IELTS Cue Card Sample:

Describe a website you often browse.

You should say:

what is it
how long have you been using it
detailed information about the website

and explain why you often browse this website

Model Answer 1:

Thank you very much for this interesting topic. I believe I would be quite comfortable to talk about a website I frequently visit. And this website would be www.google.com. This is the largest search engine in the world and I have to visit this website for more than 20 times a day. May be sometimes more than that! In fact, I, like many of my colleagues and friends, have become immensely dependant on this search giant.

Google.com is basically a search engine and it fetches results for the users. The results are relevant and Google continuously works to serve the best results to the users. So far, they are quite successful in doing so as they are the global number one most visited website with more than 3.5 billion searches per day.

I cannot say the exact year since when I have been using this website. My best assumption is that I am using this website for more than 6 years or so. A lot has changed since then and I read from their search console blog that they frequently update their search algorithm.

The website google.com is a dominant search engine in most of the countries except in a few countries like China and Iran where Google services are blocked. It has more than 4.5 billion active users and it is available in 123 languages. The search interface is pretty slick and simple but the result it shows is second to none. No matter what a user’s query is, google.com is there to serve the result, in a fraction of a second.

Any computer and Internet user would know how difficult it would have been to conduct someone’s online activity without the presence of google.com. In fact remembering or bookmarking thousands of websites is not possible and without google.com website in place, we would still be in the primitive age of the Internet technology. Every information is just a finger tips away and this has been possible with the inception and evolution of Google. I personally browse this website to search other websites, relevant results from the Internet, to learn about something new, do research for my daily tasks in the office, to find an online deal, to learn the weather forecast, to know about new words and phrases and the list will go on and on. In fact, this is the website I browse as the gateway to the Internet.

Model Answer 2:

I am going to tell you about a website that I visit frequently. I will tell you the name of the website, how long I’ve been using it, something about the content of the website and I’ll try to explain why it is I keep going back to look at it. The website is called workaway, and the URL is www.workaway.info

I haven’t been using the website for all that long. I think I found it just by accident, about three years ago, but once I knew it existed I started looking at it more and more. The website is really just a portal, which puts potential ‘hosts’ from all around the world, in touch with potential ‘volunteers’ who might also live anywhere across the globe. On their website, they say that they exist to promote fair exchange between budget travellers, language learners or culture seekers and families, individuals or organizations who are looking for help with a range of varied and interesting activities, and indeed that is what they do. The basic principle is that ‘hosts’ are organisations or people who need help with some task, they will provide food, accommodation and cultural exchange in return for up to five hours work a day from a willing ‘volunteer’. The ’work’ might be helping with animals, tourists, gardening, language learning or anything else, and the opportunities are in every country imaginable. I have seem opportunities to teach English in Thailand; work with Camels in the desert and help at seaside Bed & Breakfast establishments in Brighton England.

‘Hosts’ put up a profile introducing themselves and explaining what help they need and what sort of accommodation they offer in exchange. Sometimes it is quite impressive – your own en-suite room in a hotel, other times it might be just a patch of land on which to pitch a tent whilst helping establish a new yoga eco-community! There really does seem to be something for everyone. People who have already volunteered with a particular host will sometimes leave reviews to say what it was like working and living there. Usually, a host will also put up some photos so you can see the location and understand a bit more about the people you might be living and working with.

If you are interested in volunteering you can look at all the opportunities without registering on the site. However, if you actually want to contact a host and ask about volunteering then you have to register and set up your own profile outlining your skills, experience and travel plans. It only costs about 20 Euros for two years membership of the site, so I think that’s good value. You have to be a little careful as some of the ‘opportunities’ seem like they might just be hosts looking for free labour, but then again, if you want to travel and you don’t mind hard work then it could be worth it for a couple of weeks to get to visit somewhere you would otherwise never be able to go! I visit the website quite often because I like to imagine all the endless possibilities for travel and adventure that I might do one day! I actually got a job through the website, teaching English in Vietnam and it was a great adventure. Now I have ongoing wanderlust, and I like to keep plotting for my next trip! Workaway keeps that dream alive.

[ By – Lucy Marris |  Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]