Describe something you were disappointed about.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

What was it about?
When did it happen?
Why did it disappoint you?

46 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 46 answers

Cue 1:What was it about?

Clearly state the event or situation that caused your disappointment.
Provide some background information to help the listener understand the context.

Example

I was really disappointed when I found out that my favorite music concert was canceled. I had been looking forward to it for months, as it was a chance to see my favorite band live.

Cue 2:When did it happen?

Mention the date or time frame when the event occurred.
Describe any preparations you made leading up to the event.

Example

The concert was scheduled for last Saturday evening. I had already bought my ticket weeks in advance and even planned to go with my friends, which made the anticipation even more exciting.

Cue 3:Why did it disappoint you?

Explain your feelings about the cancellation and why it mattered to you.
Discuss any personal significance the event held for you.

Example

It disappointed me because I had been eagerly waiting for this concert as it was a rare opportunity to see my favorite band perform live. I felt let down not just because of the cancellation, but also because I had made plans with my friends, and we were all looking forward to the experience together.

Conclusion

Summarize your feelings about the disappointment.
Reflect on any lessons learned or how you coped with the situation.

Example

In conclusion, while I was very disappointed about the concert being canceled, I learned to appreciate the moments I have with friends, even if they don't go as planned. We ended up having a fun evening together at home, which turned out to be a memorable experience in its own way.

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. If you don't provide specific details about the disappointment, the examiner may find it hard to understand your experience.

Tip

Use specific examples and details to describe the situation clearly. Mention what happened and how it affected you.

2: Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. If you jump between points without a clear order, it may be difficult for the examiner to follow your story.

Tip

Organize your answer by following the cues: start with what it was about, then when it happened, and finally why it disappointed you.

Overly Negative Tone

Focusing too much on negativity can make your answer less engaging. While disappointment is a valid emotion, it's important to balance it with some positive reflections.

Tip

After explaining your disappointment, consider adding a lesson learned or how you moved on from the experience to create a more balanced response.

IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

Answer

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

Answer

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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.

Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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

As the modern phrase says that disappointment and failures makes the individual success. And I was disappointed in the year 2021 in my 10th standard when the COVID-19 pandemic was on highly peak. And it was very concerning about it that on this year the exams would not happen for the board classes and the marks would be given on their previous performances. And I was disappointed here because I had worked hard a lot in the year and I did not have to give exams now. And this was the most concerning part of my life where I just scored 60% for them because there was no exams on that. But I know my caliber in my board exams that I would have scored more than 75% which would be more useful and grateful for my other jobs and countries and to make the merit completely to take admission in the 11th and 12th standard in different schools which are highly commendable in their studies and most of the parts. And on that day it disappointed me because I was seeing all my hard work went into the ruin and it happened because the schools have just given me 60% on the basis of my class 9th mark sheet. But I know the hard work and patience which I have shown in the 10th class academics which would be very beautiful and beneficial for me for my modern era statements.

Band 6

In my school life, I have seen this, and I can say that that disappointed me a lot, that the teachers of the school, I was an ICSC student, the teacher of that school and management of the school always promote those students who already score good marks or they are known to, or they have a good face somewhere. I was an average student, I was not promoted and was not promoted to be on stage, to take part in any of the competition. It was about my school life, when I was a student, while I was studying in school, I was always disappointed by the thing is that I was an ICSC student and the thing that disappointed me a lot was I was an average student. Being an average student, it is very important to be promoted by the teachers to participate in competition or in some debate or quiz, but we were not allowed to take part in it. Teachers and other management of the school always promote such student who already scored good marks in exams or who have a good face or fair complexion. So this is the thing which disappointed me a lot. And it was, this is the thing which I faced during my school time. And I feel if I am, if a student is an average student, you should motivate them, you should always help them out to grow. It's something which make them confident to stand in front of a place where there is full of crowd. This will help them out in future also. And disappointment is something it makes and if you begin with something good, it will always help you out in future. So if the beginning is a school of any student of any child, then if school is promoting such thing, then the child will never feel confident after completing their studies in a school. So the education system should change this, that only helping out those students who are already good in studies, who are already, who are having a good face or good fair complexion. So they are promoting such student to promote their school.

Band 6

So, recently I just observed in my neighborhood that people are littering all over the premises which is not acceptable and while seeing this I was very disappointed because people only try to keep their own house, their own premises clean but when it comes to the public area like gardens, ground or school, hospital they don't think about keeping it clean and it is a very obnoxious behavior and I also disregard their negligence and their unsupporting nation. Also, I want to add upon it that they don't care what will be the, what will be the... They don't care what will be the consequences of their actions. They don't care what will be the consequences of their actions. They don't care what will be the consequences of their actions. So, the most disappointing thing happened to me was while I was walking to the park I saw waste bottles, plastic bags around the premises of the park and also I saw people's negligence towards putting it to the garbage. They were all disgraceful. They were not... They were all disgraceful. They were all disgraceful. So, in my company all my colleagues and my juniors come late. They don't come on time. They are very tardy. So, I am being a punctual guy. I am always disappointed towards them because I expect more from them. So, what is the main issue is because of their lack of punctuality they often do the job in such a way which is not properly done and it is lackluster and because of their tardiness and their insubordination it is difficult to understand them and it is very disappointing that people feel that they can be taken granted and which I don't think it is possible because in a company to work or it to be functioned properly it is required to people to come on time and to be present and it is very much required. Although I think some people do understand it but they know that sometimes they are taken seriously but sometimes they think they are just roaming around and wasting time but you should know or they should know that time is a very much important factor in their life and which I am always think it is important

Band 6

Disappointment is a complex emotion that arises when something does not live up to expectations. It can manifest as sadness or unhappiness and can be accompanied by other unpleasant feelings like shame, anger or frustration. Disappointment can be caused by a variety of situations such as not getting a desired job, a cancelled event or ideal job not meeting expectations. Now, how can we deal with disappointment and rejection? You might be experiencing some disappointment and rejection just after graduation. Disappointment in your university experience, your degree, class equation, your degree itself. Having your heart set on a certain job or graduate scheme and failing to secure it. Not getting an interview for a job you apply for is disappointment. Not getting selected for a job you interview for even more so.

Band 6

The disappointment like when I remember when I was in 10th grade, so before our board examination we have prelims at our school. So there was prelims and at that time I was I was more involved in sports like I vividly remember there was a sports which was recently introduced in our school was Kabaddi and I was very much fascinated with that sport so as I was not good at that sport so I wanted to enhance my skills and in order to enhance in order to be the best player in the school I used to play a lot of a lot of Kabaddi irrespective of my classes are going on or not I used to play a lot of lot of lot at the ground and which resulted in diverting my my focus from my studies and eventually in one of the subjects of prelims that is mathematics I got failed and it I felt so disappointed like how I how my focus was distracted and I was not able to pass the examination at least pass the I was not able to at least pass the examination and that was the biggest regret I still have it and it was quite disappointing and embarrassing as well because everyone used to consider me as a good child and I was a good child and not a bright child I will say but I used to get decent marks but in that particular prelims I failed and I told I went back home and I shared this result with my mother and she was very pissed off about that and she was very tense that you are in 10th grade and you have to you know you have your boards in next month and we have you're failing in the prelims you have to put in some work so I was very much I felt very disappointed I disappointed myself as well as my mother's effort I mother's effort so I

Band 6

There was this time that I remember when I did not perform quite well in my sessionals and that was in my second year of MSc program and I also had a preparatory leave of one week but still I did not utilize that time. I was like, I could do it. Just last few days are enough for me to practice. That was because I think I was quite a little bit of overconfident and also my teachers have always praised me.

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