Describe an interesting conversation you had with a very old person IELTS Cue Card
IELTS CUE CARD
Describe an interesting conversation you had with a very old person
- Who this person is
- Where you had the conversation
- What you talked about
- And explain how you felt about the experience.
Sample 1
An interesting conversation I had with a significantly older adult. She is a professor at my college. Her name is Dr. Reena Jairus. I had the conversation in her office. I went there to ask a simple question about whether she could recommend some international author books for that very course she was teaching us. I went there and asked that question, to which she replied, and she gave me the recommendation.
As I was about to leave the office, she called me. She started talking to me about my research interest, to which I was thrilled because I have always admired her research work. She is an excellent researcher, and I dreamed of taking up a project under her. I got very conscious and thought this was the opportunity I was waiting for.
The opportunity came to me when the professor started the topic independently. I started talking to her about her research projects to impress her that I had read your published articles. One of her published articles was about evidence-based practice. I started talking to her and telling her how she could improvise and improve in that research, to which she was shocked.
She appreciated my efforts, and I enjoyed that conversation. At the end of the conversation, she offered me a position in her upcoming research thesis. I couldn’t get where I was more happy even if I was not getting a name in the thesis. I thanked her a lot, and I felt that I had been manifesting to take up a research project under that professor, and that opportunity came to me on its own. I was thrilled, and I told my parents about it. It felt like an outstanding achievement to me.
Sample 2
My uncle is a very talkative person. I met him at my sister’s wedding. Over there, we had a conversation about his war. Once, he took part in the Kargil War in 1999 with the Pakistanis over the conflicts of Jammu and Kashmir. He described to me how they participated in the war, how they felt over there, how they faced death over there. He will tell you how he met death in the war.
He also said it’s the 49 days of war and hazardous over there. They had to wake up all night to watch out for the enemies. He was in a significant position. For that reason, he was the big man over there. He had to build up some strategies for the enemies. He also told me how they had to make the arrangements and how they won the war. I felt very proud because of my uncle. He is an army man who served for 70 years in the Indian Army. I also get some respect from others because of my uncle. Everybody wants his company because he is a very interesting and good person. He always motivates others.
Sample 3
I have met many people in my life who are very interesting. I had a good conversation with them, but one of them is my friend’s grandfather, a very good person. He is a retired manager from the bank, and I met him on my friend’s birthday because my friend invited me to her birthday party, and we later celebrated in her home.
When I went there, I saw her whole home was decorated with fresh flowers, and I asked her who had done it. Then she told me her grandfather was the one who decorated her whole home with fresh flowers, and then I met him. He told me that he was the one taking care of the gardening. He loves to plant trees and flowers because it is a good way to boost when stressed. After all, he takes care of the plants, gives them water, and then feels stress-free. He told me the benefits of planting trees are that they are good for the health and the environment. After all, when we plant more trees, it will freshen our eyes.
So he told me about the many benefits of planting trees, how we could plant more trees, and how we would care for the flowers and the plants. I saw many types of flowers in their park, like lotus and roses, and I was happy then because he gave me the experience. He told me if I wanted to do the gardening in your house, then you would have to call me, and then I would guide you about it, and that’s why I am so happy. After that, I also planted some flowers in my backyard, so this time, I also made a hobby of planting more trees and flowers in my house.
Follow-ups
1. Do young people share the same interests?
Young people have different interests than older ones. Young people mostly take part in the technical activities. Now, they are techno-savvy. Apart from that, older people have different tastes and interests.
2. What skills can the old teach the young?
We can get a lot of information. We can learn a lot of good things from the older ones. Older adults should reasonably teach the young. They should set up goals and give good advice for their careers. Moreover, they can get life experience from older people.
3. What skills does the young teach the old?
Younger people can teach the older ones how to live joyfully. It doesn’t matter what your age is. They can also teach them not to take stress. For me, these are the only skills that we can teach older people.
4. Do you think the older adults should live with their family?
Definitely yes. Older adults should live with their families. A senior person has a whole life experience and is the leading man of the family. For that reason, he has a different appearance in the family. An older person should live with a family because a family needs his help in every challenging situation because of his life experience.
5. What makes a conversation fascinating to you?
Conversations are attractive when the topic of the discussion is either very relatable to me or very new to me because when it’s new to me, I become inquisitive. I started to like to know about new things, and if it’s relatable to me, then I have become interested that yes, I can add two points to that conversation.
6. Can you recall a recent conversation that you found particularly engaging or thought-provoking?
I had a conversation with my brother yesterday. We were talking about a web series that he had already watched. Its name is Rocket Boys. It’s about Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, how India has excelled by making an atomic bomb, and the man behind that accomplishment.
7. How do you initiate and maintain exciting conversations with others?
I could have improved at initiating and maintaining a conversation before college. College made me an extrovert personality because we had to talk to our parents and our teachers, our patients, and their relatives. We had to speak to them every day, so practice made me a person who could initiate and maintain the conversation quickly. I have yet to think or have an idea about how I got into this practice, but it happened gradually.
