IELTS Cue Card 4: Changes in Your Life

IELTS speaking cue card with sample answer. Changes in Your Life. IELTS Speaking Task 2 With Model Answer.

Changes in Your Life

You should say:

• what  the change was about
• when it happened
• describe details of the change happened
• and describe how it affected your later life.

Follow-up Questions:

• What changes do you want to make in your life?
• Do you believe we can control our own fate? How?
• What three changes you would want to see in your country?

Tips for answering this cue card topic:

Talk about a changed which has brought something positive to you. You would need to describe how this change has positively affected your life so talk about something which has later on proved to be very helpful for you. You can talk about a decision or action of yours which later on have been proved to be positive. You can also mention about a bad habit you abandoned, a decision you took or an advice you took which brought positive things in your life. This would vary from person to person and the following points are the ideas to talk about for this cue card topic:

• You abandoned one of your bad habits like smoking.
• You started doing exercises and that has made changes in your health.
• You have decided to study on a subject rather than what your parents wanted you to study on.
• You took a training or diploma course and that has helped you to get a good job.
• You have started being more social and thus you now have some good friends.
• You abandoned your grudge or ego against a relative or friend and now you have good relations.
• You took a part time job and that helped you.
• You started doing more outdoor activities than spending times at home.
• You started learning a language and that has helped you.
• You started exploring some skills in you and thus have focused on those skill set.
• Some experience or conversation has changed your perspective on an issue.
• You have moved to a city from a rural area.
• You have started helping people after you realised it from one of the incidents in your life.
• You started helping your family members on their tasks.
• You became more dedicated to something.
• You started participating extracurricular activities like debating, reading, blogging, cycling, swimming etc.

 Model Answer 1:

Change is the law of nature.
 My life has also seen many changes.
 I would like to talk about here about some changes that are worth
mentioning.
 I used to be a very fat and chubby child.
 A real couch potato.
 Then one day there was a drama competition in school.
 I was given the role of a fat and dumb girl/boy.
 Everyone laughed at me.
 I decided to change that image and I started exercising daily.
 I stopped eating chocolates and candies.
 The changes became obvious and in six months I was a new person.
 I felt more confident and active.
 You know what, I even got better in studies
 Then I made new friends.
 I used to be an introvert.
 I started going out and meeting people.
 I started finding the world a better place.
 Another change that I would like to talk about here is in my nature.
 I used to spend all my money on chocolates.
 Once I helped a poor class fellow with some stationery material.
 I found great happiness in it.
 I used to live for myself only.
 But I found a new meaning of life.
 So you see ma‟am, changes are a part and parcel of life.

Model Answer 2:
You have asked me to think back on some change I’ve made in my life, that turned out to be one for the better! I am going to tell you what the change was and when it happened. I’ll give you a bit of detail about how things were different for me after the change and finish by describing what it means for me now, a bit later in life. The funny thing about changes is that you don’t always recognise them at the time. For me, I didn’t know when I started out that the positive change I was making would turn out to be a long term difference in my behaviour. However, it turned out to be just that. It is only looking back now that I can identify there was a definite shift in what I got up to, and I can even pinpoint a definite time, but in the midst of it all, I had no idea where that change would take me.

The change was basically that I decided I needed to get a bit fitter, and the thing that helped me do so was joining up to do Parkrun. However, I’m jumping ahead. Let me explain how it came about… A couple of years ago I started to feel like I was getting old and losing my basic fitness. Although I walked quite a lot (as a form of transport, as well as to enjoy the local countryside) I wasn’t really doing anything else very much that was physical. I was never very good at sports, so I didn’t really know where to begin. However, I’ve always liked being outdoors, so on something of a whim I booked an activity holiday in Northumberland, which is a beautiful rural area in the north east of England, right by the coast. The holiday was great. We did abseiling; hill walking; body-surfing – all sorts of things. In addition, every morning began with a run along the sands of the seaside. Now I’d never run before – well only if I was trying to catch a bus, but otherwise, not at all. I wasn’t very good at it, and honestly, I didn’t even really enjoy it all that much. However, I did have to concede that it is a great form of exercise. You don’t really need any special equipment (apart from decent trainers); you can do it anywhere and it’s free! What’s more, I found out from some other holiday makers that in the UK there is a free weekly event held nationwide in parks all over the country. It is called Parkrun, and basically people gather every Saturday morning at 9.00 a.m. to run a fixed course of 5km and get a time for doing so. I wasn’t too sure if this would be achievable for me. I’d never run that far before. But I promised myself I would try it ‘just once’ to see if I could.

