Writing task 2-A (18/10/2014 IELTS - Asia Pacific)

[will.nguyen]

"Topic: Some people say it is not necessary to travel to other places to learn about their cultures. We can learn just as much from books, films or internet. To what extend do you agree or disagree?

Today, the world is witnessing the increasing amount of people travel to another place and learn about their destination's culture. While some people believe it is the most suitable way to learn about one's culture, other believe that they can learn through books, films or internet. In my opinion, I firmly disagree that the usage of books, movies or the net will provide sufficient knowledge about one's culture. This essay will pinpoint two main reasons to prove this thesis.

Culinary tradition plays main part in many cultures and it cannot be fully reflected in any cook books, movies or internet. Hong Kong's infamous street food plays a good example here. It is almost impossible to imagine the taste of food no matter how descriptive the author may be. Thus, one cannot learn one place traditional heritage from reading books, watching movies or searching on the internet.

The other reason is that the image in books, movies or on internet only reflects one of many facets in society. For example, the majority of Vietnamese movie only portrait the city lifestyle with beautiful houses, expensive cars or civilized citizens. This, however, only illustrates one side of the culture of Vietnam, not the whole traditional heritage. After analyzing this, it is clear that books, films or internet could not reflect the whole cultural picture of one place.

In conclusion, following the analysis of the culinary and the culture that is reflected in books, movies or internet, one cannot learn about his or her destination's culture by simply staying at home and using books, movies or the net to learn. It is expected that this view will never be proven practical."

Please help me to grade this essay. I am taking the exam this weekend, so I appreciate all of your constructive comments.

[Shreyas]

impressive essay! you have included some nice examples and points in your supporting paragraph . . but what about the word count?

[Flick]

"Topic: Some people say it is not necessary to travel to other places to learn about their cultures. We can learn just as much from books, films or internet. To what extend do you agree or disagree?

Today, the world is witnessing an increasing amount of people traveling from one place to another to learn about their destination's culture. While some people believe this is the most suitable way to learn about another culture, others believe that they can learn through books, films or the internet. In my opinion, I firmly disagree that the use of books, movies or the net will provide sufficient knowledge about another culture. This essay will pinpoint two main reasons to prove this thesis.

Culinary tradition plays a main part in many cultures and it cannot be fully reflected in any cook book, movie or website. Hong Kong's infamous street food plays a good example here. It is almost impossible to imagine the taste of food no matter how descriptive the author may be. Thus, one cannot learn traditional heritage from reading books, watching movies or searching on the internet.

The other reason is that the images in books, movies or on the internet only reflect one of many facets in society. For example, the majority of Vietnamese movie only portray a city lifestyle with beautiful houses, expensive cars or civilized citizens. This, however, only illustrates one side of the culture of Vietnam, not the whole traditional heritage. After analyzing this, it is clear that books, films or the internet can not reflect the whole cultural picture of a place.

In conclusion, following the analysis of culinary traditions and the culture that is reflected in books, movies or the internet, one cannot learn about his or her destination's culture by simply staying at home and using books, movies or the net to learn. It is expected that this view will never be proven practically."

[will.nguyen]

impressive essay! you have included some nice examples and points in your supporting paragraph . . but what about the word count?

The word count is roughly around 250 words.. . And yet I continued to score 6.5 in all of latest attempt (in October). Thank you for your kind comments

[umairomee]

Your reply is good. Maybe you are getting a low score because of the difficult questions that you got in the exams and secondly you may be missing something in task 1 and getting a lower band in that category.

Here is my reply.

Some people say it is not necessary to travel to other places to learn about their cultures. We can learn just as much from books, films or internet. To what extend do you agree or disagree?

