Describe an interesting discussion you had about how you spend your money

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Interesting discussion you had about how you spend your money

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 406 with Model Answer:

Describe an interesting discussion you had about how you spend your money.

I have felt that a few people want to discuss how we spend money or how we should spend money, in a serious manner because talking about this issue makes them rather uncomfortable. But, for me, whenever I have got an opportunity, I have discussed this important subject with others around me, just like I did about a few months ago.

The discussion started very casually with one of my co-workers at the office, but it got more and more interesting as the discussion continued a bit longer than we had expected.

In that discussion, I asked my fellow co-workers about how much money I should have saved every month. But, instead of answering my questions, he threw a couple of questions to me. His first question was, why would I need money in the next 5 or 10 years? His second question was, why do I need money now? Then, he told me that if I knew the answers to both these questions, I would be well on my way to find out whether I would need to save any money at all, and also how much money I would need to save if I indeed needed to.

After thinking for a while, I told him that while I knew about my current monetary needs, I couldn’t have possibly known about the same after 5 or 10 years. “That’s exactly what I thought,” he answered. A little later, he told me that we didn’t really need to worry about saving any money, as it would stress out life even further, and instead we should have focused on earning more and more money while we could. After all, nobody could foretell what possibly could lie ahead of us in future.

Anyway, the discussion was interesting, mainly because it taught me not to worry about my future. After all, nobody could control future events. It also taught me that we should have never given up our present to make room for some uncertain future while working really hard to become more finically successful at present.

Describe an interesting conversation you had with your friend IELTS cue card

Describe an interesting conversation you had with your friend IELTS cue card

IELTS CUE CARD TOPIC

Describe an interesting conversation you had with your friend

You should say:

Who you spoke with?
Where you were?
What the conversation was about?
And explain why you think it was interesting?

Sample Answer 1

Introduction:

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Conversations are an integral part of human being lives. Although I have had numerous interesting discussions with my friends, one out of them is worth mentioning.

Who did you speak with?

I discussed this with my bosom friend Andrew five years back.

Where you were?

The conversation took place at my home. For my birthday. I didn’t plan any party. I just invited Andrew for dinner at my place.

What the conversation was about?

It was about how to become successful in the contemporary epoch.

Since we both are voracious readers, we had too much content to share. We discussed various elements for attaining success, such as willpower, positive attitude, mindfulness and gratitude.

And explain why you think it was interesting?

The conversation was interesting for both of us because after spending two hours, we had concluded. Although we debated on various things required to get success, we expressed solidarity, with the fact that the most significant factor for success is our routine.

To test the results of our discussion, we both decided to follow a strict routine to get success. I made a timetable of the things to be done and started working on my goal with daily efforts. Andrew had started working on the plan with enthusiasm, but he didn’t carry it for a long time.

Finally, I got the much-needed success, but Andrew did not achieve his aim. Seeing my triumph, he also got charged up, and he started following his routine rigorously. And he achieved his goal last month.

Conclusion

In totality, that discussion brought a paradigm shift in my and Andrew’s life and our careers are on an impressive growth trajectory.

Sample Answer 2

Introduction:

With the advent of social media, face to face interaction is on a decline. Many people choose to call their near and dear ones instead of meeting them in person.

However, having face to face conversation has its charm. Although I have had numerous in-person discussions in recent months, one out of them is worth mentioning.

Who did you speak with?

Last month, I met one of my bosom friends Gordon.

Where you were?

Due to corona pandemic protocols, we decided to meet at my home.

What the conversation was about?

The conversation started with various topics, but later on, we discussed the future career options for the youngsters.

It started with the view that content creation would be the need of the hour in future. Due to that, people engaged in content writing will get plum jobs with handsome salaries.

Further, we discussed jobs related to social media. Unlike past people have started taking this domain seriously. After researching the internet, we concluded that millions of jobs would come in this field.

Lastly, we discussed burgeoning fields of the future like blockchain and cryptocurrencies. There is no denying this conviction that these two fields have unlimited potential. An early entry can empower the youngsters to carve out a niche for themselves and lead their lives towards an impressive growth trajectory.