The day after I got back from my holiday I turned up to do the Parkrun at my local park. I can tell you the exact day! It was 24th August 2013 – I know this because the whole point of Parkrun is that if you register (which is free) then the organisation records your time each week and you can access it online afterwards. The first time I went I didn’t even manage to run the whole way round, but I did finish, and I did get a great sense of achievement. Because you know your time, it is quite addictive, you find you do want to go again the next week and see if you can improve!  My local parkrun is huge, with well over 500 runners taking part every week – so even though I was pretty slow, I found I wasn’t the slowest.

Since that day over two years ago, I’ve found that I’ve gone to Parkrun almost every week.  I have taken part in some 70 parkruns, and through doing so made new friends, maintained a certain level of fitness, and even gained the confidence to take part in some longer runs.  I’ve done lots of 10km races now, a few off-road runs – including one over 24km as well as taken part in obstacle races!  I would never have believed that the small change of ‘just going once’ to Parkrun to ‘give it a go’ would lead to me being such an enthusiastic member of Parkrun two years later.  By the way, I haven’t really ever got any faster, but I’m definitely a lot fitter.  Now I can’t imagine a Saturday morning without heading off for a run with my 500 friends at the local park!  That first day I turned up nervously to join in with Parkrun was definitely the beginning of a positive change in my life!

Model Answer 3:
I have completed my graduation only few months ago and within the three months of my departure from the university, I started working in a private company. My new job and my life-style changes due to that job is very recent and in my opinion pretty significant as well.

Since I joined this company as a Business Executive, I had to make a shift from my student life to corporate life. That was the main reason for the changes I went through.
Definitely that was an important and positive change for my life. I had to join a company or organization to start my career and I was very glad that I was appointed by a big and prestigious company of the country.

I am no longer a student and I do not have to attend classes and prepare for exams. I am now responsible for the job position I have. Many things have changed including my sleeping pattern and dress-up. I now sleep early and wake up early which were pretty opposite during my student life. I have to maintain office time and follow up my job responsibilities that I was trusted with during my appointment. In fact I am happy with the changes in my life. I have a great vision and big ambition about my career and now I feel that I am on the right track and I will have to work hard to achieve my future goal. All of those realizations came in my mind after I started working for this company. Besides, now I enjoy economic freedom and that’s a major change as well.

Model Answer 4:

Model Answer:
In our lives, we learn everyday knowingly or unknowingly. What we do now shapes our future and every event has its importance and consequence in our life. Yet there are some major and significant events that change our path dramatically. One such important event in my life was helping a neighbour when he got ill severely all of a sudden. I was passing the neighbor’s house and I heard a noise that sounded more like a scream. In fact the person got a heart attack and I was only 12 years old at that time to understand that clearly. I ran to his house and when I noticed him lying in the ground, I shouted for help. I called my parents and one of my cousins and we took him to the hospital promptly. The doctor went through the medical treatment and tests and thanked us for being so prompt. The consulting doctor also mentioned that, something bad could have happened if we have waited a bit long to take him to the hospital.

This person became very grateful to us and also became a family friend. He became a friend, guardian and teacher to me. He often helped me on my studies and taught me many valuable and moral aspects of life.

After I passed my A level, I was accepted by a prestigious Medical College of our country and my father tried to manage a bank loan to support my educational expenses. But he was undone. He had not been able to manage the large amount needed for me to get myself admitted in this Medical College. This neighbour who became our family friend raised his benevolent support and sold one of his properties to support my education. We tried to protest by all means but he was determined to help. Over the period, my father and I repaid his money but what he did was beyond repayable.

Because of him, I am a doctor now. That all happened because of the event when I was 12. That event changed the path of my life. This event changed my life for something better and greater.

Similar IELTS Cue Card Topics

Your preparation for this Cue Card would also help you answering the following cue card topics:

1. Describe a skill you have.
2. Describe a success in your life.
3. Talk about an important event of your life.
4. Describe a change you would like to have in you.
5. Describe something you want to do in the future.
6. Describe a lesson you would participate in the future.
7. Describe a bad habit you had.
8. Describe an activity you want to get involved.
9. Describe a skill you do not have.
10. Talk about something you started doing lately.
11. Describe a change you think was positive in your life.