📙 Part 2: Describe a difficult decision that you made and had a good result

This episode's vocabulary

Decision (noun) – a choice you make after thinking about it. → Taking the IELTS was a difficult decision for him.

Straightforward (adjective) – simple and easy to understand. → It looked like a straightforward task, but it turned out to be complex.

Affair (noun) – a situation or event, often with some complexity. → It seemed like a simple affair, but emotions were involved.

Foolish (adjective) – lacking good sense or judgment. → He felt foolish after giving the wrong advice.

In addition to (phrase) – as well as. → He felt pressure in addition to his usual responsibilities.

Get ready (verb phrase) – to prepare. → She got ready for the test by reviewing vocabulary.

Ultimately (adverb) – in the end; finally. → Ultimately, his hard work paid off.

Achieve (verb) – to reach a goal. → He achieved a Band 9 in the speaking test.

Result (noun) – the outcome of something. → The test result made him very happy.

Include (verb) – to have something as part of a whole. → You should include examples in your speaking answers.

Strategy (noun) – a plan to achieve something. → He learned effective strategies for exam success.

As a whole (phrase) – in general or completely. → He studied the exam as a whole, not just one part.

Destination (noun) – the end goal. → For him, the score was the destination.

Journey (noun) – the process of getting to a goal. → The learning journey taught him a lot.

Proud (adjective) – feeling pleased because of something you've done. → His friends and family were proud of his achievement.

Questions and Answers

Rory: I've had to make a lot of decisions in my life that have been quite difficult. However, the most recent one was my decision to take an IELTS test for myself. I did this just a few days ago. However, even though the test was only a few days ago, I actually made this decision way back at the beginning of the year. I really wanted to know if what I was saying to people in my classes was the right thing, or if there were any areas where I could improve. And so I thought this would be one of the best ways to do that.

It seems like a pretty straightforward affair. However, it's not quite that simple because, of course, I've talked to people for years now about this exam and what I think are the best things to do. And so if I made a mistake, and if I turned out to be wrong, then I would look extremely foolish and people would know that I'd said the wrong things and I would have hurt people's chances of having a better life, in addition to my colleagues not thinking very highly of me. So that's why it's quite important, or it was quite important for me to do well.

In order to make it, I needed to do all of these things to get ready. I had to listen to different videos and join classes, and I asked experts from around the world what the best ways to prepare were. Ultimately, at the end of the day, I achieved what I wanted to. I got a Band 9 for speaking, and I was really happy with that result. However, even though I started with this idea of getting a Band 9, actually, the positive result wasn't just the score. It was also what I learned along the way. I learned about different ways to speak and what I should include in my speaking, as well as my writing, and different strategies to deal with the exam as a whole. So, for me, in this case, it was not only about the destination. It was also about the journey. And I'm really glad that I was able to achieve something positive in terms of both of these things.

And have you talked to other people about this?

Rory: Yes, I most recently told my colleagues as a surprise. But prior to that, I also got help from a lot of my friends and family to get ready. And they're very happy that I achieved what I did, too.