Describe a life-changing experience you have had – IELTS Cue Card
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Describe a life-changing experience you have had.
You should say:
- where it took place & who was with you
- what happened
- how it made you feel
- And explain how it changed your life
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Sample Answer 1
At times in our lives, we all experience certain life-changing events that help us grow into mature human beings. I have had such life-changing moments, too, and I’d like to share one of them with you today.
It was about the time that I was in high school. At the time, the school was developing a new sports area, and we were instructed to choose three activities. Volleyball, basketball, and archery were my choices. Basketball has always been a hobby of mine. However, archery was the activity that was assigned to me. I had no prior experience with archery and, at first, had little interest in it.
When I started attending the activity class, my archery instructor directed me on how to execute it. I gradually developed an interest in archery and began to excel at it. Interestingly, my teacher asked if I wanted to compete in a state-level archery tournament one day. I was completely astounded to learn that she thinks I play well enough to compete at the state level. I said yes right away.
I was introduced to archery by accident, but now I am a national-level archery athlete who intends to compete in more forthcoming events. So, I feel that this one encounter transformed my life forever. Like earlier, I was a notorious child who spent his leisure time teasing and fooling everyone and took nothing seriously in his life. Fortunately, participating in the archery activities helped me develop into a focused, disciplined, and passionate individual.
Sample Answer 2
Here is the sample for “Describe a life-changing experience you have had” topic:
Although there have been plenty of life-changing experiences I’ve had in the past, the one I can never forget is the encounter that I had with a disabled woman. A few years ago, I had visited a temple with my family.
Unfortunately, I had a plaster on my feet as a few days before the visit, I had met with an accident and got a hairline fracture on my ankle. The temple was on top of a mountain, and we had to climb a lot of stairs. Once I reached the top, I was literally panting and was exhausted to my core. So, I went and sat at a place. There was a lady sitting right next to me who, at a glance, seemed normal. She turned to me and asked what had happened to my feet. I told her about my accident, and she gave me the brightest possible smile, put a hand on my head and blessed me. She said that she’d pray for my well-being. I thanked her wholeheartedly. The next moment, she was on the floor, crawling through her way out because he had Polio and couldn’t walk.
The way she blessed me, I felt enthusiastic. However, the moment I saw her crawling through the people, I was flabbergasted and overwhelmed. I had never imagined that she’d be struggling this way in her own life. Till date, I get goosebumps remembering that moment.
That day, I learnt a huge lesson. No matter how pathetic a situation you are in, never be afraid of spreading the love around. It taught me how important it is to be a human. After that incident, I stopped complaining about small nuisances and started living the most.
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Sample Answer 3
Life Changing experiences will come by a few times in our lives, and if we’re lucky, it’ll change us for the better, or it will teach us a lesson. Either way, there is learning involved. My life-changing experience definitely brought happiness to me. Although the experience itself was relatively trivial, it spurred a lifetime hobby! I was in middle school when it happened. Yes, I had read books earlier, but you don’t retain the memories of these stories or contemplate the entire storyline that you’re reading; you just read a book. But the first time I really read a book, I was gobsmacked. The experience was nothing short of magical. It was on the way back home from school. I was reading on the bus, alone in my seat, and the book had me enchanted. I was transported to the world of the book I was reading at the time – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I was so engrossed as my eyes hung onto every word I read, watching it play out in my mind as if it were a movie. I didn’t even notice we had reached home. I knew at that moment that I had become obsessed with books and the way they made me feel when I read them. Since then, I have never lost that magical feeling when I read, and I treasure the moments I become so engrossed I don’t bother with what’s going on around me. That one life-changing experience gave me a hobby for a lifetime, one that I will treasure for a long time to come.
Vocabulary
Here are the vocabularies for “Describe a life-changing experience you have had ” with examples:
1. Trivial
- Meaning: of little value or importance.
Example: They fought over something trivial.
2. Contemplate
- Meaning: think deeply and at length.
Example: She sat there, contemplating what to do next.
3. Gobsmacked
- Meaning: overwhelmed with wonder, surprise, or shock
Example: That movie left me gobsmacked.
4. Enchanted
- Meaning: filled with delight; charmed.
Example: His music is enchanting.
5. Engrossed
- Meaning: absorb all the attention or interest of.
Example: We were so engrossed in conversation, we did not notice it started to rain.
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