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Describe a plan that you had to change recently: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What the original plan was?
  • Why you had to change it?
  • What you did differently?
  • And explain how you felt about the change.
Show all 135 answers

Cue 1:What the original plan was?

  • Begin by clearly stating what your original plan was, including details like the time and place.
  • Mention any specific goals or expectations you had for this plan.

Example

My original plan was to travel to Manali with my friends for a week-long vacation during the summer holidays. We had booked our tickets in advance and were really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful mountains and the cool weather.

Cue 2:Why you had to change it?

  • Explain the reason for the change, focusing on any unexpected circumstances that arose.
  • Be honest about how this change affected your initial excitement or plans.

Example

However, just a week before our trip, I received a call from my family informing me that my grandmother had fallen ill. I felt it was important to stay back and support my family during this difficult time, so I had to cancel my trip.

Cue 3:What you did differently?

  • Describe what alternative plans you made instead of the original trip.
  • Share how you adjusted your time and activities to accommodate the change.

Example

Instead of going to Manali, I decided to spend my time at home with my family. I helped take care of my grandmother and also spent quality time with my relatives who came to visit. We shared stories and memories, which brought us closer together.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about the change.

  • Reflect on your feelings regarding the change, both positive and negative.
  • Discuss any lessons learned or insights gained from the experience.

Example

Initially, I felt disappointed about missing the trip, as I had been looking forward to it for months. However, as I spent time with my family, I realized how important it was to be there for them. It taught me that sometimes, family comes first, and I felt a sense of fulfillment in being supportive.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, while I had to change my travel plans due to unforeseen circumstances, I found value in the time spent with my family. This experience reminded me that life can be unpredictable, and adapting to changes can lead to meaningful moments.

    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. Candidates often fail to provide specific details about their original plan or the changes made, which can lead to a lack of engagement.

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    Tip

    Be specific about your original plan and the changes. Use clear examples and details to illustrate your points.

    2: Neglecting Emotions

    Ignoring how you felt about the change can make your response less personal and relatable. Candidates often focus only on facts and miss the emotional aspect of their experience.

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    Tip

    Include your feelings about the change. Describe how it affected you emotionally to create a more engaging narrative.

    Lack of Structure

    A disorganized response can confuse the listener. Candidates sometimes jump between points without a clear structure, making it hard to follow their story.

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    Tip

    Follow a clear structure: start with the original plan, explain the reason for the change, describe what you did differently, and conclude with your feelings.

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    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

    There are many different type of plans which person had in their life but if I talk about myself, I have many plans in my life which I want to do in my real life and I want to explore that the things which I was thinking in my mind. Today I will talk about the plan which I was pursuing in my future that was when I was in my 12th standard, I was planning to do preparation of law and I started the coaching of the CLAT exam. I was preparing that time and I have proper clear mindset that I want to clear that exam and want to get admission in the best college then after cracking that exam I was just following my grades and after completion of my senior secondary school, my family was saying that you have to go abroad not to stay in India then I decided to change that plan in my future then I started enhancing my English skills to go abroad then it was very hard for me to change that plan because I have a deep interest in the law as I am very curious about how the case are solved and many other things which are done in the law and I was properly passionate with the articles and the amendments then I started and changed my plan as my family said to me that I have to change this plan then I started for preparing my IELTS exam to enhance my English skills and appalching that then I was just thinking about the pauses and creations that how I will do that and creating my mindset but at the end I just felt very good that my family had changed my decisions because they know that what is right or what is wrong.

    Band 6-7

    The plan that I had changed recently was the education plan because I was eagerly to, I was eagerly planning to complete my postgraduate degree in the stream of supply chain management in Australia but the financial situations in my family consistently changed the decision because I couldn't afford the fees and incentives that the university required and moreover it's more difficult to attain, difficult to get education loan from the bank because the expense of such a fees to the universities are higher than we expected and the plan that I changed and I changed the plan to complete my postgraduate degree in Germany because Germany needs only a low source of income and they did not need any ITR files and also any income issues that are related to our educational purpose. As compared to Australian educational facilities Germany provides technological advancement education facilities and also improved standard livings to the students and German educational system gives incentives and also state funds to the children as compared to Australia the fees and fees that the Australian universities tends to make is higher than that of Germany and it made me to change the plan that I made in my own life. It was my childhood dream to complete my postgraduate degree in liberal studies that's why I felt more disappointed

    Band 6-7

    Well, all my life I've been this fat kid, you know, I've always just wanted to have this fit body, and I wanted that self-confidence, but recently I think I have been slacking off. Recently, I have stopped getting up early, I've stopped running, I've stopped working out completely, and I'm blaming it all on my studies. I'm just saying, oh, I have studies, so I think I should just skip it today. But there are just reasons. The actual reason is that I'm becoming lazy. I'm not supposed to be this lazy, and today I've decided, today exactly like today morning, I've decided that I should stop lazing around, and I'm going to go today in the evening to the Oval Grounds, it's a ground in my area where people run, and I'm going to run at least 4-5 rounds, I'm going to play a basketball, I'm going to be physically, I'm going to be physically involved in any activity for the next 2 months because I have holidays coming up from my college, and I have nothing else to do, and I'm going to be disciplined this time. Well, I've always wanted to have 8-packs or 6-packs, the problem was that my diet wasn't supporting, actually it was, but I didn't have control over it, so I've always just tried to say, oh, ok, I'll just skip this one time, I don't think it'll affect my progress, but it always affects it. I'm just trying to be someone who's confident about himself more than anyone around him, and I would love to just, you know, I get it, getting that body is not hard, but maintaining it is harder. I just want to be at a place where I can have the time and patience to maintain it. So yeah.

