Describe a person who is from a different culture

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 517 with Model Answer:

Describe a person you know who is from a different culture.

You should say:

• who this person is
• where he or she is from
• how you know him or her

and explain what you feel about this person who is from a different culture.

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

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Model Answer 1:

I have always been interested in meeting people from different cultures and customs from all over the world except, of course, I don’t really often get that opportunity. After all, I live in a rather small town, and that too in a remote corner of my country, which doesn’t always get frequented by any foreign travellers or tourists except on some rare occasions. And it is during one of those rare occasions that I met “Ben Emanuel”, and today, I would like to talk about him.

But, I didn’t really meet him in my own, little town. Rather I met him in one of the largest cities in my country, which I was visiting about a few years ago when I went there to buy a portable “air cooler” for my family.

Incidentally, I had to spend a day at a hotel there, and it was at that time that I met him while sitting in that hotel lobby. Interestingly, when I met him, he was wearing a jersey of the Argentina national football team except he was wearing a trouser instead of a “half-pant”. As soon as I noticed his jersey, I thought that he was from Argentina, and needless to mention, I was proved right.

So, I immediately said “hello” to him and introduced myself. At first, he was a bit hesitant to open up to me, but when I said how I was a “die-hard” fan of the Argentina national football team, he became happy and started to open up to me. Later on that day, we spent some more time, talking to each other about an array of issues of our countries, while enjoying our lunch at the restaurant there. Needless to say, we became good friends after that.

Anyway, after meeting Ben Emanuel (and we still communicate with each other over the phone sometimes), the very first impression I had of him was that he was a bit too proud of his national identity and culture. Of course, he was friendly too, but I had to choose my words a bit carefully, lest he would get offended.

Sample Answer 2:

Who this person is:
Thank you for this topic. Here, I'd like to talk about one of my cousins who is from the USA and has a different cultural background than me. Her name is Emma, and she is 22 years old. She is the youngest daughter of my maternal Aunt.

Where he or she is from:
She was born and raised in the United States and has lived there her entire life. She is from Arizona, and she is doing her graduation at Arizona State University.

How you know him or her:
I have always heard about her, but I met her a year ago when she visited my country for the first time with her mother. It was great to finally meet her in person and get to know her better. We spent a lot of time together during her visit, and we had many conversations about our different cultures. We also visited a lot of places during her stay in our house.

And explain what you feel about this person who is from a different culture:
I find my cousin to be a very interesting person. She has a different perspective on life due to growing up in a different culture than me. I have learned a lot from her about the way people live in the United States and how it differs from my own culture. Despite the differences in our cultures, we have a lot in common, and we get along very well. She is very kind and friendly, and we share a lot of similar interests.