IELTS SPEAKING CUE CARD
[PART 2]
Describe a conversation topic that you were not interested in
You should say:
- Who you talked with
- When you had the conversation
- What the topic was
And explain why you were not interested
A N S W E R
A few months ago, I decided to meet one of my closest friends just to catch up with him since I hadn’t seen him for quite a while. We met at a mediocre coffee shop in his town, which is far from my residence, but it wasn’t a big deal though since I really wanted to know about what’s going on in his life.
We talked a lot and I was so glad that he’s perfectly fine. He told me that he had quit his previous work as a sales manager and started working as a financial advisor in a bank. I was happy that he took a leap of faith because I knew how much he hated his previous work.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Catch up with (someone) [phrase] – to update one another on life events
Mediocre [adj.] – average; not very good
Not a big deal [expression] – not a problem
Leap of faith [noun] – you do something even though you aren’t sure if it is right or it will succeed
While we’re enjoying our coffee together, he suddenly brought up the topic of investing in the stock market. He encouraged me to invest my money in stocks because he believed that it’s one of the best ways I could grow my hard-earned money, instead of just saving it in a bank. As a person who had no basic knowledge about investing in stocks, I was really having a hard time comprehending the things that he shared. What’s worse was he used a lot of investment jargon that made the conversation so
complicated like the bear and the bull market, blue-chip stocks, dividends, IPOs, short selling, and many more. Those were too hard for me to digest since I had no idea about investing in the stock market, and I had no interest in investing in stocks for fear of losing my money.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Bring up [phrasal verb] – to bring to attention; introduce
Hard-earned [adj.] – earned by working very hard
Jargons [noun] – special terms or expressions used by a profession that are difficult to understand by others
As I didn’t want to come off as rude, I just did my best to listen to him while he’s eagerly sharing his strategies for investing. I tried asking questions to elicit information thinking that I might understand things but things got more confusing to me, so I gave up. What I did, I thanked him for sharing his knowledge and told him that I had to spend time learning the things that he said, but actually, it was my way of changing the topic, which really worked well as our conversation got diverted to talking about our respective plans for next year. I then realized how exhausting talking to someone about a topic that you know nothing about or is merely uninteresting. It’s just mentally draining.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Come off as [idiom] – appear; seem
Elicit [verb] – to get or produce
PART 3
What topics do young people in your country talk about?
Let me base my answer on the trending topics on social media since the majority of users on those platforms are young, and more often than not, entertainment and political topics are commonly talked about. Well, it’s indisputable that gossip about famous stars, the latest movie releases, and some trending videos on YouTube pique their interest, as a result, most conversations among young people center on those subjects.
Also, young people in my country get so involved in political discussions more than before, I think they are truly aggressive in exercising their freedom of speech, which is sometimes not commendable because some of them are just giving nonsensical arguments, that instead of helping our government, they appear to be tirelessly nitpicking the government officials.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Indisputable [adj.] – unable to be challenged
Pique one’s curiosity [phrase] – to make someone want to know more about something or someone
Commendable [adj.] – admirable
Nonsensical [adj.] – meaningless
Nitpick [verb] – to find faults that are not important
What’s the difference between the topics that are popular now than those in the past?
That’s something I’ve never thought about, but I think it’s obvious that people these days are more concerned about their safety and their health due to the existence of the coronavirus. Considering that there’s no vaccine available yet, people talk about how their lives change dramatically and how they take precautions seriously so they won’t be contracted with the virus. Most conversation topics these days revolve around the coronavirus.
On the other hand, people in the past, especially in the dot-com era, talked about how the internet could change their lives if internet technology succeeded. As a result, there was an enormous wave of enthusiasm for investing in internet companies that caused the dot-com bubble. People were so excited about what lay ahead that made the internet a common topic in every household.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Dramatically [adv.] – greatly; to a large extent
Precaution [noun] – a measure taken in advance to prevent something bad from happening
Dot-com era [noun] – the late 1990s
Enormous [adj.] – huge
Lie ahead [phrasal verb] – be going to happen
How do you know if others are not interested in the conversation?
Well, through understanding the body language of the person you’re talking to. If he looks away or doesn’t make eye contact with you, then most likely he’s not interested, but that’s not universal since some Asian countries don’t have that kind of culture in conversations. So we also need to consider the cultures before concluding that the the person is not interested.
Another way to know is when there’s less interaction. I mean, when the person never makes any effort to contribute something in the conversation, like he never asks you something or he remains quiet unless you ask him questions. That’s an obvious indicator that he is not interested in talking with you or not happy having that conversation.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Look away [phrasal verb] – to turn one’s face away from someone
Eye contact [noun] – the situation in which two people look at each other’s eyes
Universal [adj.] – general
Obvious [adj.] – clear; easily perceived or understood
Indicator [noun] – sign or signal
What’s the influence of modern technology, such as the internet and emails, on our communication?
Well, there are good and bad influences that are brought by these modern communication technologies. First, it provides convenience for all of us in keeping in touch with our loved ones in real-time, and using video conference calls makes it more personal when connecting with them. Second, from a business perspective, these technologies make remote work possible. Workers can attend online conferences or meetings in the comfort of their homes, especially in these trying times that we are all facing. However, we cannot deny the fact that using these modern technologies sometimes negatively impacts people’s relationships.
For example, when the message that is sent is taken out of context that results in miscommunication or misunderstanding which causes problems. Not only that, the dependency of using these modern communication technologies makes people less sociable as they prioritize online interaction rather than face-to-face communication. All things considered, I believe people need balance when using these technologies.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Keep in touch [idiom] – to continue to talk with someone
Out of context [phrase] – if a message is taken out of context, the circumstances in which it was said are not correctly reported or understood, thus, the meaning is different from the meaning that was intended
All things considered [idiom] – when all the good and bad parts are thought of
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Meaning of Words and Phrases Sources: Collins, Macmillan, Cambridge, Oxford
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