Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-25

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)

Some people believe living aboard in a country where you have to speak a completely new langauge can result in many social issue. It can effect the practical life of a person making average day to day task seriously difficult. I am completey agree to this statement living far away from your homeland in an entirely new environment and having to speak a foreign language can be very tough.

Moving aboard and leaving behind the environment a person has spend maximum part of their life is itself a stressful experience. But along with adjusting to an entirely new place people also have to learn their langauge in order to survive there and to be also able to commuincate with the locals of that place. When person freshly move to a new country they are not usually aware of their language and culture it can limit their social activity. For example, an English speaking person moving to india, pakistan or any other asian country will not be freely able to commuincate with people because he do not understand their language and in most of cases the locals do not understand him which can cause confusion and fustration for him.

Moreover, to be able to adjust to a new place an individual's grip on the local language help him to understand the local culture throughly. If he is unable to understand the language he will be isolated there and will not able to enjoy the his travel. For example, in many instances, the foreigner get scammed in a unfimilar country because of the lack of understanding. This may cause serious financal loss to a person.

In conclusion, i believe that in order to survive in a foreign land a person should understand their language.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you completely agree that living where a foreign language is spoken can create serious difficulties. You address both social effects, such as restricted communication and isolation, and practical effects, including being scammed and suffering financial loss. The examples of an English speaker moving to South Asia and a foreigner being scammed are relevant, but they are broad and would be more convincing with a specific situation or explanation of how language barriers lead to these outcomes. The conclusion restates your view, although it focuses mainly on understanding the language and does not recap the practical and social problems. Develop each main point more fully and make the conclusion reflect the full argument. The response meets the required length; nine words copied from the task prompt were excluded from the count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs develop social and practical consequences, and a conclusion closes the argument. Linking expressions such as “But,” “Moreover,” and “For example” help readers follow the progression, and the shift from communication problems to cultural understanding and financial risk is logical. This organisation is already effective, though some connections are mechanical and a few references are unclear. For instance, “their language” in the conclusion does not clearly identify whose language is meant, while “he” is used for a person in general. Improve cohesion by varying transitions and using precise references, and make the relationship between each example and its main point more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “social activity,” “isolated,” “local culture,” “confusion,” and “financial loss.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “grip on the local language” and “adjust to a new place.” However, the range is limited in places, and noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy: “aboard” is used where “abroad” is intended, and “fustration,” “unfimilar,” and “financal” are misspelled. Some phrases are also unnatural, including “enjoy the his travel” and “understand their language.” Build a more precise range of collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully so your meaning is consistently clear.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “If he is unable to understand the language” and a sentence explaining that language barriers “can cause confusion and frustration.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the main message is generally understandable. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction recur. For example, “a person has spend” should use the past participle, “When person freshly move” needs an article and correct subject–verb agreement, and “he do not understand” should be “he does not understand.” The opening also contains a sentence fragment after “It can affect…”. Practise checking each sentence for a complete clause, correct verb agreement, and consistent pronouns; this will make your complex structures more reliable.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.