IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 350 with Model Answer:
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
I have always considered myself an “underachiever”. Therefore, talking about my achievements doesn’t exactly thrill me much because I just don’t have many of them to talk about. But, I will still go ahead and try to find one to talk about that made me feel proud.
About 7 years ago, learning about computer repairing skills or getting a certification on this important trade skill wasn’t exactly an easy thing in my little old town, where I used to live, because there weren’t just many good IT or technical institutes there to teach the skills on a professional level. Of course, there were some recognised and good institutes in the big cities, but my parents weren’t exactly that much interested in leaving me alone in those big cities, as they were being a bit too “protective” about their young son. Complicating my plan to get the certification was also the fact that there weren’t too many good textbooks on the subjects that were written in my native language. So, the only option left for me was to get enrolled at an ‘average’ IT technical institute in my little old town and buy a good textbook on the subject, written in English, if I was to really get a certification.
But, the problem was that my rather “mediocre” English linguistic abilities were not just good enough either to “decipher” all the necessary information by reading a book written in English. Still, I went ahead and did all the necessary things to finally succeed in achieving my goal.
Anyway, I was proud of this achievement, mainly because attending the computer classes during the late evening, after finishing my regular high school studies and after travelling a distance, could be really physically tiring at times. Besides, I also needed to spend a significant amount of time trying to find the meaning of many “technical terms” by digging into the dictionary, as my English language skills were not up to the mark back then. So, the whole thing was indeed challenging for me, and that’s why I was so proud of my achievement.
Describe something that you have achieved and you are proud of.
You should say:- what you have achieved
- when you have achieved it
- what was difficult about achieving it
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
I have always considered myself an “underachiever”. Therefore, talking about my achievements doesn’t exactly thrill me much because I just don’t have many of them to talk about. But, I will still go ahead and try to find one to talk about that made me feel proud.
About 7 years ago, learning about computer repairing skills or getting a certification on this important trade skill wasn’t exactly an easy thing in my little old town, where I used to live, because there weren’t just many good IT or technical institutes there to teach the skills on a professional level. Of course, there were some recognised and good institutes in the big cities, but my parents weren’t exactly that much interested in leaving me alone in those big cities, as they were being a bit too “protective” about their young son. Complicating my plan to get the certification was also the fact that there weren’t too many good textbooks on the subjects that were written in my native language. So, the only option left for me was to get enrolled at an ‘average’ IT technical institute in my little old town and buy a good textbook on the subject, written in English, if I was to really get a certification.
But, the problem was that my rather “mediocre” English linguistic abilities were not just good enough either to “decipher” all the necessary information by reading a book written in English. Still, I went ahead and did all the necessary things to finally succeed in achieving my goal.
Anyway, I was proud of this achievement, mainly because attending the computer classes during the late evening, after finishing my regular high school studies and after travelling a distance, could be really physically tiring at times. Besides, I also needed to spend a significant amount of time trying to find the meaning of many “technical terms” by digging into the dictionary, as my English language skills were not up to the mark back then. So, the whole thing was indeed challenging for me, and that’s why I was so proud of my achievement.
Sample Answer 2:
Before joining as a mathematics lecturer at a local college in Spain, I was afraid of public speaking. I felt a bit embarrassed to speak in front of the audience, and it constantly irritated me. But now, I am a good public speaker, or at least I am no longer afraid to speak in public. I believe I have achieved the quality by practising hundreds of times and by lecturing in front of my students in college.
So, overcoming the fear of public speaking is a great achievement for me, especially because of my career choice. When I was offered the position of a math teacher at the college exactly three years ago, I was in no way comfortable about it, but I liked the idea of teaching young students. I thought about all the positive and negative aspects of it, and I decided that if I could overcome the fear of public speaking, I could become a great teacher.
Well, it took me at least 4 months of practice and another 2-to 3 months of teaching experience to get comfortable speaking in front of others. Once I became comfortable about speaking in a class, I found that I was more fluent and natural in teaching my students, and the whole process took me no less than two years, I would say.
The process of achieving it was far more difficult than I had anticipated. It took countless hours of practice, many hours of frustration and hurdles to at last have it conquered. The most difficult part was that when I thought I would be able to speak in front of others because I had practised in front of a mirror the previous day, I found that I was unable to do so. The experience was so heartbreaking that I often thought of abandoning it completely. It was utterly frustrating because when I thought I would be able to do something, the next moment I found that I would have to start from ground zero!
I am proud of this achievement because I can speak freely anywhere and at any time. Now, I am confident and can discuss even complex issues. Since teaching is the profession I have chosen, I need to speak in public on various occasions and lecture in a class full of students every day. Besides, what could be more frustrating than not being able to explain something to my students when I am paid for that! So I consider it a great achievement.