What the examiner means by "national customs"
How people do things in your country and here: festivals, weddings, funerals, food and mealtimes, greetings, visiting, gifts, dress, manners. The examiner will ask you to describe, to compare with the UK, and to say what you think. Candidates from Pakistan, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Turkey and Brazil have a great deal of material here; the trap is listing facts without opinion.
Questions that come up
- What is one custom from your country that people in the UK would find surprising?
- Which festival do you miss most, and why?
- How are weddings celebrated where you come from?
- Have you adopted any British customs since you came here?
- Is it important for children born here to keep their parents' customs?
- Are there any customs from home that you think should change?
- What do British people do that you found strange at first?
- Do you think customs are disappearing because of the internet?
- If a British friend visited your family, what advice would you give them?
- Which is more important at a festival: the food or the people?
Grade 7 language for this subject
- Passive: "Gifts are given to children on the first day of Eid." "Shoes are taken off at the door." "The bride is brought in by her brothers."
- used to: "We used to visit twelve or fifteen houses on the first day. Now people just send messages."
- Second conditional: "If you came to a wedding in Nigeria, you'd be given a plate of food before anyone asked your name." "If I had children here, I'd want them to speak Urdu at home."
- Advice: "You should take a small gift, and you shouldn't refuse food, even if you're full." "You'd better not arrive on time; nobody does."
- Agreeing and disagreeing: "I agree that some customs are hard on women, but…" "I'm not sure that's true."
- Possibility: "Young people might keep the festivals but drop the rules."
- because of / due to: "Due to the cost, weddings are smaller than they used to be."
A model exchange
Examiner Have you adopted any British customs since you came here?
Candidate A few, without noticing. I say sorry when someone steps on my foot. And queuing: in Turkey we used to just push forward at the bus stop, and now I get annoyed when people do that. Christmas was strange at first because we don't celebrate it, but my neighbours invited us for dinner, and now we send cards. What about you, have you ever picked up a custom from another country?
Examiner Probably taking my shoes off indoors. Do you think customs change people, or people change customs?
Candidate Both, I'd say. People change customs slowly, because of money or work. But if I had stayed in Turkey, I don't think I would have changed at all, so maybe customs change people more.
Mistakes to avoid
- Describing a festival for two minutes with no opinion or comparison.
- Saying "same as here" to avoid the question. Find a difference.
- Being embarrassed about customs you disagree with. Disagreeing with your own culture, politely, is excellent B2 material.