Question: It is not necessary to travel to travel to other places to learn the culture of other people. We can learn just as much from books, films and the internet . Do you agree or disagree?

It is argued that people can gain their understandings of different cultures through books, films or the Internet instead of visiting those regions. Personally, I totally disagree with this view.

The first reason for this is because the amount of knowledge that we obtain from those kinds of mass communications is not completely accurate. Some media want to attract tourists and make profit; thus, they write different things about the territories. There are abundant sources of data, so we can easily misunderstand the customs and traditions in several countries if we don’t travel to those places. Moreover, the negative information which was provided on some newspapers, for instance, may narrow our mind to a unique and biased perspective.

Another point to consider is that accessing directly to the culture of other nations may be the fattest and most efficient way of learning. In other words, we should discover the cultures, points of view and ways of living of those countries by ourselves instead of spending time looking at the picture in the textbook or watching films. For example, while traveling to other regions, we can make friends with the residents and take part in some particular activities there such as joining the local festival, visiting famous stores and restaurants or trying their specialties. This can help us broaden our hands-on experience and remain an extremely vivid memory.

In conclusion, I believe that using books, films and the Internet to get considerable acquaintance of diverse cultures is a good method of studying. However, by travelling ourselves, we can derive not only true but also reliable understandings about the regions.