And explain why you think it was interesting?

The discussion was interesting because it encouraged us to think beyond the conventional domain. Before conversing, we had not known that we would be having a plethora of career options soon.

Sample Answer 3

Introduction:

There is a denying this conviction that engaging in discussion with learned minds can help us find appropriate solutions to our problems.

Recently, I had a discussion that provided me with a suitable answer to my query.

Who did you speak with?

Six months I had an interesting conversation with one of my friends Stephen.

Where you were?

The discussion took place at my home.

What the conversation was about?

The conversation was about the best place to pursue higher education. I favoured going to Canada, whereas he was supporting Australia.

And explain why you think it was interesting?

The discussion was interesting for many reasons. First and foremost, it helped us get a suitable answer to our question. We two friends had apprehensions on which country we should go to lead our careers towards an impressive growth trajectory.

The conversation started with the positives and negatives about both nations. The primary advantage with Canada is its location close to the superpower America: Whereas, the main pitfall of living in this nation is its harsh climate. The cold temperature makes it challenging to do work.

On the other hand, Australia has a friendly climate that contains all the seasons like India. However, this country is far off: moreover, the job opportunities are less than in Canada.

Considering the above points, we concluded that it is worthwhile to go to Canada. The prominent reason for this is the wide availability of work opportunities. Moreover, a vast area of this country is still untapped, due to this reason, the future is more secure in Canada for overseas students.

Sample Answer 4

Introduction

Being a talkative person, I discuss numerous topics with my friends. Recently I had a discussion that turned out to be interesting.

Who did you speak with?

The discussion was with my bosom friend Andrew.

Where you were?

Last year due to the corona pandemic, I remained indoors for six months. Finally, when higher authorities lifted the lockdown, I had a sigh of relief and to celebrate the freedom, I immediately rushed to Andrew’s home for dinner.

What the conversation was about?

The conversation started with routine topics, but then it drifted towards future career options. Firstly we discussed the benefits of having a job. The prominent benefit the employees get is settled work, and they need not worry regarding the expenses.

The central focus of the employee is on work, and the employer takes care of all the logistics. Due to this reason, there is less stress involved in doing a job. However, the major pitfall is a limited growth opportunity.

After that, we discussed career prospects for a business person. There is no denying this conviction that for an entrepreneur sky is the limit: Hence, for those who crave an opulent lifestyle doing business is a prudent approach to lead their lives towards an impressive growth trajectory.

And explain why you think it was interesting?

The discussion was interesting because it helped us have a clear vision for our future. After the conversation, we both had decided to start our career with a job to gain sufficient work experience, and after spending two to three years in the job, we would foray into business.

Follow up Questions

Here are some examples of follow up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to the cue card “Describe an interesting conversation you had with your friend”.

1. How do friends communicate with each other?

There are umpteen ways through which friends interact with each other. The most popular way to interact is by having tea

or meals together. The other way is to have fun trips together like adventure trips.

Moreover, many people use social media excessively to communicate. There are various applications and websites at their disposal to interact with others.

Lastly, people use their mobile phones and landlines to communicate.

2. What’s the difference between having a conversation with a man and having a conversation with a woman?

The nature of both men and women is different. Due to this reason, some people say that “Men are from venus and women are from Mars”.

Men usually talk about sports, technology and politics. On the other hand, women prefer to discuss fashion and household chores.

3. Do you think women like to chat more than men?

Women, in general, are more extrovert as compared to men. Due to this reason, they like to chat more than men.

4. When men chat with other men do they usually talk about the same things that women do when they chat with other women?

No, the conversation differs. Men discuss business, politics and sports. Moreover, they discuss pressing problems of the country.

On the other hand, women tend to discuss grave concerns about society. Furthermore, they discuss fashion, celebrities and household chores.

5. What is the difference between chatting and gossiping?

In chatting, the central focus of the communicators is on themselves and various issues and ideas.

