Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

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 this statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language because of any reason can cause many difficulties or problems. It can create major challenges that may includes: social problems and practical problems.

In the beginning, it will impact a person's life. Firstly, the social problems usually impacts person's emotional well-being. When you are unable to speak the local language fluently, it will be hard to interact with people. When you will not speak their language, they will not understand you, your personality and making friends will be hard for you. As a result, a feeling of isolation can developed in you.

Moreover, not understanding local jokes or body langyage may leads to embarrassment. This can make them to feel that they do not belongs to their own neighborhood. It will be difficult for you to connect emotonally with other people.

Secondly, the practical problems may effect daily survival and independence. Simple and unusual daily tasks that other people take for granted become streeful for you. For instance, going for shopping like doing grocery, understanding rental contracts, dealing with government offices can be challenging. Opening bank account, or maybe going to doctor and explaining symptoms to doctor can be difficult for you.

Furthermore, this language barrier can also create problems in building career. Even a well-educated person will be forced to do lower-paying jobs just because they cannot communicate effectively.

In conclusion, living in a country without knowing its language is very hard. It creates a deep social isolation and make daily practical tasks stressful.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the topic by discussing both social and practical difficulties, and your position is clear: you agree that language barriers can make life hard. Relevant examples include struggling to make friends, understand rental contracts, visit a doctor, and find suitable work. However, several points are asserted rather than explained; for example, the link between language ability and being forced into lower-paid jobs would benefit from a specific explanation or example. The response also does not meet the 250-word minimum: it contains 245 words, and 12 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop your examples and add a little more relevant support to complete the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to social problems, practical problems, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “Firstly,” “Moreover,” “Secondly,” and “Furthermore” help signal the main points. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive: several sentences restate that communication and connection are difficult without adding a distinct step in the argument. The shift from social isolation to practical tasks is clear, but links between examples could be smoother, and some references such as “them” and “you” shift the point of view. To improve, organise each body paragraph around one central claim, then explain and illustrate it, using consistent references to people affected by the language barrier.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “emotional well-being,” “feeling of isolation,” “rental contracts,” and “language barrier.” These phrases show an attempt to go beyond very basic wording. However, the range is limited in places, with repeated use of “problems,” “difficult,” and “hard,” and some word choices or forms are inaccurate, such as “body langyage,” “streeful,” and “going for shopping like doing grocery.” These errors are noticeable, though the overall meaning remains understandable. Aim for more precise collocations and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe “shopping for groceries” and “stressful daily tasks” rather than relying on broad or awkward phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “When you are unable to speak the local language fluently, it will be hard to interact with people.” However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make sentences awkward or difficult to follow. Examples include “it can create major challenges that may includes,” “the social problems usually impacts,” “a feeling of isolation can developed,” and “it creates … and make.” These show problems with subject–verb agreement, verb forms, and sentence construction. There are also inconsistent shifts between “you,” “they,” and “them.” Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb, and keep the same point of view throughout. More accurate control of basic patterns is needed alongside attempts at complex sentences.

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