剑桥13 谢振礼 雅思范文: 外国语言
Cambridge English 13
IELTS Writing Task 2
Topic:
Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social problems, as well as practical problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the this statement?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.
Essay:
Setting up life in a foreign country is not always easy, particularly when you do not speak the language, or speak it poorly. Of course, you may be able to get by with English in a lot of places, but knowing the language can avoid many social as well as practical problems. It is up to you to see whether these problems are serious, and to what extent.
Of all the hardships that you might come across in living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language is lack of social interaction, to the point of self-isolation. Since that language is a tool for connecting with the local people, the effects of not being able to express yourself in their language can be serious, at least during the first months, or even years. This is when isolation kicks in, cutting away socializing. Indeed, such experience is frustrating because you might feel as if you were being mute in social conversations. While it s true that wireless technology and Google translation can overcome some of those obstacles in linguistic communication, no app can really replace speaking the language. Fortunately, however, more and more people around the world are speaking English these days, whether as their native tongue or as a foreign language, so generally the language barrier might not be so serious.
As well, many practical problems, most of which are little ones, can arise from not knowing the language of your host country. There are plenty of examples in day-to-day life regarding the inconvenience of living in a foreign country when you may be better off if you speak the language. To begin with bad news, you may be worried about whether the train departing in a few minutes is going to or from a certain city. Also, you may take twice as long in doing your grocery shopping, or you may end up with a random haircut because you might not explain what you want. The good news is that these examples rarely incur long-term consequences and can usually be sorted out with a bit of extra time. In a certain way, these little challenges make your living in a foreign country more exciting and perhaps teach you useful lessons in problem solving.
To sum up, it is important for you to speak a foreign language when living abroad. Speaking English is a plus since the language is widely spoken in many countries; and that aside, those who speak a foreign language in your host country are not likely to be troubled with social and practical problems. So, if you have to speak a foreign language, there is no excuse for not doing it.