On the other hand, gossiping thrives primarily on discussing others. In short, gossiping is when two or more people discuss another person or persons.

6. Who do you prefer chatting with – your parents or your friends?

It depends on the situation. I like to chat with my parents about my goals, my plans and pressing problems of society like unemployment, female foeticide and climate change.

On the other hand with my friends, I chat regarding sports, future career options and fashion.

7. Do most people have just a small number of friends or many friends?

It differs from person to person. Introverts have a limited friend circle because they enjoy their own company.

On the other hand, extroverts have this uncanny knack for making almost everyone their friend.

8. How do most people make new friends in your country?

In my country, people usually make friends in the educational institution they study. Apart from this, persons staying in the neighbourhood develop a friendship.

Nowadays, technology is playing a significant role in developing friendships. Many people use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Meetup to make new friends.

Below is the list of the probable Cue Cards Jan to April 2022

Cue Card # 138: Discussion about how you spend money

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 138

Describe an interesting discussion you had about how you spend your money.

and explain why this discussion was interesting for 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:

I don’t really talk about money matters with others unless I have a very valid reason to do so. But, the other day, about a few months ago, I made it an exception and did talk about spending money with one of my rich friends, who had an interesting take on the whole subject.

As I have already mentioned, I had this talk with a wealthy friend of mine who didn’t have to worry about earning any money or spending them as he wishes. So, what was really coming out of his mouth had very little relevance to me since I had always taken a rather conservative approach in spending my money.

Of course, this conservative approach in spending my money also very much had to do with the fact that my family always had to struggle to earn money. So, anyway, when my rich friend told me that I was only wasting my life in trying to earn more money and spending only a little portion of it, I just couldn’t argue with him because, to be honest, I also had felt the same way sometimes. By the way, I agreed to have this discussion with my rich friend, only because I thought that I would get some valuable tips on saving more money. After all, I thought that people became rich only by saving more and more money. But, my rich friend proved me wrong by saying that most people become rich by spending money, not saving them, and taking calculated risks. Anyway, at the end of the conversation, I was also convinced that I needed to become a bit more adventurous with my money sometimes.

Anyway, the discussion was interesting, primarily because it taught me to become bolder with my money when it came to spending. Besides, I also learned from the conversation that people didn’t really need to worry so much about earning money as there are many other better things in this world to wish for.

Speaking Sample 38

IELTS GT Test – Speaking Mock Test # 38

[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]

PART 1:

Topic: Clothes

Q. Where do you buy most of your clothes? [Why?]
Answer: I buy most of my clothes from regular shops in regular markets where clothing items are affordable. However, when it comes to buying some special clothes for special occasions, I try to buy them from shopping malls where I can choose some clothes from a large collection of clothing items.

Q. How often do you buy new clothes for yourself? [Why?]
Answer: I don’t really buy new clothes that often for myself as it usually takes a long time to wear them down. And, unless my clothes are worn out to make them look old, I don’t like to buy any clothes for myself. So, anyway, if you are asking me to be precise, I would say that I buy new clothes as often as twice or thrice a year unless I have a very good reason to buy on more occasions than that.

Q. How do you decide which clothes to buy?
Answer: I decide which clothes to buy largely depends on what time of the year I want to wear them. In other words, if I want to wear then during summer time, I would go for heat-resistant clothes. Similarly, if I want to wear them during winter time, I would buy warm clothes to keep myself warm and comfortable. I also decide which clothes to buy depending on whether I want to wear them casually or for some special occasions such as attending parties or enjoying a soccer game in the field.

Q. Have the kinds of clothes you like changed in recent years?[Why?/Why not?]
Answer: Yes, I do think that the clothes, which I like, have changed for “worse” instead of getting better in recent years in terms of “quality”. Besides, my preference and choice of costumes have changed as well. In the past, fashion was my top priority while comfort is the most important issue now.

