Culture and tradition: IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions & answers

Opening question

Development: society

1. Cause and effect

   Why do you think some traditions survive while others disappear?

   2
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   Sample answerBand 8Main causeAnother causeEffect

   1. Main cause→
   2. Another cause→
   3. Effect

   Traditions tend to survive when they still serve a purpose, like bringing families together or marking an important stage of life, whereas those tied to a vanished way of life gradually lose their meaning. Adaptability plays a part too, because customs that can be reshaped to suit modern routines, such as sending festival greetings by video call, last far longer than rigid ones. Consequently, many old farming rituals in rural areas have quietly faded away as young people moved to cities, while celebrations that fit into a weekend are as popular as ever.

   serve a purpose

   are still useful or have a clear function

   plays a part

   is one of the reasons

   quietly faded away

   slowly disappeared without anyone really noticing

   93 words · about 40 seconds spoken

2. Compare

   How have traditions in your country changed during your lifetime?

   3
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   Back when I was small, festivals were community affairs in the fullest sense, with the whole street cooking together and children going from house to house. These days celebrations have become smaller and more private, often just the immediate family, and a lot of the food that used to be made at home is now bought ready-made. Much of that comes down to urban life, since people live in apartment blocks where they barely know their neighbours, and work schedules leave little time for elaborate preparations.

   in the fullest sense

   completely, in every way

   the immediate family

   your closest relatives, such as parents and children

   comes down to

   is mainly caused by

   86 words · about 37 seconds spoken

3. Opinion

   Do you think it is important to keep old traditions alive?

   4
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   On the whole, yes, because traditions give people roots, a link to their ancestors and a shared story about who they are. In a world that changes as quickly as ours, that continuity can be grounding, and it often carries knowledge that would otherwise be lost, from folk songs to recipes and craft techniques. In some villages in my country, elderly weavers now run workshops for teenagers, so patterns that are centuries old are being passed down rather than ending up only in museums. Still, I don't believe every custom deserves protection, and any tradition that excludes or harms people should be allowed to fade, however long it has existed.

   give people roots

   give people a sense of where they come from

   being passed down

   being taught to the next generation

   allowed to fade

   permitted to slowly disappear

   110 words · about 48 seconds spoken

4. Pros and cons

   Is it possible to be modern and traditional at the same time?

   5
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Absolutely, and most people I know manage it without even thinking about it, like a software engineer who spends all week on video calls and then wears traditional dress and follows every ritual at a family ceremony. There are moments of tension, of course, particularly when traditional expectations clash with modern values, for example over gender roles or who someone should marry. Ultimately, that balance strikes me as perfectly achievable, as long as people treat tradition as something living that can adapt, rather than a rigid set of rules.

   without even thinking about it

   naturally and automatically

   moments of tension

   times of conflict or strain

   perfectly achievable

   completely possible to do

   89 words · about 39 seconds spoken

Depth: the abstract and the future

1. Pros and cons

   What are the effects of globalisation on local cultures?

   6
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Globalisation has exposed people to new ideas, music and food, and that kind of exchange can be enormously enriching. The concern is that it's rarely an equal exchange, since a few dominant cultures tend to spread everywhere, so you find the same chain stores and the same films in almost every city while local languages and crafts struggle to compete. Overall, the picture is mixed, and the healthiest outcome is when communities borrow what they like from abroad while still holding on to what makes them distinctive.

   enormously enriching

   adding a great deal to life or understanding

   struggle to compete

   find it hard to survive against rivals

   holding on to

   keeping something and not losing it

   87 words · about 38 seconds spoken

2. Opinion

   Should governments do more to protect traditional culture?

   7
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   I'd support a bit more government involvement, especially for traditions that are genuinely at risk of dying out. Market forces alone won't save something like a regional dialect or a traditional instrument, because there's rarely enough money in them to attract young people. One approach I find sensible is paying master craftspeople to take on apprentices, which keeps skills alive without turning them into museum pieces. What governments must avoid is imposing a fixed, official version of culture, as traditions have always evolved naturally, and freezing them can drain the life out of them.

   at risk of dying out

   in danger of disappearing completely

   Market forces alone

   the economy on its own, without intervention

   drain the life out of

   make something dull and lifeless

   94 words · about 41 seconds spoken

3. The future

   How might cultural traditions change as the world becomes more connected?

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   Sample answerBand 8PredictionBecauseBut

   1. Prediction→
   2. Because→
   3. But

   I imagine we'll see more hybrid traditions, where elements from different cultures are blended into something new. Families are increasingly multicultural, and people pick up customs from friends and colleagues around the world, so a wedding might combine rituals from two countries or a festival could borrow decorations from another. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if some communities became more protective of their heritage precisely because they feel it's under threat, and that could actually lead to a revival of certain local customs.

   blended into something new

   mixed together to create something different

   it's under threat

   it is in danger

   a revival of

   a return to popularity of

   86 words · about 37 seconds spoken

4. What if

   If all countries shared one culture, would anything be lost?

   9
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   Sample answerBand 8If soResultWider effect

   1. If so→
   2. Result→
   3. Wider effect

   If that ever happened, an enormous amount would be lost, starting with thousands of languages, each of which carries its own way of seeing the world. Travel would become fairly pointless, since every city would look and sound the same, and we'd lose the pleasure of discovering unfamiliar food, music and humour. More seriously, humanity would lose a kind of collective wisdom, because different cultures have developed different solutions to the same problems, from how to build in extreme heat to how to care for elderly relatives.

   its own way of seeing the world

   a unique outlook on life

   More seriously

   introducing a more important point

   a kind of collective wisdom

   knowledge built up and shared by a whole group

   87 words · about 38 seconds spoken