Traditionally people travel around to know about the cultures of different societies. This can be seen in the steps that are taken by many governments for enhancing the facilities for tourists. It is not agreed that internet, books and films can replace the travelling. This will be argued on the basis of the perspective of a person and the experience that one get through travelling.
Firstly, the genuine perspective that one get through travelling can not be achieved through movies, books or internet. For example, many documentaries of Michael Moore, particularly Farenhite 9/11 and Sicko, are based on his own point of view. Hence movies, books and material found on the internet are from the perspective of their creator and they may be different from the facts. Realities can only be found through travelling to the actual place. Therefore benefits of travelling can not be achieved by the internet, movies or books.
Secondly, the amount of experience that one have through travelling and living the culture can not be achieved through books, movies or internet. For instance, many education scholarships offered by different countries, in particular Fulbright scholarship and Erasmus Mundus scholarship, focus on travelling and living in the host country. In this way students can learn about the culture of their destination country. Therefore, it is obvious from the above example that to learn about any culture travelling is necessary and this can not be replaced by any other medium.
To conclude, travelling is necessary since it gives the genuine perspective as well as profound experience of the culture. It is not agreed that anything other than travel is helpful in learning about a culture. It is predicted that more people will travel for learning about different cultures.

[yanes]

Learning is a complex process which involves understanding information and experiencing or applying this information first hand. Numerous folks understand the possibility of learning a culture through the usage of different forms of media such as books, films or internet. Some, however, believe that settling on a foreign land in order to grasp the real identity of that place is an indispensable experience. I strongly concur with the latter statement for a variety of reasons.

Nowadays, a glimpse at the way of life of foreigners living on their native land could be achieved through cinema, books and the ubiquitous internet. Information funneled through these media, however, could be manipulated or enhanced for aesthetic or trivial purposes. Undoubtedly, information through blogs, novels and movies offer a one-sided view of the land because tourist visitors and enthusiasts are able to visit only the peaceful and extravagant places abroad. A viable example is Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre, a cutthroat and brutal story about the gang life in Mexico City which unfairly depicts the country that tolerates murderous and dissident gangs.

Truly, immersion in the foreign culture of another country is irreplaceable for the sole reason that experience really is an impeccable teacher. A postcard, a blog or a feature film could never quite capture, for example, the stunning beauty of the Mayon Volcano in Legaspi, Bicol. To appreciate the landscape, one must fully integrate with the surrounding neighborhood, unique food and the age-old traditions of the Bicolanos. Furthermore, while there is a gargantuan collection of cookbooks, most Culinary Arts students nowadays are required to travel abroad to get the full experience of foreign cooking using all their five senses.

Access to books, films and internet is indeed beneficial in knowing a thing or two about life abroad but to really understand how foreign culture works, an individual must delve into the foreign land and capture the experience personally.

[Claire3]

Hi! I've tried writing my own version but I'm not sure if this is a good essay. Hope somebody can grade it!


In the contemporary world, peoples’ lives are progressed pursuant to the changes globalization brings to the society. It has thus become important for many to be aware of foreign cultures. Some argue that borrowing knowledge from secondary sources such as books and internet are enough to fulfil the task. However, the central problems that those resources possess- incorrect and limited number of data are likely to continuously motivate citizens to gain first-hand traveling experiences. This statement will be analysed in the following paragraphs, supported by relevant examples.

The perspectives introduced in published materials are often highly subjective and can even be incorrect. Turkey and Bosnia for example, are usually portrayed as strict Islamic regions by the media. On the other hand, this inappropriate outlook is usually altered when visiting the actual locations as the countries are much more liberated in terms of alcohol consumption and accepting other religions. Therefore, this clearly substantiates that relying on external sources to educate one about other cultures is not a suitable option.

Additionally, secondary data only depict certain aspects of one’s culture. It predominantly targets to showcase locations or characteristics that can be favoured by a mass audience. This consequentially disables travelers to independently obtain a full picture of a culture as incomplete information is distributed. For instance, my friend traveled in Japan for three years. She told me that what people read in traveling guide books is only the tip of an ice berg. There were apparently hundreds of other places which had been keeping authentic Japanese traditions intact for centuries, even though they were not publicly known.

In conclusion, the aforementioned opinions evidently suggest that the action of exploring other cultures cannot be satisfied solely by acquiring third parties’ data.

[Flick]

Some people say it is not necessary to travel to other places to learn about their cultures. We can learn just as much from books, films or internet. To what extend do you agree or disagree?

Traditionally, people travel around to learn about the cultures of different societies. This can be seen in the steps that are taken by many governments for enhancing the facilities for tourists. It is not agreed that the internet, books and films can replace actual travelling. This will be argued on the basis of the perspective of a person and the experience that one gets through travelling.