In fact, in the past years, I could buy a good quality dress and forget about buying another one in the next few months, in the least. But, nowadays, I buy the same types of clothes, and they look old and faded only after a couple of months or so. Of course, the clothes have become more stylish and fashionable in recent years, but without meeting the minimum quality requirements, they are only as good as they “look”.

PART 2:

Describe an interesting discussion you had about how you spend your money.

and explain why this discussion was interesting for 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.]

Cue Card Answer:

There is no doubt that money is one of the most important things, if not the most important thing, in life as it just can’t only build our life but also can destroy it. Therefore, it is absolutely important that we just don’t earn our money, but we make sure that we spend and manage it properly by discussing it with the elderly and wise. And that’s exactly what I tried to do a couple of years ago with my father.

After opening up a savings account right after starting my new job about a few years ago, I didn’t really know that I had managed to save up a “substantial” amount of money (substantial for me, at least) little by little every month. In fact, suddenly I felt like I was a “rich” as the money was all mine and only mine. Then, again, I became a little cautious too. So, it was a “mixed” bag of feeling after all. Not knowing what to do with the money, I decided to discuss with my father about it.

My father, of course, didn’t seem so excited and instead, he just told me to wait for a few days after which he would offer me some concrete advice. Exactly after two days, my father came and asked me to buy some company “stocks” from the stock exchange market. Without saying a word, I started to learn about the stock market. He explained to me a great deal of this new stock market concepts to me and how I should be more cautious about money management for the rest of my life to do better financially.

The talk was interesting because it actually helped me come of an age where I was starting to this like an intelligent “businessman” and “investor”. It was also interesting that it was at that discussion that my father ever treated me like an “adult”! The discussion also made me realize for the first time that I was also able to take charge of my own life by becoming a proud “owner” of something or some assets.

PART 3

Discussion topics: Money and young people

Q. Why do some parents give their children money to spend each week?
Answer: I guess that this is one of the instances where one gets to say that we, adults, just don’t love and need money, but children do it too! Anyway, some parents give money to their children in order to spend each week because some children have their own “ideas of food” such as “cakes” or “ice creams”, and they have to eat those “food” every day, if not every hour, no matter how full they are in their “stomach”.

Some other parents offer money to their children as some precious “gifts” probably to show their “love and affection” for them, even though I just don’t quite fully share the idea of such “gifts”. Then, of course, there are another group of parents who would give money to their children to make them understand the “importance” of money so that they could actually learn how to “manage” money from their childhood in order to become a “successful” person in future.

Q. Do you agree that schools should teach children how to manage money?
Answer: Yes, I do agree that the schools should teach children how to manage money because, whether we like it or not, money probably is the single most important factor of our adult lives which helps us decide whether we are “successful” or not. In fact, I believe that the schools make it “mandatory” for all children to learn about “money management” in the classes. Anyway, “Money Management” classes at schools can teach children the basic knowledge of money management such as budgeting, saving, debt, investing, and giving, and then that knowledge can lay a very good foundation for children to build strong money habits early on and avoid many of the mistakes that lead to lifelong struggles of money.

Q. Do you think it is a good idea for students to earn money while studying?
Answer: Yes, I do think that it is a good idea for students to earn money while studying, but, only if the money earning thing doesn’t affect the studies negatively. If students earn money while studying, they can actually learn even more about the idea of shared responsibilities and punctuality that are associated with the role of a job position. Students can also learn how to work as a team member as well as the “art of compromise” with other employees and the employers alike when the situation comes. Finally, the act of earning money will also teach students about not only the value of money but also the value of “hard works”.

Discussion topics: Money and society

Q. Do you think it is true that in today’s society money can’t buy happiness?
Answer: In my opinion, money can buy a lot of things in today’s world, but it certainly can’t buy happiness. But that, of course, depends on how we like to define “happiness” in the great scheme of things.

Money will certainly buy us the biggest villa, the most luxurious and comfortable car, the best of the dresses and the most expensive and delicious of the food, but I can bet a million “quid” that it just won’t be able to buy us the sound sleep, the love, the respect, the knowledge and the health to offer our life the “truly complete” feeling it deserves.

