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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe an important year in your life.

You should say:

• when it was
• what happened in this year
• how old you were then

and explain why it is an important year in your life.

Model Answer 1:
Perhaps I have never been intelligent or smart enough to understand the importance of the years which have already passed by. But, in the greater scheme of things, I think that the final year of my university was an important year in my life.

It was the year of 2015 when I was not only excited about finishing my university but also nervous at the same time because I just didn’t know what kind of profession I was going to choose after ending my formal educational life.

Prior to that year, of course, my parents and elder brother had advised me on numerous occasions to settle down with the thought of a particular career path, but I was perhaps a bit too immature (“immature” for a 22 years old that is) to make up my mind. So, the nearer my graduation day was approaching, the more I was becoming restless. After all, I needed to decide what I was going to do for the rest of my life, and I needed to do it as fast as possible without wasting any more time.

Anyway, as a lot of thoughts and calculations was going in my head, I decided to fall back on the advice of those persons who I always had conveniently ignored up and until that point. Yes, I decided to talk to my father and elder brother who, I knew, was going to “chew me” up for my dangerously carefree attitude. But, of course, I was proved wrong by them as, instead of “tearing” me up for my abject failure to decide on a career path, they actually offered me some serious career advice, based on my “personality”.

Anyway, the year of 2015 was an important year of my life, primarily because it was in this year that I learned that I needed to become my “own” man instead of depending on somebody else. Besides, in this year, I also learned the value of proper planning in life for the first time.

Sample Answer 2:
Well, picking an important year was bit header as so many important events took place in different years in my life. However, out of those, I would like to talk about the year 2002 which I consider as one of the most important years in my life.

I went to visit my uncle’s house in the year 2000 and stayed there for about three weeks. During my visit, I learned a lesson that has changed my perspective of my life and that was probably the most significant turning point in my life. I was 16 years old then.

While staying there I went to the sea beach, which was about 5 kilometres away from my uncle’s house, with one of my cousins. We went there without informing our guardians and thought that we would return before the dusk without anyone noticing. While swimming in the seawater, we were enjoying a lot and the big tides of the sea made our experience more enthralling. All of a sudden I noticed that the sands below my feet were no longer presents and at the same time a giant tide hit me. I was quite afraid and was again hit by a giant tide from the reverse direction. That tide took me a long away from the beach and I was really frightened. I am a good swimmer but at that very moment my body froze in terror and I could not move my muscle. I could see the anxious eyes of distant people and for the first time in life, I thought that I was going to die. That was an experience I can’t express in words. I had no idea about the time and many things from my childhood were flashing back in my mind. I felt that I was drowning even after my desperate try to survive. Things were becoming blurred and I think I started losing my conscious.    

I don’t know how long I had been in this state. All of a sudden I felt like some force was pulling me towards him and the next thing I saw was some curious eyes strangely looking at me. I was actually rescued by some local fishermen who were fishing nearby.

This event changed me dramatically. I started realising the reality of life and how fragile our life could be. It was a near-death experience that taught me the importance of life, our relationship, the necessity of being humble, prudent, responsible and all other good things an ideal human being should possess. This year had a great influence to help me become who I really am and how I feel about being alive. This is a lesson we experience probably once in a lifetime and from that perspective, the year 2000 is very important to me.

Sample Answer 3:
I believe each of the moments has its own significance in human life. The similar logic implies to years as well. I will remember 2014 throughout the rest of my life as it had the greatest impacts on me. I got married to the girl I loved.

In 2014, I married Susan. She was one of my classmates at the university. I met her first at the University of Waterloo in Canada. But there were some troubles in convincing her to be in love with me. I met her in the class and fall in love at first sight. But it was not the same for her. It may sound weird - I had to invest a huge amount of time to create a sense of love for me in her heart. At last, I succeeded and she fell in me.  

Once the relationship between us grew further, in 2014 we decided to tie the knot. But it was not as easy as it sounds. Both of us had to struggle a lot and the most important part was the family approval. The family members did not agree in the beginning considering the surrounding conditions. Besides, they also denied our relationship with many excuses – typical reactions from the family seniors. But the strong determination from our end made it happened. We got married on June 19 in 2014. The arrangement of the marriage was difficult as both of us were non-natives in Canada. She came to Canada for higher study and the same was for me.

Susan was 20 and I was 21 when we got married. In fact, this was not the age to marry but I took no chance of losing her. Both the family members asked us to wait for some years so that we could complete our academic studies but we denied the proposal. In fact, there were chances for both the families for settling in other places and in that case we might lose each other. Besides, there were some other issues. Susan and I had no income to meet the expenses after marriage. It was not possible for any one of us to find a full-time job to support us. But we did not pay heed to such excuses. We were determined to be married at any cost. If Susan had not supported me, I could not have married her at this young age.

I have gathered the most valuable experiences in this year. The faces of my relations were revealed in this year. Besides, the year made me stronger enough to take responsibilities to form a family of my own. I started living with Susan, took a part-time job at a café. By the same time, we continued our studies. She met her expenses with the regular support from her family while my parents stopped spending after me as I did not obey their opinions. I can remember the struggling days. I rushed for the job immediately after the university classes and Susan waited every day for my return from work. But the scenarios are now changed and the struggling days are gone. We are now living happily. I am grateful for the year – 2014. If the events did not happen, I think I was unable to uphold me in the present condition.

If you prepare for this cue card you should be able to answer the following cue cards as well:

• Describe an important event in your life.
• Describe an event when you learned a good lesson.
• Describe a frightening experience you have in your life.
• Describe a time when someone helped you.
• Describe a memorable event in your life.

• IELTS Cue Card
• Candidate Task Card

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