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Describe one of your birthday celebrations

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 244 with Model Answer:

Describe one of your birthday celebrations.

You should say:
  • when it was
  • who were there
  • how you celebrated it

and explain how this birthday celebration was different.

[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.]


Model Answer 1:
Thank you for this great cue card topic, and today I would like to go ahead and describe a birthday which I celebrated as a young boy about 12 years ago.

I am talking about my 14th birthday here. Prior to celebrating this birthday, I had been ill with fever for almost 3 weeks. So, my family was a bit worried about me and was not too much interested in celebrating a birthday. But, on the other hand, my second aunt (from my father’s side) was very optimistic about celebrating my birthday and a speedy recovery.

By the way, my second aunt, who used to live in a very beautiful tourist town, nearby an ocean, of my country back then, loved me with her life, and she wanted my parents to fly me to her place with a hope that I would recover there at her place quickly. My family agreed and eventually I was flown to my aunt’s town. After spending there for a few days, I noticed to my pleasant surprise that I indeed started to feel better, and so, it was time to arrange for my 14th birthday celebration.

My aunt decided that we all, including my parents, my elderly grandmother, my aunt and my cousins, would celebrate the birthday at a restaurant near the ocean in a rather simple way. So, a small cake was provided to us by the restaurant owner, but with the cake, he also brought something else which: he brought a big sea fish – a huge grilled fish which I had never seen before up and until then – to fill our stomach. Needless to say, it was the best birthday celebration I have ever had.  

Anyway, this birthday was different, mainly because I celebrated it near an ocean where I could enjoy the beautiful nature around it. In fact, the experience of making videos at the sea beach while listening to the sound of the gentle breeze, whistling past my ears, was something I will never forget.


Model Answer 2:
I was born in the month of March and I observe the day annually as my birthday. Often some events are arranged marking the day at my home. But last year, it was arranged at my college and my friends organised the surprise party.

I am an undergraduate student of Athens School of Fine Arts and been studying here for last six months. As a result, I have got familiar with all the students of my faculty and now we all have a good bonding among us. So, everyone knows everything like birthdays, special occasions, information about boyfriend or girlfriend and much more. Overall the relationship among all of us was excellent. When my birthday appeared in the last part of March, it was also celebrated in the class and it was highly amazed at the celebration methods. It was really unexpected and the way they celebrated the day was memorable indeed. None of them made me feel that it was my birthday. They tricked me in different manners before the celebration and behaved that they knew nothing about the day. Besides, some of my teachers have also wished me on the day and it happened only for my friends.

My birthday was celebrated inside the classroom and thus the entire class was present there. Since I have a very good relationship with all of the classmates and friends, all of them participated in the preparation for the party. Some of them were involved in decorating the classroom and the rest others were busy in planning to make me a fool on the day. The entire classroom was decorated finely and especially the seat where I usually sit was decorated in a special manner. But initially, I could not understand why they were decorating everything and why my chair was being dressed differently than the others? When I asked about the issue, everyone remained silent and did not mention a single word about it. So, it was difficult for me to guess that it was being done to celebrate my birthday.

This part of the celebration was the most fascinating. The celebration began with the beginning of class. The teachers were asking me more questions for no reason. They were not, in fact, trying to make me feel embarrassed in the class but the questions appeared inappropriate to me. They asked me questions like why my chair has been decorated so nicely and why the classroom has been dressed in a different manner or why the projector is beside me. They were also smiling in a different way. I was unable to answer the questions and got nervous. Nobody was asked such questions and it was only me. Finally at noon, when the classes ended, I tried to get out of the class. But my friends, who did not have a single talk with me since morning, appeared before me. One of them placed a birthday hat on my head while another one blasted a birthday balloon. Then I come to know that everything was pre-planned and they were trying me to make irritated with their activities. Finally, they disclosed that they have contributed to make the birthday a successful one and we all celebrated it.

The birthday celebration was entirely different from the other birthdays. Usually, I cut a cake at my home on the birthdays. But this time they did not allow me to cut the cake rather they pasted the cake on my face and clicked many photographs. Generally, the birthday cake is ordered and brought home by my dad but this time, the cake was homemade. One of my friends had made the cake at her home only for me. Besides, the entire class gave me some exceptional presents on my birthday. We had lunch together in the classroom. Moreover, I was surprised when they arranged for a movie show with two of my favourite movies named – The Gods Must Be Crazy and Super Bad. Though I have watched the movies before and for several times, this time, I enjoyed more as my friends were with me. In fact, this was a different experience that I never had before. We all laughed at the comical events of the movies. A few of our teachers also participated in the movie show. Everything was completed by the evening and we all got out of the class. My friends really made me grateful to them.



Sample Answer 3:
I was born on September 20, in the year of 1996. But I have celebrated the most desirable birthday in my life in 2015. My entire family went to a family trip marking the birthday celebration. This was the greatest celebration of the birthday of my life so far and I thanked my parents for the attractive arrangements. In fact, I have never thought that my parents would care for me so much and take the other members too at a luxury resort on the island of Bali in Indonesia. We started three days before my birth date and it was a kind of surprise for me when I found some other relatives were also present at the resort and booked our accommodation.

The event was participated by my parents, my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and my siblings. In fact, this is a large family and almost all the members were there who had managed time. Everyone present at the event brought different attractive gifts for me and delivered the gifts on the evening of my birthday celebration. I met them after many years and the moments were really enjoyable. Some of the relatives had become surprised seeing me. They actually expected me to be younger than I was. But with the passage of time, I was a grown-up lady of 19 years. Later, I found that I had not met them for many years and this created the gap among us.

The day was very special for me. My younger sibling told me that everyone has gathered at the resort to celebrate my birthday and also forbid me to share the information with anyone else. As a result, I was waiting eagerly for the evening. When it was evening, my dad asked me to be at the resort lounge. Everyone was gathering there. I followed him and was really glad to have everyone there. Everyone wished me and I cut the cake. My mom took part in preparing the cake with the resort cook. Besides, there were some other traditional Indonesian foods as well. We all enjoyed the foods and the birthday cake.

It was a different celebration in various terms. Firstly, I usually celebrate the birthday with my family at home and with my friends when I am the college. But this time, I had to take an official leave from my college to attend the family get together. Interestingly, this was the time when I have seen many of the relatives for the first time in my life. They also were glad to meet me. It was a family reunion after many years. Everyone enjoyed themselves and also prayed for me from their heart. I was amazed at the family bonding too. Really, it was a nice day.


If you can talk about the cue card topic "Describe one of your birthday celebrations." you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue cards topics as well:
  • Describe a wedding or birthday celebration you enjoyed. 
  • Describe a party or celebration you had at your home. 
  • Describe a happy event you can remember. 
  • Describe a recent event that made you happy. 
  • Describe something that made you happy. 
  • Describe a surprise party you recently have had.

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