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Describe your favourite family tradition

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 194 with Model Answer:

Describe your favourite family tradition.

You should say:
  • what the tradition is
  • when it occurs
  • what you do
and explain why it is your favourite tradition.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer 1:
I was born and brought up in a Muslim family in Malaysia and found that my family follows different tradition related to Islam and my country. Obedience to the superior is the tradition of my family and I think this is a great virtue as well. Most of the people follow the similar tradition as well across the country.

Currently, we are living in the modern world and everything is becoming modern and in some cases - ultra-modern. Consequently, everything is changing the shapes and forms while the issues of morality have greatly been changed. Most of the people are now devoid of sincerity, honesty, degraded ethical values and more other matters. Obedience to the older people is not found anymore with the modern people. They prefer doing everything by their sweet will and even do not care if the tasks are damaging others or not. In such a state, all of the members of my family obey their superiors’ commands and suggestions. In the western countries, the young people mostly disobey their parents and immediate superiors. They are reluctant following orders. But each of the members of my family obeys the directives from the superior and this is a great tradition for me to follow.

The tradition occurs each of the moments in the lives of my family members. Each of them is well aware of the rights and responsibilities. Thus they try to follow the traditions. Obedience is the first and the most important tradition that comes with the other issues. If someone denies following the tradition, the superiors make him/her understand the importance of this specific practice, how it is beneficial to us and other relevant issues. Once they understood the importance, they start following the tradition. So, the tradition of obedience is always under the practice in my family, and in fact, this is not a celebration for us. This is part our everyday life. All of the members of my family even the most junior one is obedient to the seniors.

To follow the tradition, I have to do whatever I am said by my superiors. But it should be noted that the superiors never ask to do something which appears dangerous or illegal or may affect me negatively. So, I perform all the tasks smoothly with respect. My part is just to implement some orders or suggestions. For instance, if guests come to visit us and I am asked to take care of them for a few moments until someone else appears on the spot for their entertainment, I have to do so. I did such small tasks and as a result, the guests praise me for my taking care of them. Further, someone of the family has fallen sick and if I ask someone younger than me to look after the sick, s/ he will do that until they are removed from the job. I am obedient to the tradition but it does not refer that the superiors will provide me offers to participate in the illegal activities or I will do those. Often I try to justify the fact if the task would be right or wrong for me. When I find my suspicion wrong, I do that task gladly.

Obedience to the other members, especially to the senior members, of the family is a wonderful tradition. This helps to build confidence among the members of the family and at the same time increases the bond among the family members. Besides, I like the tradition as it helps to learn discipline. Indiscipline begins when someone rejects to do something which was supposed to be done by him/ her. The indiscipline leads to different other troubles. But if the thing is done in the beginning, there are lesser chances of chaos. Besides, when someone is obedient, a sense of trust is grown among people and thus the bonds among them get stronger.



Sample Answer 2:
China is one of the largest countries in the world. There are some family traditions available in China and followed strictly which is not found among many other nations. This is an interesting question. Thank you for this auspicious cue card topic and I would be able to inform others about the tradition of my land.

Basically, the male members of the family are responsible for everything. They are to be responsible for maintaining the family, pay the bills, arrange for the things necessary for the family and many other activities. They are the breadwinners for all the family members. On the other side, they are also treated with great respect.

Actually, this a continuous process. There are no specific times for this to happen. It takes place round the day and years. And has been going on since an ancient time. There are certain matters that have initiated the tradition. But in the present days, women are also participating in the out of home activities and earning their livelihood. And they want to keep pace with the modern world. Nonetheless, they are largely dependent on the male members of their respective families. It is impossible to ignore the rules of the society and disobey the male members. This trend has been going on for centuries.

As a female member, I follow the orders from the male members of my family. But it should not be considered as the superiority of men over women. Rather, every one of the family maintains a very cordial relation between each other. This is not male domination. The male members do not impose any order or task to us which is not possible for us to complete. In fact, homemaking is the key activity at home. So, I assist my mum in line with other female members of the family to keep the home neat and clean. I also pass some quality times with my dad, uncles and brothers.

This is my preferred tradition because of some benefits. In fact, without the presence of male members of the family, it is really difficult to manage the everyday activities. They are to play different roles together. They are the wage earners for the family, they look after the family members and do many other activities which are really praiseworthy. They are always ready to sacrifice even the dearest thing for the sake of their family. Besides, they can do the tasks easily which is really impossible to do for us. They are able to take unprecedented risks for the sake of the family. But they do not also care if they are disrespected as well. They work selflessly. Hence a man is all in all in his family but never exploits his opportunities. Therefore, I like this tradition.

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