TOEFL essay samples: Actions speak louder than words

English as a Second Language Preparation for and help with the TOEFL® Test and
1

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Actions speak louder than words
Use specific reasons and examples to support your response.

The fact that we easily make promises but later break those promises has become so common. Therefore it is said that “Actions speak louder than words”. I quite agree with this statement.

Firstly it is obvious that without taking actions, words, however promising they are, mean nothing. Boys can go everywhere telling stories about their braveness but no one can check who are telling the truth. Only when dangerous things happen then we can realize the real brave boy through his actions. And only his actions can help save the situation, not other boys’ stories.

Secondly, just by words, we can draw up wonderful plans, but these very plans will lead us to nothing if we don’t have necessary actions. In my country it is said that if you want to go a thousand miles you have to take the first steps. There can be no doubt that just actions can turn our plan into real things, not words.

To sum up, words are just words, so if any one are telling you so many fantastic things, do not believe him so easily. You need proof from his actions.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a university student and a professor in the professor’s office

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Urgent. Please help me to correct this essay. I’m preparing for the coming test and I’m so worried.

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I also write an essay on this topic:

Nowadays, communication especially speaking with other people plays an important role in the success of one’s career or life. But words without actions are nothing. So I agree with the statement:” Actions speak louder than words.”

First of all, everyone can say everything they want. However, the ability of doing those things varies from one to one. In other words, speaking is much easier than doing. Some people always say that they can do everything but they do not really carry out anything at last. For example, my younger brother was very naughty and sometime impolite to his teacher. It made my parents very angry so he had promised not to do so again for several times. But he acted in a different way.

Moreover, people usually evaluate a person by actions not by words. In fact, one’s characteristics only expose through his behavior and gesture. A lot of people want to hide their real emotion by saying things which do not correspond with their thought. Words only become valuable when they go hand in hand with actions. In emergent situations such as fire accidents, a genuine hero is a person of actions, he must be save many lives beside some people just talk but do nothing. Therefore, actions are the factor that makes a person be his own character.

To sum up, I think actions make a person different from other. So we should think carefully before saying anything to consider whether we can do it or not. If not, we can not make other count on us and so we might loss many important things in life.

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I think we will continue checking to each other. Haha…

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That’s good piece of writing but it’s a bit short. You should write longer. :smiley:

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I have some ideas for your essay
1.I think for an TOEFL exam, your essay is not long enough. You should lengthen it by adding more information.
2. In your introduction : It will be better for you if you can give some sentence to give the way you will say in your body.
3. In your body : Each part of your body, I think you should have an topic sentence to indicate the main idea you will support in this part.
I think in these essay : you should write following an explanatory. And perhaps, if your words is not rich,you can write 3 parts in your body with different main ideas to have enough length and to avoid repeating the words.

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Fantastic - all of this advice is great! Superman is really helpful, and Luckyboy, you know a lot more about essays than you think.

  • Jason
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thanks all of you.
Luckyboydtt, your advice is really helpful.
Jason, you are very kind .You really inspire me a lot.
I think our activities make the forum a bit noisier than before. :smiley:

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@Jason : thanks your encouragement. I will try to do better.
@superman : I am very happy when hear your words. Thanks

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I agree with you totally. I just came in and looked around this section of the forum and saw so many TOEFL essays with so many people offering polite advice to each other… It really is wonderful to see.

This is what a forum is REALLY for - helping each other. I visit lots of different English forums, and in terms of essays, this is the one where the most exciting collaboration and development is taking place.

Fantastic effort!

  • Jason
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What are you taking about, SoSimple?

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In this modern life, making good speeches is a very important skill. There is a statement that considers actions more vital than words; from my point of view, this conclusion is true. Everyone should not only talk well, but he/she should also know how to do what was said.
Words are good for us to make businesses, but after all, what takes the first place will always be actions. In my opinion, the result comes from what we do, not what we say. For instance, a company has a big project about developing a new kind of mobile phones. It has tried many methods to advertise this phone to customers from all over the world. The advertisments seems to make this mobile a must-have phone to everyone. However, even if the advertising part is very well done, the success of this project will depend much on the quality of the phone. This is the only thing that encourages us to buy that touted thing. As we all know, customers are getting more and more careful in choosing a new thing, so good words are not enough. Let’s take Apple company as a real example. This company has announced to make one of the world best cell phone: Itune. Nevertheless, this mobile phone has not succeeded as expected due to some problems such as no bluetooth, etc. That is why actions always take the first place.
Furthermore, the effect that words can make only last a short time, but that of actions will exist a very long time, even for good. To be specific, an organization named “Operation Smiles” has helped many unlucky children in my country, Vietnam, to have a better life by giving them free operations. Those actions might last shortly, but the influence caused by this organization will last forever as many Vietnamese children now can have normal lives like every luckier person in this world. Thus, we can clearly see that actions bring us everlasting results.
All in all, both words and actions are very pivotal, but the latter one, in my view, will always be the better.

I have also made another essay of this topic.

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I’ve decided to post an essay and see what others think. I’m quite aware that my writing style is a bit twisted, so, here it goes. Please lemme know what you think.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Actions speak louder than words
Use specific reasons and examples to support your response.

Nowadays, as the society we live in gets more and more complicated, human interactions seem to have set off to a whole new level. Suddenly, diplomacy has taken the world by storm, thus becoming a must in every successful action of our day-to-day life. Nevertheless, since words may sometimes be misleading, it is our actions that end up betraying our true nature.

In my opinion, speech can be considered to be one of the oldest, yet the most important art that mankind has created. Persuasion is not just a form of transmitting a message, but also a carefully crafted instrument we constantly try to learn how to master. Eventually, words are nothing more than a candle in the wind. On the other hand, our actions, the ones that truly define who we are, are more likely to be those that would endure through the test of time.

Moreover, were we to take the example of the chronicles, it is great deeds that made great rulers part of the universal history and not what they may have said. Of course, there are several notable exceptions, like Winston Churchill or King Louis the Fourteenth of France who is greatly known for having said “I am the state”. Nevertheless, their quotes are in fact associated with their actions, therefore in the end, the actions regain their supremacy.

To sum up, I am a firm believer that a good deed is worth more than a thousand nice words. Consequently, there can be no doubt as to whether words can be considered to be more important than actions. Nonetheless, some might state that there are times in our lives when a word may be worth more than anything in the world. I could not disagree with this statement. However, let as take comforting someone for example. Undoubtedly, kind words are be used, yet the purpose of their usage clearly defines the action of comforting a person in need. All in all, I reckon that one simply cannot deny that actions speak louder than words

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Dear Gabriel 123
here’s the thing!!!
I would have gladly shared my opinion about your essay, but unfortunately I’m too busy joining Yogy and my hubby in that gorgeous park by the asylum.
Therefore, enjoy your milk and cookies.
And since you seem to be having “pfun”, you might want to make sure that your kindergarden buddies don;t spill any of their milk!!!
May the force be with you.
Peace out

16

Dear EnglishRaven,

Can you please review my introduction to this topic?

"I’m working as an Assistant to the Chairman of the Management Board at a bank. One of my job responsibilities is to participate at the management meetings and prepare minutes of them. During meetings managers present their proposals very emotionally and sometimes such kind of presentations affect the decision of the Board and the issue passes. In many cases I observe that those persons who bring the theory of doing something are not successful to perform the task, because action speaks louder than words. That is why I totally agree with this statement. "

Do you think is it too long for an introduction?

Thanks in advance,

~Phoebe