A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language - IELTS Writing Task 2 Opinion Essay

The IELTS Writing Task 2 Opinion Essay, ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’, would help you to learn how language connects to both identity and cultural immersion. Your essay will be assessed on four main criteria for which you must develop relevant ideas and organize your essay within the 40-minute period. To create a strong argument for the IELTS Writing essay, you must learn to organize your ideas while getting familiar with topic-specific vocabulary words and diverse sentence patterns. By evaluating sample answers, you take a step to develop your writing skills and get exam-ready.

Question - IELTS Writing Task 2 Opinion Essay ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’

Structure Breakdown for ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’

An outline will guide you to follow a proper structure which will make it easier to create connections between different ideas.  This will help you save time after you spend a few minutes creating your initial plan and make you write a coherent essay to score a higher IELTS Band Score. Focused brainstorming helps you stay on topic while developing your ideas without using unnecessary repetition. Below is the structure breakdown for the essay, ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’.

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Sample Answer 1 on ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’

It is indubitable that language, in any form, is the only way in which people can express their feelings and share ideas among themselves. There are a variety of languages in the world, and each of them stand out as they are exclusive to the culture that they belong to. As a result, many people have this idea that if a person cannot understand the language, he/she will be unable to understand the convention of the society in which it is used. But I feel that it is not totally true.

Language is just a part of the whole, and if we understand the other elements, the tradition can still be apprehended. Food, dress, significant celebrations and customs proclaim the way the mores of the country have evolved. For example, one may not be adept in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada or Gujarati to comprehend that Indian culture is a colourful motley of observance of life and gratification. One can taste the spicy food of the mountains to infer that it is to cope with the low temperature, one can wear the heavy attire of the desert to deduce that it is worn to protect the skin from high temperature, and one can also participate in the numerous festivals like Holi, Onam, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja and others to make out that people in different parts of the country share their preference to live a vibrant life.

When it comes to figuring out the literature of the country, it may seem to be a challenge. But, with globalization, many ways have been developed to fix the language barrier. To get the hang of different cultures and their language, even without being a part of it, people have known to use translation as the most important weapon. Earlier, many native people were assigned specially for this job. Now, with the advancement of technology, one can use apps like Google Translate, iTranslate, TripLingo and many more. Visual symbols, for example, movies and road signs, have also been deemed favorable.

Nonetheless, not understanding a language has its own disadvantages. Connecting with locals becomes difficult as they are aware of your lack of knowledge and treat you like an outsider. This may lead to fraud and deception. Fortunately, many organizations like ThomasCook, Airbnb, and others, along with the government of the countries, had made travelling safer and easier.

To conclude, with all facilities that have been established and efforts made, I conclude that the language barrier is no more a serious issue to hinder one from perceiving the culture of other countries.

Vocabulary for Sample Answer 1 on ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’

• Indubitable

Meaning: something that is true without question or that is absolutely true beyond doubt
Eg: His decisions on the matter of security were indubitable.

• Stand out

Meaning: a person or thing that is much better than the other people or things involved in something
Eg: Her voice stands out.

• Convention

Meaning: a way of behaving that is considered to be correct or polite by most people in a society
Eg: Do you follow all the conventions of your society?

• Apprehend 

Meaning: understand something
Eg: The manager apprehends the way the workers work.

• Mores

Meaning: the traditional customs and ways of behaving that are typical of a particular society
Eg: Are you trying to revolt against the mores of our society?

• Adept

Meaning: having a natural ability to do something that needs skill
Eg: My grandmother is adept at making pickles.

• Motley

Meaning: consisting of many different types
Eg: The joker has a jacket which is a motley of colours.

• Gratification

Meaning: the state of being pleased or satisfied
Eg: Our gang always finds their gratification in awesome food.

• Get the hang of

Meaning: to learn the skills that are needed to do (something)
Eg: You should get a hang of the task before moving to the next level.

Sample Answer 2 on ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’

There is a group of people who prefer to learn a country's native language and believe that language acquisition would make them grasp the cultural aspects of that nation. I disagree with this belief because I assert that understanding a society's traditions and cultural heritage does not require language proficiency.

To start with, the complete understanding of a nation's customs depends on how a person feels and their desire to experience them. The process of learning a language will not bring about the understanding of foreign customs which people need to know. To clarify it further, one needs to understand the tradition so that they can immerse themselves into that particular culture. For instance, although Canada shows multiple cultural backgrounds, all of its citizens do not speak French. However, Canada remains the top destination for immigrants who want to settle in the country without facing language or cultural obstacles as they absorb themselves in the culture.

Moreover, multiple web applications exist which allow users to translate articles into different languages. Due to this, readers discover more about various countries without focusing on their competency development. To illustrate, the Bhagwat Geeta has been translated in nearly all languages spoken which helps anyone to learn about Indian history without needing Sanskrit knowledge. Thus, an individual can broaden their horizon by being aware of the specific tradition rather than the articulation of a language.

In conclusion, some people believe that learning a new language is the only method to understand foreign cultures yet I consider it unnecessary because emotional state and modern technological resources make one get familiar with a particular country. 

Vocabulary for Sample Answer 2 on ‘A Person Can Never Understand the Culture of a Country Unless They Speak the Language’

• Acquisition

Meaning: acquire something
Eg: For the acquisition of a second language, one must practice and be exposed to it consistently.

• Grasp

Meaning: To have complete understanding of something
Eg: To do well in the exam, students need a strong grasp of the subject.

• Immerse

Meaning: To engage fully in a particular activity or an environment
Eg: Learners need to immerse in an English-speaking environment to improve their fluency.

• Competency

Meaning: The ability or skill to successfully do something
Eg: To achieve success in international business expansion, communication competency is required.

• Broaden one’s horizon

Meaning: To open up or increase someone’s knowledge about something
Eg: Studying abroad can help students to broaden one’s horizons.

• Articulation

Meaning: The clear and effective presentation of ideas and speeches
Eg: During the meeting, she made a clear articulation of arguments.

Develop a habit of analyzing the sample essays which will guide you to build your ideas with logical development while using advanced vocabulary and complex sentence structures. With consistent practice, you will learn to create a connection between the ideas as well as the paragraphs. Your clarity and coherence will improve and you will be able to write on any essay topic with both confidence and accurateness.

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