Describe an appointment that was put ahead of schedule. You should say:
What this appointment was When it happened
Why it was brought forward
And explain how you felt about the result.
Sample answer:
I’m usually a person who hate changes; so every appointment that I’ve made is usually firmly, or even rigidly, fixed. However, there was a time when my appointment was annoyingly brought forward. It happened around 2 years ago, when I had my very interview for a part-time job as a teacher of English in a local English center.
Before the interview, I was informed via email that I would be teaching a 45-minute demo lesson in a real classroom context, under observance of the headmaster of the center. I was speechless upon receiving that news, since I did not have even the faintest idea of how it would be like to be teaching in front of a class full of young learners. Therefore, I planned to spend at least 3 days and nights so that I could be well prepared for that important day. However, what did not go according to my plan was that the headmaster sent me another email telling me that that class would be brought forward 2 days earlier, which meant that I would have to start my class tomorrow evening! I was both furious and scared. I worked through the rest of my night in panic, cramming everything into my head, and putting everything I could into the PowerPoint slides.
Eventually, my lesson was a mess. Animation effects didn’t work, I forgot nearly everything I learned, and the kids weren’t able to refrain from laughing out loud with my constant silly mistakes. It was absolutely not a memorable experience of mine, and I hope that I won’t be encountering such a thing in the future.
Follow-up questions:
- Do people in your country accept excuses for being late? Why? / Why not?
It depends on the situation and if the excuse is genuine or not. We are very hospitable and respectful here and we believe that if a person arrives late it is better than not arriving at all, but most people try to arrive on time and most of the time it’s not a problem. I think excuses are only a problem if the occasions are too frequent or inconvenient for the other person. - What type of excuses do people in your country accept?
There are many reasons why people might be late arriving somewhere or attending a meeting or appointment. Problems with the family, having to help an older member of the family or look after one of the younger children in an emergency, problems with transport or delays in traffic are common and of course when you are sick or ill and have to postpone an event or appointment. Most other people understand these situations, because it has also happened to them at one time or another in their lives, you know, sometimes you just can’t avoid being late for an appointment. - Do you think it is important to remember things?
It can certainly help make things easier. If you can remember things easily and not forget them it can be very beneficial. Activities such as studying and learning seem much easier, for example, learning English is much easier if you can remember all the vocabulary and grammar you learn and how to use it correctly, and if you can recall things easily it can save you a lot of time instead of having to look up information or ask someone else if they know.It can also make life generally easier if you have a good memory for faces and names and can remember them when you meet people, or recall a telephone number or some useful information without the need to access your phone or write everything down to avoid forgetting it. - What are some of the benefits of having a good memory?
I guess some people think you are maybe more intelligent, or certainly smarter than most people, especially if you have an excellent memory and can remember everything. It can help you avoid embarrassing social situations if you never forget someone’s birthday, or if you don’t forget people’s names when you haven’t seen them for a long time.It can also be useful in activities like quizzes or competitions which rely on general knowledge if you can remember the relevant information and answer the questions. And I suppose it’s probably a good thing in relation to your career or work if you are able to recall information which is relevant without having to ask someone else to help, or refer to a reference book or something like that. Not having to look up stuff can save you loads of time. - Are there any things that are especially important for people to memorize?
It all depends on the situation, even remembering your name is important, when someone asks you what it is. Or where you live; imagine if you couldn’t remember that kind of information one day… it would be really awkward, wouldn’t it? Really, all information we need to operate normally is critical… maybe we can consider other information to be useful but optional, or non-critical. - Why do people often forget small things?
Well, I suppose it could be because they have a lot of things to think about or remember and sometimes it’s easy to remember big important things – but little things are more easily forgotten.
Most people try to remember everything without using anything to help them and while it may be easy enough to remember a few important things – the more things you have to remember the higher the probability that you forget some of the smaller things that maybe aren’t so important. - How can we improve our memory?
I suppose the easiest way would be to practice memorizing things more often – practice makes perfect – or as I said earlier, get into the habit of making notes or reminders for things that you don’t want to forget, nowadays it’s easier than ever – just program a reminder in your phone anytime and set the alarm so you can’t forget. - How memory can help you to learn a new skill? = Do you think having a good memory is important for students?
Well, it certainly helps, doesn’t it? I mean it’s so much easier to remember all those facts, or formulas or information or whatever it is you’re studying. It can save a lot of time if you can just recall most things you need in an instant and not have to review your books or look it up again each time you some information. - Other possible questions:
What kind of ways can be used to help remember things?
Do you think which is more important, work meeting or friend dating?
Do you think it is a good idea to use electronic devices for putting reminders?
Is human memory important nowadays?
Is it important to be punctual in your country?