Describe a time when you made a promise to someone.
You should say:
- when it was
- who you made the promise to
- why you made this promise
and explain how you felt about it.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer:
They say keep your promises if you make any. And the fear of breaking promises often deters me from ever making it – from when I started understanding its gravity. But there are still times when I did make vows, and to my dismay, to find out later that I hadn’t been able to keep them all! Today, for this topic, I’d like to talk about a promise that I made to myself, and that I also broke just a couple of weeks later.
It was 2018 when I’d just finished university studies, and was looking for a job. The shift from comparatively relaxed student life, the pressure to land a job, my financial condition and large debt – all mounted an invisible pressure on my shoulder. Moreover, disrupting sleep pattern and a change in weather affected my mood to a great extent. I found myself in a situation where I was losing my temper pretty quickly, which is contrary to my usual self. In fact, I was known to have a great composure and nerve.
So, one day, after losing temper and getting angry for no apparent reason and shouting to a taxi driver, who I thought was arguing unnecessarily, I realised something had changed in me which I did not expect and like at all. On that very day, I made a promise to myself that I would behave more prudently and never let my temper take control of me.
I made this promise to myself because I never liked hot-tempered persons who get angry without valid reasons. I always believed such people could do a little better by being a bit wiser and less bitter. So naturally, I didn’t want to become one of those persons.
When I made the promise, I felt great. It was like re-inventing myself and being able to erase something bad from my life. But it was equally disappointing when I got angry with my little sister a couple of weeks later forgetting my promise. Some say promises are made to break, but it’s a good thing that I constantly remind myself that I need to keep my promises, and even if I break it once or twice, there is no reason why I should not try harder.