Is Travel the Best Way to Learn About Other Cultures?
A complete IELTS General Training Writing Task 2 question with a model answer of 297 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 40 minutes. Write at least 250 words.
Some people believe that travelling is the best way to learn about other cultures. Others say that there are equally effective alternatives. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Write at least 250 words.
How to approach it
- 01Discuss BOTH views in detail before giving your own opinion
- 02Use vivid, specific examples (cities, foods, books) rather than generic claims
- 03Show nuanced thinking — acknowledge that the question may pose a false dichotomy
- 04Highlight accessibility and ethical issues such as cost and over-tourism for balance
- 05Use sophisticated cohesive devices: 'On the other hand', 'In fact', 'Yet if forced to choose'
- 06Tie your conclusion firmly to your stated opinion and reasoning, not just paraphrase
Model answer
297 words in 5 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the question of how we best understand other cultures has taken on new significance. Many people insist that travel is the supreme teacher; others maintain that books, films, food and digital connections can offer comparable insight. In my view, both routes have value, but travel — when undertaken thoughtfully — remains the most powerful avenue to cultural understanding.
Those who champion travel argue that nothing rivals direct, embodied experience. Walking through the lanes of Hanoi, smelling the spices of a Marrakech souk or sharing tea with a host family in Kyoto engages all the senses and forces the traveller to negotiate unfamiliar customs, languages and expectations in real time. This kind of learning produces empathy in a way that passive consumption rarely can. Encountering a stranger's hospitality or confronting one's own clumsy mistakes leaves lasting impressions that reshape attitudes.
On the other hand, alternatives have become remarkably rich. Documentaries, literature in translation, cooking classes, language apps and video calls with friends across borders can all reveal layers of culture invisible to the casual tourist. In fact, a thoughtful reader of, say, Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo trilogy may understand Egyptian society more deeply than a traveller who never leaves the hotel pool. These alternatives are also more accessible: not everyone has the time, money or visa privileges to travel widely, and over-tourism has its own cultural costs.
In my opinion, the dichotomy is somewhat false. The richest understanding comes from combining travel with preparation and reflection — reading before, conversing during, and reading more afterwards. Yet if forced to choose, I would still privilege travel, because it transforms abstract knowledge into lived, sometimes uncomfortable, experience.
In conclusion, alternatives can teach a great deal, but well-prepared travel uniquely deepens cultural understanding by demanding genuine engagement with difference.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 69 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
6 more than the median answer for this task type
8 words at the shortest, 40 at the longest
1 fewer than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 19.8 words and vary by 7.7 words either side of that, running from 8 words to 40. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 6 of the 15 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
5 in total, spread across 4 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
on the other hand, yet
because
afterwards
in conclusion
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 90 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 83 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 2 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Response
Discuss both views thoroughly and present a clear personal opinion
Coherence & Cohesion
Strong paragraphing with smooth, varied linking
Lexical Resource
Rich, precise vocabulary on culture, travel and learning
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Wide range of complex structures with high accuracy
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