Writing Feedback / A descriptive paragraph about a place that makes you feel safe/happy [3]

my familiar, comfortable place

Places that put you at ease must be a place that is endearing and familiar to you. In my case, it is no different. My safe zone is no other but the living room of my house. It is nothing too fancy, a casual mediocre living room painted creamy white on all four walls with a ceiling fan that every Hanoi house built in the late 1990s and early 2000s has. After going through some major refurbishing, there are differences here and there but magically, the atmosphere has stayed the same ever since I was first there in the house. I can recall well what happened on my sixth birthday on that used-to-be-a-disheveled-wooden-chair brown high-end sofa, what in the display cabinet was but now a grandfather clock. It feels as if everything stays the same but also it does not. However, there is something about the living room that is invariant-its usage as a garage in addition to the traditional one. Two to three motorbikes always occupy the living room, making it a little crammed perpetually. As a consequence, even if I am alone, I do not feel lonely at all. The ideal time to spend in the living room for me is working daytime or midnight. At noon, when I come home from school, there is only me and myself, taking nap and skipping lunch, nothing matters anymore. It is just absolute relaxation. On the other hand, midnight is a little bit more melancholy. Only after heated arguments with parents or stressful work that I go downstair to lay myself down on the sofa, and there I can do whatever I want, cooking instant noodles, watching whatever is on on TV or simply laying there motionlessly, just to suppress the negative feelings. My living room can offer things that no other luxurious hotels can. And despite how much adventurous and wanderlust I am, always seeking for new experiences in new places, this specific room, the room where I first started crawling, walking, and talking, always has an exceptional charm to me.

Well, this is my attempt in practicing creative writing to prepare for my college application. Please help me out! Every idea and comment is welcomed!

Writing Feedback / [IELTS TASK 2] (Agree and Disagree) Books and televisions [4]

Some people believe that people who read books can develop more imaginations and language skills than those who prefer to watch TV. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

reading and TV watching influence on imagination and language skills

With the fast-growing rate and the increasing ubiquity of technology, books are replaced by televisions more and more as a way of entertainment. Some suggest that book readers have a higher ability in creativity and linguistic skills than those who watch TV as a hobby. In my opinion, people who read books more definitely are able to develop better imaginations and language skills.

First of all, when people read, they get a direct and excessive access to how words are used, therefore, gradually improve their language. They can see a variety of words and collocations in different contexts which are skillfully used by writers. By interacting with them many times through reading, readers will naturally "absorb" the words, acquiring a better understanding of how words are used in many ways and expanding vocabularies. This is why language learners are advised to read books in the language they learn because it is more natural for them to study vocabularies and how the language works.

Secondly, reading books, especially the fictional ones, can stimulate the readers' imagination effectively. A book's content has no boundaries and it has a special ability to take people to different worlds, even the wildest ones. Thus, their minds can be "more relax" and think out of the box as there is such no thing impossible or irrational in books. In addition, because books hardly have any visual aids or illustrations, readers have to imagine the scenarios and that also helps improve imaginations.

In conclusion, reading assists people in improving language skills and creativity because it gives them lively examples of how words are handled and push them to be more imaginative. Although watching televisions is more convenient and easy to enjoy with visual aids, it still cannot bring value as profound and educational as reading do.

Writing Feedback / [IELTS TASK 2] Social life at work and outside work. Discuss [4]

[R][i]Some people think a job not only provides income but also social life.Others think it is better to develop social life with people you do not work with. Discuss both views.

A career is an important element in a person's life as it can decide whether one is successful or happy. Some consider that when people work, they do not only care about income but also create a good relationship with their colleagues. Others argue that it is better to widen your circle of friends with someone else besides people whom they do not work with. In my opinion, befriending with people outside the workplace is necessary but it is also important to keep a friendly environment in there.

Making friends with colleagues is useful as it can help the working experience be a lot healthy and enjoyable. Firstly, the office is where people spend half of their day. Therefore, it would be very depressing and stressful when they do not talk or communicate with anyone in the working hour. Furthermore, only the people that they work with can understand profoundly what they have to go through so that together they can comfortably share or help one another. Networking in the workplace also help people climb higher in their career ladder, bring them many promotion opportunities.

On the other hand, friends outside the workplace can put people out of their thoughts on work and help create a variety of relationships from different careers. People do not live all their life working after all. If their job becomes overwhelmed, it is only relaxing when they hang out and talk about other topics besides work with their friends. Also, making friends with different people with different jobs is indeed helpful. For instance, a person who is an engineer when sick can seek instant help from his acquaintance who is a doctor.

In conclusion, friends who are either colleagues or not are great because they can be helpful in many situations related to work or personal life.