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Describe a disagreement you had with someone: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who was the person?
  • Why did you have the disagreement?
  • Was the issue resolved? If yes, how?
  • And explain what happened after the disagreement.
Show all 113 answers

Cue 1:Who was the person?

  • Introduce the person you had the disagreement with, mentioning your relationship with them.
  • Provide some context about how long you have known this person and the nature of your interactions.

Example

The person I had a disagreement with was my younger brother, Rohan. We have been close since childhood, sharing everything from toys to secrets. We often have friendly debates, but this particular disagreement was more serious.

Cue 2:Why did you have the disagreement?

  • Clearly explain the topic of the disagreement and why it was important to both of you.
  • Share your perspective and Rohan's perspective to give a balanced view.

Example

The disagreement arose over our plans for a family vacation. I wanted to go to the mountains for some adventure, while Rohan insisted on a beach destination for relaxation. Both of us felt strongly about our choices, as I wanted to experience the thrill of trekking, and he wanted to unwind by the sea.

Cue 3:Was the issue resolved? If yes, how?

  • Discuss how you both approached the resolution of the disagreement.
  • Mention any compromises or discussions that led to a solution.

Example

Eventually, we decided to sit down and talk it out. We listed the pros and cons of each destination and realized that we could combine both ideas. We agreed to spend a few days in the mountains and then relax at the beach. This compromise made both of us happy.

Cue 4:And explain what happened after the disagreement.

  • Describe the aftermath of the disagreement and how it affected your relationship.
  • Share any positive outcomes or lessons learned from the experience.

Example

After resolving the disagreement, our relationship grew stronger. We learned to appreciate each other's viewpoints more. The trip turned out to be a fantastic experience, and we created wonderful memories together. It taught us the importance of communication and compromise.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, disagreements can be challenging, but they also provide opportunities for growth and understanding. My experience with Rohan taught me that listening and finding common ground can lead to better relationships and enjoyable experiences.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear. It's important to provide specific details about the disagreement to engage the listener and demonstrate your language skills.

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    Tip

    Use clear examples and specific details about the disagreement, such as the person involved and the exact issue to make your response more vivid.

    2: Ignoring Resolution

    Failing to discuss how the disagreement was resolved can leave your answer incomplete. It’s essential to show how conflicts can be managed and resolved.

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    Tip

    Always include how the issue was resolved, whether through discussion, compromise, or another method, to show your problem-solving skills.

    Lack of Reflection

    Not reflecting on what happened after the disagreement can make your answer seem shallow. It's important to show personal growth or changes in your relationship.

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    Tip

    Conclude by explaining what you learned from the disagreement and how it affected your relationship with the person involved.

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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band 6-7

    My friend, my close friend Ravi and I had a disagreement over a social issue which is actually about why should a woman, should they dress up in a certain way, why is that? Why does that not apply to any male, any men in the world? So yeah, we actually resolved the issue, we had certain disagreements, yes. But then we resolved it stating that it's not about always women, it's not about how they dress up, it's about how men perceive and how men look a female. Objectifying females is a worldwide thing, it's happening everywhere, it's happening in every nook and corner of the world. So I think it's male chauvinism, the current generation lacks chivalry, they don't know how to treat a woman. They don't think of women as their fellow being, rather they think of her as an object, they are simply objectifying women. They are just overlooked as some beauty material, not as a living being. And I believe that this changes, as a woman I would expect an equal respect as a male gaze in the world.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, I did have a disagreement with a person named Mr. Vipul. He was my math teacher in high school. I remember that we had a coaching institute and he used to work part-time as a math teacher in our school. The major goal of him being the teacher of our school was that he wanted the students in the school to join his coaching. So he used to deliberately try to reduce the marks or wouldn't give full marks to the students who weren't joining his coaching institute. So he used to do these things to try to gain attention, which was to come and join his institute. But I didn't like that and I complained regarding this to our principal. Things weren't smooth in the conversation. However, he didn't talk to the principal and with the support of the parents of every student whom I have contacted, the teacher was made clear that he cannot ask people to visit his coaching or to join his coaching and it is necessary that he fulfills his role as a teacher and only focus on teaching and not use the classes as a source of trying to recruit the people, trying to inspire the people to join his coaching institute. So this is one of the experiences and it made me really proud of myself that I

    Band 6-7

    My first ever major disagreement in school was with my teacher. She was my Hindi and theatre teacher. During summer vacations, she called me and she told me that we need to organise an event to raise funds for acid attack survivors. I believe that organising an event would be too much of hard work and money, which would only affect us. I believed in the cause, so I suggested that we assured our students to get toys and sell them again, which would help raise more funds, but she believed otherwise. We ended up resolving this disagreement by hosting both an event and also selling second-hand toys. The event was a major success and we were able to earn about 1 lakh and I did learn that disagreements may lead to future success when both the parties have valid points.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to share an incident where I disagreed with my father. Recently when we were having a conversation, my father said, Galki, you should come home early and be here before 10 pm. And I asked him, why did you say that? To that he replied, I don't think so. It is safe for girls to stay out of their house after 10 pm. To which I disagreed and said, I do not think so. I think girls should have equal rights as boys and the equal freedom to be in public places even if it is after 10 pm. I knew where he was coming from but I also knew that our society is a patriarchal society and girls are never allowed to experience freedom and the choice that they want to pursue. We did have some back and forth conversations but after some time he did acknowledge that he was wrong and would make sure that I am safe even after it's past 10.

