Track 26

Track 26

Examiner: What are the main disadvantages of globalization?

Student: In my opinion the main disadvantages are for cultures which aren’t particularly strong. I think globalization could in fact destroy some small, local cultures. When my parents were young, the local dialect in our town was spoken all the time, but now more and more people in the town are from other countries and our dialect isn’t spoken so much. If globalization hadn’t transformed the way people move around the world, our town wouldn’t have changed so much, and we might still be using our local dialect!

Examiner: Do you think globalization has made the world a better place?

Student: Well, in many ways yes. I think in general people have more knowledge about the world due to globalization. For example, if I hadn’t studied in Australia, I wouldn’t speak English as well as I do and I wouldn’t have lots of friends from around the world.

Examiner: How has globalization changed the way we travel and communicate?

Student: I think it has changed things greatly. The world is a much smaller place than it was, say, 50 years ago. If I wanted to go to the other side of the world, I could get there in a day! That’s incredible!… And not only is it easier to travel, we can now communicate with people on the other side of the world instantly through things like virtual messaging and webcams. If we didn’t have this kind of progress in travel and communication, we would know a lot less about other cultures, and I think that would be a pity.

Examiner: How has globalization benefited people in your country?

Student: It’s made a really big difference to how people in my country see themselves in relation to other countries. And I think that people will see more benefits in the future if they continue to be open-minded about it.

Examiner: What are the consequences of allowing large companies to sell their products all over the world?

Student: I think it’s great. I know some people think that it’s negative but I don’t. I think that everyone should have the opportunity to grow their company. All companies started small but if you make good products, people will buy them. If there’d been strict laws against international trade, the world economy wouldn’t have grown as much and everyone would’ve suffered.