Of course, money is a very popular and important avenue through which we can look to reach “happiness” but that happiness is sure to fade away in time as there is no such thing as “happily ever after”. However, if you look to find “inner peace and security” instead of looking for some “artificial happiness” in the luxuries and comforts of your lives, that money can buy, you surely are not going to spend all your life in earning money, only, of course, to find out at the end of the day that you have “run out of all your time” to “spend” your hard earned money! Now, isn’t that really ironic!

Q. What disadvantages are there in a society where the gap between rich and poor is very large?
Answer: In a society where the gap between rich and poor is very huge, the first “casualty” there, of course, is “humanity”, or lack of it thereof, I should say. But the greatest disadvantage of income inequality, in my opinion, in a society, is that the poor resent the rich with a lot of hatred and animosity inside their hearts which we don’t get to see often. But, if such a situation goes on for a long period of time without trying to find its remedy, it is only natural that a society will witness a lot of ‘crimes’ “violence’ and unrest as the poor will also want their “fair” shares of food, clothes, medicines and shelters at one point or another by hook or by crook.

And I must say that it is a “doomsday” scenario for any society. Besides, the consolidation of wealth and capital in few hands is economically inefficient because it depresses demand to such a point where the economy is sure to “collapse” which is even worse, and which is certainly not good for anyone whether you are rich or poor!

Q. Do you think richer countries have a responsibility to help poorer countries?
Answer: Yes, I do think that richer countries have a responsibility to help poorer countries only so far so that the poorer countries don’t become fully dependent on the help of rich countries. In other words, the rich countries should help poor countries only if it helps the poor countries to stand on their “own feet”. Of course, there are many reasons for helping poor countries, but primarily, the help goes mainly for humanitarian reasons. Just as many individuals like to give charity to help their other fellow human beings, many countries also feel that it is their religious, social or moral obligation to help people in other countries who are suffering from famine, drought, war and diseases. And, I certainly have no issue with these kinds of help.

However, the problem is many rich countries provide help purely for political or diplomatic reasons in order to serve their “ill” motives. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest that the very “reasons”, for which some countries like to “help” poorer countries, are also created by the very same countries in most cases one way or another. In fact, they just want to maintain a relationship of dependency with the recipients of the “help”, in order to influence the government and direction of the poor countries. Besides, many rich countries help poorer ones is for economic reasons as they donors may want to control the supply of essential commodities such as rice, oil or wheat in order to control the markets of the poor countries. And if such is the case, the poor countries should avoid receiving help from rich countries.

Cue Card # 19: An interesting discussion you had

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 19

Describe an interesting discussion you had as part of your work or studies.

and explain why you found the discussion interesting.

[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:

They say that time is money. Even though I don’t exactly subscribe to this kind of “capitalistic” view of time, I have always maintained that “proper time management” (depending on how we spend it) probably is the most important and sole determining factor of how much we can accomplish in our lives. So, the other day, when our communication teacher asked me to discuss how we should manage our time with my classmates as a part of a monthly discussion topic, I immediately decided to join the discussion in order to offer my “2-cent-worth” of opinion.

Having more of a traditional frame of mind, I understandably was in favour of managing our times wisely, doing everything on time according to a pre-set schedule while others were not so “conventional” in their opinions. They said that they would rather prefer more of a “spontaneous” approach, taking care of things randomly as they would come. Some even argued that we didn’t really need to worry about time management as whatever was meant to happen in life would happen anyway. I guess they wanted to give “uncle destiny” more credit than what it actually deserved.

Anyway, I found the discussion on proper time management to be really stimulating and interesting because it helped me revisit the priorities of my life which I didn’t really get to do often because of my busy schedule. This “timely” discussion also was an eye-opener for me when I figured out the fact once again that we don’t necessarily need to spend all of our times to chase material success of this world in order to remain happy. At the end of our discussion and from valuable input from our teacher, I realized that with proper time management, we could actually become trend-setters instead of remaining some random followers of the trends.