IELTS Speaking Question Set: Traditions

Yes, I love them. What I enjoy most is the sense of togetherness — people put aside their differences and celebrate as one community, and the lights, decorations and special meals create a magical atmosphere that’s quite unlike everyday life.

Useful language:a sense of togethernessput aside their differences

Yes, I love dumplings, especially the ones my grandmother makes for New Year. Making them together as a family is part of the fun.

Useful language:part of the fun

Very important. Family gatherings for festivals, birthdays and weddings are central to our social life, and missing them is seen as quite serious.

Useful language:central to

Yes, a cousin’s traditional wedding. It lasted all day, with music, special clothes and rituals I’d never seen before. It was tiring but very moving.

Useful language:ritualsvery moving

I can do a little paper cutting, which my grandmother taught me. We use the designs as decorations during festivals.

Useful language:paper cutting

Some are, especially in traditional food and festivals, but many find older rituals less relevant to modern life. Social media has actually made some traditions fashionable again.

Useful language:less relevantfashionable again

Yes. People send digital greetings and even virtual red envelopes, and relatives abroad join celebrations by video call.

Useful language:video call

Yes, we played games with marbles and a kind of hopscotch drawn with chalk on the street. Children today play them much less.

Useful language:hopscotch

I’d like to talk about Lunar New Year, which is the most significant traditional celebration in my culture. It usually falls in January or February, according to the lunar calendar.

The celebration lasts about fifteen days, with the first day being the most important. People prepare weeks in advance by thoroughly cleaning their homes to sweep away bad luck and make room for good fortune. On New Year’s Eve, families gather for a reunion dinner, the most important meal of the year, with dishes like dumplings and fish, which symbolise wealth and prosperity. There are fireworks at midnight, and over the following days people visit relatives and friends.

My personal role has changed over the years. As a child, my main job was to help with the decorations and to receive red envelopes containing money from older relatives. Now that I’m older, I help my parents prepare the reunion dinner and give red envelopes to the younger children. Last year, I also organised some of the family games and activities.

This tradition is important to me because it strengthens family bonds and cultural identity. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s one of the few times when the whole extended family makes a real effort to be together, sometimes travelling long distances. The customs also connect us to our ancestors and give a sense of continuity across generations. And finally, the focus on starting the year with good fortune creates a feeling of renewal and hope that I find really uplifting.

Useful language:sweep away bad lucka reunion dinnersymbolisefamily bondsa sense of continuityrenewal and hope

Traditions will probably be adapted rather than disappear. Technology will add virtual elements, celebrations may become more environmentally friendly — for example, replacing lanterns or fireworks with greener alternatives — and multicultural societies may create hybrid celebrations. But the core values, like family togetherness and marking important transitions, will probably endure, because people need ritual and community.

Useful language:adaptedhybrid celebrationsendure

Governments can support festivals, museums and traditional crafts with funding, and include cultural heritage in school curricula. But they should support communities rather than control how traditions are practised.

Useful language:cultural heritagesupport rather than control

Partly agree. Global brands and entertainment have reduced interest in some local customs, especially among young people. However, globalisation also lets communities share their traditions worldwide, which can actually revive interest in them.

Useful language:revive interest

By keeping the meaning of traditions while updating their form. For example, families can celebrate festivals together even if they use technology, and communities can adapt customs to be more inclusive or sustainable.

Useful language:updating their forminclusive

Yes. Traditions that limit girls’ education, force early marriage or harm animals, for example, can cause real damage. Such practices should be questioned and changed, even if they have a long history.

Useful language:questioned and changed

Traditions survive when they remain meaningful, enjoyable and easy to practise, and when families actively pass them on. Those that become too costly, time-consuming or disconnected from modern life tend to fade.

Useful language:pass them ondisconnected from

They connect people to their family history and community, giving a sense of where they come from. Shared rituals also create bonds with others who celebrate the same way, which is especially important for people living abroad.

Useful language:where they come fromshared rituals

Through migration, travel and media, people adopt foods, festivals and styles from other cultures — Halloween spreading globally is one example. This mixing can create new hybrid traditions while also changing older ones.

Useful language:mixinghybrid traditions