IELTS Speaking Cue Card

I am a very active person on social media where I post almost regularly and spend a lot of time; rather waste a lot of time scrolling through it. I have recently tried to curtail the time I spend on it, but I failed miserably.  

Social media is a way of keeping in touch with my friends and relatives who live far away from where I live. Not only that, but it is also a source of hilarity for me. A month ago, I realised I was spending a bit too much time on it when I noticed that I used social media sites for 6 hours throughout the day. So, I decided on cutting down the time and tried to put a lock on the apps so I could concentrate on other work.

However, because of my habit, after every few minutes, I picked up my phone inadvertently and looked at content on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat without paying attention to the time. When the app was locked out, I even deleted the timer I had set and continued to use it. I was able to stick to the time just for one day and it was back to normal the next which continued to stay the same until today.

I feel disappointed that I was not able to achieve my own goal of reducing app usage on my phone. I do realise it is a waste of time but it has become a habit. In addition, for the sake of my friends, I remain active on these platforms to communicate with them. They post arbitrarily at any given time and expect me to comment on those posts. Now that I think about it, I need to find a way to successfully limit usage to 2 to 3 hours per day going forward to reduce the time spent on social media.

 

 

Vocabulary:

1. Curtail - reduce
2. Hilarity - amusement
3. Inadvertently - without intention
4. Arbitrarily - randomly

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Part 3 Follow Up - Questions & Answers

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1. What’s your definition of success?

My definition is success is that I should be able to achieve the goals I set for myself no matter how many times I fail or how long it takes. Ultimately, I should be happy with what I do as well as make my parents proud of what I achieved and that would be make me feel successful.

2. What things do children try to succeed in?

The two main things that kids try to succeed in are academics and sports competitions. Besides that, kids try to learn every day and make their parents proud of the little tasks they achieve. They learn bike riding, jump rope, building blocks, singing or dancing and play some outdoor games to have fun as well as excel at them.

3. Which do you think is more important for people to become successful, hardwork or opportunities?

I believe both hardwork and opportunities are equally vital to achieving success. There are certain people that have a bit of privilege of getting opportunities but they need to work hard to be successful in their profession. Others also need opportunities to showcase their skills and talents to become successful.

4. Do you think people would be happier if they didn’t have any goals to achieve?

I think a life without goals could never bring happiness. It would just be a mediocre life with a monotony that never ends. People need to set goals and try to achieve them to have a path for themselves and have something to look forward to in their lives. Goals are much needed to lead a happy life.