In this blog of IELTS cue card questions, we have come up with a new topic ‘Describe a time when you decided to wait for something ‘.This topic will help you ace your IELTS speaking test as in this round your capability of speaking English will be tested by the examiner. We have added a few follow-up questions as well to help you converse with the examiner. You must keep in mind that you will be allowed one minute to prepare for the topic and 2-3 minutes to speak about it. Based on the topic given to you, the follow-up questions which is also a discussion round of IELTS speaking part 3 will happen.
Example 1: Describe A Time When You Made a Decision to Wait for Something
Introduction
Waiting requires a lot of patience and being patient is not everyone’s cup of tea. I once decided to wait for something and I can say it was not pleasant at all. Today I am going to talk about a time I decided to wait for something.
When did it happen?
It happened 5 months ago when I tripped a few stairs at my home, my phone fell off my hands and broke.
What are you waiting for?
As stated earlier my phone broke. I had to buy a new phone for myself but my eyes were set on an iPhone 13. I wanted to buy that particular model for a very long time but since I already had a phone, I wasn’t serious about it. But now I had the opportunity to buy the phone I wanted. I decided to look up the price online and to my disappointment, the phone I wanted was not under my budget. So I decided to wait for a few months till the price goes down.
Why did you make the decision?
I decided to wait as I wanted this phone with all my heart but it was exceeding my budget. So I decided to use my mother’s second-hand phone till then.
Explain how you felt while waiting.
I must say patience is not my cup of tea but when. I felt restless while waiting. For a brief moment, I got weak and decided to buy another phone instead of an iPhone 13. But the thought of having the phone I desired stopped me.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I just want to say that this incident helped me understand the importance of patience. After this incident, I tried to inculcate patience in me as much as I could. When I finally had the phone my heart desired for such a long time, my decision to wait felt worth it all. The satisfaction I felt within myself was incomparable.
Example 2: Describe A Time When You Made a Decision to Wait for Something
Introduction
Waiting or having patience is not a walk in the park. And I am no exception. I had to wait many times unwillingly. Given this opportunity, I would like to talk about a time when I decided to wait for something
When did it happen?Â
It happened last year before Durga puja. I wanted to buy a 3 piece dress for myself to wear at a family function. But the price for the same was too high for me to buy at the time. So I decided to wait for it.
What did you wait for?
I waited for a three-piece suit set which I wanted to buy. It was a royal blue set with an upper-body garment known as a kurta, pants and a dupatta which is a long piece of soft cloth usually worn around the neck. It was adorned with white lace and small, pretty white rhinestones all over the upper body.
Why did you make the decision?
I made the decision to wait because I wanted to have that dress at any cost.The price at the time was too high but a sale was about to commence soon.The price of the dress would have gone down during the sale. So waiting for it was the only option i had.
Explain how you felt while waiting.
Waiting was the worst part of the entire process. Every day I would wake up anticipating the sale has started and faced disappointment every day. I had to wait for two weeks and I have to admit those were the most difficult two weeks of my life. As soon as the sale started I immediately purchased the 3 piece set in a very low price as I was afraid it will go out of stock. I also wanted to release myself from the misery of being patient.
Conclusion
When I wore the dress I got many compliments from my family at the function I bought it for. Those compliments felt like a reward for deciding to wait for the dress. This incident taught me the importance of being patient in life. As difficult those days were, I am glad it happened as it taught me a valuable lesson that I will implement in many aspects in my life.
Example 3: Describe A Time When You Made a Decision to Wait for Something
Introduction
People nowadays do not like to wait for anything or anyone. I am one of them. Thank you for giving me this question as I can think of an incident when I had to wait for months to watch a movie of my favorite actor.
When did it happen?
It happened last year during November. I had just moved to Tbilisi from India. My favorite actor Shahrukh Khan’s movie was about to be released in the theatres. Sadly I had to wait for months before I could watch it.
What did you wait for?
I waited to watch the movie of an actor I adore the most, Shahrukh Khan. The movie is called Pathan and it released the same month I moved to Tbilisi for educational purposes. There is a bollywood theater in Tbilisi but they were not able to show Pathan in theater as they were denied access to it for some unknown reason.
Why did you make the decision?
I had another option of traveling to a nearby town, stay overnight and watch the movie, but it would have costed me a fortune. My other option was to wait for two months for the movie to become available on OTT platforms. As much as I wanted to watch Pathaan on the big screen, I knew I could not afford it. Therefore, I had to make the hard decision of waiting for few months.
How did you feel while waiting?
I felt miserable while waiting for those few months. My friends in India were posting about the movie and I had to sit back and wait patiently for the OTT release. This incident also broke my record of always watching the first day, the first show of all the movies by Shahrukh Khan.
Conclusion
I was eagerly waiting for 14 of February as this was the day i would finally be able to watch the movie. In those months I had a realization that if i had enough money, i would have easily went to the nearby town to see the movie. However, the lack of it forced me to wait for such a long time. At this realization I decided to work really hard so in future, i do not go through the same situation again.
Follow-Up Questions for Describe A Time When You Made a Decision to Wait for Something
1. When you hear about this topic, what is the first thing that strikes your thoughts?
When I hear about this topic the first thing that comes to my mind is patience. Patience is a very difficult thing to attain in life and those who have it lead a happy and peaceful life.
2. What is the best and worst thing you experienced when you made the decision to wait for something?
When I made the decision to wait for something, the worst part was to be patient and wait for the days to pass. However, the best part was when I finally attained the thing I was waiting for. The joy of finally attaining the thing I wanted always made the wait worthwhile.
3. Do you think the current generation knows how to wait for something?
The answer to this question is subjective from person to person. But i can say that the majority of the current generation do not know to wait. Digitalization is majorly responsible for this as everything nowadays is just a click away.So people are not fully aware with the concept of waiting OR patience.
4. Every outcome from waiting would not have been positive for you, how did you handle the result ?
After waiting for something when i received a negative result, at first i got upset. But with the passage of time i learnt to accept the negative outcomes too. For example when as a kid I did not receive the toy i had been eagerly waiting for,i use to cry and get upset over it but as I grew up,i learnt acceptance.I accepted the situation as it was and it made my life easy.
5. Is waiting or being patient a difficult task?Â
Yes, answering this question with personal experience, waiting for something or someone is never an easy task, Especially if you are someone who has zero ounce of patience. Every time I had to wait for something or someone in my life, it always turned out to be the most miserable time of my life.
Neha Sharma is an IELTS faculty with a decade of experience in teaching IELTS. She holds a PhD in English from Stanford University, USA. Excelling in tailoring her teaching to individual student needs, she has helped over 50,000 students achieve their target scores. Actively involved in research, she ensures that her methods remain effective and innovative.