    Band 6-7

    As I'm growing older, I've realized that life will throw many pebbles at you and you'll have to overcome those pebbles, you'll have to fight those disadvantages for yourself. I also had that plan that I had to change because of some circumstances. What happened was last year when I graduated with my bachelor's degree from my university, I planned to work for one year and to look for other future work and study related programs for this term, for this September batch. But what happened was when I started working in a company named Pytruz Media, I worked there for about 3-4 months working as a PR and communication specialist. I really really enjoyed and just admired how the PR could be done but some major circumstances happened and the company had to close down. So that whole plan changed because now I had to find a new job, I had to look for more further opportunities and it just went downhill. But I was very disappointed but I don't know how, somehow I got the opportunity to work as a social media marketing marketer in the food industry. And while I was working over there, I worked for there about 2-3 months again and then again some circumstances happened and again my job had to be closed down. Then I started freelancing work and then worked for those but all those things just made me realize the plans that I had just couldn't be gone with the way I hoped for. Then I was very crushed, till date I am very overwhelmed and I felt like a failure. I started preparing for exams and even gave my GREs which turned out to be very difficult.

    Band 6-7

    is very bad and we cannot afford to go abroad and show the required funds and pay the entire tuition fees at once. So, this became the main reason for me to get this plan changed. However, I had planned to get admission in a local university and getting a degree which would help me to get scholarship to move abroad. Which will assist me in getting funds for outer space in the overseas nation and I can study freely at them without any worries of payment of tuition fees. Moreover, when I had to change this plan, I honestly felt very down in the dumps. The main reason is that I had to change the thing which I always wanted and I was dreamt of it. However, although it does not hinder in my motivation and dedication.

    Band 6-7

    After I graduated from college, I had many plans in my mind, what I had to pursue for my future, what I had to take up to ensure I end up in a really good job. But then at a point of time, I realized that I had done nothing for my goal to happen. So I had to make a proper plan to reach my end or to reach what I wanted to achieve. So that's how I had to change my plan. I had to set up a new schedule, new routine. In my daily life, I had to write up things, what has to happen, I made a motivation list, I made a planner, and I planned things accordingly. And I also changed a lot of things in my routine. I added, I started waking up early, I started sleeping earlier, I added gym and a lot of exercise, good healthy food into my routine and daily life, which actually changed my mental health, which helped me get better in my career. So as I was planning for my master's, I had a lot of things to do. So I properly arranged everything and I did whatever I could. So due to this, a lot of things changed. As I said, in addition to this, I also am working so I can balance things.

    Band 6-7

    The plan that I had to change recently is basically I am a MCA graduate and also have done my MSW, I have 8 years experience in IT sector, actually my plan was to pursue a project management certification course which is PMP, that was my recent plan but I had an opportunity to work as a social worker in UK since I have completed my MSW and have some couple of years of experience in it, so in this case I was so confused and in checking things which would be better for me for a future growth, so considering my family situation and the financial instability right now which we are facing, I chose to go with social worker job, so I have plan to move in UK, United Kingdom, so that I have better idea to use my other degree in a effective manner.

    Band 6-7

    I was supposed to go to a birthday party and I was invited by my friend that day but I had an upcoming exam which I wasn't prepared for much so I requested my friend and asked her if I could maybe join her later or celebrate her birthday later and so that I can focus on my preparation and however she was a little upset in starting but eventually she did understand and grab on to what I was trying to put forward in my opinion and she agreed so that day I just sat at home with all my books on my bed from 5 a.m. in the morning took few small breaks and just continued studying the entire day so how it made me feel is I was feeling no guilt because we did have good discussion about what we were going to do to make up to the loss and there was I didn't feel any sense of shame since I did actually study and instead of wasting my time I didn't go all the way out and waste my time I just sat at home and I studied and caught up on my studies and I was very grateful that I had good friends who would who are understanding and really cooperative with me and I should be more grateful to them instead of nagging them down at times

    Band 6-7

    So, my initial plan after completing my MSc was to get into PhD for my further studies because I love the title Doctor and I started researching about the PhD positions in different schools, different universities and most of them were from out of India, so international level, but I ended up like, I felt like my experience, laboratory experience and problem solving ability, all these things are not that much developed, so I changed my plan into consuming some kind of practical experience from a reputed professor and that's why I entered into a university and I started doing my assistant professor.

    Band 6-7

    Recently I have changed my pattern in order to learn English and become fluent in it. Although I was practicing English by reading books, speaking in front of camera and recording my voice. I also get intimidated when I was speaking in front of my team or a group of people. So I changed my pattern and now I have downloaded iLet app which is helping me to become more and more fluent in terms of speaking English, writing skills, it's also improving my writing skills and listening skills. These three components are very important whenever you are listening or trying to learn a new language. These components can help you to become more profanant in terms of learn a new language. What benefit I am looking by this change is that I am pushing myself more and more and I am going out of my comfort zone to learn and to explore new things to become more fluent in English. I guess when I will spend more time on this application it will help me to improve my English because I am giving an interviews in these days. However, practicing on a daily basis can lead a significant change.
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