TOEFL® essay sample: Not everything that is learned is contained in books

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Dear Alan,

Please kindly give your comments to my essay!

Many thanks!

Carey

My TOEFL essay

#4 It has been said, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from book. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

Before entering into society, we have ready read a number of textbooks during primary school, secondary school and university. However, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” That is to say, though we have possessed a basic concept and fundamental knowledge in the general aspects in our lives, we could still acquire knowledge from various means and, I believe to gain knowledge from experience would be the most important and efficiency means.

First and foremost, it would be time-saving to possess the knowledge from the fellow colleagues. Take myself as an example, I usually ask my fellow co-workers’ opinion because they know what is appropriate and useful for me to handle my issue. Due to their rich experience, I can gain knowledge rapid than searching information from quite a few textbooks.

Second, related to the previous point, books may merely provide a few amount of information or which is not suitable for me. Sometimes they might offer the outdated or false information. On the other hand, after justifying the knowledge from books, experience could give the right answer and tell us how to avoid making mistakes.

Finally, nowadays, certain employers would be willing to hire a person who is lack of excellent academic background but has a solid work experience related to the job. They believe that they could benefit a lot from the employee who has a solid work experience because it proves that he has fully practiced the knowledge from textbooks.

Textbooks still are an important means to gain knowledge, by which, we gain the fundamental knowledge in various aspects. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to achieve a successful career without a formal academic education. From my perspective, I believe that experiences outweigh books because it would be the most efficiency means to acquire and enrich our knowledge.

TOEFL listening lectures: A lecture from a social sciences class