Culture and the arts is a topic where it’s easy to lose IELTS marks on simple words. In Writing Task 2, you may be asked whether the state should spend money on museums and theatres when hospitals are short of funds, whether old traditions are worth keeping if young people aren’t interested in them, and whether children should study music and art alongside maths. In Speaking Part 2, you’re often asked to describe a book, a film, a museum or a festival, and in Part 3 the examiner moves on to bigger questions: why society needs art and what will happen to traditional crafts.
The main trap here is words that look familiar. It’s tempting to praise someone as a cultural person, but cultural means “related to culture”: cultural heritage, cultural events. A person who reads widely and knows about the arts is cultured. Another trap is the music itself: the genre is classical music, not classic music. Examiners notice slips like these immediately, and precise word choice is exactly what Lexical Resource measures.
Below are 28 collocations for essays and Speaking answers about the arts, museums, heritage and traditions, the mistakes learners most often make with them, and an example of how LetsWords gives feedback on a sentence you write. The effect of globalisation on national cultures is covered on our globalisation vocabulary page, and you’ll find every other topic in IELTS vocabulary by topic.
Culture and the arts: words and collocations
Why art matters
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| the arts | art as a whole field: music, theatre, painting, literature | The arts deserve the same attention in schools as science. |
| a work of art | a painting, sculpture or other piece of art | A work of art can tell us more about a period than a history textbook. |
| artistic expression | expressing ideas and feelings through art | Street art is a form of artistic expression that anyone can see for free. |
| appreciate art | to understand and value art | Children learn to appreciate art when they visit galleries regularly. |
| broaden your horizons | to widen your knowledge and experience | Reading novels from other countries broadens your horizons. |
| enrich people’s lives | to make people’s lives fuller and better | Music and theatre enrich people’s lives in ways that are hard to measure. |
| a source of inspiration | something that gives people new ideas | For many young designers, traditional patterns are a source of inspiration. |
| contemporary art | art created today | Contemporary art often divides the public. |
Heritage and traditions
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cultural heritage | the traditions, buildings and arts a society inherits | Old songs and crafts are as much a part of cultural heritage as palaces. |
| preserve traditions | to keep traditions alive | Local festivals help small communities preserve their traditions. |
| historic buildings | buildings that are important in history | Many cities offer tax breaks to owners who restore historic buildings. |
| a sense of identity | a feeling of who you are and where you belong | Shared traditions give people a sense of identity. |
| national identity | what makes people feel part of a nation | Language and literature are central to national identity. |
| be handed down from generation to generation | to pass from parents to children over time | These recipes have been handed down from generation to generation. |
| die out | to disappear completely (of a tradition or craft) | Without young apprentices, many traditional crafts will die out. |
| cultural diversity | a mix of many different cultures | Big cities benefit from their cultural diversity. |
Museums, theatres and money
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| public funding for the arts | state money for culture | Public funding for the arts is often the first thing to be cut in a crisis. |
| subsidise theatres / museums | to pay part of the costs of theatres or museums | If the state did not subsidise theatres, tickets would be far more expensive. |
| free admission | entry without a ticket price | Free admission to national museums attracts visitors who would never pay. |
| attract visitors | to make people want to come | Interactive exhibitions attract younger visitors. |
| a cultural venue | a place where cultural events are held | The old factory has been turned into a cultural venue. |
| the creative industries | film, music, design and similar businesses | The creative industries employ thousands of people in this country. |
| elitist | for a small, privileged group only | Opera is often seen as elitist, but cheap tickets are changing that. |
Art in school and society
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| arts education | teaching music, art, drama and similar subjects | Arts education is often treated as less important than maths. |
| foster creativity | to help creativity develop | Drama classes foster creativity and confidence. |
| public art | art displayed in public spaces | Public art can make a grey neighbourhood feel welcoming. |
| cultural events | concerts, exhibitions, festivals and similar events | The city hosts cultural events throughout the summer. |
| attend a performance | to go to a play or concert | Fewer young people attend live performances than a decade ago. |
Common mistakes
1. Cultural or cultured
My grandfather was a very cultural person who knew a lot about music.
My grandfather was a very cultured person who knew a lot about music.
Cultural describes things connected with culture: cultural differences, a cultural centre. A person who is well educated and knows about the arts is cultured or well-read. And if you mean someone who behaves well, the words you want are polite or well-mannered.
2. Interesting or interested
I am very interesting in contemporary art.
I am very interested in contemporary art.
Interesting describes what causes the interest: an interesting exhibition. The person who feels it is interested, and the preposition is in. Written the first way, the sentence says that you are an interesting person.
