Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language Can Cause Serious Social Problems as Well as Practical Problems – IELTS Writing Task 2

Agree Disagree essays, like ‘Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language’, are one of the most common types of IELTS Writing Task 2 essays.

In contrast to classic opinion essays, ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree’ questions do not specifically ask you to declare your level of agreement or disagreement with the statement. You can either say for or against the notion or you can partly agree or disagree with it. Once you've made up your mind, come up with two or three arguments in favor of it.

Let’s have a look at the IELTS Agree Disagree essay - Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language - with three sample answers of Band 7, 8 and 9. If you want to practise regularly, check out the IELTS Writing practice tests.

Question

Outline

Band 7 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question - Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language

It is definitely a problem to live in a country where you have to speak a foreign language. Language barriers can cause serious social as well as practical problems. According to me, this statement is true due to several factors that are discussed in the essay.

Staying in a foreign country where one cannot speak their native language will make it difficult to communicate with the locals. At public gatherings, they will often feel isolated since they may not understand each other’s language. Furthermore, normalizing themselves in a completely different culture from the one they grew up in and not having fluency in the language will be fairly difficult. As a result, they usually do not develop good relationships with local citizens and prefer to stay within the confines of their own community. This is a major social problem.

Apart from that, the inability to speak the local language may negatively affect one’s everyday activities in a foreign country. For example, some people may find it difficult to go grocery shopping at the local market or access local transportation. Moreover, at their workplaces, they may have to face a lot of problems. Certainly, it is important for an individual to be able to communicate effectively within an organization. If they struggle with the common language, they may be unable to freely express their ideas, which will hinder their ability to progress in the organization despite their talents. Having trouble establishing good relationships at work can also affect the probability of a promotion, regardless of how hard they work. As a result, these individuals often doubt themselves and feel under-confident.

However, many people say that linguistic barriers are not a major problem as they get easier over time, but one may feel alienated in the beginning and trying to rectify the situation may not be easy.

To sum up, I agree that living in a country with poor access to the local language is challenging both socially and practically.

Band 8 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question - Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language

Moving to a foreign country with a different native language can be quite challenging. However, I don't believe it will lead to social alienation and practical complications. The following paragraphs will explore several positive aspects, including personal growth and social integration.

To begin with, learning an international language can aid in improving a person's cognitive and adaptive capacities. It takes commitment and mental work to learn a new language, yet doing so enhances creativity, memory, and problem-solving abilities. These cognitive advantages can lessen the likelihood of practical issues by assisting people in navigating several facets of their everyday life more skillfully. In multilingual places like Singapore, for instance, immigrants find out that learning local tongues, like Mandarin or Malay, leads to a more immersive and richer cultural experience.

Furthermore, the ability to communicate in another language helps foster stronger ties with others and a stronger sense of identity. It can be worthwhile as it can help you become understood and accepted by native speakers. For example, a lot of immigrants in Canada and Germany take language classes to get better at the language. This improves their everyday interactions as well as their ability to engage more completely in social events and community activities, which builds a sense of belonging and lessens feelings of loneliness.

To conclude, while living in a country where a foreign language is spoken can pose initial challenges like difficulty in communication, it does not necessarily lead to serious social and practical problems. Conversely, it presents chances for personal growth, cognitive advancement, and social inclusion.

Band 9 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question - Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language

Migrating to foreign countries has become a common phenomenon, irrespective of the age and qualification of a person. But many people back off on their desire to migrate as they feel that being unable to speak the foreign language may cause social and practical problems. Fortunately, recent developments in technology and globalization have aided in solving such communication gaps. In this essay, the latter view will be discussed to show that living in a foreign country has become a piece of cake regarding language issues.

To begin with, settling in a country with a different linguistic system and moving to a part of the country with a different language setup has the same issue - lack of common language. As aforementioned, this drift has become quite prevalent nowadays. Due to this, local people welcome international visitors or immigrants with open arms and try to help them as much as possible. In a social setting, the neighbours invite the newcomer to gatherings or parties, if they are interested and accept them as a part of the community. Furthermore, when one moves to countries like the U.K., U.S, Australia and others, they have to prove their language skills in a global language like English. So, even before moving to the country, people are already fluent in the common language that will enable them to communicate.

Apart from that, applications like Google Translate and Maps have become the ultimate solution to these correspondence problems. While travelling, one may not need to ask for directions anymore as they have maps and similar apps to guide them. In case one needs to translate certain words on documents or while interacting, they can definitely benefit from language apps like Triplingo, Microsoft Translate and Baidu, among others.

However, technology does not help when one moves to remote parts of the world without a network for smartphones or apps to work. Sometimes, locals may not even welcome the outsider naturally. But, with globalization, these cases have become very rare as technology has reached greater lengths of the earth, and people have opened up to different cultures and people from various locales.

Therefore, to conclude, it can be said that although few people may face the communion issue socially, if they try to adapt themselves and search for like-minded people, they will definitely enjoy their new lease of life in the new country.

Band 9 Vocabulary

Have a look at the list of useful expressions for IELTS Vocabulary for the above sample answers on the IELTS Writing topic 'Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language'.

• Practical

Meaning: of or concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas.
Eg: “Always think in a practical way before taking any important decision.”

• Communicate

Meaning: to share information with others by speaking, writing, moving your body, or using other signals
Eg: “Did you communicate your needs with the manager?”

• Isolated

Meaning: separated from other persons or things; alone; solitary
Eg: He was isolated from his family at birth.

• Fluency

Meaning: the ability to speak or write a language easily, well, and quickly
Eg: His fluency in the language is quite impressive.

• Confines

Meaning: the limits or borders of something
Eg: The prisoners remained in the confines of the room for more than 15 years.

• Organization

Meaning: a company or other group of people that works together for a particular purpose
Eg: Our organization aims to help people with problems in immigration.

• Promotion

Meaning: the act of raising someone to a higher or more important position or rank
Eg: Her family was thrilled to hear about her promotion.

• Under-confident

Meaning: lacking in confidence
Eg: The fresher was under-confident when he joined the job.

• Linguistic

Meaning: of or relating to language or linguistics, the scientific study of language.
Eg: He is a professional well-known for his linguistic skills.

• Alienated

Meaning: to cause someone or a group of people to stop supporting and agreeing with you
Eg: Tom’s friends alienated him as soon as he was accused of murder.

IELTS Writing Task 2 Connectors for Extra Points in the Sample Answers for Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language

Using connectors or linking words in your writing helps to ensure coherence and improves your likelihood of earning a high band score. So, check out the list of connectors/linking words for writingused in the sample answers for the IELTS Writing Task 2 - ‘Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language’ given below.

• To begin with
• Furthermore/Moreover
• As a result
• Apart from that
• However/Conversely
• Therefore
• For example/ For instance
• To sum up/To conclude

The next step is to try writing your own answer to the topic - Living in a Country Where You Have to Speak a Foreign Language. For that, leave your answers as a comment below or you can use our free IELTS Writing essay evaluation and correction service.

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