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

Describe a handcrafted item which you made yourself.

You should say:

• what it was
• how you made it
• what you did with it

and explain how you felt about making it yourself.

[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 remember my little 5 years old cousin who just loved to play cricket. Not to mention, of course, I also loved to play cricket. So, when he insisted one day, almost about 14 years ago from now that I would need to make him a special cricket bat, I just couldn’t say “no” to him.

So, why he needed me to make a very special bat for him? Well, apparently because he wanted to beat everybody who was playing with him and against him except, of course, I was probably the worst “craftsman” under the sun. But, I still took the challenge upon me because I needed to prove to my cousin that I was indeed the best cousin in this world.

So, anyway, now coming to the real challenge of making the perfect cricket bat for my little cousin. For that, of course, I had to find a fine piece of flat wood, a small table saw, sandpaper and a rubber strip. To make the cricket bat, I first cut the wood with the table saw, followed by a wood plane work, in the shape of a cricket bat with a width about 3 inches, the thickness of about half inch and a length of about 2 feet (please understand that it is a mini bat for a little kid that I was making). Then I made the whole piece of bat shiny and smooth by pressing sand over it. Finally, I glued the rubber strip over the handle of the bat to make it look like a real cricket bat before formally handing it over to my little cousin. Thankfully, the little guy liked my handy work!

I felt really happy and glad that I didn’t disappoint my little cousin after making that cricket bat for him. Besides, I also felt little proud of my work because I never really did anything like that with my own hands before. All in all, it was a fun thing to do while learning something new.

Sample Answer 2:
Kite flying is a popular activity in China and I have made different types of kites on various occasions all by myself. For this cue card topic, I would love to talk about a dragon kite that I made when I was around 16 years old.  

Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is a traditional and widely celebrated festival in China and it usually falls in April. During this festival, many people, especially children and young play around with a variety of kites. On such an occasion I made a kite which was more than 4 feet in length and looked like a red dragon. This sort of kite is usually called "dragon kite" and it is quite tough to make and fly. When a traditional kite might take an hour to be made, a dragon kite sometimes takes more than a week, depending on the size and shape of it.

It took me more than 4 days to complete this kite and I required to purchase some special papers, colour, plastic, glue, ribbon, and sticks to make this kite. First I had to use the sticks of different sizes to build the main shape of the kite. The sticks were linked to each other very strongly and I used glue, sticks and plastic to make the final shape of the kite. Then I  checked whether the structure was strong enough to fly or not. After that,  I wrapped the frame with colourful papers and plastics to give it a beautiful shape. I was quite happy to see the final outcome and was convinced that it would fly without any obstacle. The wings of the dragon were more than 1 feet each and I had to be very careful while making it. Any wrong shape of the wing would actually ruin the whole project. I had to make it strong while keeping it light. That was a tough challenge but luckily I was quite successful in making the final kite.  

When I made the kite and finally flew it in the sky, it was a great experience for me. I was relieved that it was flying and looked good. People were looking at that large size dragon kite and some of them appreciated it. It was embracing the white cloud in the sky and went higher than most other kites. It was moving as if a great dragon was acting as a guardian of the sky and protecting the people below it. I was quite excited when it finally declared its prominence in the sky.

Cue Card Answer 3:
Oh my goodness! This topic is tough for me. I’m not really a ‘handcraft’ sort of person. I am very bad at creative things, I really admire it when I see what other people can do – somehow taking some old newspapers and a bucket of glue and creating some extraordinary work of art out of papier mâché, but that isn’t really me, unfortunately. If I tried the same it would end up with spilt glue and newspaper print smeared everywhere and a gooey heap of soggy paper trailing all around the room! However, when I was very little we used to sometimes do crafts at school, and occasionally I’d see a children’s TV programme which would include ideas of things that were easy to make with discarded household items. I can think of an example of this, and that’s what I’m going to talk about today. I’ll tell you what it was (though that might be harder than you think), how I made it, what I did with it, and what I felt about it too.
 
Well, as to the ‘what it was’. I suppose I can only say it was a ‘useful box for putting things in’, (which is a quote from Winnie the Pooh in case you were wondering). Not that useful probably, because it was very small. It will make more sense when I explain how I made it.
 