3. Classic or classical
I rarely listen to classic music.
I rarely listen to classical music.
Classical refers to the formal artistic tradition: classical music, classical ballet. Classic means “typical, excellent or timeless”: a classic film, a classic mistake. Mixing them up is a common slip in Speaking Part 2, just when you’re talking about the music you love.
4. Visit a concert
Last month I visited a concert of a famous pianist.
Last month I went to a concert by a famous pianist.
Visit goes with places and people: visit a museum, visit an exhibition, visit my aunt. You go to a concert, a play or a festival, or attend one in more formal writing. And a concert given by a musician is a concert by, not of.
How LetsWords explains mistakes like these
While you’re reading a table, every word looks familiar. The mistakes appear when you write. Here’s what one task in LetsWords looks like.
You’re reviewing preserve traditions. LetsWords shows you its meaning in your native language, you recall the English expression and write a sentence about culture:
Young people must save traditions, because it is our culture heritage.
The feedback, which LetsWords gives in your native language, points out two mistakes:
- culture heritage → cultural heritage: the set phrase is cultural heritage, with the adjective; culture heritage isn’t used;
- it is → they are part of: you’re talking about traditions in the plural, and they are part of the heritage, not the whole of it.
It also suggests a more precise word, save → preserve: preserve traditions says exactly what you mean.
Young people must preserve traditions, because they are part of our cultural heritage.
A few days later, the expression comes back in review, and you use it in a new situation, for example in a Speaking answer about festivals. That’s how a collocation from a list becomes one you can pull from memory and write without a mistake.
Start practising with feedback on your mistakes
When you sign up, you choose IELTS as your goal and pick your level, and LetsWords sets up your practice. You can try the feedback before you pay.
Using these collocations in Writing Task 2
An exam-style task:
Some people think that public money should not be spent on the arts, such as museums, theatres and galleries, because there are more urgent needs. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
A model paragraph with the writer’s position:
Admittedly, hospitals and schools must come first, but cutting public funding for the arts entirely would be short-sighted. Museums and theatres do more than entertain: they preserve cultural heritage that would otherwise be lost and give communities a sense of identity. Without subsidies, ticket prices would rise sharply, and art would become an elitist pleasure for those who can afford it. In my country, several state museums offer free admission on certain days, and those days attract families who would never pay full price. Moreover, the creative industries employ large numbers of people, so supporting culture is also an economic decision. A modest arts budget therefore enriches people’s lives at a relatively small cost.
Why this paragraph works. It opens with a concession (admittedly): it acknowledges the other side’s point and answers it straight away, so the position looks balanced. Then come three different arguments, cultural, social and economic, each with an explanation or an example. The collocations are precise and never repeat: instead of art three times, you get the arts, culture and arts budget. The last sentence sums up with therefore and brings the reader back to the question of money in the task.
Using them in Speaking
Part 3 question: Do you think traditional crafts will survive in the future?
Some will, but many are at risk of dying out, because young people don’t see them as a real career. These skills used to be handed down from generation to generation within families, and that chain is breaking. That said, social media has given some crafts a second life. And if schools included them in arts education, I think they’d have a much better chance.
The answer gives a clear position first, then a reason and a counterpoint introduced with that said. That’s what an extended Part 3 answer sounds like, rather than a string of general remarks.
Practise for free
- artist: a painter or creative person, and when to say actor instead;
- classic vs classical: timeless or typical vs formal art;
- historic vs historical: important in history vs about the past;
- habit, custom, tradition: a personal routine, a group practice, something handed down;
- audience: the people watching or listening;
- novel: a long written story;
- interested in: wanting to know more about something.
How to build and hold a position in an essay like this is shown in our guide to the IELTS opinion essay.
From the list to real use
Knowing that the right word is cultured, not cultural, isn’t enough: in the exam, you have to recall it yourself at the right moment. Move from the list to real use with LetsWords: work through an IELTS set for your level and add collocations from this page to your collection, such as preserve cultural heritage or attend a performance. You recall each expression from a prompt and write a sentence with it, LetsWords points out the mistake and explains it in your native language (Russian, Korean or Vietnamese), and spaced repetition brings the expression back until it comes naturally. Then move on to full texts: the IELTS Writing section has Task 2 prompts in the Family and culture topic, on traditions, festivals and cultural heritage, and a full answer gets detailed feedback on all four criteria. When you sign up, you answer a few questions about your goal and level, and LetsWords sets up your practice; you can try the feedback before you pay. For other topics, see IELTS vocabulary by topic.