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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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    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

    Describe a disagreement you had with someone. So the person I had a disagreement with was a person from my current workplace at Henton Nursing Home. His name is Shahjoo Han. He is a care assistant. We had a disagreement over something to do with a pressure mat at work, where he had gone upstairs and alerted the pressure mat, which incidentally alerted the family member, who then decided to get out of bed. That family member was heightened, so we had a disagreement over that, as to why he is upstairs and messing around on my floor. The issue wasn't resolved for a long time. We have currently made up. That was my doing. I spoke to the manager, who spoke to Shahjoo Han, and she let him know that these actions were not right, and that he had to apologise. He denied the allegations that were made against him for a long while. However, after some time and consideration about his acts, he then apologised to me. And since we have made up... So after the disagreement, we have both, like I said, have met up and we have shook hands. We explained both sides of the story, and we both apologised and accepted each other's answers. I think the issue was mainly with him going to my floor. I didn't appreciate the fact that he did that, because the family member was quite heightened, and she was awake for a very few hours, so she needed to settle. Him going up and alerting her pressure mat, which then set her off again. So she was up for the rest of the remaining of the night, whereas she really needed some sleep. So yeah, since then it's been resolved and all is good. So, yeah.

    Band 6-7

    So, the most recent time I had a disagreement with someone was 4 years ago when I started gyming. It was with my mother. My mother wouldn't let me eat more than 4 eggs a day and she believed that it would increase my cholesterol levels. So, I had to explain her to that my cholesterol would stay the normal even if I eat like 10 But she would refuse to believe that and so I had to read a lot of research papers, watch a lot of videos on the internet of people actually eating more than 10 eggs a day, show the results to her and make her believe that it is safe to eat more than 10 or 12 eggs a day and it would not cause any harm to my body and it would actually be beneficial for my body as the good cholesterol would help me improve my hair quality, skin quality and other aspects. So, after a few days of arguing back and forth with my mother, my mother finally agreed that it is safe for me to eat more than 6, 7, 8 eggs a day and she then now has allowed me to eat more than 10 eggs a day although I don't consume that huge amount of eggs but it is good to know that she won't say anything if there ever be a need for me to eat that many eggs and since then she has also started consuming a lot more meat based diet and that has really helped put things into perspective that health is really the key aspect over here and eggs do not cause any harm. Eggs are good for your body and she has also recently seen more changes in her hair quality.

    Band 6-7

    So, I would like to talk about the one specific incident that happened recently in my office that I had a queue named review post default where I have to churn out the cases based on their text. So, based on the text I have taken down them and I marked it for suspicious spam thing and later on the case went to the bin and the bin will be rectified again by the quality team. So, the quality team made that my error as well they were reviewing the case they said it was not spam and they said I have mistaken and I have reviewed the case as spam. So, we had a disagreement on that and later on that we had a very brief discussion on that and after that disagreement was still being there and lot of doubts were there and there were lot of questions which needed to be clarified. So, probably I and the quality team further went to the managers, senior managers and the policy head to get the mistake rectified and after that many meetings happened, lot of questions were asked to me as well as the quality team, lot of artifacts were need to be rectified and the workflows were cross checked and after all these things were happened finally the managers and the policy team gave the verdict that mine verdict was so accurate rather than the quality team verdict. After that I felt very happy because just after that I was awarded for the best above them and sing.

    Band 6-7

    The person I had disagreement with was my ex-girlfriend. The topic which I disagreed with was about feminism. Feminism at its soul is a very concrete way of empowering a woman, giving them an environment to work and flourish. But what the environment has actually led to is that in the era of independence, people are lacking the fundamental issue which actually given rise to the term feminism. My girlfriend suggested that a feminist woman owns everything which belongs to her. But in a coherent world, if two people mutually exist, so it shouldn't be that a thing belongs to a particular person. I guess this particular definition of feminism or particular perspective of feminism is a pretty toxic one, which has led to huge rise of number of divorces across continents, across countries and across societies. And to be very honest, as an Indian, the culture that I have lived in, the culture which I have seen since my childhood with my parents and everything, it's a very healthy household. And I feel feminism is sort of destroying the future aspect of this mutual household.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, I had a disagreement with my friend. He was my classmate. He always said CBSE. This disagreement is CBSE vs State Boards. Because he haven't choose his mother tongue, mother language which is Tamil. He choose instead of Hindi. But I am a Tamil Literature. I got score 95 in my board exams. So I always said to him that Tamil is a good language. You should know how to read Tamil. And because you are a Tamilian, so you have to read these things. You have to be aware of what the language is. What the vocabulary it have. But he always said no. I know how to speak Tamil. So I don't want to learn anything about Tamil. Because English is the international language which is I know already. So it doesn't mean I have to learn about my mother tongue. It's okay for me to have this English as my main language and secondary is in Hindi. I always said to him please at least you have to learn off of the Tamil language. Because he doesn't know how to read and how to write in Tamil. Because in this disagreement, actually he failed. Because whenever I go out with my friends, if there is a need to read the Tamil hotel name, he couldn't. So I have to help him with this is that, this is this.

