Describe The Time When You Had to Sing a Song or a Poem in Front of Public Cue Card

Nov 5, 2022

Describe The Time When You Had to Sing a Song or a Poem in Front of Public Cue Card is the topic for the IELTS Speaking section. The article given below, states three model questions and sample answers. Three important sections have been considered for the answers: where were you, what did you sing and how did you feel about it. Candidates can get this topic from the book “IELTS - Speaking Essentials (book - 5)”.

What is a Cue Card: IELTS Speaking part 2 includes a cue card with different topics on them. Candidates need to speak for 2-3 minutes on the chosen topic. They are allowed 1 minute of time to think about the topic before speaking. Candidate's proficiency in the English language is assessed in IELTS Speaking based on their skills in grammar, vocabulary, style and usage.

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Topic: Describe the Time when you had to Sing a Song or a Poem in Front of Public.

You should say:

Where were you?
What did you sing?
How did you feel?

Model Answer 1

Where were you?

I love reading poems but never had a chance to recite them in front of the public. The first time was when I was in college. There was a festival held in which we had a literature section also. I then got a chance to recite a poem. I have been reading poems for a long time and in that course, I had written a few pieces of my own. So, in the literature festival of my college when I saw many people registering to recite their own works, I decided to give it a try as well. At the third day of the festival, I got my chance. The hall was unusually crowded that day and I almost backed out due to fear. However, I realized that my favourite poet was the guest of honour, and I couldn’t miss this opportunity of a lifetime.

What did you sing?

I recited the poem that I had written, and the title of the poem was “The great war”. It was an English poem about the negative impact of war on human lives. I was very inspired from this and hoped everyone would like it.

How did you feel?

I was extremely nervous going to the stage, but I read my poem with great conviction. I did feel happy about my performance after I was done reciting the poem, it gave me a sense of pride to showcase my work in front of so many people and especially my favourite poet. I didn’t win that day because poetry was a hobby for me while others had their careers made out of it, but my favourite poet personally met after the recital and told me that I had a talent for writing good poetry and he really appreciated my reciting style.

Model Answer 2

I am classically trained in singing. My teacher was a conservative fellow who believed that music was for personal peace. So, I never had this urge to perform in public.

Where were you?

I was a new student in my high school. The school had a whole song dedicated to Goddess Saraswathi which was routinely sung in the morning assembly. One day the singer suddenly fell ill right before the prayer session was to be conducted. The teacher was in search of someone who could sing and play the harmonium as well.

One of my friends informed the teacher that I was classically trained to sing and play the harmonium. The teacher sought me out and requested that I sing the song for the prayer session that day. Although I had never sung for so many people before, I could not put my teacher down as she was in a really tight spot. So, I decided to brave my stage fright and sing that song.

What did you sing?

I sang the Sanskrit song called “Ya Vande Tushar Dhawala”. It’s a hymn dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, the Hindu deity of Knowledge.

How did you feel?

I was nervous before I took the stage as I had to sing in front of all my peers and other students. I feared that my voice might crack, or I would do something equally embarrassing. Surprisingly, as I started singing the song I felt strangely empowered by the music and oddly proud of my skills as a singer.

The teacher was very appreciative of my singing skills and that was the day I decided that I will shed my reservations about public singing because the music feels more empowering when enjoyed by people who appreciate it.

Model Answer 3

I am not a singer and have only sung in the confines of my room because I enjoy humming along with the music that I listen to.

Where were you?

I was at a freshers' party at my college, and everyone was playing this game where the seniors assigned a task to freshers which they had to do. It was all in lighthearted fun some people were asked to sing and some people were asked to dance.

Suddenly, it was my turn and the senior, fortunately, gave me the option could choose between singing and dancing. I was going to choose dancing but as I was trying to reach the stage I tripped and twisted my ankle rendering me unable to dance. Now I had no other option but to sing.

What did you sing?

I sang my favourite song called “Phir Milenge Jaane Wale Yaar Dasvidaniya” from the movie Pardesi [1957]. It was originally sung by Manna Dey. The song is probably the epitome of the Indo-Soviet Cultural connection.

How did you feel?

I was extremely nervous on the stage because I never wanted people to hear me sing. In the midst of great anxiety, I took the microphone and started to sing. I did feel the same joy in singing on stage that I did when I hummed this song along with Manna Dey in my room.

When I finished singing, I received a lot of applause and people honestly were intrigued by my taste in music. I had a really fun time explaining to people my choice of song and the history of the song. Everybody praised me for picking up a song by the legendary singer Manna Dey. His songs are especially difficult to sing, and they said I did justice to the song. People were also amazed to know that once the connection between USSR and India transcended boundaries and Dasvidaniya means goodbye in Russian.

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