Describe a Difficult Thing You Did And Succeeded – IELTS Cue Card

The IELTS Speaking test is categorized into 3 different parts and the test takes between 11 and 14 minutes to be completed. It is more like an interview, and it happens between the test taker and a certified IELTS examiner. The blog contains sample answers for, the IELTS speaking cue card – “Describe a Difficult Thing You Did and Succeeded” and gives you an introduction about all the speaking parts. 

Now let’s see briefly on what actually happens in IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3.

Speaking Part 1: Introduction and Interview

You will be required to answer questions related to you like – home, family, friends, and your interests. (4-5 minutes)

Speaking Part 2: Cue Card

This is a Cue card round. You will be handed over a question in a cue card by the examiner and, you will be asked to talk about it for 2 minutes. You will also have 1 minute to prepare for it. (3-4 minutes)

Speaking Part 3: Two-Way Discussion

This is a follow-up task of part 2 that consists of questions based on the part 2 topic. (4-5 minutes)

Below are three band 8 sample answers for the cue card topic, “Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded.” Read about the expert-crafted sample answers on the topic to get a clear understanding of how to answer a cue card.

Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded – Sample Answer 1

• What was it?

When I think about talking about one of the most difficult things I have ever done, I would like to talk about the time when I was preparing to get my car driving license. It was during my second year of college when my parents signed me up for a driving school to help me learn the skill. It was during my 2-month summer break and I was eager to learn it since cars have always excited me!

• How did you complete it?

Initially, like every other person, I thought that learning to drive was a piece of cake since I used to drive karts with my brother. But when I began my first day at the driving school and started the car, I found it to be entirely different! Besides, the school was fully packed with students since it was the summer holiday and I only got a few slots to practice. That is when I realized that I might not pass the final driving test just by practicing a few times, and hence I asked my dad if he could help me practice daily with our car and give me some guidance.

• Why was it difficult?

Learning about the clutch, brake, and accelerator was a bit confusing at first and mainly the steering wheel was a bit harder to keep in control. And, when I started practising daily with my dad, we drove to the areas with limited crowds. He helped me to learn the controls and drive smoothly without leaving the car dead. As days went on, I was able to drive decently without my dad’s help but at a minimal speed.

• How did you feel about doing it?

It was a great experience and I was able to spend an ample amount of time with my dad too. Finally, I was able to pass the test and got my hands on my driver’s license! That was a day of celebration and my dad and mom were so happy. We even started to look for new model cars to buy for ourselves.

Though learning to drive was entirely different from how I thought it would turn out to be, I am very glad that I was able to challenge myself to do it.

Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded – Sample Answer 2

• What was it?

Actually, I have done a lot of things in my life that I thought to be difficult at first, but then with consistent practice, they became easy. But one challenging experience I’d like to highlight today was putting together my personal computer a year back. This happened after my semester examinations were over, and I had to request my dad for a new PC. Moreover, I was more interested in acquiring a gaming computer with a more powerful configuration, but as a gamer, a branded gaming computer was out of my budget.

• How did you complete it?

Hence, I discussed it with one of my tech-savvy friends, who suggested that I buy the computer parts separately and put it together myself since it would be considerably less expensive than a branded gaming PC! For this, I watched several assembly tutorials on YouTube and read a lot of blogs online before actually placing my hands on the parts.

• Why was it difficult?

Since I knew little about computer hardware, I thought that it would be really challenging to complete this task by myself. But, I had no choice and decided to do it! Finally, after all the learnings, when I felt confident enough, I ordered every component online because it was so much less expensive than buying them in stores. The CPU construction was actually the most challenging element, and it took me an entire day to assemble all the parts. Fortunately, I was able to assemble everything flawlessly on the first try, and when I hit the power button, I exhaled with relief.

• How did you feel about doing it?

All of this knowledge boosted my confidence and to be honest I discovered a lot about the various computer components and how they work, thanks to those videos.

To mention, I felt really nervous during the whole process of assembling the parts, but I had confidence in myself. That is the only thing that kept me going, and I was really excited when I succeeded in building my computer with the additional parts all on my own!

Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded – Sample Answer 3

• What was it?

As we all know a variety of life’s challenges start out as difficult and end up being simple. Today I am planning on discussing my weight loss journey which was a really difficult one to adapt to. During 2020, we were all forced to stay inside our homes due to the COVID-19 outbreak and endure various trying circumstances. Due to that, my over-eating while lying lazy on my bed all day caused me to gain a lot of weight during the lockdown. And, I wanted to get back in shape and to get back to my healthy eating habits.

• How did you complete it?

Consistent exercise and opting for intermittent fasting helped me lose weight during the entire process. I used to get up early and go for a jog and at times, I preferred walking. Moreover, I started eating healthy foods in a moderate quantity and I also succeeded in following a proper diet. In this manner, I successfully shed a considerable amount of my weight.

• Why was it difficult?

I had never been disciplined in following a particular diet, so it was pretty hard for me. I’m a cool person who just works, eats, and rests. However, after the lockdown, I began to notice the immense weight gain and wanted to lose some of it. I believe unhealthy weight gain easily happens, but healthy weight loss is really challenging. To succeed, one must put in a lot of effort and be disciplined and persistent, hence I found it to be a bit difficult.

• How did you feel about doing it?

Initially, I felt devastated as I was not able to eat the junk food that I loved. Though I knew it was unhealthy, I preferred eating them. Thankfully, once I started getting into a proper diet, my mood improved and I was able to be active. Hence, it was all worth it after all of these challenges and difficulties!

Describe a difficult thing you did and succeeded – Part 3 Follow-Up Questions

• What kinds of jobs require people to be confident?

I think that every type of job obviously would require its employees to be confident in whatever they do. For instance, a salesperson must have confidence in his speaking skills to persuade a customer to buy their product, likewise, a teacher must act confident in front of at least 30 students in order to gain their attention to whatever they speak. Hence, all types of jobs would expect people to be confident individuals.

• On what occasions should children be encouraged? How?

Children should be encouraged when they are unsure about doing a task that would turn out to be best for them. But encouragement should be limited; parents or elders should not keep praising them for everything they accomplish.

• How do you help children remain focused? 

First and foremost, children should be provided with an environment that is devoid of distractions; this allows them to focus on whatever they are doing.

• What challenges do young people face today?

Young people today are coming across certain obstacles, such as mental health issues; they are also aware of an increase in depression and suicide instances among them, and they are also competing in education and in their professional lives.

• What are the most difficult things for youngsters to do?

Navigating career choices, managing finances, establishing independence, and coping with societal pressures are some of the most challenging tasks for youngsters these days. Building a future while balancing personal and professional growth can be particularly demanding during the transition to adulthood.

The given topic “describe a difficult thing that you did and succeeded” with the expert-crafted sample answers would have been of much help. Kindly make sure to use your own vocabulary and style of speaking to grab that band 8 in the IELTS Speaking test!

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