    Band 6-7

    Describe a disagreement you had with someone. I had a disagreement regarding my choice of degree with my sister when I was just graduated from 12th and I had very mediocre marks. So, my family was disappointed and they wanted me to go to any BBA or BCom course but I was not into those courses as most of the students had that opinion to join these courses. Mainly the disagreement was with my sister and I had to convince her as she had better knowledge about courses and degrees because she was my elder sister and she already did her graduation in BCA and the discussion was that why should I join BHM course and she said what will be my future plans after this course, will I be moving out and how will I be working and where will I be working. So, yes I convinced her and I also showed her how some of the students from the same college and same degree had achieved a better life and goals after graduation and they have made themselves a big name in the industry of hotel management and caterings. Later I joined the Srinivas Hotel Management College in Mangalore which was four years degree.

    Band 6-7

    Usually, I don't have many disagreements with people as I am a fairly complying person. But the one time that I had a disagreement was with a boy in my class. He had an outspoken demeanor, which irritated me. He had such orthodox views about feminists and feminism and females, which I hated. He used to say things like, females cannot rule the world, there should not be allowed top positions in the companies, and to his extent, he felt like women were men's slaves. Of course, as being a girl myself, I became furious and decided one day to confront him. I feel like it was the most productive day of my life as to make him shut about his opinions and keep them to himself. I educated him on female rights and I also gave him a lecture on how females can take over the world and make it a better place. So I gave him examples, furthermore, I gave him examples of the females that are currently top of their field and making a change in the world. But I don't feel like he understood me quite clearly because recently I saw an Instagram post, his Instagram post, which gave way to his unorthodox opinions again.

    Band 6-7

    This is one of the biggest disagreements me and my sister had recently. So, this was about how poorly one of her friends treated her and how she didn't want to leave her. And that was... So, one of her friend, she basically put her down in every possible situation she could. and also didn't enjoy my sister's opinion and views on different situations and how her life was moving on and how she was handling it well So, that was one of the concerns of her friend So, every time they used to talk, they ended up a bit with sadness and hurtfulness So, when my sister told me about this, I was a bit taken back on how she didn't stand up for herself and that kinda hurt me. So, I told her that it's not how people treat you and you should stand up for yourself even if it means losing them It is not how people are treating you and you should treat yourself better So, people will treat you better So, eventually we both agreed

    Band 6-7

    I had a disagreement with one of my best friend named Sania. She was my friend from lower class onwards. We used to talk many things about our family, about our school, teachers. But suddenly, during an exhibition held in our school, we came to a disagreement. I disagreed with her. It was during a science exhibition. We were making a walking lens. But suddenly, she said she is not walking. You can make it and you can tell the teacher that I also was included in making this lens. But I disagreed that because making one thing with our hard work is only dedicated to us but not for others. After making the lens, I told the teacher that it's only my effort, not hers. The teacher didn't give marks to her. She only gave marks to me. She became so angry. She told me not to talk to her. We are breaking our friendship now. It's been 4 years since we broke up. We haven't seen each other. We haven't messaged or talked yet. I like to talk to her now because it was her mistake but I could have forgiven her. In case I see her, I will say sorry. Even if it's not my fault, I will say sorry.

    Band 6-7

    I am not a person who usually disagrees with someone on the opinion. But recently I went through it with one of my colleagues. And it was all about the advantages and disadvantages of network. As I am a teacher and my colleague is also one of them. And we were talking about this topic. Moreover he was saying that it is very beneficial for students. But I was having a disapproval about that. Because I have seen that many boys and girls are using it in a very inappropriate manner. As you know they spend most of their time on social media, making vlogs, watching videos and all. And they don't spend too much of time on study. That's why they are getting distracted from their studies and their scores are getting decreased. So I was having this disappointment with that person. The issue was not resolved because we were not at the time where we both went about that.
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