A stranger who taught you something important

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 475 with Model Answer:

Describe a stranger who taught you something important.

You should say:

• when it was
• who this person was
• what important thing he/she taught you

and explain how it became useful to you.

[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 never shy away from learning something from a person whether he or she is a familiar person to me or just a complete stranger. Of course, it doesn’t often happen that I get to meet a stranger and learn something from him or her. But about 6/7 months ago, I accidentally met a person at a shopping centre and learned something useful from him.

Now, I am not too sure if I had seen that person before that day, but it was abundantly clear to me from his talks (or “exchanges” with the staff there) and activities that he was a frequent shopper at that shopping centre. Anyway, to move the story forward, we both were trying to pick up some stuff from a particular "aisle". But the problem was that I just couldn’t find the merchandises or products which I was looking for. So, naturally, I became a bit frustrated and started to blame the workers there at the store since they failed to stack up the stuff there in an organized manner. Then, as I was mumbling to myself, I suddenly noticed that the stranger shopper was approaching me with the same merchandise, I was searching for, in his hands, apparently because he wanted to hand them over to me.

And as he handed those things over to me, he told me with a smiling face that we should try to avoid complaining about small things in our life and instead try to become proactive more if we really want to make our life a bit easier. With those words, the stranger was apparently implying to me that I should have searched for those pieces of stuff in different aisles instead of complaining. The lesson was - "complaining doesn’t solve any problem, but being proactive does".

Anyway, from that day on, I have very seldom complained about anything even though I have had very valid reasons to do so. And, as a result, I have become more proactive and positive in order to get things done more successfully instead since then.



Model Answer 2:

Introduction:
In our lives, we meet different people, some of whom we interact with for a brief moment but have a significant impact on our lives. One such encounter I had was with a stranger who taught me something important. Here is my story:

When it was:
It was a few years ago when I was travelling by train from Delhi to Mumbai. The train was full of people, and I was sitting next to a middle-aged man who seemed to be returning home after a long journey.

Who this person was:
Although we had not exchanged any words initially, we soon got into a conversation. He was a businessman from Mumbai and was in Delhi for a meeting. He was curious to know about my background, and we talked about our respective professions and interests.

What important thing he/she taught you:
During our conversation, he mentioned something that I still remember. He said, "No matter what you do, always try to do it to the best of your ability, and success will follow you." He further elaborated that success is not just about making money or achieving fame, but it is about doing something that you love and doing it to the best of your ability.

How it became useful to you:
His words struck a chord with me, and I realized that I had been working half-heartedly in my job, without putting in my best effort. After that encounter, I started putting more effort into my work, and soon, I saw positive changes in my professional life. I began to take more responsibility, and my colleagues started to appreciate my work.

The conversation with the stranger on the train taught me an important lesson, that success is not just about achieving materialistic goals but also about doing something you love with all your heart.