Writing Feedback / Teacher lecture or students do some of the talking? which do you prefer? [5]

Probably the most traditional way of education is a teacher lecturing most of the time. However, a new idea seems to be more and more accepted which advocates students play a more important role in class. Personally, I would like to side with the latter approach because it not only lead students to master a specific knowledge well, but also teachs them how to learn as well as how to express opinions.

First of all, a student is better educated in a discussion class, in which they usually have a deeper impression and understanding of knowledge through active and positive communication. Since the formation and expression of an opinion on a specific topic calls for a recalling and summarizing of a wide range of knowledge, this course stimulates a deep level thinking which is greatly beneficial to the study of new things. Conversely, although a lecture may be informative, it is sometimes not so impressive. That is, students always have to spend lots of time reviewing the class notes afterwards to keep them in mind. This kind of course put more emphasis on the input part of study than the output part, so it is relatively not so balanced and efficient.

Second, students are more capable to learn by themselves if trained by a class which involves lots of exchanges of opinion. In order to have a strongly supported personal idea, students should do much preparation and self-education beforehand. They have to collect information from the Internet or libraries. This kind of self induced study is most beneficial for it lets students learn to learn. In fact, lecturers no longer exist after graduation, but learning will never stop. So, to learn effectly and efficiently by oneself is of great importance, and this can only be acquired in a discussion based class.

Finally, students learn how to make effective speeches when it comes to the learning approach that encourages students to participate in discussions. In order to catch other's full attention, a student must make his speech well illustrated and better organized, thus Communication skills are enhanced, which is so important that we may find it have a wide range of use, from job interviews to academic lectures. It is also a key to cooperation in scientific research as well. So a discussion class is just what we need.

In summary, of all the factors concerned above, we can draw the conclusion that a discussion class overwhelms a lecture in several ways. The discussion based education system teaches much more than a specific knowledge, it provides learning and communication skills as well.

Writing Feedback / Toefl topic--how is your generation different from your parents' generation? [4]

The development of the society is of extremely high speed. People of my generation may even find it hard to visualize the life of twenty years ago, when our parents were growing up. Inevitably, there exists differences between the two generations.

Our parents grew up in a tough time when they had to worry much about food and clothes. For this reason, they tend to act with discretion, taking everything into consideration before making a final decision. However, people of my age are well under the care of our parents, living a peaceful and affluent life. We make up our mind spontaneously, and never concern too much about the details in fulfilling our goals. The difference can be well illustrated by everyday shopping. Our parents are more likely to buy a basket of apples with each and every one carefully inspected. But young people may just purchase a dozen using credit cards even without any idea of their price. In short, we are fast decision makers while our parents often have a more complete and thorough plan in advance.

Second, compared with our parents, we are more readily open minded to new things especially new technology appearing around us. In fact, our growing up is accompanied by a boom in technology and economy. Things like computers and the internet are just important and indispensable in our daily life. However, our parents used to lead a relatively simple life, so high tech products have less impact on their lives. In most cases, they would rather solve problems in their own traditional ways.

Finally, most of us receive higher education. With limited education resources, many of our parents didn't have a chance to enter a university or college though they had a strong desire. They just form their view of world in the university of life. On the other hand, we are now fortunate enough to have more access to high level education than our parents had before. As a result, we usually have individual and independent opinions on different things. However, we have a lot to learn from our parents because they have much more practical experiences to solve problems efficiently and effectively. Also, they do better in how to cooperate and collaborate with others to make things run smooth.

This essay really costed me a lot of time.
Thanks for your precious advice!

Writing Feedback / As a young man I'd choose to purchase a business instead of a house; TOEFL [4]

I'm preparing for TOEFL and this is one of my TOEFL essays. I really need some advices on grammar, structure,vocabulary,etc. Thanks in advance! Sincerely, Andy.

Topic: You have enough money to purchase either a house or a business. Which would you choose to buy? Give specific reasons to explain your choice.

With enough money, I can buy a luxurious house which certainly could enhance my living conditions, and thus I would enjoy a peaceful and comfortable life.

However, this kind of life style is not what I pursue. As a young man, I have a lot of dreams and one of them is to own a business. So definitely, I would invest the money into a business of my own. From running a business, we could not only gain profits but also enrich our life experience and improve our own qualities.

First of all, a successful business may bring us rich returns. At present, we may find that lack of initial funds are more or less a main problem for college graduates to begin their own businesses. If I have saved enough money, I would put my thoughts and learnings into practise. With proper arrangement and management, the little capital investment may turn out to be multi million dollars rewards a few years later.The bonus allows me both to purchase big houses or private cars to improve living conditions and to use as funds for further investment.

Furthermore, running a business could also improve my personal abilities. Firstly, to be a good manager and leader I should have a knowledge of management, accounting and marketing as well as specific knowledge of the business I do... However, not all these can be learned from books, precious experiences accumulates only when specific difficulties are met and conquered. To run a business is the best way to gain experience. Also I should keep thinking and absorbing new ideas and methods to keep my business vigorous and prosperous. Of course, a business is not always making money, sometimes there are risks of lose. But what to regret after I have already acquired so much knowledge and experiences.

Finally, starting a new business benefit more than myself, it also helps to create more jobs for the society. As we all know, there is a growing pressure in the increasingly competitive job market nowadays, and many young people cannot find proper jobs and have to stay at home. So college students are encouraged to start their own businesses to reduce the severe social problem. And that's an important reason why I choose to have an own business.

In short, it is a great challenge and chance to have a try to purchase a business. After all, if I use the money to buy a house, my life will be the same five or ten years later as it is now, but consequence would be totally different if I have the other choice, no matter success or failure.