactly a happy memory, but it ended up in a happy way.

I remember when I was starting 9th grade in high school. It was my first year, so I was the new kid on the block along with the rest of my classmates. My older brother and sister were upperclassmen, therefore I was not nervous or intimidated by the older students. Boy, was I wrong!

My older brother’s classmates, especially the women, knew I was the younger brother. On the first day of school, they made it a point to embarrass me by teasing me in front of my fellow classmates, but also my brother. They blew kisses at me and called me little Johnny until I was red in the face with embarrassment. I ended up running into the bathroom to get away from it all. I stayed in the bathroom until I heard the bell for classes to begin.

I remember, ummm, peeking out the door to make sure none of my brother’s friends were around. After seeing that the coast was clear, I made a mad dash for my class. I made it just in time, but as I entered the class, I saw all my classmates laughing at me. They were calling me little Johnny also!

Looking back on this memory, I would have to say it was probably one of the most embarrassing times in my life. However, it was all in fun and I gained the nickname, Johnny. To this day, my family and good friends call me Johnny.

Part 3 Questions

Sample B

Part 2 Questions

I like this question because it’s easy to answer. It’s most definitely my grandfather, even though he’s been dead for almost 30 years.

When I was a teenager he was my hero and I looked up to him in many ways. I’m sure he was an idol to many of my other relatives and extended family.

You can say some of the things he accomplished or did in his life, runs in the family. Umm, take me for example. I followed in his footsteps and played football in high school and served in the U.S. Army.

He was a compassionate and warm-hearted person who always took the time to listen and offer his sound advice. Two of my most unforgettable memories of him were, umm, the loan he gave me to buy my first TV and watching our favorite sports teams on TV, umm, in the evenings after dinner. Oh, I can’t forget to mention all the times he took me fishing.

He was liked by everyone and, he had tons of friends. I can still remember the day we put him to rest. Oh man, was that day hard on us. There must have been approximately 100 people in attendance at his funeral to include his nuclear and extended family and his loyal friends. To say goodbye to your own flesh and blood who you admired so much was one of the most difficult days in my life.

Part 3 Questions

Sample C

Part 2 Questions

This is an interesting question since I just went on a family vacation all but 2 weeks ago. So, I’m going to talk about my recent getaway with my wife.

The hardest part about going on this two-week vacation was trying to find childcare, umm, for our two children. Eventually, my parents, who are retired, decided to look after them. Thank god for your own flesh and blood!

My wife and I went to the tropical islands of Hawaii for a romantic vacation, which was long overdue. We had a fabulous time despite the fact the airlines lost our suitcases. Luckily, we didn’t let it spoil our fun.

The beach resort we stayed at has a breathtaking view of a volcano in the horizon. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that there were too many other people on the beach. There was no privacy. I wasn’t expecting a private beach to ourselves. What I meant was, I was expecting at least some space between us and the couples besides us. It was like we were sitting on top of each other.

All in all, I wouldn’t trade the time away with my wife for anything. I’m happy that my siblings recommended the resort to us.

Part 3 Questions