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Describe a river or a sea you have visited

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 266 with Model Answer:

Describe a river or a sea you have visited.

You should say:
  • where the river/ sea is located
  • who was with you
  • what you did there
and explain whether this was a good experience or not.  

[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:
I love to travel and as a German student,  I have travelled some parts of Asia as part of my academic activities. In fact, I am a student of geography and to earn practical knowledge, I need to travel in different countries. So, I met with the Ganges in last month.

The River is located in Asia and commonly known as the Ganga. This is a trans-boundary river and covers both India and Bangladesh. The Ganges originated from the Himalayas and flows through different direction covering the boundaries of India and some points of Bangladesh. Actually, the rise of the river begins from Uttarakhand where the western part of the Himalayas is located.

In this journey, I was accompanied by a group of my college mates and in fact, this was like an excursion out of the country. So, when the teacher asked us to come to India to have look on the Ganges, everyone agreed instantly. But it took some time to get prepared for the journey and the teacher had to convinces almost all the parents to allow their children for this foreign excursion. However, my best mate, Edel accompanied me on this journey. Besides, some of the other close mates from my college were also there and all of us made fun during the entire trip. Additionally, the teacher also joined us with the fun and in fact, he appeared to be the funniest person ever we have seen in our life.

Primarily, the trip has taught numerous things to me and everyone else who was present there. Earlier, I used to read the descriptions of rivers, jungles, mountains and other places and depicted images of them inside of my mind. But my imagination could not satisfy my desire to learn about places and this trip has filled my thirst for knowledge. After reaching the Ganges, some of us took a bath in the river like the other people present there and I also accompanied them. The water was somewhat dirty as the ‘ghat’ was being used by everyone. Besides, we also took the traditional Indian foods from the adjacent restaurants.

Of course, this was a great experience for me. Previously, I have never seen such a huge river in my life though I travelled in different countries for various purposes. But I never had encountered such a river before and thus the journey will be in memory for long. I have come to know about important information on the river and saw how the Hindus respect it. For the geographical location of the river, I came to know that, it served important roles in different periods and also met the daily needs of the local people. In fact, the ordinary role of the river in undeniable to the people living by the river bank. Even many of them depend on the river for living as well. All such information was interesting to me and thus the journey became a good experience for me.



Sample Answer 2:
Travelling is interesting to me and I love to discuss my experience of travelling different places it. Last month I went to Bangladesh for some business purpose and visited Cox’s Bazar sea beach. Now I will describe the entire event and specifically how interesting it was to see the beauty of the Bay of Bengal.

The sea is known as the Bay of Bengal and in Bangladesh, it is located in Cox’s Bazar district. The locality has become a tourist area now but earlier it was mainly a fishing port. The beach is one of the longest ones in the world with a length of 125 kilometres at a stretch. A large number of the crowd from different parts of the world come here to enjoy the natural beauty and simultaneously the locals also love to wander by the sea beach. The sunrise and sunset scenes are adorable and make the day of the tourists.

I am a senior staff at a multinational corporation here in Vietnam. Since this was a business trip in Chittagong, Bangladesh, I was accompanied by my boss, Mr Haruki Nigami, an influential member of the corporation. He is a specialist in marketing and took me with him on the journey to teach me how to apply the marketing theories in real life situation. We went to Chittagong to have some business deals at the Chittagong branch with another corporation in the region, headquartered in Myanmar. It was a pleasant journey and both of us enjoyed it. The deals were also successful for both the parties. In fact, I learnt a great number of things from my boss during the meetings.

When the official duties were done, we went to the Cox’s Bazar sea beach. The beach was a bit far from the place where we stayed in Chittagong. However, we reached there after around two and a half hours. I have never seen sea beaches before and thus it was a special experience for me. The large waves were breaking down on the shore. The view was excellent. Many of the visitors there were bathing in the sea. So, I sought permission from the boss to take a bath, and to my utter surprise he agreed and asked me to take him with me (actually he is a very reserved person in office). So, both of us bathed in the sea water.

Of course, this was a good experience for me, in fact, one of the greatest. Taking a bath on the sea is outstanding. The dancing waves took me forwards and sometimes backwards. I tried to swim on water (though I do not know swimming rather just used my limbs to keep me floated) but failed and drank some of the saline waters. But I felt enjoyed when the waves pushed me forward and I sank on the wave. Interestingly, when I got up from the water, I found sands inside my pant pockets. It was difficult to clean out the entire sands from the dresses. I wanted to see the sunrise and sunset on the next day the boss did not allow me considering the return schedule. Later, we returned Vietnam on a flight on the same day.

Idea generation for this Cue Card topic: 

"Describe a river or a sea you have visited." 

Rivers always flow by their own sweet wills. So, they look gorgeous and wonderful. And passing moments by a river helps to get some charming memories. The cue card topic here wants to know about a river from the candidate. Therefore, here are some extra ideas for them to develop their own answers.

1. While visiting Missouri in the USA, I was lucky enough to visit the Missouri River. In fact, I have never seen such a beautiful river before. The clear water, marine resources everything attracted me.

2. Tokachi River is located in Hokkaido in Japan and has a length of over 90 kilometres. The river water is used for different purposes. A dam has been made to control the river flow and the surrounding localities are beautiful.

3. The Ganges is a transboundary river in Asia and most it flows through India. The river is water is considered sacred for the locals and they take bath here to get rid of their sins. Besides, the river is also renowned for pollution. In fact, the water is highly polluted in some parts now.

4. The city of London is located on the River Thames. This is a historical river and flows through the southern part of England. Different structures are available on the bank of this river and it also takes a nice shape during the moonlit nights.

5.  The Danube is the second longest river in the European belt and runs through Germany. I had the chance to have a boat ride on this river and I enjoyed that greatly. The river is used for a various purpose and is connected with history.

6. The Enchanting views of Volga River will remain in my memory forever. I visited the river when I was a student at a Russian university. This is the longest river in Europe and covers a couple of other countries including Russia.

7. The trip to the Yellow River in the western part of China was an exciting experience for me. I went there for some official purposes and had the chance to visit the river. It plays an important role in China’s existence.

If you can talk about this cue card topic, you should be able to describe the following Candidate Task Cards as well:

  • Describe a naturally beautiful place in your city/ hometown. 
  • Describe a river or lake you have visited. 
  • Describe a place you like to visit. 
  • Describe an open space that you witnessed recently. 
  • Describe a vacation you have had near a sea. 
  • Describe a worth visiting place in your area. 
  • Describe a river near your hometown. 

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