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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 117 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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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.

    Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

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    The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.

    Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

    Answer

    As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.

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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

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    Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

    Answer

    When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.

    Describe a book you recently read
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

    Answer

    It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

    All Answers

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

    Band 6-7

    Well, I personally believe that everyone have their own standard on their, everyone have their own viewpoints and everyone have their own standards, I personally believe. Well, I think two months ago I had some argument I have with my uncle because actually he just stated a quotation in between a conversation that women are not much efficient in work as men do, so girls are supposed to be get married easily after their education and I was so, I would say I was so irritated by the statement and I argue with him in order to change his opinion that it's not a good idea that girls are not even given giving opportunity to achieve their dream, so initial phase I just argued with him, I just stated many example but there was no use, he didn't change his opinion but once after that argument he just started to just avoid me, initially I felt so sad why that happening but later I realized that there is nothing to do it with, there is no point of view if someone doesn't matter, sort of doesn't care of your opinion, so I just, I also just started to ignore him because for me it doesn't, it doesn't sense what to say, in today's world women empowerment is so widely accepted.

    Band 6-7

    I had a strong disagreement with the head clerk of the agriculture department where I was working for around 8 years. The disagreement occurred because I had given the notice of resignation. In the letter I had mentioned that I will serve my notice period and will help in the smooth transition process till my last day. The head clerk decided that as the resignation word was not mentioned, she did not issue me a living letter at the end of my notice period. So, there was an argument. I approached the director of administration and told him about the issue. Then I met the director of agriculture and brought the issue to his notice. Then there was a short meeting between the director of administration, director of agriculture, head clerk and me and the issue was resolved. The director then instructed the head clerk that by language if he has not mentioned resignation but he has mentioned that this letter is to be served as notice period, that he has mentioned that he will complete his 30 day notice period as per contract and he will be relieved. It implies that it is a resignation letter. After the discussion, the head clerk then issued me the resignation letter and handed it to me.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, I once had a disagreement with my friend. Her name is Rissa Dutta. So, when I was in college in my second year, we planned to go clubbing, but we weren't able to decide which club we should go and she was saying a club in Bandra, but I wanted to go to South Bombay and it was a long, big long argument that we had and we also taunted each other too much about the argument and there was complete disagreement between us both. However, both of us, we managed to handle it nicely and we came to a solution that we should go to South Bombay once and we should try a club that we haven't tried before anytime soon.

    Band 6-7

    Recently I had a disagreement with my colleague Harshit. We had joined at the same time in my present company. We had been working for one year. The issue was we both had some urgent task that we were assigned. There was a like close deadline by when we had to complete it. So both of our managers were pushing us to do that quickly. So me and Harshit both had one common permission issue which needed to be looked after. So we both each prioritized our own tasks obviously according to the close deadline. But since there was a conflicting permission issue, we both had a mutual issue between each other as to who would first go on with their work. So it turned pretty ugly. We did not expect it because we were friends. We have been living together since our internship days and we know each other for a long time. So it was very disappointing. But then both of our managers were involved and they said to sort it out between ourselves. It was sorted. We then had a nice dinner with all our teammates. But it was very disappointing that we can have such disagreements between close friends. Situations can turn like friends into enemies for few moments and then we can go back to each other. The key thing here to learn is to communicate well and to not get riled up and judge others. Each have their own priority. So the key here was to communicate.

    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.

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    2,411 Reviews

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