Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay (Perfect Score)

TOEFL Writing Topic: Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.

[Anyone republishes this essay for business purpose without consent from WritersForMe will face legal consequence.]

I can definitely learn some things better by myself. I hope to become a software engineer and so I need to learn many new programs. A teacher can’t really help since students need to learn how to code directly from a book. This is called ‘programmed learning’ and it’s the best way to study very technical subjects. But there are other subjects that one can’t learn alone.

Also, different people have different preferences about learning. There are dozens of different theories about how people learn best but of course there really is no best way for everyone.

I do know that if someone lives in a foreign culture for several years they may learn a lot without having any formal instruction. But can we really say that they didn’t have a teacher? We can learn many things simply by taking a walk in the park. Of course, if you need to learn something complicated, it might take a very long time without help from a teacher. As an independent student you need to have discipline.

Teachers can also introduce students to new learning materials, but nowadays students can usually find a lot of resources on the internet by themselves. In truth, the internet has made it a lot easier for students to learn by themselves and I think in the future teachers will probably become more like specialist librarians.

In conclusion, I think it is better to learn some things with a teacher. For instance, I don’t think learning about Theater or Music would be very satisfying alone. Also, lectures from interesting professors might be remembered by their students for many years. However, studying alone — or with a few other students — can be far more convenient and potentially more effective. That is because in a classroom setting the teacher needs to make sure that most of the students understand, while if we study by ourselves then we can learn faster.  [320 words]

Notes:

1. All of the prompts are from former TOEFL exams.
2. The information available online, i.e., Google search results, is either misleading or wrong relative to length: [an organization] states independent essays should be between 280-320 words. More words than needed is equivalent to more opportunities to make a mistake. Students should be informed re: word count, i.e., MORE WORDS does not mean a higher score.
3. Information concerning paragraphs/content available from [a TOEFL training school], etc. is also wrong: the number of paragraphs is irrelevant and the only important issue re: content is to RESPOND DIRECTLY to the prompt, i.e., the raters/software doesn’t care about structure or content except the latter must Make sense and Must directly respond to the prompt [to preclude prepared essays].
4. UK usage/spelling is entirely acceptable.
5. AVOID complex grammar; avoid ‘Chinese English’ usage; 5 tenses: present, past, future, present perfect [have done/has been], and conditional [would go/could do it] are OPTIMAL.
6. Don’t rewrite the prompt in the first paragraph of your essay…it’s okay to paraphrase [use words that mean the same thing].
7. Recent TOEFL change…students found test takes too long, so there are fewer multiple-choice questions, i.e., essays are now more heavily ‘weighted’]