    Band 6-7

    I had a disagreement with my friend two days before about how online and offline classes are more important. So he was my friend. He was my friend who I met when I was studying at my college for the graduation. So after that we became good friends and he told me that online institutions and online education is more better than the offline education. But I suggested that there is nothing like better or worse but it depends upon the advantage and disadvantages. So I told him that offline education have its own advantages like a clear vision, understanding and beautiful explanation that is given by the actual real-life teachers. So we can understand better in that way but he told that online media provides us more large platforms in which we can discuss with a lot of people from all over the world and there is also the visual applications are also present. But he stick on the thing that online is always better than offline and offline is nothing when it is compared with that. But I did completely disagree with him and then we came to a conclusion that just stick on our own thoughts and let's move on. So after that I met him two days later and he told me that he has a confusion with some things related to anatomy. So then I told him that if you had the actual class offline then you won't have this.

    Band 6-7

    I would like to describe about the time I had disagreement with my teammate named Rakesh. Since we are working on group project, me and he have different ideas towards it. So his idea is quite different from my idea. So he was arguing that his idea can contribute contribute the best to get the output and my idea I started telling that it may be quite danger for project, it take longer time and there is 0% possibility to get the result. So I argued this waste of time by our idea. I expressed my idea to him. He also similarly disagreed with me. So we both went to our project coordinator to solve this query and he said it is better to leave the both ideas and he suggested a new idea to us. After the disagreement happened, we both decided to leave the team and join new team. Again we don't want to engage in same team in the future.

    Band 6-7

    A social issue I had a disagreement on with someone was definitely my classmate. A social issue I had a disagreement on with someone was definitely my classmate. The topic of disagreement was women's rights. I am someone who is very passionate about women's rights. I believe that they have been kept in a marginalized community and have been oppressed for a really long time. And it's high time we stand up together and fix all of these issues going on in society and give equal privileges to women and men. So what the disagreement was about was if women have the right to vote. This boy in my class, he is known to be a very aggressive and a very misogynistic person. So in his opinion, women were not supposed to have rights to vote because they are really moody and can screw up things even on their periods or if they are feeling bad about something. My argument to that was men have done all of these things without even being on their period. Men have done wars, men have created disagreements, huge disagreements and rallies without even having periods. His main argument was on periods and in fact that's such a shameful thing to even say to someone, especially a woman that is so disrespectful. So we had a huge argument and in the end it wasn't resolved because he was just not willing to take back his statement.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, I did have a disagreement recently with one of my colleagues and the debate was regarding if the SC community that is the schedule caste community in India be given reservations. So he believed that they should not while I believe that they should and the way I explained him that why is it important that they get the benefits of the reservation is because this is a community that has been neglected for quite some time and some of the communities don't even have their first generations going to schools and this reservation which was created by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar gives them the equal chance and the opportunity to be at equals to the rest of the society and this doesn't come from a place of equality it comes from a place of equality and I think he was he did agree to what I had to offer and what I had to say so I think that did well go well.

    Band 6-7

    I remember one time I had a disagreement with my friend because we were planning for a trip and I want to go in a mountain or hilly area but she wants to go in a beach. So she wants to go on a beach so we had a little bit disagreement on each other's topic and yeah after some short of conversation we had a resolve of a issue. She is agreeing on my point because there was a summer month and she agrees on my point during the summer, mountain is best choice for our trip. After that yeah so we had a long beautiful car journey trip to beautiful scenic beauty mountains and we enjoyed a lot during our trip.

    Band 6-7

    A couple of weeks back, I had a disagreement with one of my fellow colleagues in the school where I was teaching. The disagreement was based on whether AI was important for children that are studying, that are learning, that are in schools right now. He said that it is important as it enhances their learning, whereas I disagreed on that thought. I thought that allowing children to use AI to study disrupts their flow of thinking, disrupts their brain development as it does not give them time to solve their own problems. I believe that AI does make things easy for everyone, but if AI takes away all the hard part of solving any problem, will the students ever be able to solve their own problems without the help of an AI? Will they be able to have problem solving skills, critical thinking and brain development? So this was a big disagreement and I strongly believe that students should not use AI at a young age. They should be taught on how to use them effectively and not to just plagiarize off and copy things off of the AI chat GPT. But my colleague had different ideas. He was adamant on the fact that AI is a necessary tool for teaching children and giving them time.
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