Candidates often ask, “Is IELTS Speaking difficult?” The answer is “NO!” so long as you prepare thoroughly for it. Doing this requires you familiarise yourself with commonly seen topics, such as today’s: culture!

Step 1: Listen to the full sample.

Step 2: This week’s IELTSCast episode is temporarily unavailable.

Step 3: Work through the full speech shadowing exercise.

Step 4: Read through the below transcript and identify the language that is new or challenging for you. Make sure to review this language again in the coming weeks.

Step 5: Submit your speaking samples to your Whatsapp instructor.

Transcript

Is it easy to communicate with people from another culture?

No. Communicating with people from another culture can be challenging, but it is not impossible. I guess the key precursor to this is that both speakers share a want to achieve successful communication. If this is a shared goal, I think communication between cultures is much more easily attained.

What difficulties do we face when we talk to a person from another culture?

There are several difficulties that people face when communicating with someone from a different cultural background, including language barriers and differences in customs. Certain gestures or wording can be endearing in one culture and offensive in another, for example.

Is language barrier the main problem or are there other difficulties?

The language barrier is a significant challenge in cross-cultural communication but it is not the only difficulty, and I wouldn’t necessarily say it is the “main” difficulty. I already mentioned differences in customs, but I would add that contrasting values or social norms can also make it challenging for people to understand each other’s perspectives.

Do you think if there were just one language in the world, people from different cultural backgrounds could communicate more easily?

Having just one language in the world could make cross-cultural communication easier, but it would not solve all the difficulties that arise. Cultural differences could still create misunderstandings and difficulties in communication. So, in the event there were just one language in the world, I would presume healthy communication would still need people to be open-minded, respectful of others’ cultures, and willing to learn and understand others’ perspectives.