eng10-V3· Vocabulary· ~13 min

Cultures & Traditions

Words for culture, traditions and languages.

Every society has its own culture, which includes traditions, customs and heritage passed down through generations. In this lesson you will learn words to talk about different cultures, languages, festivals and ceremonies. Understanding this vocabulary will help you discuss ways of life from around the world and respect differences between people.

Key terms

culture — the ideas, customs and way of life of a particular group of people
tradition — a belief or custom that people have followed for a long time, passed from parents to children
heritage — the traditions, buildings and objects that a society keeps from its past
dialect — a form of a language spoken in a particular region or by a particular social group
multilingual — able to speak and understand several languages
ancestor — a member of your family who lived a long time before you, such as a great-grandparent
Word Families: Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives
NounVerbAdjective
celebrationcelebratecelebratory
tradition—traditional
culture—cultural
diversitydiversifydiverse

Learning word families helps you build vocabulary faster. Notice that some nouns do not have a common verb form.

✎Guessing Meaning from Context
  1. 1Read the sentence: Every spring, the village holds a ceremony to honour its ancestors and celebrate its cultural heritage.
  2. 2Look for clues: The words 'every spring' tell you this is a regular, possibly annual event. 'Honour its ancestors' suggests ancestors are people from the past who are respected.
  3. 3Make a guess: You can guess that ceremony means a formal event, ancestors means family members from long ago, and heritage means something valuable kept from the past.
🚫Common mistake

Do not confuse custom (a traditional practice) with costume (clothing worn for a special occasion or performance). They sound similar but have very different meanings.

💡Note

The verb celebrate usually takes a direct object. You celebrate a holiday, a birthday or a success — you do not just 'celebrate' without saying what.

⚠️Caution

Dialect is not the same as accent. A dialect has its own words and grammar patterns; an accent is only about how you pronounce words.

Rules

  1. 1Culture refers to the shared way of life of a group, including its art, beliefs and customs.
  2. 2A tradition is something people do regularly because it has been done for a very long time.
  3. 3Use heritage to talk about valuable things received from the past, such as buildings, stories or practices.
  4. 4The verb celebrate is used with events: celebrate a birthday, celebrate a holiday, celebrate an achievement.
  5. 5A dialect is a local form of a language; being multilingual means speaking several languages.
  6. 6Use the phrase respect differences to talk about accepting people whose beliefs or customs are not the same as yours.

Practice

10 easy · 10 medium · 10 hard

10 random questions per test

EasyMediumHardMixed