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This IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card asks you to talk about a useful app or program, covering what the app or program is; how you found out about it; how you use it; and explain why you find it so useful.. Below is a band 9 sample answer with tips on structuring a two-minute talk.
Describe an app or computer program you find very useful.
You should say:
You have one minute to prepare and may make notes. Then speak for one to two minutes; the examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions.
The app I find most useful is a digital notebook called Notion, which I discovered through a friend at university who used it to organise her entire study schedule. At first I thought it was just another notes app, but it turned out to be far more flexible. I use it every single day for three main things. First, I keep all my study material in it, arranged by subject, so I never lose loose papers anymore. Second, I plan my week there, with a simple checklist that I review each morning. Third, I keep a small personal journal where I record ideas, expenses and even films I want to watch. What makes it genuinely useful rather than just fashionable is that it replaced four or five separate tools — my paper diary, sticky notes, spreadsheets and reminder apps — with one place that syncs between my phone and laptop. Since I started using it, I honestly forget far fewer commitments, and revising for exams has become much faster because everything is searchable. It is one of the few pieces of technology that has clearly saved me more time than it consumes.
After your talk, the examiner moves to more abstract questions linked to this cue card.
Apps have moved planning from memory and paper into our pockets. People now outsource remembering — appointments, payments, birthdays, routes — to software, which makes daily life smoother and more punctual. The downside is that our organisation collapses when the phone is unavailable, because the skill itself has weakened.
In many cases, yes. Phones have absorbed our maps, cameras, banks and social lives, so constant checking has become a reflex rather than a choice. I would not call all of it dependence — much is simple efficiency — but when people feel anxious without their phone, that clearly crosses into unhealthy reliance.
I expect health and AI-assistant apps to dominate. Apps that monitor sleep, diet and stress fit the growing focus on wellbeing, while AI tools that draft messages, plan trips and teach languages personally will feel like having a private secretary. Anything that saves time or improves health tends to win.
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