Tuesday, April 15, 2008

TOEFL practice essay ~ Erdi 11

4. It has been said, "Not all learning takes place in the classroom." Compare and contrast knowledge gained from personal experience with knowledge gained from classroom instruction. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?


I agree very much with that. I think in the classroom you learn only 30% at most. The other things you learn in real life. In school you learn only the stuff you need to be successful in the future. However in order to be called a wise man and a person who knows about life you have to base it upon personal experiences. Also learning in school is easier than living your life in the 'real world'.


Outside the school there is a whole new world waiting for you - sometimes good, sometimes not so good. You have to be strong and calm. By living your life you will get to know all the things necessary. However the road to achieving success is not by suffering. You have to go ahead but also you have to look around. You have to enjoy everything you do but at the same time you have to work.


It is statistically proved that 90% of people who graduate from prestigious schools such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton etc are more subject to phobias and frights related to their graduating subject and to their jobs. At this point they are not successful in their jobs but after some time they begin to get used to it and become successful.


In my opinion and according to the facts class is not everything independent to which school you are going. You have to get out of school and start everything from the beginning only this time you have ideas on which you can base your plans and ideas.


Erdi has tried to answer the question, however he has made several 'claims' in which he quotes statistics but does not give sources. In the original there were no paragraphs and the mechanics of the essay were lacking.