Another IELTS Essay...!

Q- Some people say it is not necessary to travel to other places to learn about their cultures. We can learn just as much from books, films or internet. To what extend do you agree or disagree?

A - Today, the world is witnessing the increasing amount of people travel to another place and learn about their destination's culture. While some people believe it is the most suitable way to learn about one's culture, other believe that they can learn through books, films or internet. In my opinion, I firmly disagree that the usage of books, movies or the net will provide sufficient knowledge about one's culture. This essay will pinpoint two main reasons to prove this thesis. 

Culinary tradition plays main part in many cultures and it cannot be fully reflected in any cook books, movies or internet. Hong Kong's infamous street food plays a good example here. It is almost impossible to imagine the taste of food no matter how descriptive the author may be. Thus, one cannot learn one place traditional heritage from reading books, watching movies or searching on the internet. 

The other reason is that the image in books, movies or on internet only reflects one of many facets in society. For example, the majority of Vietnamese movie only portrait the city lifestyle with beautiful houses, expensive cars or civilized citizens. This, however, only illustrates one side of the culture of Vietnam, not the whole traditional heritage. After analyzing this, it is clear that books, films or internet could not reflect the whole cultural picture of one place. 

In conclusion, following the analysis of the culinary and the culture that is reflected in books, movies or internet, one cannot learn about his or her destination's culture by simply staying at home and using books, movies or the net to learn. It is expected that this view will never be proven practical."