Firstly, the genuine perspective that one gets through travelling can not be achieved through movies, books or the internet. For example, many documentaries bt Michael Moore, particularly Fahrenheit 911 and Sicko, are based on his own point of view. Hence movies, books and material found on the internet are from the perspective of their creator and they may be different from the facts. Realities can only be found through travelling to the actual place. Therefore the benefits of travelling can not be achieved by the internet, movies or books.

Secondly, the amount of experience that one have through travelling and living the culture can not be achieved through books, movies or the internet. For instance, many education scholarships offered by different countries, in particular the Fulbright scholarship and the Erasmus Mundus scholarship, focus on travelling and living in the host country. In this way students can learn about the culture of their destination country. Therefore, it is obvious from the above example that to learn about any culture, travelling is necessary and this can not be replaced by any other medium.

To conclude, travelling is necessary since it gives a genuine perspective as well as profound experience of the culture. It is not agreed that anything other than travel is helpful in learning about a culture. It is predicted that more people will travel to learn about different cultures in the future.

[Flick]

Learning is a complex process which involves understanding information and experiencing or applying this information first hand. Numerous folks understand the possibility of learning a culture through the usage of different forms of media such as books, films or the internet. Some, however, believe that settling in a foreign land in order to grasp the real identity of that place is an indispensable experience. I strongly concur with the latter statement for a variety of reasons.

Nowadays, a glimpse into the way of life of foreigners living in their native land can be achieved through cinema, books and the ubiquitous internet. Information funneled through these media, however, can be manipulated or enhanced for aesthetic or trivial purposes. Undoubtedly, information from blogs, novels and movies offers a one-sided view of the land because tourist visitors and enthusiasts are able to visit only the peaceful and extravagant places abroad. A viable example is Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre, a cutthroat and brutal story about the gang life in Mexico City which unfairly depicts the country that tolerates murderous and dissident gangs.

Truly, immersion in the foreign culture of another country is irreplaceable for the sole reason that experience really is an impeccable teacher. A postcard, a blog or a feature film can never quite capture, for example, the stunning beauty of the Mayon Volcano in Legaspi, Bicol. To appreciate the landscape, one must fully integrate with the surrounding neighborhood, unique food and the age-old traditions of the Bicolanos. Furthermore, while there is a gargantuan collection of cookbooks, most culinary arts students nowadays are required to travel abroad to get the full experience of foreign cooking using all their five senses.

Access to books, films and the internet is indeed beneficial in learning a thing or two about life abroad, but to really understand how foreign culture works, an individual must delve into the foreign land and capture the experience personally.

[Flick]

In the contemporary world, peoples’ lives are progressed pursuant to the changes globalization brings to society. It has thus become important for many to be aware of foreign cultures. Some argue that borrowing knowledge from secondary sources such as books and the internet are enough to fulfill the task. However, the central problems that those resources possess, such as incorrect and limited information, are likely to continuously motivate citizens to gain first-hand traveling experiences. This statement will be analysed in the following paragraphs, supported by relevant examples.

The perspectives introduced in published materials are often highly subjective and can even be incorrect. Turkey and Bosnia, for example, are usually portrayed as strict Islamic regions by the media. On the other hand, this inappropriate outlook is usually altered when visiting the actual locations, as the countries are much more liberated in terms of alcohol consumption and accepting other religions. Therefore, this clearly substantiates that relying on external sources to educate one about other cultures is not a suitable option.

Additionally, secondary data only depicts certain aspects of one’s culture. It predominantly aims to showcase locations or characteristics that can be favoured by a mass audience. This consequentially discourages travelers from independently obtaining a full picture of a culture as incomplete information is distributed. For instance, my friend traveled in Japan for three years. She told me that what people read in traveling guide books is only the tip of an ice berg. There were apparently hundreds of other places which had been keeping authentic Japanese traditions intact for centuries, even though they were not publicly known.

In conclusion, the aforementioned opinions evidently suggest that the action of exploring other cultures cannot be satisfied solely by acquiring third party data.

[umairomee]

Very nice evolution by flick. Thank you very much. Can you suggest on the other factors of essay besides grammar. That will be a great help. You have done it in some of my essays.