A recent IELTS Writing Part 2 question focuses on the following question:
People around the world are increasingly interested in the history of their home.
What are the reasons for this?
How can they reasearch it?
Answering the question
The major stumbling block that students face when they answer this question is undertanding the meaning of the question. It is very tempting for students to misinterpet this question and then write about things potential buyers of a home need to look out for before purchasing a home.
This leads to an answer with irrelevant content about knowing about the current crime rates in an area, local amenities and the quality of nearby schools.
This question does not ask us why we may research the history of a house before buying it. No this question is about people who already live in a house are interested in finding out more about their home.
Relevant Vocabulary
Listed building – a house or otehr building that has been earmarked for special protection by a local council due to possessing a special feature or historical value.
Some ideas on reasons
Now we know what not to write about let’s consider some ideas about why people might decide to do research in order to find out about the history of their home.
To find out if anyone rich, or famous lived there in the past. If someone famous once lived in their home this may raise the value of the house.- Similarly, if an interesting event in history took place in your home then this can be used to raise the market value of your home.
- Curiosity. People are naturally curious. After living in a place for a few years they feel a special bond with their home. This may lead them to become interested in the other people who have considered their house to be a home.
- Moreover, some people find personal possessions, or a inscription left by a previous resident. My dad was once doing some decorating at home. He decided to strip the old wallpaper so he could replace it. Underneath the old wallpaper a young child had written his name and a short note including a date.
- Another good reason might to find out about the architecture and building history of your home is because you want to find
Some ideas for methods / ways
- If you were to find a letter written or received by a previous resident in your home how would you go about finding out more information about them? Well Facebook might be a good place to start. If you have their name you can easily do a Facebook search to find out more about them. They might be able to tell you more about your house and some of the memories they created there.
- Another popular method for researching the history of a house is to locate files from your local archives. To do this you will need to access the archives kept by your local council. This method is particularly likely to work if you are living in an old, or listed building.