TOEFL essay: Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than...

Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.

I think that both possibilities have advantages and disadvantages. I think that a teacher give us basic directions for learning material, however I think that better way to learn material is learning in home. In the following passages in this essay I’ll illustrate my statement with reasons and examples.

Firstly, they are many advantages of learning with a teacher. He often gives us important advices, directions and suggestions. On the other hand, he checks our expressions for mistakes. I think that better way to learn something is to find and correct your mistakes. For example, when I write this essay I probably make mistakes. However, when I see my essay corrected I’ll understand my mistakes and I’m sure that in the next essay I will make few mistakes. Also, a teacher often shows us information, which not figure in books. Therefore, some teachers give us “secret” information, which help us while we learning the material. Consequently, teacher is a leader, who conducts us in the jungle of knowledge. If we try to learn alone, it’s very easy to get lost.

However, I think that learning by yourself have several advantages. For instance, often a teacher spends limited time with his students. He gives basic directions of learning material and that’s all. If we want to learn the material in details, we must learn without teacher. For example, I study law and textbooks, which are related to my major, exceed one thousand pages per book. In this connection, it’s impossible for one teacher to explain this material. Therefore, he only gives some advices, directions and asks for questions. In this case it’s impossible to learn all material with teacher, because of that I think that learning without teacher is important, too.

In conclusion, I prefer to learn with teacher, but I know that in most cases it’s insufficient. However, learning without teacher helps us to improve our knowledge and I think that it’s equal important with learning with teacher.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a professor and his student