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A decision you have made that you feel was wrong

IELTS Cue Card Question 88 With Model Answer:

Describe a decision which you have made that you feel was wrong.

You should say:
  • what the decision was and why you made that decision
  • how long it took to realize that it was a wrong decision
  • why you think it was a wrong decision you made
and explain how you would alter that decision if you could.  

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer 1:
Learning a language requires some specific set of qualities like patience, willingness, perseverance etc. but my unstable nature lacks the all of those to continue something important for me. I failed to learn the German language.

I have some business relations with Germans and they frequently contact me over different business issues, and unfortunately, it was troublesome to speak English with them. I had to repeat the statements several times during the telephonic conversations or had to make the issues clearer on email correspondence breaking down the statements into very simple sentences. So, I decided to learn the German language. I was in a dream of discoursing with the Germans fluently in their native language and they were amazed by my aptitude in German. But all my dreams shattered when my language instructor asked me to speak something in German after attending for a month. My failure to speak German took me out of the course.

When I ran out of German Words, I could not continue the conversation with the instructor and the situation was embarrassing for me. All the mates laughed at me and I felt a deep sense of shy for my inability to speak German. So, I thought if I cannot speak German with the instructor, how could it be possible for me to speak with the natives? As a result, I gave up attending classes for the next class. The class used to be held thrice in a week and I started missing the classes after passing one and a half month with the course. I thought that I should keep communicating with the clients as I am doing now and that is much better than being ashamed before the class.

After attending the course for the first day, I started communicating with the clients in German and they appreciated me on hearing about my German learning attempt. I used English to German dictionary for communication with them and gave up the dictionary after the course admission. The troubles started to arrive when the Germans asked me numerous issues in their native language and it was difficult for me to decipher. About one month later, after leaving the course, I realised that truly it is tough for me to communicate in an unskilled way. Translating German into English consumed more time and sometimes I could not get the right meanings too which lead to minor misunderstanding between my client and me.

It was a wrong decision for me. I did not realise the importance of the language. It is natural that when you have something to your hand, you will not feel the weight until you are dropping that. The same event happened to me. The necessities emerged right after the moment I left the course. If I continued learning the language, I could have a better communication with them. I had to count the financial losses as well my emotional state.

If I had the option to go back into the class, I would take the chance. But they only admit students for twice in a year and now I have to wait for the next admission announcement. If I get the chance to get admitted to the course again, I will be attentive than ever and will follow the instructions too. It has become a must for me to learn the language for my professional purpose.



Sample Answer 2:
When I got admitted to the higher secondary class, I took a subject - Statistics. In fact, it was one of the wrong decisions of my life. I took the subject like a fool without being aware of the course details. Thank you for the question and it reminds me how stupid I was in my college days. I will describe the event now.

In my college days, I got a chance to take an additional subject that will help to increase my overall score. In fact, the subject aimed to hike the CGPA of the students. So, most of the students took the subject as per their will. In line with them, I also took a subject and later found that it was one of the complicated one. I had to take the decision as it was a must for every student to choose the subject. There were no alternatives. But I made a wrong decision by picking the subject – Statistics.

It took a short time to realise the mistake. I was actually amazed by the name of the subject. The name and its spelling charmed me too much. So, I was in love with the subject. After the admission, the classes were held. On the first day of Statistics class, I came to know that it was related to numerous mathematical issues. I was afraid of mathematics and wanted to get rid of it in my college days. Suddenly I realised that it was not for me. And I made a wrong decision in my life. Luckily, I was able to change the subject and took computer science instead. I cannot imagine the situations anymore. If I continued with the subject, surely I had to fail in the course only for the mathematical issues alone. Besides, there were some other theories that I failed to understand too. So, finally, I gave up the subject.

It was a wrong decision for many reasons. Generally, people prefer to read books which they like most. During the academic activities, they are attracted to the subjects which they get interested in. The scenario was similar to me. Initially, I took the subject without knowing anything about it. Later I realised that it was the wrong decision for me. I had no interest in solving the mathematical terms and equations. In a word, I lost interest in it. So, if I continued the subject, I would not have a very good score and the poor grades might have influenced my overall CGPA. So, the idea of taking Statistics appeared wrong to me. In fact, it was not possible to go with the things that I do not like. The subject was the same for me.

I have altered the decision and it was only my luck that allowed me to do so. After a few days of the class, there was a notice from the college authority about changing such subjects. Many of the students have changed the subjects at that time. This is the generosity of the school authority that it allows the students to change such subjects. I was also happy by altering the subject and scored a remarkable score on the final exam. It is a remarkable event of my life. Thought the past, I have made many wrong decisions and I do not blame myself for the mistakes. They were my learning and now I do not have such mistakes. I know how to take the right decision.

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