Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that the only reason for learning a foreign language is in order to travel to or work in a foreign country. Others say that these are not the only reasons why someone should learn a foreign language.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some people believe that individuals should only learn a foreign language if they want to travel to or work in another country, while others argue there are more reasons to learn a foreign language. While learning a foreign language can be time consuming and expensive, I believe that the benefits that one receives are enormous such as working as a translator or approaching foreign clients online.

On the one hand, learning a foreign language is expensive and it requires time, a lot of practice, and sometimes a learning environment where people practice the language. Investing on learning a foreign language is only a worth when someone wants to move to abroad for travel or work. For example, paying fee to language institutes for learning materials and to access foregin language classes. However, I believe there are other benefits too of learning a foreign language such as working as a translator.

On the other hand, The benefits of a foreign language is not limited to work or tarvel to abroad, individuals can become translators in firms who have foreign clients. Foreign business partners or clients often connect with companies, individuals can provide translation services to those companies and secure a permanent jobs as translators. For example, A company has big clients from Italy, and to secure deals companies needs someone who can speak Italian, learning Italian can be helpful for one who learned Italian because he can be a translator at meetings.

In conclusion, although learning a foreign language is expensive and time taking, it also brings other benefits such as working as a translator.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You present a relevant opinion: the opening and conclusion both argue that language learning has benefits beyond travel and overseas work. You also discuss the travel/work view by mentioning the time and expense involved, and give a specific example of Italian being useful in business meetings. However, the two sides are not developed evenly. The first view is mainly framed as a cost-based reason to learn only when moving abroad, rather than explaining why travel or work makes language learning worthwhile. The alternative view relies almost entirely on translation and business, so the discussion of broader reasons remains narrow. Develop both positions with clearer reasoning and examples, and make your own judgement more explicit throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs signposted with “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This makes the main direction easy to follow. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive or unclear. The first body paragraph ends by returning to translation, which anticipates the next paragraph rather than completing its discussion of travel and work. In the second paragraph, the ideas about clients, companies, and translation overlap, and the example is expressed in a long sentence that is difficult to track. Use each paragraph to develop one distinct view, and connect examples to the point they support with clearer referencing and less repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “foreign clients,” “translation services,” “secure deals,” and “language institutes.” These choices show some range beyond basic terms. However, several noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “Investing on learning,” “a permanent jobs,” “move to abroad,” and “time taking” are not natural forms, while “foregin” and “tarvel” are misspelled. Repetition of “foreign language” and “benefits” also limits variety. Build accuracy by learning common word partnerships and checking spelling, and use more precise expressions for the reasons people learn languages, such as cultural understanding or personal development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including a concession in “While learning a foreign language can be time consuming and expensive…” and a conditional example beginning “if someone wants…”. Meaning is generally understandable, but errors recur in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “The benefits of a foreign language is” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “companies needs someone” also mismatches the plural subject and verb. The sentence beginning “Foreign business partners or clients often connect with companies” then shifts awkwardly to “individuals can provide,” making the relationship between ideas unclear. Review agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and practise building complex sentences with a clear subject and verb in each clause.

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