So, what you needed was an old matchbox. Nowadays, matchboxes tend to be made of cardboard, but when I was very little they were actually made of very finely cut wood sometimes. I have no idea how that worked, but they were. All I did, was take an old matchbox once the matches had all been used. Then I got hold of some very special sellotape. It was gold, I really don’t know where it came from because it would be unusual even now. However, I had it, and some silver tape too. I very carefully wound the gold and silver tape around the outside of the matchbox until it was completely covered up. If you look at the box now you can see it’s a bit wonky, so it must have been hard to do with my little podgy fingers as a toddler. I then found a button from somewhere and stuck it in the middle of the top of the box. Job done! A little box for secret treasure. So what did I do with it? Well, the purpose of this creative outburst was to make a gift for my Dad. I’m not sure if I did this for fathers’ day, or whether I made it for a birthday present, but it was very definitely made with my dad in mind. So what I did with it, was wrap it up carefully for him to open at breakfast on the morning of his special day.
 
Honestly, I don’t remember now how I felt about making it myself, but I’m guessing I would have been very proud, because I was at an age when I’d have been too little to have any money of my own, and it took quite a bit of initiative to come up with this gift idea and follow it through (though I have a suspicion my mum might have helped a bit with glueing on the button!). However, last year my Dad died, and over the subsequent months, I’ve been sorting through some of his things quite gradually. In a side drawer of his desk, I came across this little box which he had carefully kept for nearly 50 years. It had been put into service for storing potentially useful paper clips, and was very suitable for such a job. It was really strange seeing it again. On the one hand, it was long forgotten, until that moment I had no idea he still had it, let alone for current use. On the other hand, as soon as I saw it I recognised it instantly. It was quite poignant, but also a good memory. I had done this spontaneous thing for him, and although essentially it was just an old matchbox wrapped up in sellotape which had now largely lost its stickiness and was peeling away that didn’t matter. It wasn’t the quality of my handcraft that was important, it was the love and determination that had gone into making it.  

So it seems, even though my attempt at handcraft wouldn’t win any prizes in a competition, I hope this little story goes to show that really and truly, it is often the case that it really is ‘the thought that counts’! How do I feel about making it myself? Well, really happy, it was such a personal exchange, and I was happy that my Dad must have really appreciated it to have kept it for all those years.

[Written by - Lucy Marris (2016): Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam)]

More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card topic:

Topic: Describe a handcrafted item which you made yourself.

1. In December last year, I made a Christmas Tree myself. It was a hefty task indeed. I used various items to make the tree including artificial tree leaves, small lights etc. I placed the tree in front of our house located in Manhattan. It was a great pleasure for me to make the tree. In fact, I did not do such work before. And people who see that tree praised me. They also advised me on some aspects that I will implement this time. It was done on an experimental basis. And I was happy with the outcomes.

2. I did not have any idea that it would be so difficult to make a snowman using the cotton buds. In fact, I had to make it for my little daughter. She wanted to have a snowman of her own and thus I made it to her. I used different ordinary items like cotton buds, paper and glue to make it. When I presented the snowman to my daughter, she was amazed. And I also felt proud. I took the idea from the internet to make such a snowman but felt a bit difficulty in its making process. Finally, it was a nice handicraft.

3. The celebration of the birthday of my baby boy was interesting. And I made some paper caps for the other kids who attended the party. I made the capes using paper, clips, glue and applied some other ornamental objects to. I also painted the caps so that they look beautiful. All the children present at the ceremony used the cap. I felt glad when all the children wore the caps and everyone present at the ceremony praised my initiative. Though it was an experimental matter, I was happy with the result.

4. Making of the elephant cards was not that much hard but it took time for me. I made the cards using paper, balloons. At first, I attached a balloon on a piece of small paper that I attached to the card front part. Initially, it was troublesome to complete the task but I became an expert when I started making several other cards. I did not have an idea that I would do so great and it helped me to restore confidence in me. Besides, the card receivers also adore the card-making process.

5. I wanted to make a special gift for my niece and so I made a tic tac toe for her. It took about two hours for me to complete it and I used a small piece of cloth to be used as the board and few rocks. I painted the table on the cloth and also painted the rock with ‘0’ and ‘X’. When I presented it to my niece, she was too happy. She said that the gift from me was the best she ever had. In fact, her comment inspired me indeed. 

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