Toefl essay: It has been said 'Not every thing is learned is contained in books'

[Krinx]

Topic: It has been said “Not every thing is learned is contained in books”. Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books.

My TOEFL writing:

Some people say that knowledge is everywhere even in an advertisement on the street. However, the biggest source of knowledge is still books. Books in my meaning include everything you read or listen as a second-hand knowledge: Internet, lectures in the university, textbooks and etc. Most of knowledge that you have learned are from this source, but many people still say that knowledge that gained from experience is more important. I agree with this statement. I think that knowledge gained from experience is more important than knowledge gained from books.

However, book knowledge has its own advantages. It is easy to reach, especially in the world today, knowledge is easier to reach than in the past. Today you can log in to the internet and find everything you want to know easily. Moreover, today’s knowledge is more than in the past and you can not experience everything. Therefore, reading books is a great and easiest way to gain information. However, it is not a first-hand knowledge. You can forget it easily because you are not learning it by doing it. In addition, you can experience more details that are not contained in books if you do it your own.

In the contrary, first-hand knowledge is harder to gain. You have to take much time to do things your own, so you can not learn many things, but you can learn one thing deeply and you will not forget it easily. For example, you can experience some problems that are not contained in books and if you find out how to solve these problems on your own, you will understand it very clearly and you will never forget it. Therefore, if you learn something from doing, you will more understand how to use your knowledge to solve real life’s problems. This is why I think that knowledge gained from experience is more significant.

// I'm new here. Thanks a lot for your advice.