IELTS Speaking...

Cue Card
Describe a museum that you have visited
You should say:

When you visited the museum

Describe the museum
How you felt after going there
and describe your experience of the visit

Possible Answer:
I have visited 5-6 museums in total in different countries and enjoyed visiting the (tell a museum name you
know about) in (say the country name). I went to the museum 2 years back while visiting the city. Visiting
the museum was not in our tour plan and yet we went there as it was prominently expressing its present in
front of us. I went there with my 2 friends and one cousin who were my tour partners. My cousin and one of
my friends were not at all interested to roam inside the museum as they had other plans. I insisted them to
go there and convinced them by saying that if you do not enjoy it; I would pay for the dinner!

After we bought our tickets, we entered in to the museum and the colossal front side of the museum
building and the large open garden in front of it mesmerized us. At that time I had a feeling that our time
would worth the visit.

After we entered inside the museum, we found that the place is even larger than we initially thought it
would be. There were 5 floors in the museum and the inside architecture reminded us the imperial age. We
could see the top of the building from the ground flood. People from different age groups and countries
were closely observing the museum. Taking photo was prohibited and yet I was sometimes allured to take
some hidden snaps especially when I saw the colossal dinosaur fossil and alien ship!

The first floor of the museum had some art from famous artist of the world and sculptures from different
era. The first floor gave us the impression of visiting a theatre or art gallery rather than museum. We came
to know that some of the arts were so expensive that one can buy an island by selling it! Then we moved to
the second floor which was full of Second World War memories. Guns, tanks and other war materials from
1945 WW II had been arranged there. A video was showing some of the fighting scenes of WW II.

When we reached third floor, its been already 2.5 hours. We found all the costumes and traditional things
from different parts of the world have been placed here. One can easily learn about the customs of different
ages and countries just by visiting this floor.
The next floor had more adventure and surprises for us. It has placed all the major inventions of different
ages and they were historically famous. I felt overwhelmed seeing the First computer, Speed boat, Wheel,

Motor Engine and many more famous invention of history at this floor. I was so much dying to touch the
first 4 wheeler that had been placed there.

We had visited the whole museum as much as possible and spent almost the whole day. We were so
enthralled to visit the place that we literally forgot to have our lunch. The overall experience was fantastic
and I learned so many things in few hours. As soon as I left the place, I planned to revisit it someday.

Follow-up Questions:

How often do you visit museums?

What type of museum is popular in your country?

What do you think of the importance of museums in history?

How do you think of the heritage of a country?

Compare the museums nowadays and in the past.

Have you ever been to a foreign museum?

Tips for answering this Cue Card Topic:

While describing a museum you should pick the national stadium of your country. If you have already
visited the museum, you should be comfortable describing it. Since this is the museum that the examiner
might also know about, you should give the factual information of it. Start by saying when you visited it, with
whom you went there, number of times you went there, the exterior or interior of the museum, number of
floors of the museum, things you did there, the things present there and so on. If you can't remember an
exact museum try to visualize one and describe the museum as if you have visited it. If you ever been to a
foreign country and visited a museum of that city, you can also mention that museum. If the cue card topic
asks you to describe a museum in your country, you would then have to describe a museum located at
your country.

Some of the common features of a museum:

1. A museum is a place where collection of artifacts and other things are preserved for public exhibition.
2. Almost all of the countries have museums in their major cities.
3. The things preserved there are generally of scientific, cultural, historic and artistic interests.
4. Things are arranged and categorized on different floors for the convenience of the visitors.

There are several types of museums based on the types of things they present for public exhibition and you
can talk about any type of museum you like and know about. General categories of museum are as
following:

Cultural museum, historic museum, science and technology museum, craft museum, fine arts museum,
archaeology museum, natural history museum, childrens museum, modern art museum, military history
museum, aviation museum, universal museum etc.

A botanical garden or a zoological garden is also referred as a museum but avoid describing one of these
two unless you have no clue about the other types of museum. If you plan to describe a botanical garden or
a zoological garden as a museum, make it clear at the very first level of your speaking so that the examiner
does not have any confusion.

Following are some of the museums in different cities of the world that you can google to find the details
about them:
India

Indonesia

USA

National Museum, New Delhi;

National Museum of Indonesia;

Metropolitan Museum of Art;

Indian Museum, Kolkata;

Jakarta History Museum;

Guggenheim Museum;

Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad;

Museum of PKI Treason;

National Portrait Gallery;

Government Museum, Bangalore;

Bali Museum;

Philadelphia Museum of Art;

Victoria Memorial, Kolkata;

Hirshhorn Museum;

Australia

Malaysia

Singapore

Australian History Museum;

The national museum;

Peranakan Museum;

Macleay Museum;

Petrosains museum;

Asian Civilisations Museum;

Sydney Harbour Bridge Visitor Centre;

Maritime museum;

National Museum of Singapore;

Fort Denison;

National science museum;

Pakistan

Iran

Vietnam

Lahore Museum;

National Museum of Iran;

War Remnants Museum;

National Museum of Pakistan

Azadi Museum;

Spain

Turkey

UK

Reina Sofa;

Istanbul Modern;

British Museum;

Institut Valenci d'Art Modern;

Natural History Museum;

Guggenheim;

Victoria and Albert Museum;

CaixaForum Barcelona;

National Gallery, London;

MACBA;

Royal Academy of Arts;

Tate Modern, London;

Russia

China

Kazakhstan

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts;

Nanjing Educational Museum;

Abai Kununbaev Museum;

State Historical Museum;

Capital Museum;

Museums and Art Galleries;

State Hermitage;

Tianjin Museum;

Almaty City History Museum;

State Darwin Museum;

The National Museum of China;

Central State Museum;

State Russian Museum;

The Capital Museum;

Geology Museum;

Zurab Tsereteli's Art Gallery;

Beijing Planetarium;

Kazakhstan Museum of Arts;

Novosibirsk State Art Museum;

Xibaipo Memorial;

Moscow Kremlin;
Thailand

Italy

Greece

Royal Barge Museum;

Vatican Museums, Rome;

Acropolis Museum;

Museum of Siam;

Galleria Palatina, Florence;

National Archaeological Museum of

Bang Khun Thien Museum;

Musei Capitolini, Rome;

Athens;

Bangkok Planetarium;

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan;

Benaki Museum;

Prasart Museum;

Athinais Culture Center;

Athens War Museum;

Archaeological Museum of Komotini

Nepal

Iraq

Japan

National Museum of Nepal;

National Museum of Iraq;

Tokyo National Museum;

Some other Cue card topics that you should be able to answer as well if you prepare for this cue
card:

1. Describe a worth visiting place in your city.

2. Talk about a museum you have visited.
3. Describe a place where you would like to go.
4. Describe an interesting place you have visited.