8. What topics do you find most fascinating to discuss with friends or acquaintances?
There are many exciting topics to talk about. For example, what is happening in the celebrity world? My best friend and I generally talk about basketball and what Stephen Curry did by shooting the three-pointers. Discussing current issues in the entertainment world and the sports industry is exciting.
9. Have you ever had a conversation that completely changed your perspective on a specific topic?
Yes, I had a conversation with my best friend. I had a different take on keeping a pet. I thought owning a pet would make life more fun, but she had a different take. I thought about it, and it made me change my mind because keeping a pet and the fun or entertainment part is temporary. Still, later in life, when you get attached to the pet, it becomes a family member, and people who like travelling cannot go on long vacations and holidays. They can only go on short vacations and holidays. So, keeping a pet alone is very difficult.
10. How do you balance listening and speaking in a conversation to keep it engaging for both parties?
If I’m conversing in a professional setting, I ensure that I am talking about the other person’s interests or that I don’t make them uncomfortable. Other than that, if I’m talking to my friends or family members, I speak my heart out, which builds the conversation.
11. Can you share some tips for keeping conversations lively and dynamic, especially in group settings?
So, I am hilarious and give punchlines now and then in a group setting. Whenever my friends and I sit for chit-chat, I make sure they keep on laughing. I tell them some poor and good jokes, to which they reciprocate well because they are my friends.
12. What role does asking open-ended questions play in fostering exciting conversations?
Open-ended questions are a great way to know what’s inside the other person’s mind. It helps foster healthy relationships by understanding the thoughts and ideas of the other person on a specific topic.
13. How do you handle disagreements or differing opinions in a conversation while remaining constructive and respectful?
I acknowledge, and I try to recognize the thought behind that take. I put my angle of thought or take on that topic to that person, but I do not forget that I have to keep my tone very pleasing so that the other person does not get hurt or offended by that.
14. Have you ever encountered a conversation that led to unexpected discoveries or insights?
Yes, my brother and he comes home every two or three weeks whenever we sit down and talk. So, after having dinner and everything, he comes to my room. We sit down and talk. Out of the conversation, we started talking about startups. I shared my experiences, and he shared his experiences. We end up analyzing the situations and thinking about the solutions to the problems, and that’s how, in our heads, we build many business strategies.
15. What skills can the old teach the young?
They have a lot of experience related to their personal life and work.
They can share their experience with their grandchildren. So they can teach them about the values of their culture. If they know their culture, then they can be attached to it.
And they can tell them the benefits of cleaning and cooking. And they can teach them how to cook the food in an emergency. Then, the children can also cook if their parents or grandparents are away from home.
16. Do you enjoy having conversations with others?
Yes, if I like. The topic is interesting when I’m talking to someone else. That comes to me as attractive. I will get good information and knowledge from that topic. Then, it is interesting for me when I want to talk to that person.
17. Is there a difference between how you converse with friends and family compared to colleagues or strangers?
Yes, of course. We are very frank with our family and friends. When we talk, then we can talk with each other because we know them better.
On the other side, if I talk about a stranger and colleagues, then we should have a formal talk with them. Then we have to give them some respect as well because we meet some of the colleagues and strangers for the first time. So our first impression is the last impression on them. We should think first before we talk to them.
18. Do you prefer face-to-face conversations or conversations online?
I prefer face-to-face conversations. However, due to technology these days, it takes a lot of work to get to people’s homes.
Then it increased a bit compared to the past. Nowadays, I am in Canada, and we need more time to go somewhere because we are busy with our personal and professional lives. So, these days, I want to talk to my family, my friends, and my colleagues about electronic gadgets.
So, by the method of video call, it’s the most available means of talking nowadays.
19. Have you ever had a conversation that changed your mind about something?
Yes, before, I was a very introverted person, and I didn’t want to talk to other people. But when I met one of my friend’s grandfather, he was perfect, and he was a fascinating person.
When I started talking to him, he motivated me. He told me the importance of social activity and social behaviour. So if you want to speak to social people, find out the value of the person.
That’s why nowadays I am very open-minded, and I want to talk to everybody comfortably; I want to learn something from them.
20. What are some tips you would give someone who wants to improve their conversation skills?
If someone wants to improve their communication skills, first of all, they should have good knowledge of the language.
If they want to talk in Punjabi, Hindi, or English, then they should know the language first. Apart from this, they should see the sentence structure. If they are talking about the tense according to the past, present, and future, then they should know the formation of the sentence as well.
Then they can speak well and frequently with the person who wants to talk in their language.
21. In your opinion, what makes a good conversation?
When we are talking with each other, we have to hear first. If someone is talking, after that, we should give the response to that person. Because if we understand correctly, then we can provide the proper answer to the other person.
22. Do you think technology has changed the way we have conversations?
Yes, because if I talk about it in the past, then people will speak to each other on Facebook. At that time, we didn’t have smartphones, iPads, and laptops. But nowadays, technology has changed. If people are in a broad country, then they also feel like they are sitting at home because we have a face-to-face conversation on electronic gadgets.