the best way of learning about life

Hi, I’m here after a while! :))
Dear Luschen, please do a favor again and let me know what is my score. Thank you very much :slight_smile:
Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family and friends. Other people believe that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. Compare the advantages of these two different ways of learning about life. Which do you think is preferable? Use specific examples to support your preference.

People are nurtured all the time from beginning to end. No one is the perfect one as well as there is nobody who experience all the problems and situations. We must be aware of some issues in our lives. There is a controversial debate on being learnt by experiencing on our own or just listening the advice of our family members and friends. In my opinion we had better use others’ experiences rather than experiencing on our own for some following reasons.

First of all, we have a limited life time and limited power to experience all things that we care about or we should be aware of. For example, last year I went to the northern place of my country for a while. This was the first time ever that I see a dense-dark jungle with lots of wild animals. I was informed that there is the habitat of white bears which can be immeasurably dangerous for us. I got some tips from a person whom I met there. I am sure I would have been eaten if I was not informed about that possible danger! Thus, some experiences are eminently costly which makes us regretful.

The last not the least, the easiest way to be learned is just listening as a proverb in Persian language says "I am not going to eat sandwich with my foot since I have hands!”. For instance, I was chosen as the best student of the year in the university last year which makes it possible for me to be nominated for one of the best job positions in a high prestigious company. Some of my friends told me “wow! You are so intelligent”. Afterwards, I told them I am as smart as you are but I just listened to what were expressed in the classroom and concentrate on the lectures. Consequently, it made it possible for me to learn all the course materials without any problem. That is why I remember all the tips that were expressed in the classroom at the exam sessions. In contrast, my classmates just goofing off and caring about everything but professor expressions in the classroom. Although some of them read more than me for the exam, the got lower scores than me. Therefore, listening can be very easier than experiencing.

All in all, I think that using other experiences whose advice are truth not exaggeration is very useful for having a better lifestyle than just experiencing everything. Many a person who has been killed just because they did something crazy without considering advice, tips and alerts.

TOEFL listening discussions: Why may Martha need money?

Hi Alirrrr, welcome back. Your essay is pretty good, but I am afraid you did not write the correct type of essay for this prompt. You have to be very careful, as if the essay says “compare”, they want you to discuss both sides of the issue. So your first body paragraph would give the advantages of experience, the second would give the advantages of advice, and the third would give your opinion. I think it is easiest to combine this third paragraph with the conclusion, so you end up with 4 paragraphs total.

Thank you very much dear Luschen. I’ll try to read the prompt more carefully in the next time :stuck_out_tongue: :smiley:
However, I think that we are not gonna face with such these questions in the TOEFL exam; Is that right?
Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

Unfortunately, you may encounter this form of prompt in the TOEFL. Generally they have three types of TOEFL essay prompts -

  1. Open ended - “What do you think is the biggest danger to the environment?”

  2. Choose one of two sides - “Which do you think is a bigger danger to the environment, global warming or deforestation?”

  3. Discuss both sides and give your opinion - “Compare the dangers to the environment posed by global warming and deforestation. Which do you think is more harmful?”

I think the third is the toughest, but some people think it makes it easier to write a longer essay.